Maruk’s career wasn’t Hall of Fame, but dude could score. Maruk’s was Hall-of-Fame worthy, matched only in fiction by Johnnie Upton of the Charlestown Chiefs (See Slap Shot). Never mind the ‘hockey-hair’ mullet of the early ‘90s, the Fu was the classic ‘hockey chops’ of facial hair in the late 70s. Clement was flipped from the Flyers to the Caps to the Atlanta Flames - and ended playing three nights in a row for three different teams!ĭennis Maruk’s Fu Manchu. The sheets also had the other guy’s card: the Gretzky rookie - the big-buck$, Holy Grail/Honus Wagner of hockey cards! Smith eventually cut up a few and gave them to his kids, whereupon he said they proceeded to do with them what kids did then: stuck them on their bikes to get that awesome ‘fwack-fwack’ sound as they slapped on the wheel-spokes.īill Clement appears in an epically-ugly airbrushed Washington Capitals jersey that looks like it was brrowed from the Michelin Man. Father Smith scooped up a few of the full contact-sheets that had his son’s card on it. Smith wasn’t much of a card guy but his dear ol’ dad happened to work at the printer that had the O-Pee-Chee contract. This often leads to stories beyond the obvious.ĭerek Smith’s rookie year was the same as some guy who wore No. ‘one-card wonders’), Strike a Pose, The WHA, Rookies, Making it Look Mean, etc.Īgain, the cards alone might’ve been enough, but Reid takes it next-level by executing a simple but perfect idea: he talked to each and every one of the faces on the cards. Take the way he breaks it down into various categories, like Airbrush, Error Cards, I Had a Card (i.e. Just the subject matter alone could make for an interesting read, but Reid takes fun to Jumpin Jack Flash it’s a gas, gas gas. Or at least most likely to appear on each and every talk show on each and every Sportsnet channel!) (Not to mention take advantage of his rise as Canada’s most beloved TV sports personality. The Nova Scotia kid collected enough over the years to put together a book. Murray Greig and I worked on the Sun sports desk across from each other for a decade.Īnd fun for many a good Canadian kid was collecting hockey cardsĬount Ken Reid among them. Maybe the best ever.ĭisclosure: this book was co-written by one of my best friends. Except it wasn’t “I coulda been a contendah.” George was a contender. Never mind Rocky, Chuvalo was the classic blue-collar fighter portrayed by Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront. But whatever shadows lurk, know that it fuelled George on a mission to bring drug-abuse awareness around the world. While there are immaculate details of the fights, there is little illumination as to what led to the choices his sons made. The dark side of the book reflects the dark side of the Chuvalo story. (The photo Stallone-as-Rocky pulls from his wallet in the film is a picture from a Chuvalo fight.) Chuvalo’s 1966 15-round loss to Muhammad Ali at Maple Leaf Gardens locked in his image. He was a Rocky from the Great White North long before the movie was made. To top all that with one more blow to the head, when the book was released last December, Chuvalo didn’t do a book tour after cancer took his granddaughter. The undisputed fact is that the only man who fought all of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman was NEVER knocked down in 94 fights.īut the jarring stuff - what would knock most of us flat on the canvas of life - is on the last of those few pages: the brief descriptions of the three sons being found dead from having needles in their arms, and of the wife who couldn’t live past the first two. Maybe they should check with those 64 guys I knocked out.” “In their eyes I was just a ‘catcher’ who never threw anything back. He is still a little bitter about his long-term, stereotyped reputation as a man-mountain with a steel chin. After the 11 pages of the introduction, you’ll want to read this book.Ĭhuvalo is still pissed at his managers, the Canadian boxing federation and Toronto boxing writers. “Shoe-shining” - swinging lefts and rights in succession. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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