Getting older means many things, the inexorable yet often unexpected march of death among them.
Such was the feeling tonight when a friend texted to tell me our boyhood sports hero, Rod Gilbert, had died at 80.
In 1968 I started playing Pee Wee hockey in Connecticut's Mid-Fairfield League. Soon after, my father got season tickets to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. I came to idolize Gilbert, a French Canadian right winger, who skated with elan and scored goals with a booming slap shot.
Gilbert, aka Mr. Ranger, holds the team records for most goals, points, and games played. He also won the most hearts as a player, and in retirement as the team's ambassador with younger players and fans.
I met Gilbert for the first time in May 1979. On a whim, I drove to Montreal from Burlington, Vermont, hoping to get a ticket to game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. Outside the Forum looking for a scalper, a well-dressed French Canadian man with his family saw me and invited me to join them. Walking the aisles between periods, I came face to face with Rod Gilbert. I extended my hand, he shook it, and I told him about the many games I watched over the years at MSG, and how I idolized him as a Pee Wee player. Mr. Ranger took it all in stride, smiled, and thanked me. The Canadiens won the game and the Stanley Cup that night, their fourth in a row.
20 years later, I hired Rod and John Davidson to host IBM personal computer retailers for dinner before a game and then in the seats behind the goal. The Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils that night. Rod and I cheered and high-fived after every Ranger goal. Such great memories. RIP.
No comments:
Post a Comment