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Good day to all.
Nearly 33 years into my career, it goes without saying I’ve watched people play a pile of games. You name it, I’ve covered it.
The competitions have involved lone individuals, just a few people, or well-populated teams, and have ranged from the playfully innocent to the disturbingly dangerous.
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There’s been the standard fare, such as hockey, curling, football, baseball, basketball soccer, volleyball, golf, tennis and athletics (track and field).
Swimming, cricket, rugby, gymnastics, figure skating, boxing, cycling, archery, skeet-shooting, rowing, sailing, lacrosse, wrestling, squash? Totally. All of them.
Auto, motorbike and snowmobile racing? Yep.
Equestrian? Many, many times. I was the Brandon Sun’s go-to guy for years during the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, getting the goods, “straight from the horse’s mouth” as my old buddy Doug Lunney used to say.
Billiards, bowling and darts, too. And cribbage. I’m not making this up.
Jason can’t beat his wife at cribbage twice in a weekend. (Frank Gunn / Canadian Press files)
I once spent a weekend watching about 100 card players from across the country tally their 15s, pairs and runs during a Canadian Royal Legion national championship.
(It was the late ‘90s, and a fellow from Ontario, I believe, successfully defended his title. That still astonishes me, to this day. I can’t beat my wife, Allyson, twice in a weekend and this guy outlasts dozens of players in his home province and then dominates at the nationals. TWO YEARS IN A ROW.)
Anyway, my point is I’ve written about a lot of stuff over four decades. And in all that time, I can safely say I intentionally pulled for a specific competitor to emerge victorious only once while on the job.
I was in Winnipeg to cover the 1993 Scott Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling championship for the Brandon Sun, and Maureen Bonar’s team from Brandon — with Allyson tossing second stones — made it to the final.
My objectivity kind of went out the window that day as Team Bonar earned the title, defeating Karen Fallis of Winnipeg in the final. I didn’t do cartwheels but there were definitely some fist pumps and even a few tears shed by yours truly.
Allyson went on to play in her first of two Canadian Scotties championships, and I got to be a proud, supportive husband and cheer from the stands for each of them.
It’s taken a while to get to the point here, but I’ll admit to you, readers, that I quietly wish for only good things for Josh Morrissey.
Josh Morrissey leads all NHL blue-liners with 28 assists. (John Froschauer / Associated Press files)
The Winnipeg defenceman is having a splendid year, for those who hadn’t noticed. The 27-year-old from Calgary, in his seventh season with the Jets, leads ALL NHL blue-liners with 28 assists, and his 33 points places him third behind only Erik Karlsson of San Jose (38) and Rasmus Dahlin of Buffalo (35). He also has three game-winning goals (two in overtime), quarterbacks the first power-play unit and plays an average of more than 23 minutes a night.
Great player, indeed. And a solid human, as Ken (Ace) Wiebe would say.
Free Press sports columnist Mike McIntyre has expressed a similar sentiment in the past.
Here are a couple of quick stories that demonstrate the character of the kid. (I’m 56. I have a 29-year-old son and 25-year-old daughter. So, Morrissey is still a kid to me.)
Each time we’ve spoken — from the very first time I interviewed him in 2016 to our most recent chat at his charity golf tournament in early September — he’s been polite and attentive. Shakes your hand, looks you in the eye, stays engaged, listens.
In the dressing room, he always made a point of asking how I was doing, how my family was doing.
Prior to Jets training camp in 2019, Morrissey, a restricted free agent, was out for a skate at the Iceplex with a couple of teammates. When he stepped off the ice, I requested a few minutes to talk about the status of his contract talks. At the urging of Mark Scheifele, Morrissey politely declined. It was an awkward moment, for both of us.
On my way home my phone rang, I answered the call from a number I didn’t recognize USING HANDS-FREE and immediately recognized Morrissey’s voice. He apologized for the earlier rebuff and said he’d welcome a few questions. I was the only writer to speak to him in that time of uncertainty. Days later, he’d sign an eight-year contract extension.
Hopefully Morrissey is in the conversation for the Norris Trophy. (Mike Deal / Free Press files)
I kept his number just in case, mindful I’d never use it without the permission of the Jets PR staff. However, I bent the rules in August 2021 and texted him to offer condolences on the loss of his father, who had died of cancer a few days earlier.
He sent a long reply four minutes later.
A few months ago, at the annual Dream Factory tournament he supports, we had a good visit before the shotgun start and then spent a few minutes talking after dinner as the event was winding down. He shook my hand and thanked me for coming. Said he’d see me at training camp.
Obviously, I’m no longer on the hockey beat and won’t interview Morrissey again. But I hope our paths cross again. I hope he keeps having success on the ice and is in the conversation for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman.
I’ll cheer not-so-silently if it happens.
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