Popular Heroes
Today Friday, February 13, 2009, the radio AM sports station in the car I’m driving while running errands, carried an amazing all day program remembering the days of Maple Leaf Gardens, in Toronto, Ontario. Since it was the 10-year anniversary of the last hockey game to have been played in that historic arena, hockey stars, coaches and referees of the day were connected by phone and asked for their memories of the home of the Maple Leaf hockey team. Even Ken Dryden, now a member of parliament, returned their call and spoke on the air. The stories that were told and the details that were remembered of specific events that happened on certain dates when certain games were played were impressive. I am not a particularly well informed sports fan but I was nevertheless drawn in by the genuine celebration of past experiences and decisions whether sad and somber or glad and glamorous.
Sports reporters and sports fans glory in the recall and telling of data and details that thrilled them at the time they were spectators. They recall where they were, who they were with and who joined in when the going was good and when the road was rough. As already said, it’s simply amazing.
Golf aficionados likewise celebrate the great golfers of our time and compare them with golfers of the past. I must admit to a love of watching Tiger Woods. I admit this without shame or embarrassment.
Baseball fans also celebrate their greats. Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds come to mind whose records every sportscaster remembers. Again I admit to waiting for Reggie Jackson to come to the plate when he played for the Yankees. I remember stopping in Cooperstown, New York, to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum when Charles, our son, was a young teenager. It was obligatory to watch Abbott and Costello’s film “Who’s On First” in the basement theatre. I remember on the way back stopping in to place our feet on Forbes Field (now PNC Park), the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Charles’ favorite team. On another trip Charles and I watched a game in Memorial Park (now Oriole Park at Camden Yards) where the Baltimore Orioles still played on real grass.
I do recall in fall of 1971 watching a Formula-One race with the great Jackie Stewart leading the pack on a rainy afternoon at the Mosport International Raceway, north of Bowmanville, Ontario.
My Dad who cared nothing for great sports events did cheer for Joe Louis, the great boxer, way back in the forties when I was too small to know what he was cheering for. I do remember my father saying the fight with Max Schmelling (June 22, 1938) was a great fight. I never knew why. I was just barely six years old. I did watch Cassius Clay now Muhammad Ali, fight and wish he would win. It’s one of those things we remember but we don’t know why.
Mozart is remembered in Vienna in a modest house which has become a museum. Beethoven likewise in Bonn. Susan and I have visited both places. I have been to Bach’s house in Leipzig.
Popular music also has its heroes. Who can deny the impact Elvis Presley has had on popular music? And anyone who has visited Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, will feel the memories that he left behind.
