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Remembering Harold
by Alanah McGinley on 06/25/08 at 03:17 PM ET
Comments (3)
Reacting to the current bad behavior in the NHL owners’ boxes lately (i.e. Samueli suspended by the NHL; Del Biaggio’s financial chaos, etc) Jamie Fitzgerald of About.com reminds us that modern NHL owners are amateurs when it comes to such shenanigans. Remember Harry?
All very shady. But today’s NHL shysters are mere amateurs compared to the great Harold Ballard. Pal Hal was no ordinary crook. He did it in style and had a great time along the way.
And nobody - nobody - knew how to run a hockey team into the ground like Harold.
Even better, Fitzgerald reminds me of a scandalous interview that Ballard once gave CBC’s Barbara Frum. An absolute classic:
CBC --
It’s one of Barbara Frum’s most famous interviews. It’s March 1979 and she is on the phone with Harold Ballard, the controversial and outrageous owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and with Globe and Mail columnist Dick Beddoes.
A fiery Ballard enrages Canadians when says women on the radio are a joke and implies that the best position for them is on their backs.
Ballard eventually hangs up on Frum but not before he tells her to keep quiet and berates her for interrupting him. Frum remains pleasant and good-natured throughout the abusive interview.
The next night, Frum reads a letter to Ballard forgiving him for his sexist outbursts. She signs the “Dear Harold” letter from “Your favourite BROAD-caster.”
The clip is available here and well-worth taking a few minutes to check out.
Classic Ballard—so unapologetically offensive, it’s actually entertaining.
Note: More on Ballard, “The NHL’s Nominee for the Worst Sports Owner Ever,” can be read here.
Filed in: nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: harold+ballard,
Comments
“He was one of a kind...”
Let’s hope so. 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 06/26/08 at 08:44 AM ET
I’m not sure if Harold Ballard or Jack Adams set the gold standard for hockey douchebaggery, but either way, it’s a hell of a bar to meet. Hopefully, we don’t see it in our lifetimes. (Or at the very least, that it happens to some real likeable club, like the Calgary Flames. Or the Leafs again.)
Posted by Doogie2K from Calgary, AB on 06/27/08 at 02:07 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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He was one of a kind. And thank god for that.
Posted by Leserv from Arizona on 06/25/08 at 02:55 PM ET