What’s Happening
BRIAN WILLIAMS AMONG THE CLASS OF 2022 FOR SPORTS MEDIA CANADA ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Sports Media Canada is pleased to announce its list of honourees for 2022. The awards will be presented at the 25th SMC Achievement Awards Luncheon to be held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel’s Imperial Room on Thursday, November 17. The recipients to be honoured are: Brian Williams (CBC-TV Sports & TSN): Career Achievement Andi Petrillo (CBC-TV Sports & OneSoccer): Broadcasting Rick Westhead (TSN): Sportswriting Nick Didlick (Freelance – Vancouver): … [Read More...]
FRED WALKER: GREAT BROADCASTER, MENTOR & FRIEND
By JOHN IABONI Sports Media Canada – and sports media in Canada – mourn the passing on March 18, 2022 of Fred Walker. In the process, we send along our deepest condolences to his wife, Wendy, and the entire Walker Family. Fred’s towering presence went far beyond his NBA-like body … he was jovial, a friend to all, a legendary radio broadcaster for CBC and a mentor to many. “He was a great man and an amazing mentor,” said John Bartlett, hockey play-by-play broadcaster on Rogers Sportsnet … [Read More...]
CANADIAN SPORTS MEDIA LOSES A GIANT IN RALPH MELLANBY
By JOHN IABONI Ralph Mellanby’s signature was Hockey Night in Canada as executive producer from 1966 to 1985 but his master legendary broadcasting mind influenced and impacted so many other élite sports properties. Included among them are the Olympics (where he won five Emmy Awards), Major League Baseball (involving the Montreal Expos and the very first game and season for the Toronto Blue Jays), Canada’s prime golf and tennis tournaments, the Canadian Football League and, well, you get the … [Read More...]
DICK BRADBEER: FAREWELL TO A GOOD FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE
By Fred Walker Sports Media Canada Member At Large The world of sport in Canada has lost a great friend. Richard (Dick) Bradbeer died on Thursday, February 10, 2021 after a long illness. He was 87. The name Bradbeer seemed synonymous with the product made by Labatt. In fact, one former media colleague labelled him as owning the best brew name in the industry. A native of Niagara Falls, ON, he got his start in the beer business as a junior accountant for Carling Breweries in the … [Read More...]
FRANK ORR: SAYING GOODBYE TO A SPORTSWRITING GIANT
On Saturday, February 13, 2021, Canada lost one of its all-time best sportswriters with the passing of Frank Orr. He was 84. Orr received the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1989, the Sports Media Canada Career Achievement Award in 2003 and induction into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He joined The Toronto Star in the early 1960s and spent more than four decades there where he covered the National Hockey League, junior hockey, international hockey and motorsports. He authored … [Read More...]
24TH SPORTS MEDIA CANADA ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS HONOURS BESTOWED ON THE CLASS OF 2019
By JOHN IABONI Terry Leibel, a trailblazer for women sportscasters through her brilliant 28-year career (1980-2008) with CBC-TV Sports and TSN (The Sports Network), received the 2019 George Gross-Don Goodwin Award for Career Achievement to cap the 24th Sports Media Canada Achievement Awards Luncheon. Leibel was the first woman to host a national sports program (Sportsdesk with the launch of TSN in 1984), the first woman to co-host CBC-TV’s coverage of the Olympics (beginning with the 1996 … [Read More...]
TERRY LEIBEL LEADS CLASS OF 2019 FOR 24TH ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Terry Leibel, the first woman to host a national sports program and to co-host CBC-TV's Olympics coverage, leads the list of honourees for the 24th Sports Media Canada Achievement Awards. The 2019 Achievement Awards luncheon will be held at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto on Thursday, Nov. 14. Leibel is one of eight women and men who will be recognized for their outstanding work in Canadian sports media. Joining her are Toronto Raptors TV play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin, photographer … [Read More...]
JERRY HOWARTH AMONG HONOUREES FOR THE 23RD ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Jerry Howarth, who for 36 years entertained and informed baseball fans across Canada as a radio broadcaster on the Toronto Blue Jays/Sportsnet Radio network, will be among nine men and women honoured at the 23rd Sports Media Canada Achievement Awards luncheon at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto on Thursday, November 15. Howarth, who has previously been honoured at the luncheon as an awards recipient in the Broadcasting category, is the latest Canadian sports media star to … [Read More...]
