Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Harold Ballard: Toronto Mike'd #817

Episode Date: March 12, 2021

Harold Ballard stories are told by Jeff Marek, Dave Hodge, Ken Daniels, Gord Stellick, Suneel Joshi, Mary Ormsby, Paul Hunter and Rick Vaive. This episode would not exist without the extraordinary efforts of Tyler Campbell.

Welcome to episode 817 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. CDN Technologies, your outsourced IT department contact Barb she's Barb at CDNTechnologies.com Alma Pasta enjoy the taste of fresh

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Pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majewski, or as I call him, Mimico Mike. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com, and this episode is all about Harold Ballard. Harold Ballard was a towering figure in Toronto sports for over three decades.

He was the sole owner of the Leafs from 1972 until his death in 1990, though his involvement with the team went all the way back to 1940. He was the owner of the Hamilton Tiger Cats from 1978 to 1988, He was the owner of the Hamilton Tiger Cats from 1978 to 1988, and would do his best to infuriate Argo fans by posting pro-Tie Cat messages on the scoreboard at Maple Leaf Gardens. He was also a misogynist, a bigot, and a convicted felon, having served over a year in prison for fraudulently using Maple Leaf Gardens funds to pay for personal expenses. The Leafs, under his ownership, were a generally awful team,

often trading away their best players and refusing to invest in the resources needed to compete at a high level. It was only after his death that the franchise was able to turn the corner, making the conference finals in the unforgettable 1993 and 1994 playoff runs. Ballard's place in Toronto sports lore is well established, though as his life moves further into the rearview mirror, the incredible, awful and bizarre stories of his life are fading with them. He's been a frequent topic on Toronto Mic'd, with many FOTMs sharing their experiences with the man. With great help from Tyler Campbell,

we've compiled them for you here in one convenient place. These are the Ballard stories. There aren't many people more qualified to talk about Harold Ballard than Gord Stelic. Starting as a press box runner while still in high school, he was front and center for the Ballard Circus, culminating in being named GM of the team in 1988. We'll hear lots from Gord,

but let's hear him tell us what it was like to work for Ballard from his first appearance in episode 324 of Toronto Mic'd. Working for Harold Ballard taught you to think on your feet, expect the unexpected, and that really holds you in good stead wherever you may go, especially in this media business. And be very honest, this is the home of the real talk. Are you sick of guys like me asking you Harold Ballard questions? Absolutely not.

And, you know, it defines an era. It's amazing, Mike, that actually today's the anniversary that he died. Today's the anniversary. He died in 1990. Right. Yeah. And Jeff Merrick always kids that his first job was as working in a cemetery was was digging the Harold Bowder grave, which I don't mean, but which which morbidly a lot of people would have volunteered for. And I, you know, you know, there, there's a lot of positives about the man. It sounds weird. Everyone, I mean, the era is just looked at with such disdain.

And, you know, Steve Stavro was no better. And that's not like saying, which way do you want to be executed? Lethal injection or electric chair. But, you know, just he was, and the teacher's pension for a lot of years weren't a lot better as far as the record went. And it's just that Harold was so like, I don't know, what would he do nowadays with things like this, your show and the social media? Right. You know, you could say he might be the Donald Trump version of a hockey owner. I don't. But he was in that bunker and you could talk to him.

So as much as you were pissed off about what was going on with the Leafs, there he was. So there was a face to it, which nowadays this facelessness component is one of the things we struggle with in corporations and sports teams. Far and away the most talked about Ballard story on Toronto Mic'd is the story of Jeff Merrick, who worked on the maintenance crew at Park Lawn Cemetery in the spring of 1990. Here's Jeff on episode 74, telling the story of the day he buried Harold Ballard. You want to hear the Ballard story? Yes, please. All right. So Park Lawn Cemetery, my first day on the job. So it was after my first year at university, University of Guelph. Park Lawn Cemetery, my first day on the job.

So it was after my first year at university, University of Guelph. And me and my buddy Dave Quealy, we're done. It's our first day back. It's like April 18th. And we're walking up and down Bloor West Village trying to find a summer gig. We don't know where to work. We're going to apply at the various coffee shops and future bakery and some of the bars. I know that. I went to St. Pius at Jane and Bloor.

You did, eh? Yeah. You have no idea how well I know this neighborhood. And I worked at that McDonald's at Runnymede and Bloor for 18 months. Upstairs or downstairs? It was all the same thing. Upstairs was just tables. Yeah, exactly.

But I used to open the breakfast. So 6 a.m. Saturday, Sunday, I did the breakfast shift. Homeboy, you sold me hash browns. No, I definitely sold you hash browns. You ever order a big breakfast? That was me, man. I scrambled those eggs, man. Really?

Was that your specialty? I was the guy who trained everybody on breakfasts for 18 months in the late 80s, early 90s. That's some responsibility. But please continue. That's my hood you're in. So please continue. All right. All right.

So we're swimming in your waters. So we're walking up and down the street and we stop in. We go up to, from Blue Rest Village, we go walk up to um uh prince edward and bluer and we go to burton ernie's i think burton ernie's is there anymore it's something else something else yeah so we walk into burton ernie's we have a couple of beers and we're like oh well day's over and we're walking back to go to the the subway station now because we're gonna go to old mill station i know why we're walking down the hill so just going to royal york but we're going down for whatever whatever reason and we're like hey man we're just reading hey, man, we're just reading in the newspaper at the –

honestly, we were reading in the newspaper at the bar that a bunch of headstones had been kicked over at Park Lawn Cemetery. Like, oh, that's a real drag. Maybe they need like overnight security or something. Wow. And we're like, I don't know. Let's just go see and apply and see if they need any help there. And so we went and applied and the manager's name was Wendy.

Oh, she's such a sweet lady too. Wendy something or other. And so she said, yep, fill out these resumes. Fill out these applications. So we filled out some. Like Mike, we're like half drunk, dude. Like gobbling down Tic Tac before I go in and try not to breathe on it. Because we've been drinking beer all the rest of the afternoon.

Thinking this is a goof. Go to Bert and Ernie's, basket of fries and some beers. And so we filled have these applications. And then so we get home, start to sober up, and we both get phone calls. Can you start tomorrow? Well, no, we got some other shit to do for tomorrow. We can start on the 20th. Okay, that's fine.

Good enough. So I get there. My first day on the job, 7 o'clock in the morning. Our shift starts at 7. Having a cup of coffee, meet my foreman, meet all the guys that i'm working with great bunch of dudes um and the first job is is on that particular day april 20th 1990 they had seven graves to dig only one backhoe so that's pretty big seven graves a lot for a day when you only have one backhoe so they said all right we don't have time to fill in the grave so your first job today before you get started on like mowing lawns and pouring cement, we don't have time to fill in the grave, so your first job today, before you get started on like mowing lawns and pouring cement and digging foundations,

you're gonna fill in a grave. It's your first day on the job, you know, jumping in with both feet. How do you fill in a grave? Well, you see that pile of dirt with the flowers on it? Take the flowers off, dummy, and then throw the dirt on the coffin. It's a fair question, your first day.

I mean, who gets to fill in a grave? So they sent me up to section double a which is right at the corner of prince edward and blore yeah and they say all right here's your shovel it'll probably take you a while take the flowers off you know you'd be you know discreet and respectful about it and then just start throwing dirt on the coffin so okay how it's gonna feel weird not many people get to experience throwing dirt on a coffin um so i get up there and it's section double and it's right in the middle and i walk by the It's going to feel weird. Not many people get to experience throwing dirt on a coffin. So I get up there, and it's section double A,

and it's right in the middle, and I walk by the Sutherland Stone, where the Sutherland family, Kiefer and Donald, have a lot. Gordon Sinclair is off in another area. Con Smythe is in an area there, for all you Maple Leaf fans. I biked by this place yesterday. So you know it, right? Yeah. You got to look at some of the headstones, man. I got to go in and check that out.

I will do that. Some really famous people there. And so I remember digging in the first shovel full, and I throw it on the coffin and say, and I had to go in and check that out. I will do that. Some really famous people there. And so I remember digging in the first shovel full and I throw it on the coffin and say, and I had to stop. I'm like, this is the weirdest thing I've ever, like, what am I doing? Like, I'm burying someone. And then I look up on the headstone and it's Ballard. Wow.

And I'm like, shit, this is where Harold was buried. Wow. This is where, this is the, and I found out later the Ballard. Wow. And I'm like, shit, this is where Harold was buried. Wow. This is where, this is, this is the, and I found out later, the Ballard family owned, I don't know if they still do, owned part of Parkland Cemetery. Bill actually just passed away a couple of weeks ago. And that was my story, my first day on the job. And I grew up a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. What were the odds?

That's it, right? And that anecdote that, like, I think I was talking to my buddy Elvis about this. I think I would use that anecdote. Every time I met somebody for the first time, I'd be, did I tell you I buried Harold Ballard? I'd drop that into every bio, every conversation. Mike, like I always say, everybody hated the old guy, but only one person did something about it. Everybody complained about it. That's the line right there, too.

Put it on a business card. It's beautiful. It's funny. When I was doing Leafs lunch one day, Bill Waters says, all right, Jeffy, I got someone special. He's going to come meet you tomorrow. I said, okay, Billy. So we're doing a show live at Wegg Stadium Bar, a big sports bar north of the city. And who walks in to go over to say hi to Bill?

Yolanda. Oh, wow. So he says, Jeffy, get over here. Get over here. And so I kind of wander over. And I go, yeah, Bill. And he goes, Yolanda, I want you to he says Jeffy, get over here, get over here. And so I kind of wander over and I go, yeah, Bill. He goes Yolanda, I want you to meet the poor prick that buried your husband. Yeah, yeah. That's great. That's great.

That's amazing. So the Harold Ballard story, I had to get that. Harold, to put it lightly, was a meddler and certainly didn't like anyone speaking ill of his terrible Leafs teams. On episode 191 of Toronto Mic'd,

the legendary Dave Hodge described how Ballard had him fired from midweek Leafs telecasts on Global. Mark Hebbshire from Sportsline, he tells me that it was Harold Ballard who had you fired from your gig at Global. Is that how, would you agree with him?

Is he right? I hadn't heard this before. As far as I know, yeah, at least it was, or others in the Leafs organization deciding to blame Harold and Harold being happy

to take the credit. Harold wasn't well at the time, so I always wondered whether he really cared enough about things like this. He was fighting for his life, really. But he was ultimately responsible, I guess. And I did commentaries at the time, and the Leafs were horrible. Again, I do think I hexed some of these Toronto teams that I followed around for all the years. I shouldn't take credit, but it has been put on me that maybe I had something to do with it.

Anyway, I did a commentary again, live, and I said, you know, in the past, however many years the Leafs have had this many goalies, this number of captains, this number of coaches, this number of general managers, and the number of owners was one. And I signed off. And that obviously, without needing to say any more, could be perceived as a criticism of the one owner who supervised all of those other changes in a losing organization. So yeah, I was told my services there were no longer required, and that was the end of that. I had a contract, I sued, and eventually there was a settlement. Ballard lived in an apartment in Maple Leaf Gardens, so he was always there.

Sometimes that meant he would answer the phone if you called. From episode 318 of Toronto Mic'd, here's Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels with his story of a chance conversation with the Leafs owner. Can you tell me about dealing with our pal Hal, Harold Ballard, when he was speaking to Cranky Curmudgeon? Oh, that he was. But we had some fun days talking with Harold.

I remember sitting at North York Centennial with a bunch of reporters up there with Harold one day, and we're talking about scouting. And Mike Keenan wasn't yet. I don't believe in the national hockey or maybe he was, but I remember asking Harold about Mike and he said, I don't want any cream puff college coach for me. So then I said something to the effect of Harold, what about your scouting department? And he said, scouting department, I've got all the scouts I need. Who has more scouts than us? And I said, well, Calgary, Edmonton. And he said, yeah, what have they done? I said, well, they both won Stanley cups. Yeah, they can have their Stanley cups.

I got all the scouts I want. So that was typically Harold. And then, you know, all the, all the crap that he got into with not allowing, not wanting women reporters into the dressing room and the crude things that Harold would say. And one of my first encounters, which I won't go into here, I'll try to keep that clean. One of the, my first encounter with Harold would have been my early days at CJCL and working the overnights.

And I had come in that first year and it was, no, actually I wouldn't have been working overnights. And I had come in that first year and it was, no, actually I wouldn't have been working overnights anymore because it would have been 1983, I want to say, the canceling of the Moscow Circus when they shot down KAL 007, the Korean airliner. And I called over to Maple Leaf Gardens to see if I could find Harold Ballard, called from CJCL.

We were just down the street there from, from the gardens where CJCL was located. And I called the Gardens, and this gentleman answers, hello? And I said, hi, it's Ken Daniels from CJCL. I'm looking for Harold Ballard. This is him. So I said, what do you want?

So surprised you to get Harold Ballard on the phone. I can't believe it. It must have been 6.30 or 7 o'clock at night and I told him what I wanted, an interview with him about the, because he canceled the Moscow Circus at the Gardens. Well, come on over then.

And I said, okay, and I grabbed my tape. I said, where do I find you? He said, in my apartment. I said, and that is, how do I get there? He goes, it's above the hot stove lounge. They'll show you. And I went and got Harold Ballard in his apartment and my only regret today is that I that there weren't cell phones back then.

So I could have snapped a photo of him in basically his shorts and this shirt and just a mess. Of course, since he lived at Maple Leaf Gardens, his employees would see him no matter what time of day they were in the office. Here's Gord stelic from episode 324 with more on that ken daniels was just here and as a very young reporter guy like very young ken daniels phoned harold ballard and harold answered the phone yeah like and he said harold said come on what are you doing now come on like and and ken got an invitation to like visit uh uh harold at the his's apartment, I guess.

Did he have an apartment in there? Oh, he lived there. He lived there. Yeah. So, I mean, first of all, part of that, I recognize that he literally lived, his office was an apartment. And I recognize that he was there all the time, and he was an early bird guy. So, when I got my job, I would make a point of being there early with my cup of coffee and

muffin and uh toronto sun and just be reading you know whatever going over stuff and then his when his line lit up because there was a switchboard that would putting calls back and forth to him i would grab the line and whoever it was because someone's supposed to screen it but i would do it because the secretaries weren't in yet right and then i just buzz back and go on the intercom hey mr ballard it's so it goes oh hey gordy and go on the intercom. Hey, Mr. Ballard. It goes, oh, hey, Gordy. And then after the call, quite often, he would come out in his robe and just sit down and shoot the breeze with you. So just sit in your little office there.

And that's sort of where I made, I wasn't, say, sucking up to the boss, but that's really where I made inroads. That was where the real human side was about things and a very soft, personable side. So same thing. You could phone, and if it was after hours, switchboardboard just put it through there was no one to screen it and quite often and bill bird a guy with global was legendary that he would hit and miss with harold that you know you so if you got him you probably got your story of the day and if you didn't you didn't in 1978 after a few failed attempts to buy the toronto argonauts and then the Hamilton Tiger Cats,

Ballard finally succeeded in purchasing the Ticats. The team was actually successful, making the playoffs every year and winning the Great Cup in 1986. That season, he called the players a bunch of overpaid losers. After they beat the Argos in the Eastern Final, he said, you guys may still be overpaid, but after today, no one can call you losers.

Ballard would make a point of rubbing any Ticat success in the face of Toronto fans with childish pranks and slogans that he'd have on display during Leafs games. Gord Stelic, in his return visit in episode 532 of Toronto Mic'd, tells us about what Ballard was doing. I have memories to this day of, like, there would be, like,

a big Argos versus Ticats game coming up, and we would hear, like, Argos suckgo suck kind of something to that effect Argo suck or something and I still remember uh why we're in Toronto at a Leaf game and everything's like anti-Argo and then being told that Ballard owned the Thai Cats as well yeah well there's there's two parts that one is and you kind of miss it was it was the worst it this had nothing to do with Ballard owning the Thai Cats but it would be when the worst it this had nothing to do with ballard owning the thai cats but it would be when the leaf game sucked then all of a sudden you hear from nowhere that r goes and i remember that it just would get a like a chuckle it was just weird it would just

and then some people would pick it up and it was just you know there was no entertainment on a scoreboard whatever so right that would be one about the play on the field then when ballard uh owned the tycats which by the way he lost a lot he put a lot of money into it i understand why don crump later became commissioner of the cfl because he was the money guy that got ballard to to blow money there while he pinched pennies when we're running the work in the toronto maple leafs but so one before a great cup game and it had been the great cup game the tycats won and he said to me like the, like the office was so small.

So Leafs are playing. I don't know who say we're playing Boston on a Saturday night. And then he goes, a Gordy, a, Hey, make up some things for the signboard. Like,

you know, to piss the crowd off about, you know, Thai cat stuff. So I, I just quickly thought of some and I, I, and you know,

they actually weren't bad. Like one, I just talked about Hamilton, Thai cat souvenirs available at all concession stands. Then the next flash was Argo souvenirs, question mark, then call Acme Storage, whatever. Anyway, I know one was Argo's, then the next was no good. I mean, we're talking whatever.

And then one, I just threw up Toronto or Grey Cup prediction, and I put a stupid number up like Hamilton 42 I can't remember where they played but say Edmonton 14 anyway they they won it and Monday Dick Petos goes and Harold Ballard he had to score almost right well that was my that was my stupid thing I put up to uh to follow through what he wanted to do and it and it worked like the crowd would get a chuckle out of it. They would boo. But it would be one of those kind of funny things at the game that worked. As any long-suffering Leafs fan knows,

the Ballard years were the worst in the franchise's history. The reasons for that are well documented. He was cheap, so he wouldn't invest in top-end players or management. He was petty, so he'd trade away or fire anyone who got on his bad side. One of the best Leafs in those years was Rick Vive,

a three-time 50-goal scorer and captain of the team from 1982, when Ballard thrusted on him, until 1986 when he was stripped of the role after oversleeping and missing a practice. It all came down to money. Harold Ballard did not want to spend the money for a good general manager. of money. Harold Ballard did not want to spend the money for a good general manager. He had ample opportunities to get guys from other teams that were very, very good general managers. And the same with coaching. He wouldn't pay enough to get a good coach in the NHL at that time. A lot of mistakes were made. Guys were brought in way too early, way before they were mature enough, either physically or mentally or both, to play in the NHL. You know, back then, bringing in an 18-year-old

and the way the game was played in the 80s was a very difficult thing for them to adjust to because it was a physical game back then. The life of a player was different back then than it is now. And, you know, the league is really young now, whereas before, I mean, in the 80s, there were still veterans around, and they controlled what everybody did, so to speak.

So, unfortunately, there was a lot of bad moves made, and that was due to the fact that we had the lack of someone that could make those good decisions and send those guys back to junior hockey for a year or two or maybe the American League after that. And I think I know Wendell and I talked one day. We were at an event and we were eating together. And I mentioned how great it must have been in 92 and 93 or whatever it was when they went to the conference final. And he said, yeah, he said, it was incredible. He said, but we had far better team in 85, 86 and 86, 87,

as far as talent, but we didn't have the right coaches or management. And I thought, are you nuts? Like you gotta be crazy. And I went back and I looked at the rosters and I said, you know what, he's absolutely right. We did have some really good players and good young players, but those guys should have went back to junior. And then a year or two later, they would have been that much better and we would have been better as a team.

One of the main impacts of Ballard's cheapness was that he'd put people in positions they weren't qualified for rather than finding the best talent. He made his boat mechanic one of the team trainers. And in 1988, he installed 30-year-old Gord Stelic as the GM of the Leafs, the youngest ever GM of an NHL team, a record he held until John Chayka was named GM of the Arizona Coyotes in 2016.

Here's Gord again with the story of how he got the job. So it's, and I won't make it a too long a story, but it's an interesting process that, like I said, my break in getting in, in 1975, was my neighbor, Stan Abodiak, was the public relations director. And my good friend, Ken McMurtry, their family was best friends. Ken was already working at the game. So I got to go in as a gopher, just working game nights. And then Howie Starkman leaves in 1977. And I get to come now in the front office, part-time while I go to University of Toronto to do the press notes and statistics. I could type 70 words a minute.

It sounds strange. Not a lot of males could type back then, that kind of speed. And it still was a very sexist setup back then. So that was my point of difference. And I say to young people today, have a point of difference. Like, kill on the internet. Kill on those things. So anyway, I'm doing that.

So I get to know, I still call him Mr. Ballard, get you know because he lives there i'm there odd hours so he likes me then he offers me a full-time job i hadn't even thought about it so i'm doing everything but then when he gets me a job he fires a secretary because it's always one employee and one out right so i am right off the bat assistant general manager basically but also answering the phones during lunch hour. So I got the one extreme to the other. So it's a phenomenal learning lesson. It's not exactly should be a great organization that way. I'm doing the travel.

I'm doing the PR. I'm doing everything. And then it gets into the 80s then, and I'm interested in growing, and Harold, Mr. Bauer, has taken a shine to me. So in 87, I'm named general manager of the New Market Saints, the AHL team. And I'm thrilled. I'm going, what a great thing for me for whatever, three, four, five years,

like Kyle Dubas or anybody wants to do. And then, so I'm spending most of my time up there. But then that year, more crisis after crisis. John Brophy doesn't like Jerry McNamara. Jerry McNamara doesn't like John Brophy. John Brophy has Harold Ballard's ear, which is the unfortunate thing when an owner's involved. And, you know, Carolina might be going through that now, who knows what. So he fires Jerry McNamara in February. And actually, it's weird. He'd been away at the Cayman Islands, Ballard.

We're in Hartford, of all places. So I report to him on the phone. I get a message I'm supposed to call. So I called Ballard, just chatting about stuff. And know he goes well i don't know may have to do something and i kind of go well we're home tonight after the game and whatever you have to you know think about things or whatever and then 10 minutes later it's a message jerry's got a call about he fires him over the pay phone wow so now we have this in and he's got nothing set up about what to do so we sort of have this interim triumvirate myself dick duff and uh john brophy and i was kind of the third guy but i was the most capable guy because i knew everything that's not a knock against those guys but they didn't you know as far as all the files and everything went and and i was kind of ticked because i was happy doing what i was doing and now

i'm just trying to keep this and it really was a set like it was it was an unfortunate three months because anyway we all got along internally, but it wasn't a way to run a club. So here we go. We get in the playoffs, and of all things, we take it six games against the Detroit Red Wings. And God love Eddie Olchuk for a hat trick in Detroit that brings it back to Toronto. So game number six, we just get killed. We just get killed.

And, you know, that's why when there was one sweater thrown on the ice a couple years ago to Eric Canada, I go, no, they were throwing everything on the ice that night sweaters pox everything but it and i don't what we lost i don't know whatever we lost it was ridiculous so now the next morning brof is thinking okay this is his chance to flex his muscle and so ballard comes up and it was a weird thing he comes up from being down the dressing room and this season's just ending with acrimony inside and outside. And so he sits at my desk and goes, well, we've got to make a lot of changes, I guess.

And I go, yeah, well, we have to do some anyway. So I knew he'd been talking to Brofe. And he goes, well, I guess we've got to get rid of Miroslav Freacher. Which, yeah, that's fine. That was understood. Brofe and him loathe each other. Then he kind of goes, yeah, we've got to get Bill Waters off the radio. Which I go, no, no, that's not what we're fighting right now, because Brofe was understood. Brofe and him loathe each other. Then he kind of goes, yeah, we got to get Bill Waters off the radio. Which I go, no, no, that's not what

we're fighting right now, because Brofe was annoyed. Brofe actually liked Bill, but, you know, but anyway, Bill had the conflict thing where he was an agent on, okay, I'm thinking, we're missing. And then he goes, and yeah, you know, like, Harold loved Boreasawming, but he said, and Brofe wants Boreasawming gone. And actually, that was when I kind of go, no,

no. And I, so Ballard kind of said, so what? You don't agree with some of the things? And I said, do you want me to tell you what I want? I think you want me to hear from me? Or do you want to hear what I really think? He goes, oh, no, no. I want to hear what you really think. So in the good old-fashioned days, like I said, OK,

I'll put it all down on paper. So it was a typewriter. And it took me a a half i did like a 18 page memo about everything everything so the next few days he keeps walking you know and he's got my thing and he'd go is this what you think about the scouting i'm yeah anyone so the weekends and uh it's a and sunday morning a milt donald call him who's like this revered 80-year-old friend of Ballard columnist, like the top columnist in Toronto, it says, I'm going to be the general manager. Wow.

That's how I find out. So I don't officially find out for four more days, even though I kind of know at that point, and all of a sudden, you're the guy. And like I said, in a perfect world, I was saying saying jeez i'd love to get a like a if i could be a assistant to a bill tory or a cliff fletcher ironic cliff comes a few years later so you know that would be a perfect thing and and anyway so um i use that as a bit of my shtick that you know i i said i talk about that that you know everyone makes a big deal it was when brian burke came to town and there was a search and all that stuff and And, you know, when I was named general manager, people would make the joke that Harold Ballard just took one look around the front office and hired the first person that he saw.

And, you know, that was really hurtful and all that. It'd be more hurtful if it wasn't absolutely true, you know. So anyway, it wasn't quite. So that's it. All of a sudden, it's like getting married without getting married. All of a sudden, you're the office boy in people's perception to GM of the Leafs. That should be a movie. Like if you consider you licensing this,

this is a movie. Yeah, no, no, it's a neat, yeah. And so finally on the Thursday, we had a meeting about it in the boardroom and Valerie confirmed I'm the GM. And then you come outside and there's a waiting media throng. And it was a throng back then that I knew

them all very, very well. But I'm the guy that walked around the throng. And then that day, I'm the center of the throng. So it was all of a sudden my... Yeah. So anyway, it was surreal. Another side to Ballard's cheapness is that he was around the team's

space more than a typical owner would be, using the same resources as the players, including getting priority treatment from the team's training staff. Rick Vive shared a funny story about a prank that wasn't meant for Ballard, but ended up getting him anyway. Do you have a good Harold Ballard story in the holster there you can whip out for us? Oh, boy. Which one? All of them. Here, I'll cancel my next appointment. I think the best one is, you know, Harold was around the room on practice days a lot,

even on game days in the mornings, because he always got his legs massaged by our trainer. And I mean, if you wanted any medical attention, you had to wait until he was done with Harold. Harold had the bad circulation from the diabetes and everything else. Anyway, somebody had, it was one of the old tricks in the book that someone would put baby powder in the hair dryer. And after practice when guys were showering whoever was a poor guy that grabbed that particular hair dryer would get

baby powder all over their hair face everywhere well it happened that that day somebody did it and Harold had finished getting his legs massaged and we were already on the ice. He goes in for a shower and he used that hair dryer. And when we came off the ice, Harold was still in the room and everybody was like, Oh, like something happened. And he started laughing and he goes, I don't know who did it, but he said, that was pretty darn funny. That was a good trick. And he was actually and he goes, I don't know who did it, but he said, that was pretty darn funny.

That was a good trick. And he was actually, you know, he thought it was pretty good. So it was kind of funny. But at the same time, everybody was nervous for a few seconds. So he said, that was a real good one. He said, I don't know who did it. I don't want to know. But it was really, really funny as hell. There was, of course, a deeply unpleasant side to Harold Ballard,

one that appeared in particular when he dealt with women or people of color. From his famous interview with Barbara Frum in 1979, in which he made repeated sexist statements and refused to let her ask questions, to his numerous racist and xenophobic statements, Ballard was never afraid to show his true colors. One person who felt the brunt of that racism was broadcaster Sunil Joshi, who related his experience in episode 513 of Toronto Mic'd. William Houston and Howard Berger both reported racist comments

experienced by Sunil Joshi from Harold Ballard when Sunil worked for CFRB in the early 1980s. Can you share anything about that? I mean, we all know Ballard was a cantankerous asshole, right?

But I didn't know he was racist towards sports reporters. Can you share? Yeah, well, I mean, it's true, first of all. It is true. And Bill was a columnist for the Globe and Mail. Right. He was a hockey columnist at first, and then he moved on to the media side of it.

And Howard Berger and I have known each other since, I said, I was at Ryerson 1,500 years ago. Howard and I probably have known each other about that long as well. We sort of broke in together at the same time. Both basically carried a microphone and a tape recorder wherever we went to get stories. And there was a friendly competition, obviously, because we like to break stories as did i yeah it is true uh harold is was what he was um with the thing with harold was he would never directly say anything to you he always said something about you to someone else so that was a kind of a dichotomy whereas he saw you he'd be like hey how's it going great to see you again and if you called him mr ballard he said ah come on call me harold

but then you'd walk away and then you'd hear that somebody else had done that um in fact one of the quotes of harold is in gorge stelic's book uh the very first book that he wrote about the leafs and uh so yeah it is it it was it was prevalent it was it was happening but you just you know put your head down and did the job i suppose you had no you just had to no choice but to uh tolerate this from somebody like pretty well back then you know there was no uh there was no board to report to or you know you couldn't take it to the nhl it was i mean harold harold ran things the way harold wanted to run things so and i mean remember he he banned people he banned women from the dressing room uh that was far more egregious than what what he may or what he what

he said about me he never said it directly to me but he did say things about me so i don't know i mean it those are things that we unfortunately had to put up with but we did yeah mary ormsby and paul hunter had many experiences with haroldard, witnessing his xenophobic sexist tendencies and his declining mental and physical state near the end of his life. They shared some of their stories during their visit in episode 742. Did you have any Harold Ballard interactions of interest?

I did. And I remember once him ranting on the phone with me about the Russians. And he hated Russians. Sure. And talking about them stealing Coke from the dressing room and doing all this stuff. I felt actually, honestly, really uncomfortable. Like it was such a racist kind of, I don't know he small-minded way of looking

at the world that uh made me made me a little queasy a little xenophobic maybe or yeah it's a better word yeah well i ran into him when i covered uh cfl because he oh ty Ticats, right? So when I would go to Iverwind Stadium before it got refurbished, I saw him and King Clancy coming up to use the, well, I'll loosely call it washroom in the press box, which is basically just a sliding plywood door, and it was kind of like right behind us, you know? And so that's where I see them, but they come up.

And one time Ballard came up, and he said he had to use the washroom. He said, hey, Clancy, come here and put this on your shoulder for me. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. So going in there. So needless to say, I'm like, oh, my God, I'm the only female reporter in this area where am i going to the washroom like i just so my whole point was i never ever used that washroom ever i just it was just too creepy for a lot of reasons but it was right there and it was it was

disgusting so um but anyway i would uh you know i would see him there, and he was very old at the time. Back at one point, for him to get up into the press box at Iver, when they had a crane set up outside the stadium, like one of those cranes you'd use to fix electrical wiring. Yeah, like a cherry picker. They would lift him up outside the stadium, and he would walk in. And he was getting pretty infirm towards the end and i recall once uh i think it was alan bester was asking for a trade out of toronto and

harold owned the leafs and the tycats so i approached harold and i said you know alan bester is asking to be traded how do you feel about that? He goes, ah, that goddamn guy. He said, I'll never trade him. I'm not going to let the Argos have him. I thought, oh. That explains so much, though. That explains the John Kordick trade, I think. So it's kind of backed away.

It's pretty unfair to quote this guy at this point in his life. Coincidentally, completely obviously coincidentally, I get these Facebook notifications of, okay, it's pretty unfair to quote this guy at this point in his life. Coincidentally, completely obviously coincidentally, I get these Facebook notifications of like on this day you record with whatever. And it was on this day I had the return of Gord Stelic. And really I keep inviting Gord Stelic over. And we're going to get to your radio life in a moment, Mary, because I got a few questions there. But Gord, I just want him to tell me Harold Ballard's stories.

It's just kind of this figure that I did grow up with. I was like 15 or something when he passed away. But just this whole, this character, just the stories. Gord and his brother Bob are the ones who just relate them, and they're fantastic. It's amazing when you think that the owner of a major sports franchise once lived in the arena where that team played in an apartment. And then he and, I don't know if Yolanda was officially his wife, but certainly his paramour.

They would, at one point, she was walking around the gardens wearing a gas mask and claiming that people were trying to kill her and Harold by putting gas under the door of the apartment. It was a pretty crazy scene back in those days. Bananas. And even the whole story of Gord will tell you how he got the GM job. It really sounds like one of those things where he looks around the room and he points at the guy, the you! Like, come on, this is the biggest, one of the most popular NHL franchise in the world.

I remember hearing stories about Harold and King. I don't know whether they were true or not, but when they would have the circus in Maple Leaf Gardens, they would invite women over, and they and the women would enjoy the various trapezes and paraphernalia that were part of the circus setup. And it's not something I really want to visualize, but it just sort of cuts to how it was in those days.

And Harold really had a huge influence on that franchise, and it's a large reason why they were so poor for so long. Well, Hebsey's still pissed at, I guess they ran Sittler out of town. I mean, that's a little bit like a titch before I was following this board, but Hebsey's still pissed about it. I think it was despite Lanny, maybe? They were buds or something? There's a story there. It's just that alone, that that happened in this market in our lifetime.

Yeah, exactly. Paul and Mary mentioned Yolanda, who was Harold's partner at the end of his life. She was another unique character in the Ballard circus. And Gord Stelik again had a front row seat to that relationship. Do you have any update on the status or standing of Yolanda Ballard? Do you know how she's doing? Got to tell you something. She earned her money.

He knew what she was. He knew, but it would take someone unique to put up with them in the waning years. So I dealt a lot with her. She took care of them at the end. So she is, as far as I know, still alive. I do believe that initially, if story is correct, that she's supposed to get a pair of seasoned Leaf tickets, but they decided that, yes, but she'd have to go each game

to get her two tickets, and they would move her around. So anyway, apparently she's alive. I don't know if she's alive and well. It certainly was never dull. Harold Ballard died on April 11, 1990. His legacy is filled with some pretty awful episodes, especially given the awful abuse of children that happened within Maple Leaf Gardens during his ownership, which far overshadowed the woeful performance of the team.

He was a figure of a different era, a Trumpian character in a simpler time. The fortunes of the Leafs changed for the better after his death, although the battle for control of Maple Leaf Gardens and the team raged on for several more years. Thanks to all the great FOTMs who shared their experiences of Harold Ballard, he's a character that shouldn't be forgotten. I'll give the final words to Paul Hunter, who recalls Harold Ballard's obituary in the Toronto Star. that shouldn't be forgotten. I'll give the final words to Paul Hunter, who recalls Harold Ballard's obituary in the Toronto Star. You mentioned Harold Ballard,

and that makes me think of another guy I considered a legend at the Toronto Star, Rex McLeod. I don't know if that predates you. No, it doesn't resonate. I heard you say the name earlier, and I was trying to find it in my head. His son is Rob McLeod, who worked at the Globe for decades. But Rex was one of the funniest writers.

I kind of admired his work. And he wrote one of the best leads I've ever seen, or one of the best leads that never got to print, I guess you'd say, on Harold Ballard. When Harold Ballard passed away, Rex was given the assignment of writing his obit. And the story he submitted had the lead, The fat has hit the fire. And needless to say, it got changed.

That heads him off, yes. and needless to say it got changed and that brings us to the end of our 817th show this episode all about Harold Ballard would not exist without the amazing efforts of Tyler Campbell.

Thank you, Tyler. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, they're at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. CDN Technologies, they're at CDN Technologies. Ridley Funeral Home, they're at RidleyFH. And Mimical Mike, he's on Instagram as at MajeskiGroupHomes.

See you all next week. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone. Roam Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RoamPhone.ca to get started. And I don't know what the future can hold or do For me and you But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because Everything is coming up

Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Won't stay today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and gray Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who

Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of gray Cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? I'm picking up trash and then putting down roads And they're broken in stocks, the class struggle explodes

And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am But who gives a damn Because everything is coming up Rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms me today

And your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and gray Well I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places

I better not name And I've seen you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow warms us today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away

Cause everything is rosy now, everything is rosy Yeah, everything is rosy and gray Yeah, yeah