The Week That Was

Friday February 9 8:10 PM

I know there was a lot of snickering when we announced the death of Anna Nicole Smith Thursday afternoon at 3:55 but I just felt sad. I had met her years ago at the old CIQC studio in Verdun when she paid an early morning visit to Jim Duff's show. She could barely stand let alone speak. As she slurred her way through a quicker than expected chat with Duff I felt a lot of anger build up towards the P.R. flak she was with. How could they allow her to embarass herself on the air like that? I don't remember what she was selling (other than herself) but she was an absolute wreck. I don't know what she's done professionally since that bizarre morning six or seven years ago, other than realize she had become a joke. But there's nothing funny about susbtance abuse. First thing I thought of when she died was how she had lasted this long.

Puts the Canadiens slide into perspective a little, huh? Maybe his critics ought to cut Pierre McGuire a little slack now that Christobal Huet looks merely mortal. Back in november McGuire said publicly that while it was obvious Huet was playing exceptionally well he wanted to wait until the 60 game mark before hopping on the Huet as star-goalie bandwagon. Maybe he
IS just good, not great. Nothing wrong with good.

Michael Ryder might end up scoring 40 goals somewhere else (John Leclair light?) but I'd rather see him go if it means prying a Peter Forsberg or a Bill Guerin away in time for the playoffs. The Canadiens have a lot of similar offensive minded players in their system, not as big as Ryder, but definately quicker. And organizational depth in goal. Bob Gainey has to pull the trigger before it's too late.

I caught the first of a series of sold out shows by Arcade Fire at the Ukranian Federation Hall (corner of Hutchison and Fairmount) tuesday night.. I love what the band is doing, giving back to its core fans before they next see them in the cavernous Bell Center. It was fun to be there in the cramped old place. Win Butler and Company may have produced the best Wall of Sound since Phil Spector but his vocals were buried in the mix of 10 instruments on stage. Bruce Hills of Just for Laughs had the same reaction but we were in the extreme minority. The acoustic-based new songs from "Neon Bible"sounded beautiful.

http://www.arcadefire.com/flash.html

So the old debate about whether we'll ever see a current male pro athlete in a team sport come out was rekindled this week when former NBA center John Amaeche announced he is gay(through a taped interview with ESPN to be seen monday). As I stated on the air, I hope to be around when it does happen. The stated argument against such a development is the extreme negative reaction to that possibility, from teammates and "fans". Do you honestly think any amount of verbal abuse heaped on such an athlete would be worse than what Jackie robinson went through 60 years ago? Or Hank Aaron while he was chasing Babe Ruth's ghost in 1974? I think we will see a brave guy, backed by a brave organization(no jokes about the tomahawk chop) reach that point where player and team see the greater good. And I think it'll happen when that athlete, whomever it might be, is in the final year of his career.

Having said all that, it's very sad that members of the media in this city, and in this country, are not yet prepared themselves to come out. And I don't mean just the sports media. I am aware of a few openly gay sportswriters and radio hosts in the United States, but outside of Richard (Bugs) Burnett in Hour where are they on this side of the border? Reminds me of my early days in this business when I worked in the same building as an FM Radio News Director who's behavior at company Christmas parties was legendary. Yet he always went home to his wife and kids. Until he could no longer wait for "special occasions". So he got divorced and came out. Another well known male media type used to invite guys out to strip joints after last call to get them worked up enough so he could pleasure them (yes, I was invited once). How sad, I thought, to have to keep up a front, to live a lie, and for whom exactly? The guy was awfully lonely. Never made it to 60.

http://outsports.com/entertainment/20050218gumbybookexcerpt.htm

Had the great pleasure to interview Packers legend Jerry Kramer("Instant Replay") prior to the Super Bowl. In the course of our conversation about the Packers dynasty of the 60's Jerry talked about how many players of his generation were in dire financial need. Abandoned by the current NFL owners and Players Association. I was outraged to learn that one of his best friends was getting a pension of $126 a month. Sounded even worse than the NHL pension fund fiasco that the late Carl Brewer battled for years to correct. Sure enough, moments after we spoke, Jerry had a press conference which too many media outlets, especially those directly connected with the NFL, chose to downplay or ignore completely. But among those who were listening was one of America's finest columnists, Ray Ratto of the San Fransisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/02/RATTO.TMP

www.jerrykramer.com

Favorite NFL stars of the 60's:

1. Jim Brown
2. Joe Namath
3. Jerry Kramer
4. Daryle Lamonica
5. Gayle Sayers
6. Bob Hayes
7. Roman Gabriel
8. Johnny Unitas
9. Dick Butkus
10.Jim Otto