Showing posts with label gordie howe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gordie howe. Show all posts

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Tea with Tait: The Gretzky Tales — golfing, and missing a BIG story

(Part 3 of 3: My personal stories of Wayne Gretzky)

Jamie Farr and myself at the 1987 Wayne Grezky Golf Classic



The Wayne Gretzky Golf Classic was held at the Edmonton Country Club. With the great help from Country Club manager Leo Blindenbach I arranged to play the first hole from my wheelchair to raise funds for the charity the tournament was supporting. I got pledges per stroke on the first hole — a par five — so, really, the more strokes I took the more money I made. The exact opposite of the main objective of golf. But what the hell. Wayne hosted a reception the night before at the Country Club and made an announcement about me playing the first hole.
“Hey, Cammie I have an idea,” he  told the crowd, before looking at me just after 7:30 p.m. “Why don’t you start now? You might be finished by the time the rest of us tee-off tomorrow.” 
“Will do,” I hollered back. “By the way, I got my handicap all figured out.”
The crowd howled with laughter, and it was so good to know others were laughing with me — and not at me. It would have been  a little uncomfortable if Wayne would have got up and told everyone I was playing a hole, and I had cerebral palsy,  and wasn’t it a novel thing? But putting humour into it made it more personal … more fun. I still couldn’t golf, though: I shot a 27 on the par five, and — cover your eyes, golfers — five putted. At the banquet that night, Leo Blindenbach collected money and had a wod of $100 bills. We raised $3,100 that day.
I attended Wayne’s golf tournament in Edmonton for three more years, including the last one in 1987. Wayne always made sure I felt part of the tournament. Many well-known personalities from across North America attended the event. And thanks to Wayne, I had the pleasure of having cocktails with actors Jamie Farr and Alan Thicke, hockey broadcaster Danny Gallivan, music producer David Foster and Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, who has flown into the parking lot one year by helicopter. Wayne’s personality brought so many people to Edmonton and he went out of his way to make sure his friends shared in their time.




IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE 1987 at Kevin Lowe’s annual gathering when I know Wayne had met the love of his life and future wife, Janet Jones. The ladies were upstairs and the men were downstairs.
“Well, guys I think I am in love. I was with Janet last night and we went to the ballet,” Wayne said. “I really don’t like the ballet but when you are with the right girl, who cares, right?” he asked.

Wayne and I kept seeing each other after Oiler games. But I perhaps fumbled a rather big story in Edmonton.
 Wayne was out with an injury in early 1988. It was announced he was going to be doing some charity work, so I arranged to interview Wayne between periods at an Oiler game. Wayne seemed a little more nervous than other times we had been together, but I didn’t think it was much of a big deal.  I thought I had a fairly decent story but when I got to   The Edmonton Journal newsroom the next morning, my desk mate Al Turner  met me with a frown on his face.
“I read that story you wrote on Gretzky this morning,” Al said with a tinge of distain in his voice. “Were you with him or did you do it on over the phone?”
I told Al I was with Wayne.
 “And he didn’t tell you?”
 “Tell me what?” I asked.
“CHED Radio ran with a story all morning Gretzky and Janet Jones got engaged last night at Earl’s. You were with the guy and there was nothing in your story about him getting engaged.”
I began feeling beads of sweat on my forehead. It was a huge story in Edmonton: Wayne was like a prodigal son, and maybe I blew it.
 “You didn’t ask him?” Al said.
No, I replied, because I didn’t hear anything to ask the question. Maybe Wayne wasn’t sure what Janet’s answer would be so he kept quiet. 

Coming shortly: Back to L.A.


Sunday 28 April 2013

That may have been an elbow!


Our son Darren, Gordie Howe, Cam Tait
Just before we looked into the camera Friday, Gordie Howe turned to me and smiled.
“I better give you one of these,” he said, and then lifting his left elbow against my chin.
An elbow from Mr. Hockey. Wouldn’t miss it.
Our son Darren and I went to the luncheon for the Scotiabank Pro-Am forAlzheimer’s at River Cree. Before lunch we lined up to get our picture taken with Mr. Howe. He was as polite and talkative then as in 1978 when I first met him with my father in Llodyminster.
I introduce him to Darren. He turned to Darren with that glint in his eye.
“Hear what he said?” Mr. Howe asked Darren. “He said he wanted me to meet his ‘Damn son’.”
And then laughed. I wonder, though, if that’s how my father introduced me.
Mr. Howe turned 85 at the end of March. There had been some talk about signs of him slowing down.
Darren and I certainly didn’t see that — and, I have an elbow to prove it.
Other nuggets from the lunch ..
•Great story from Tom Webster who roomed with Mr. Howe on the road when he first joined the Red Wings.
Tom Webster
Webster got in the room first one night and retrieved close to 100 telephone messages for Mr. Howe.
When Mr. Howe entered the room Webster handed him the list of paper of names.
“Did Colleen call?” Mr. Howe asked about his wife. Webster said no.
Mr. Howe then took the list and ripped it in half.
“These people will all call back.”
•Former legendary Oiler play-by-play man Rod Phillips had a great chat with former Edmonton coach Ron Low. It looked just like a scene from the mid-1990’s.
•Jason Gregor of The Team 1260 did a great job as the MC guy during the event, especially the Hot Stove portion with Marty McSorley, Webster and Bryan Trottier.
McSorely told the story of when Los Angeles King Wayne Gretzky broke Mr. Howe’s scoring record.
“I felt sorry for Gordie because he was traveling with us for a few weeks, waiting for Wayne to break the record. Someone once said ‘Wayne why don’t you ask Gordie to show you to score … he played the game for 33 years, you know’,” McSorely said.
Gretzky repeatedly told his teammates what an idol Mr. Howe was.
McSorely held his hand up one and said: “He’s an idol for all of us.”
  
Greg Christenson
•Nice touch from event organizer Greg Christenson, who had his ever present red and white pro-am jersey on — with a white baseball cap. But he wasn’t the only with a white baseball cap on: all the committee members had one.
Great way to salute the unknown heroes such a big event needs.
•Reminder: Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story airs tonight (Apr 28) on CBC at 8 p.m. Edmonton time.