Happy 50th, The Great One

Also, fuck Mario Lemieux.

 

Gretzky may be as great a person as he was a player. That's what I really love about him. Class fucking act.

 

I admit I'm too young to have seen Bobby Orr play, other than in highlight reels, and obviously that applies to a lot of the game's earlier talents too who merit discussion. To me, Orr and Gretzky were both immensely gifted in their own right and it's hard to name a "best ever."

One argument to discuss is longevity, but then, maybe people learned from the Orr example as Gretzky always had Semenko, McSorley, etc. around and there was an almost unwritten rule never to hit him. People did hit Orr and he didn't shy away from the physical stuff, but maybe that shortened his career to some degree. It's interesting given the reputation the Bruins had and the one the Oilers had at the respective times.

While Orr was a great player, he seemed to like his privacy a lot more. Where Gretzky really stands out is his ability to be an ambassador for the game. I don't think he shied away from too many interviews or appearances, even in the aftermath of Phoenix. You might say Orr changed the game, but Gretzky grew and built the game. Both are class acts however.

I met Gretzky when I was in my teens at a charity golf tournament and he was more than classy when he met my friends and I to sign autographs. I also interviewed his dad Wally after his stroke and it remains one of the highlights of my career.

The other thing about Gretzky is there are so many things he does and did quietly as in that Simpson story and as detailed in the Brunt book. I had a football coach who had a child who was in need of a liver transplant or he was going to die at about age two. Not finding a donor or much help, the desperate dad turned to Wayne Gretzky, who was then maybe 23.

Gretzky found time to meet with him, autographed a sweater for him to sell to pay his bills, and went on TV at the all-star game to ask for a donor. I never knew about it until Gretzky retired and my coach shared the story. I guess there are a lot of people who have similar stories of kind things he didn't have to do, but he always tried to do what he could.

My favourite player, Brett Hull, said in his HHOF induction, "Wayne is the game and he always will be." He's definitely someone worth celebrating.

 

The two sports legends who I've interviewed where I was just completely thrown by how sincere and nice they were were Gretzky and Hank Aaron.

Aaron is probably one of 10 people who I called "Mr." the entire time and about halfway through a 90-minute interview, he said, "You can call me Henry." and I said, "No, I can't." and we both laughed. To be fair, I was only about 25 at the time and completely in awe of him.

Maybe Gretzky has gotten more guarded with the gambling allegations against his wife or whatever that was, but the first time I talked to him, he waved off one of the more prominent hockey writers in the country, so I could finish the interview. As he walked out of the room, he came over to me and shook my hand and thanked me by name.

 

I've posted this before, but it works fine here, too:

The Edmonton Oilers were headed for their third consecutive Stanley Cup in '86 when they were eliminated in the conference finals by the Calgary Flames on an "own goal" that happened when Oilers rookie defenseman Steve Smith, attempting a cross-ice pass through the crease, inadvertently bounced the puck into the Oilers net off of goalie Grant Fuhr.

You can only imagine how horrible the rookie felt immediately and afterward, and then how he kept hearing about throughout the off-season.

Fast forward to spring '87 and the Edmonton Oilers have rebounded to win their third championship. Captain Wayne Gretzky receives the Stanley Cup and skates with it aloft, per tradition. Here he was, surrounded by teammates Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe and other stars. But Gretz did not relinquish the Cup until he could hand it off to ... Steve Smith.

Priceless.

 

That's awesome.

 

just as the oilers started the 'sprawled on the ice whole team' cup picture, i'd say gretzky-to-smith started the 'had the cup to a deserving individual,' trend.

 

Gretzky is the only player in NHL history to have his number retired by the league. He transcended the sport more than anyone else. Orr did not do that to the extent Gretzky did. Orr is the best defeseman ever, but Gretzky is the greatest.

 

Well there you have it, debate over

 

The Orr/Gretzky debate is like the Howe/Richard or the Ov/Sid.

Apples and oranges.

Gretzky's lifetime body of work is otherworldly but no one --and I mean no one---dominated a game like Orr at both ends of the ice.

 

perfectly expressed.

not many in SportsJournalists.com nation can speak to the end-to-end spectacular, ahead-of-his-time, breathtaking dominance brought to the ice. the few of us who witnessed orr's other-worldly skills understand.

gretzky was simply marvelous; no attempt here to denigrate 'the great one.' as someone else has noted, we're talking apples/oranges -- different eras, different positions, all that jazz.

but this is an instance in which my younger friends just have to trust your elders when we say: 'there was BOBBY ORR, then everybody else.'

 

I first met Gretzky during the Dodgers' Hollywood Stars night. He was still on the Oilers then. The 'Stars played baseball against the media and we shared the locker room. I went to meet him afterward and told him it was bad that Kings fans treated him so poorly when they played, but I said that Dodgers fans treated Pete Rose the same way. He thanked me and said when the Oilers visited next season, come to the locker room and we'll talk hockey. That was really cool.
A few years later, when he came to the Kings, it started out the same way, he was friendly and available.
But then he started falling into the Hollywood scene and he started blowing off the media. Guys such as DB Sweeney and other second-rate celebs were always hanging around the locker room and he was always in a hurry to get out of there. Also during that time, because of him, the Kings made two locker rooms at the Forum, one for their gear that allowed media access and one for their clothes which did not. By the time the cooling off period ended, the players had already shed their gear, and went directly from the shower to the off-limits locker room. So there were few players to talk to. Once they dressed, most of them were ready to scoot.
I also saw him stiff a beat writer, who had a pre-arranged appointment through the PR guy, because a TV guy showed up without notice and wanted to interview him.
I believe it was just a phase Gretzky went through. The Hollywood scene can be hard to resist.
And, I was a great admirer of Janet from the gymnastics movie, but having seen her without makeup, no big deal.