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Happy anniversary to us!
I had the pleasure of attending a special event last evening at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, where my employer was the guest of honour to celebrate the birth of this newspaper exactly 150 years to the day.
Frankly, I don’t think we look a day over 149.
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It was terrific meeting so many faithful Free Press readers from all walks of life, including several who told me they’re not the biggest sports fans, but enjoy getting this little missive in their email inbox every Thursday.
That truly made my day.
We had great chats about several topics, including my two decades on the crime and justice beat, the move to sports, covering the Jets, life on the road and (my personal favourite) our two rescue dogs.
As for the formal part of the gathering, it was great hearing from our owner, Bob Silver, our president and CEO, Mike Power (who I got to meet for the first time), and our editor, Paul Samyn, speak about the importance of local, independent journalism.
Now, more than ever in this disinformation era.
You can read all about the festivities HERE and HERE.
Officially, I’ve been at western Canada’s oldest newspaper for a quarter-century, starting in 1997 at the tender age of 22. Unofficially, my employment began about 12 years earlier when I started delivering papers after school.
It’s the greatest career in the world, one I wouldn’t trade for anything. And it was re-assuring to hear from the powers that be that, despite many challenges in our ever-changing industry, the future remains extremely bright for the Freep.
I’m excited about what’s still to come. And thanks, folks, for your continued support of what we do. It means the world.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve never really been much of art gallery guy.
I remember my wife and I touring one in Minneapolis ages ago and coming across a big pile of elephant poop on display. Apparently, it was some kind of special attraction, courtesy of some famous artist, making some kind of profound statement.
All I saw was, pardon my language, a pile of crap.
However, my tune may be changing after my visit to the WAG. We got a sneak peek at their new exhibition, Headlines: The Art of the News Cycle, which “explores the news and how we consume it.”
Not so breaking news: it is top notch.
It walks you from the past through to the present, featuring work from Pierre Ayot, Myriam Dion, Stan Douglas, Dianna Frid, Ron Gorsline, Laurent Roberge, Miriam Rudolph, and Ron Terada.
The official grand opening is Friday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.). The best part? Admission for the grand opening is free!
Head on down and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
I got back Monday night from a week-long road trip covering the Jets through Minneapolis, Dallas and Chicago.
It was memorable for a few reasons.
The on-ice action was all over the place, book-ended by a blowout loss and a blowout win, with a controversial overtime victory sandwiched in between.
I filed approximately 15,000 words of copy in the form of 11 combined stories, features and columns.
There was plenty of good eats along the way — Texas barbecue is always a hit, and dinner at the world-famous Harry Caray’s in the Windy City was terrific.
There were the usual travel snafus, delays and bizarre happenings, including a woman trying to get on our flight to Dallas when her ticket clearly showed she was heading to Indianapolis — then causing a stink when they wouldn’t let her board, even though the signage was everywhere indicating she was in the wrong. Also, an Uber drive who didn’t utter a single world for most of a 20-minute trip — then exploded in rage with a “Move, F—” when a car took too long to accelerate on a green light. I was definitely happy when that ride was over.
Last, but certainly not least: A visit to Jerry World, on U.S. Thanksgiving to boot, to watch the Dallas Cowboys host the New York Giants.
It is a spectacle, to say the least. And it was like being at a mini-Super Bowl, what with 90,000 other fans in attendance and a glitzy halftime show featuring the Jonas Brothers.
My only complaint, after seeing just my second NFL game (and first since 1996) — there is way, WAY too much dead time involved in watching live.
Between endless television timeouts and flags seemingly being thrown on every second play, it’s just a whole lot of …nothing.
At least when you’re at home you can flip the channel, get up to go to the bathroom or grab a snack, or find something else to occupy your time in between snaps.
Maybe I’m just spoiled by the much more continuous action of hockey. Or maybe I’m just getting old and cranky. But put me down in the “been there, done that” category and not exactly clamouring for my next visit to an NFL stadium.
There was a time, back in the era of Cooperalls and full-scale line brawls, that fights between fans at Winnipeg Jets games were a thing.
I can remember attending games with my father during the 1980s and seeing heated words, shoves and the occasional punch thrown in the concourse at the old Winnipeg Arena. Alcohol was seemingly always a factor.
Fortunately, that sort of shameful display is (mostly) a thing of the past. Which is why the scene on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre was so shocking.
A man and woman, clearly overserved and being asked to leave by security, doubled down on their abrasive, abusive behaviour.
And things really took a turn when a Good Samaritan, trying to help out the overwhelmed guard, stepped in — and was tossed down the staircase for his efforts. His head struck the boards, leaving him a bloodied mess.
The start of the third period was delayed as referees and players from the Jets and Colorado Avalanche skated over to see what was happening.
Several witnesses reached out to tell me there were numerous children in the area when this happened, including one little girl who was reduced to tears. Her family left shortly after, missing the rest of what was an excellent hockey game.
What a mess.
The good news is the poor guy who took the dangerous fall is apparently OK. If you’ve seen the videos — they’re all over social media — you know this could have been so much worse.
And the two knuckleheads responsible were marched out in handcuffs, where they now face a litany of charges.
Here’s hoping a lifetime ban from ever attending another event at the downtown rink will be part of the ultimate punishment.
Have a great week, folks. And don’t forget to be kind to each other.
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