Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter
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TESTING: It’s nice to meet you — virtually
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ALLOW ME TO (RE)INTRODUCE MYSELF
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, or so the saying goes.
Which is why I’ve tried to spruce things up a bit. Polish the good silverware. Bring out the cloth napkins instead of the paper ones. Sweep the dust under the carpet. Straighten the picture frames. Run a comb through my ever-thinning hair.
Turns out I’ve got company. And not just a few new visitors, but a significant group of folks checking out this little corner of the online universe for the first time. I’ll spare you the details but suffice to say the mailing list grew by leaps and bounds over the past few days.
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To all of you dropping in for the first time: welcome. I hope you like what you read. And to all those returning guests: welcome back, old friends. Thanks for the ongoing support.
Do I have anything in my teeth?
There’s no capacity limit in our virtual space, so pass this on to anyone you think might be interested. As always, feel free to get in touch with me here, whether it’s with feedback, a story idea or just to say hello.
Now please, make yourself at home.
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Mike McIntyre, Sports columnist
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If you enjoy my newsletter, please consider forwarding it to others. They can sign up for free here.
I also wanted to let you know about another newsletter: my colleague Jen Zoratti covers all kinds of terrific ground on what’s next in arts, life and pop culture in her newsletter called Next that goes out every Wednesday.
You can browse all of our newsletters here.
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DON’T WORRY, THERE WON’T BE A TEST
Given the growing audience, I figured this would be a perfect time to tell you a little bit more about me. After all, what would a personal newsletter be without some personal touches, right?
Yeah, I’m the guy who writes about sports in the daily newspaper, with a particular focus on the Winnipeg Jets. But did you also know…
- I’ve spent all 46 years of my life in Winnipeg. I’m a graduate of Maple Leaf Elementary School (Olympic curling champ Jill Officer and I were classmates), followed by Chief Peguis Junior High and River East Collegiate (Jets anthem singer Stacey Nattrass and I were classmates).
- I met my beautiful bride in high school, and we got married in 2000. Our first child was born in August 2001, and he is everything I could have wanted in a son. My wife went into labour with our second on my 30th birthday in January 2005, giving birth early the next morning. Our now 16-year-old daughter is amazing. A highlight in life was coaching both of them in minor hockey — my son for a decade, my daughter for five seasons. Time flies.
For those of you with young children, cherish it.
- I love dogs. More than most people, to be perfectly honest. Our family currently has two rescues — 12-year-old Cassie, and seven-year-old Bodie. Dogs are the absolute best. Adopt, don’t shop.
- I wanted to be a professional wrestler while growing up. And a meteorologist. And a teacher. I occasionally still check out Vince McMahon’s WWE product on television, fully admit to being a weather fanatic, and have all the respect in the world for our hard-working educators.
- I like to think my Free Press career began at the age of 11, even if my annual pension statement sadly says otherwise. Equipped with my little blue wagon, I had a paper route of approximately 50 households which, back at the time, would be delivered after school. Other early jobs included a cashier at Safeway, and co-hosting karaoke for a couple years in my late teens. No, I’m not much of a singer, although that never stopped me from trying. A Horse With No Name was my go-to tune.
- I took my journalism training at Red River College, beginning in 1993 when I was 18 and graduating from the Creative Communications program two years later under the tutelage of Donald Benham.
- My original media dream was to be a sports broadcaster. In “Cre Comm,” I used to do play-by-play of floor hockey games from the school gym, into a telephone over the campus radio station. I did a school project on then-Jets announcer Curt Keilback and thought he had the coolest job in the world.
- My first paid journalism job was at the now-defunct Interlake Spectator in Gimli, where I spent the summer of 1994. I was sad to see that my former boss, Roger Newman, recently passed away. He taught me a lot in our short time together.
- My first work placement was on the old Sportsline program on CKND (now Global) with Gene Principe and Daren Millard. Two extremely funny guys.
- My second work placement was at the Winnipeg Sun, where I was immediately thrown into the police beat and quickly immersed myself in it — especially after the paper opted to hire 20-year-old me full-time when my three weeks were up. I’d listen to my police scanner into the wee hours of the night, getting to various crime scenes to speak with witnesses and meet all kinds of police officers, paramedics and first responders who would turn into great sources. I also saw all kinds of things I wish I could forget.
- After 2.5 years at the Sun, I moved over to the Free Press in 1997. Next month will be the start of my 27th year in this industry, and 25th year at the broadsheet media giant. I’m a lucky guy, to have a job that I still love to this day.
- I’ve had a lot of “pinch me” moments in my career, especially in my current gig as an NHL beat writer and sports columnist. Covering the Stanley Cup Final in an empty Edmonton arena last fall. Covering the Toronto Raptors NBA Final at Scotiabank Centre. Covering the Blue Bombers Grey Cup victory in Calgary. Covering two consecutive Winnipeg Goldeyes championships, the first in Wichita, the second at Shaw Park. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
- I wrote my first true crime book in 2003 after covering the two-month trial in Brandon surrounding the murder of RCMP Const. Dennis Strongquill. After Nowhere To Run, I would go on to write five more, all on Manitoba-based cases I covered. If I ever write another book, it will likely be sports-themed.
- I started a weekly radio show, Crime & Punishment, in 2004 on CJOB. Within two years it was being carried nationally on the Corus Radio Network. I hosted and produced the show every Sunday until I gave it up in 2016 after walking away from the justice beat and moving into the sports department. I love the rush of live radio and miss it dearly. Especially with the recent closure of TSN 1290, where I was appearing multiple times a week to talk sports. Fortunately, I still have the weekly Jetcetera podcast which I do with my boss, Steve Lyons, every Wednesday.
- I’ve worn some other interesting professional hats. I was hired to write scripts for an online web series, called Verdict, which was produced and shot here in Winnipeg. I’ve been involved in both production of, and participation in, multiple crime-based documentaries which still occasionally air on various channels. There are ongoing film options on a couple of my books. And I’ve also been interviewed on cases I’ve covered by a variety of U.S. network shows including ABC’s 20/20 (meeting Deborah Roberts here in Winnipeg was a thrill) and MTV’s Catfish show.
- I’m a big klutz, yet somehow — knock on wood — have never broken a bone. I’ve knocked teeth out in separate accidents on my bicycle and while roller skating. I’ve fallen through a glass coffee table. I had to go to hospital after a bad childhood fall off some monkey bars. I have several scars that tell the stories of these, and other, mishaps.
- I have a love-hate relationship with technology. Last week, a one-hour phone interview with Ray Neufeld didn’t record properly on my laptop, which has multiple cracks in it from flying off a conveyor belt in Nashville a couple years ago. And remind me to tell you the story one day of how I accidentally launched my iPhone from the press box at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena, into the empty seats below.
- One of my guilty pleasures in life is the soap opera Days of Our Lives. I feel no shame in admitting that and will happily discuss any and all plot developments with you! I began watching as a teenager, drifted away for a couple decades, but have really grown re-attached to it in recent years, especially over the past 12 months while mainly working at home. Some of the same characters from my childhood are still on the show. Incredibly, they don’t appear to have aged.
- I live for travel. My wife and I hosted 10 cruises, tied in with my former radio show, in which folks would join us on vacation. We’ve done a few other ones with our family as well. We were supposed to do a big family trip to New York last summer, complete with Broadway shows and a Blue Jays-Yankees series. COVID-19 had other plans. We’ve re-scheduled for this coming August, and I really hope we get to take it. I also missing hitting the road for Jets games, but the current 14-day quarantine in Manitoba makes it impossible right now. Covering road trips from my basement, off television and Zoom calls, just isn’t the same.
- I ran the Manitoba half-marathon about 15 years ago as part of a bucket list challenge to myself at my less-than-ideal weight of 276 pounds. I (foolishly) didn’t do a training run longer than four miles leading up to it. It took me 2 hours, 26 minutes to complete the 13-mile course, but I accomplished my goal of doing it without stopping.
- I decided last summer to try and flatten my own curve. I started going on daily walks, two miles to start, which have now grown into the four-mile range. I stepped up my gym workouts. And I began to pay special attention to diet by tracking food through the online Weight Watchers program. Now nine months into the journey, I’ve dropped 93 pounds. Although I still have a bit more to go — approximately 25 pounds or so — I’m proud of how far I’ve come. If I can do it you can do it.
Now that you know a little bit more about me, feel free to introduce yourself by shooting me an email at mike.mcintyre@freepress. (Or simply hit reply to this one).
I’ll see you next week in this space. Take care!
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