No Heavy Lifting: Globetrotting Adventures of a Sports Media Guy by Rob Simpson

Author:Rob Simpson [Simpson, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sports & Recreation, Hockey, Biography & Autobiography, Sports, Editors; Journalists; Publishers
ISBN: 9781773052038
Google: DMRADwAAQBAJ
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2018-04-10T20:28:59.619111+00:00

Recent Bruin–turned–San Jose Shark Joe Thornton drew plenty of interest at the Olympics as well. Despite the general media frenzy around Thornton and his high-profile trade, I didn’t pay that much attention. Not a big fan of his overall demeanour towards winning and losing during our brief time together in Beantown, and a strong proponent of “The Joe Thornton Trade,” I didn’t really follow or approach “Jumbo” during his mixed-zone visits. I think I grabbed some audio from him on only one occasion at the Games.

Less than three months had passed since his trade had rocked the hockey world. I went into the Bruins dressing room post-game, as I always did, the night of November 29, 2005, in New Jersey. Thornton had lost a defensive zone draw to Devils centre John Madden in the final minute of regulation. Madden won the puck cleanly, flipped it over to Alexander Mogilny, who ripped a shot past Boston goalie Andrew Raycroft for the game winner. The Bruins had blown a 2–0 lead and now had a three-game losing streak. They had lost nine of ten, having just recently ended a six-game losing streak in Toronto.

I’ll never forget the interview Thornton did with two writers and myself after the loss, and this after getting burned on the face-off. We were crammed just inside the visitors dressing room door, and somewhat rushed, as the team hastily prepped for the post-game charter flight home.

“We’re fine, we’ll be okay,” Thornton repeated. I knew some surfer dudes from living in Hawaii for five years, but the hockey man in me, and the hockey reporter in me, watching this team flail in the early season, didn’t appreciate the beachy response. Dude, you’re not fine.

Yes, as captain, he was generally always willing to talk post game, which is commendable, but the mantra was far too routine, far too casual, and never laced with urgency. After the loss to the Devils, his response seemed unfathomable to me.

The next night, a Wednesday, I was out with my assistant, Abby, at The Druid pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, down the street from where I lived that season. NESN showed up on my caller ID.

“Uh oh, what the heck is this?”

I stepped outside the noisy bar to hear SportsDesk coordinating producer Rob Wallace’s voice on the other end of the line.

“Simmer, where are you?” he asked.

“In Cambridge. What’s going on?”

“The Bruins just traded Joe Thornton,” he declared.

It really happens: my jaw actually dropped.

“Can you come in?”

Uh oh. I was conflicted. Of course I was interested in the opportunity to jump on SportsDesk live with anchor Hazel Mae to handle this gigantic sports story. But I was also two or three glasses of wine deep. I was buzzed, and, besides, I wasn’t really confident I could bring any significant historical perspective to Thornton’s tenure in Boston. I was only twenty-six games into my first season with the Bruins. I weighed the benefits and the potential pratfalls of going on the air or not going on the air, and made the right decision.

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