Showing posts with label Medicine Hat Blue Jays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medicine Hat Blue Jays. Show all posts

Tuesday, 16 August 2022

Last call as Tigers play-by-play voice in for Ridley

Iconic broadcaster retires after 52 seasons, 4,022 games

The Tigers retirement tweet for Bob Ridley.
Bob Ridley has bid his audience “a very pleasant good night” for the final time.

On Tuesday, the iconic play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers announced his retirement. The announcement brings an end to a career that started with the inaugural campaign of the modern version of the Tigers in 1970-71 and would go on to last 52 seasons and 4,022 games.

Ridley’s 4,022 games called as the Tigers play-by-play voice is a record for most games called as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team, and he is the only hockey play-by-play voice to have hit the 4,000 games plateau. The total includes 3,590 regular season games, one standings tiebreaker game, 411 games in the WHL playoffs and 20 contests in the Memorial Cup tournament.

If someone called 80 games a season for 50 seasons, they would come up 22 contests short of Ridley’s total as the Tigers play-by-play voice.

Ridley, who is a product of Vulcan, Alta., was on the call for the Tigers five WHL championship wins in 1973, 1987, 1988, 2004 and 2007. He was there to call the Tigers two Memorial Cup title victories in 1987 and 1988 to become champions of the CHL.

During the Tigers first 51 seasons, Ridley missed calling just one game. In 1972, Ridley was assigned by the CHAT radio and television outlet in Medicine Hat to go to Saskatoon to cover the national women’s curling championships.

A Medicine Hat rink was the Alberta champion representative, and that squad was skipped by Polly Beaton. The foursome had a lead named Terry Kope, who was the wife of the station’s general manager.

Bob Ridley calls a Tigers playoff game in March of 2019.
Due to that connection, Ridley was dispatched to Saskatoon and had to miss calling one Tigers regular season game. Ridley drove the Tigers team bus for most of his career too.

This past season, Ridley was absent for all but one regular season game due to the fact he had to battle cancer. Scott Roblin filled in as the Tigers play-by-play voice during the time Ridley was gone.

Before Christmas this past December, Ridley was declared cancer free. With the world in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, he didn’t return to the broadcast booth until the Tigers final game of the 2021-22 campaign this past April 15. They fell 3-0 in that contest to the eventual WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.

The Tigers missed the playoffs having finished last in the WHL regular season standings with an 11-53-3-1 record, which was an unusual down campaign for the club.

In an interview with Gates Guarin of CHAT News on Tuesday, Ridley said he contemplated a lot of things during the down time he had this past season and decided the time was right to retire in order to spend more time with family and friends. The 78-year-old added that on top of being the Tigers play-by-play voice he spent about 47 years as the sports director at CHAT, so that meant he sacrificed a lot of time with family and friends.

For about eight years starting in 1977, Ridley was also the play-by-play voice of Medicine Hat’s representatives in the Pioneer Baseball League, which is a rookie circuit for MLB clubs. That included calling games for the A’s lone season in the Hat in 1977 followed by the first number of seasons played by the Blue Jays, who came to town in 1978 before departing following the 2002 campaign. The Blue Jays won the Pioneer League championship in 1982.

Bob Ridley gets set to drive the Tigers bus in the 2012 WHL playoffs.
Ridley has a lengthy list accolades. The accolades include receiving the Medicine Hat Civic Recognition Sports Award in 1995, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Bell Memorial Award in 2005, the Alberta Centennial Award in 2005, the WHL Distinguished Service Award in 2007, induction into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011 and induction into the Western Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2019. At Co-op Place the Tigers home rink, the press box is named the “Bob Ridley Broadcast Centre” in Ridley’s honour.

On February 27, 2021 at Co-op Place, Ridley called his 4,000th game as the Tigers romped past the Red Deer Rebels 7-2. Before that contest, the WHL feted Ridley with a unique honour.

The WHL announced the creation of the Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence to be presented annually to a member of the radio, television and print journalism industry in recognition of their outstanding contributions to sports journalism and the WHL.

Ridley was named the inaugural winner of the honour and was presented with the award by WHL commissioner Ron Robison during a special ceremony at Co-op Place before he called his 4,000th game.

This past April 2 before a 6-1 loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the Tigers honoured Ridley at Co-op Place unveiling a banner to pay tribute to his career that was placed up in the building rafters alongside the retired #9 banner for Tom Lysiak and the retired #8 banner for Lanny McDonald.

Bob Ridley calls a game at The Arena in Medicine Hat.
Ridley’s career is so special that he would be deserving of the call to the Hockey Hall of Fame, if that honour should come his way one day. One day, there should be a place for Ridley in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Tigers fans are going to miss Ridley’s classic goal call, “He scooooooorrrres!”

They can always hear Ridley making his famous goal call when Brennan Bosch scored in double overtime of Game 7 of the 2007 WHL Championship Series to deliver the Tigers their fifth league title and a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. 

The win came before a raucous sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators at the Tigers legendary former home rink in The Arena.

Ridley will always be “the Dean” of major junior hockey broadcasters. The best part about “Rids” is he has always taken all the accolades that have come his way on a humble manner, and he has never made himself that big of a deal.

Ridley is a gentleman and a Hall of Fame person. He has always treated everyone with grace and class, and for anyone associated with the Tigers, it was always a highlight to be interviewed by him.

Anyone that has come through Tigers organization has only great things to say about Ridley including players like Lysiak, McDonald, Kelly Hrudey, Trevor Linden, Chris Osgood, Kris Russell, Darren Helm, Emerson Etem and Cole Sillinger. Ridley considers current Tigers general manager and head coach Willie Desjardins as one of his all-time best friends, and Desjardins cherishes Ridley’s place in team lore.

Bob Ridley calls a road game in Saskatoon in 2017.
It does feel like a disservice not to mention everyone that came through Tigers who would have something great to say about Ridley. Team owners Darrell and Brent Maser have to feel fortunate Ridley was the team’s play-by-play voice for as long as he was.

If you did a search of Ridley’s name on social media channels on Tuesday, you will see an endless number of people and teams offering him well wishes and praise.

In finishing his interview with Guarin, Ridley said his immediate plans are to sit back and relax and enjoy his family and enjoy life. You can be sure Ridley’s wife, Deb, will be happy he is home.

On top of enjoying time with family, hopefully, Ridley will revel in some rides on his Harley Davidson motorcycle too.

Ridley has left a unique mark on the game of hockey, the Tigers and Medicine Hat as a city that will never be matched. In retirement, he deserves everything good that comes his way.

Personal note – I will miss tracking Ridley’s games called total

Bob Ridley calls a game at the 2007 Memorial Cup.
Since Stanks’ Sermon is my blog, I wanted to get a personal note in.

I am going to miss tracking Bob Ridley’s games called total as the play-by-play voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers. I know this will sound self-serving, but I enjoyed tracking that statistic over the years.

When Ridley announced his retirement on Tuesday, it felt weird for me that I wouldn’t be tracking that total anymore that closed out at 4,022 games called, which is the most one person has called as a play-by-play voice of any hockey team.

I first tallied up the number of games Ridley had called way back in August of 2006. As a sports reporter for the Medicine Hat News, I was doing stories about a tribute dinner night the Tigers did for Ridley at that time, which saw a huge number of the team’s alums turn out from all eras. I also did a story on that tribute night for Hockey Now.

After I figured out how many games Ridley had called back in August of 2006 in the newsroom of the News, Sean Rooney, who was my sports editor, suggested that I should keep track of Ridley’s games called tally going into the future. Rooney said that would be an important piece of information people would like as the years went on.

When I left the News and Medicine Hat after 10 years to move to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014 to be closer to family, I kept tracking Ridley’s games called total. When I arrived in Saskatoon, Ridley’s games called total stood at 3,545 contests.

At the end of every season, I would note on a post in this blog where Ridley’s games called total stood at. I also noted when he would hit milestones like 3,600 or 3,700 games called. Of course, it was big time exciting to see him become the first person to call 4,000 games as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team.

Over the years, I hope you enjoyed the games called total I was able to track. I hope it added to Ridley’s iconic status.

I’m going to miss seeing Ridley on the WHL beat. I’ll always consider him a great friend.

Thanks for the memories “Rids,” and cheers to you making many more great memories in your retirement years.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Sunday, 12 April 2020

One month anniversary since last live sports event

COVID-19 pandemic puts different milestones on the mind

The Warriors and Contacts go at it on March 12.
    I never imagined thought a midget AAA hockey playoff game would cross my mind as a milestone moment.
    Under the specter of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, different types of milestones cross the mind.
    This year’s Easter Sunday already felt weird when I woke up. Usually, there would be a big family get together to look forward to at dinner time.
    My whole mom’s side of the family pretty much lives in Saskatoon, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone remained at their respective homes during the dinner hour.
    Eventually during the morning hours, my mind began to drift to other things. One included noticing that it was April 12 on the calendar. When I saw that, it popped into my mind that one month had passed since the last time I was at a live competitive sporting event.
    That event was Game 3 of a best-of-five Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League semifinal series between the Saskatoon Contacts and Moose Jaw Warriors at Merlis Belsher Place on March 12.
    Originally, I wasn’t planning to go to that contest to cover it for this blog.
Forward Riley Girod (#10) breaks up ice for the Contacts on March 12.
    I was originally planning to use that night to prepare for a trip two days later to go to Medicine Hat, Alta., to take part in the festivities in Bob Ridley calling his 4,000th game as the play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.
    As of March 10, that was still my plan. Little did I know, March 10 would be the final day that progressed like a regular day.
    The COVID-19 pandemic became a larger reality in North America on March 11, when the NBA announced it was stopping its season. That started a chain reaction of postponements, cancellations and shutdowns in the sports and entertainment worlds.
    The shutdowns quickly included what was the normal every day world as society in Canada went into shutdown and lockdown.
    Looking back now at March 11 and 12, it was crazy to think how quickly all the shutdowns materialized.
    On March 12, the NHL put its season on pause and Canada’s three major junior leagues including the WHL paused their respective campaigns too. That development nixed the trip to Medicine Hat.
    The remaining regular season games and post-seasons for the three major junior circuits have since been cancelled.
Warriors forward Connor McGrath (#15) rushes up ice on March 12.
    About two hours before the Contacts and Warriors took the ice, Hockey Canada put out a release that it was cancelling its sanction events effective on March 13. That announcement wiped out the remaining post-seasons and nationals for the minor hockey bodies under the Hockey Canada umbrella.
    After seeing the Hockey Canada release that night, I figured I better check out the playoff match between the Contacts and Warriors, because my gut told me that would likely be the last competitive hockey game I would see for a while.
    Ultimately, it was the last competitive hockey game held in Saskatoon for the 2019-20 campaign, unless a pie in the sky hope turns into a reality where the NHL uses “The Bridge City” as a quarantine city to host playoff games. At the moment, that is highly unlikely.
    On that March 12 night, the Warriors downed the Contact 5-3 to sweep the best-of-five set 3-0. Looking back now, I am happy I did go to that SMAAAHL playoff game.
    A lot of people from Saskatoon’s hockey community were at Merlis that night, and it was great to see everyone before the shutdowns came into effect. No one knows when that type of gathering will happen again.
    On March 14 and 15, I stopped in to see some friends at what were basically “beer league” games at Merlis. That marked the last time at the moment I have stepped into a hockey rink.
Contacts forward Alex Bernauer cuts to the net on March 12. 
    Since that time, I have only ventured medium distances from home for travel about once a week to pick up supplies. I did drive past Merlis during one of those runs to see it sitting locked up and empty. 
    The biggest talk around the new rink on the University of Saskatchewan campus lately has been about converting it to a field hospital, if the COVID-19 pandemic really goes crazy and overruns the health system in the city.
    When that facility officially opened before the start of the 2018-19 hockey season, I don’t think anyone envisioned using that twin pad rink for that purpose.
    Since that first panic around March 11 and 12, a new normal has been discovered that includes working from home and waiting for the COVID-19 pandemic to pass.
    Still, it is bizarre to think a month has passed since I last went to a live competitive sporting event.      Heck, I haven’t been to a recreational sports activity since March 15.
    It seems like at the moment there is no end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic as the number of cases and deaths from the virus keep going up.
    There are moments it seems like the lockdown and societal shutdown measures will never come to an end, or they won’t wrap up for a very long time.
Merlis Belsher Place sits empty in the crazy current days.
    On the plus side, I feel like I have gotten into a better habit of ignoring toxic social media posts.
    I also feel like I’ve gotten into the habit of just dealing with the challenges each particular day brings. One of the challenges today included seeing family members be sad that there were no big dinners for Easter.
    I find if you focus on the living day-to-day, it makes it easier to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. 
    Still, it is starting to cross the mind that a sizable amount of time has already passed in dealing with this situation and that amount of time will get even larger before the COVID-19 pandemic becomes part of the past.

Easter fun on social media

    In a rarity in the crazy current days, social media ended up being a good place to be on Easter Sunday.
    At least for me, it was a good place to be.
    In my family, there was a sizable amount of sadness and disappointment there would be no big get together somewhere for dinner due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    On the plus side, it was great to turn on all the social media lines and see numerous happy Easter posts. It seemed the post came in a steady fashion throughout the day.
    Usually, I find I have to limit time on social media lines due to the posts becoming toxic. It was nice to see that wasn’t the case on Easter Sunday.
    Of course, the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA hockey team is always game for a good post for days like Easter Sunday.

    Outlaws Country Rock Bar has a sweet one on their Instagram account.

    The Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL had a cute one featuring forward Corson Hopwo.

    The Saskatchewan Rush provided a post from the entire National Lacrosse League.

    And finally, the Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team put in a group effort to pass on Easter greetings.

    I could keep going on and list some more posts.
    With that noted, it is great any time social media lines can be more of a positive place. It would be sweet if that could occur more often.

Tweet of Easter Sunday from David Wells

    Retired Major League Baseball star hefty lefty pitcher David Wells was fielding questions on Twitter on Sunday night.
    Wells played in the majors from 1987 to 2007 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.
    He was a member of World Series winners with the Blue Jays in 1992 and the Yankees in 1998. He pitched a perfect game with the Yankees at old Yankee Stadium on May 17, 1998.
    Wells began his professional career in 1982 with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays rookie team. The Medicine Hat Blue Jays won the Pioneer League championship that season.
    I decided to fire off a question to Wells and received a wicked response.


    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

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