Who was your sports hero growing up? Who is it today (if different)?

And which sports hero of yours let you down the most?

On the flip side, who is your original sports villain, and who is your chosen villain now?

Edited July 24, 20232 yr by TrueBlue4ever

I’ll start it off:

Original hero: Dale Hawerchuk/Willard Reaves

Current hero: Don’t really go for hero worship any more, but will always have immense admiration for Terry Fox. 

Hero who let me down: Ben Johnson, definitely opened my eyes to corruption in sports in all aspects. 

Original villain: Probably Wayne Gretzky simply out of spite for how good he was and how often he killed the Jets. 

Current villain: have grown out of the “villain” concept, but considering my “your hate goes here” list, would rank OJ Simpson, Lance Armstrong, and Barry Bonds at the top in some order. 

I like this even though I'm not into pro sports as much as I once was:

Original: Tie Domi. Shawn Cronin going back to my earliest memories of hockey.

Current: O'Shea? The guy was such a saviour from years of ridiculousness. He wins and does it the right way. No others that I can think of, but I do like the nod to Terry Fox, so I'll go with that too. I get emotional talking about him with students every year.

Hero who let me down: Hmmm, Charles Roberts? Maybe just because I didn't realize at the time anything about how his off-field behaviour hurt his performance and the team. Though I still love to watch old clips and tell others about how exciting he was.

Original villain: Pavel Bure / Mike Pringle. I also have faint memories of really disliking O'Shea because he seemed to always do well against the Bombers.

Current villain: Max Verstappen (if racing counts), maybe Bo Levi/Dave Dickenson (I love to see them struggle after being so dominant)

I'll probably update this after I put more thought into it. There's some dusty cobwebs in my head that might unearth more memories.

Hero: I might have to go with Cal Murphy. Nothing but playoff appearances and firing him set the club back years. Decades?

Let Down Hero: Hawerchuk...for leaving

Villian: 99

Current Villian: 97

Edited July 25, 20232 yr by FrostyWinnipeg

Random question of the week #2:

Who is the best TV sitcom character of all time?

kramer?

 

ignatowski?

 

 

Edited July 28, 20232 yr by Mark F

I'm still doing week one:

Hero: Jean Bealiveau. As a kid, I liked reading books about the olden days of hockey. Les Gros Bill was pure skill and pure class.

Today: none

Let Down: Charles Roberts / Tom Canada - off field behaviour 

Original villain/current: Dave Dickenson - he seems to make sure his whining is heard

CFL is the only pro sport I still watch, in case that isn't obvious

1 hour ago, Mark H. said:

Hero: Jean Bealiveau

childhood, so many guys from then, but he might be mine too. puck on a string. 

less prehistoric, kindly Cal. walby.

my sports hero is muhammed ali.

 

Edited July 28, 20232 yr by Mark F

Who was your sports hero growing up?

Bobby Clarke/Dieter Brock

Who is it today (if different)?

Don't really do heroes anymore, but I really like Steve Kerr.

And which sports hero of yours let you down the most?

Vince Carter?

On the flip side, who is your original sports villain,

Wayne Cashman.

and who is your chosen villain now?

Sidney Crosby

 

Edited July 28, 20232 yr by Wideleft

28 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Wayne Cashman.

lol. good choice.

I remember when canucks came back from canada russia series, plane door opened, cashman was standing there, blitzed. 😂

lot of stickwork by wayne.  the way the league was then made me stop watching hockey.

I have a hazy memory of him entering the tv screen from one side, in the air, horizontal, with stick held like a lance, went through and exited other side of screen in the air. 

 

most disliked, currently, lebron.

Edited July 28, 20232 yr by Mark F

Who was your sports hero growing up?

Dave Semenko - he was relative (not close) but the kid version of me was in awe having a "cousin" as a member of the best team in hockey, and he was Gretzky's body guard to boot.

Who is it today (if different)?

Don't really have one but there are guys like MOS that I really appreciate the way they go about their business (except if there are thorax or roster management issues 😂).  The contrast between him and other coaches like the Dickenson's is ridiculous.

And which sports hero of yours let you down the most?

Mike Sellers... said he'd come back and play another season here before retiring because it was so much fun.  I'm still waiting Mike!

On the flip side, who is your original sports villain,

Tim Hunter (or any other Calgary Lame from that era).

and who is your chosen villain now?

Toss up between Dana White or Gary Bettman.

Who is the best TV sitcom character of all time?

Al Bundy for me (or Homer Simpson if we're including animated characters).

I often like side characters so

Trailer Park Boys - Ray

South Park - Randy Marsh

4 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Random question of the week #2:

Who is the best TV sitcom character of all time?

Hawkeye.

tim hunter..... good choice.

 

or, jamie macoun. cross checker of ducky.

2 hours ago, bigg jay said:

 (or any other Calgary Lame from that era).

Well played.

Loving the participation and answers

9 hours ago, Mark H. said:

ILet Down: Charles Roberts / Tom Canada - off field behaviour 

What was Canada’s behaviour again?

8 hours ago, Mark F said:

childhood, so many guys from then, but he might be mine too. puck on a string. 

less prehistoric, kindly Cal. walby.

my sports hero is muhammed ali.

 

Thumbs up on Ali

7 hours ago, bigg jay said:

and who is your chosen villain now?

Toss up between Dana White or Gary Bettman.

Bravo for the Dana White call

Who was your sports hero growing up?

Larry Bird

Who is it today (if different)?

Nobody. I like different players but not as a hero.

 

10 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

What was Canada’s behaviour again?

Partners in night before game partying.

On 2023-07-28 at 7:38 AM, TrueBlue4ever said:

Random question of the week #2:

Who is the best TV sitcom character of all time?

So we’ll try this question again, but I’ll throw out another new one for this week:

What is your favourite (or in your mind the best) opening riff in rock music history?

 

9 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

So we’ll try this question again, but I’ll throw out another new one for this week:

What is your favourite (or in your mind the best) opening riff in rock music history?

It's either a Blue Oyster Cult song or a Black Sabbath song. 

As far as best sitcom character, Kramer was a standout on a show full of hilarious characters, so I have to go with him. 

For guitar riff, the opening chords of “Layla” might be the most iconic (mindful of how tough and broad this question is and how personal any selection will be). As for a personal favourite that is probably not even thought of or severely underrated (mainly because in my mind the shift into the main body of the song falls right off after it) is the opening guitar lick of “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” (which Bryan Adams later copied to a large extent when he recorded “Run To You”). 

 

Edited August 8, 20232 yr by TrueBlue4ever

9 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

So we’ll try this question again, but I’ll throw out another new one for this week:

What is your favourite (or in your mind the best) opening riff in rock music history?

 

I don't think I could pick one... if I had to do a top five, which is still tough to do, I'd go with (in no particular order).

Stairway to heaven

Iron Man

Satisfaction

Sweet child o' mine

Smoke on the water.

I could swap a couple of those out easily and put in songs like Purple haze, enter sandman or smells like teen spirit, depending on what era I'm wanting to listen to at the moment.

 

5 hours ago, johnzo said:

It's either a Blue Oyster Cult song or a Black Sabbath song. 

Ghost 

Next question(s):

Beat opening and closing scenes of a movie? (Also TV show if you are so inclined). 

Edited August 16, 20232 yr by TrueBlue4ever