Readers who particularly enjoy these monthly glimpses
into all that is the wonderful lore of Sudbury sports
past should pass along a debt of gratitude in the memory
of one George Grace.
A native of Toronto who moved
to Sudbury in December of 1939, Grace would begin work
with the Sudbury Star as a sports reporter in 1942. Involved
with the local daily newspaper for decades to come, the
first person inducted into the Greater Sudbury Sports
Hall of Fame under the “Media” category would
eventually ascend to the role of managing editor before
retiring from the Star in 1980.
Yet it was later in life
when he most influenced this particular columnist, penning
a series of “Looking Back” stories that ran
for roughly a decade, his last article printed on December
31st, 2000.
In many ways, it was the
visual vistas that Grace could create via his excellence
with wordsmith imagery that formed the basis of what is
now Nickel City Nostalgia.
Though we never had a chance
to discuss the topic, it appeared to me that stories were
created through a merging of visits to the Sudbury Public
Library to search out microfilmed editions of the Star
from years gone by, along with the memories of a man who
had seen and experienced much during a life spent in largely
in northern Ontario.
This is largely the same
modus operandi I would suggest I embrace – though
I honestly have no recollection at all of stock car races
taking place at Hurricane Speedway in Blezard Valley in
the summer of 1972. Mind you, at that point in my life,
my entire world likely revolved around a one-kilometre
radius or so of Rosemarie playground in New Sudbury.
According to John Mott, Valley
Standard editor of that time, however, some two dozen
cars raced on this particular Sunday, a number that was
well above the average of previous races due to an influx
of Sault Ste Marie drivers who wished to partake in the
festivities.
Spinouts were the order of
the day.
Having relinquished the ride
of his 1977 Chevelle to Leo Lampsa due to a whiplash injury,
Ray Fex returned to racing but would spin off the track
on several occasions, though he did manage to complete
the 20-lap race.
Out-of-town competitors enjoyed
easily as much success, if not more, than the locals did.
Recognized as the “Driver
of the Day”, Fred Page from SSM steered his 1993
Charger to victory in a pair of heats as well as the feature
race of the day, joined in the winners’ circle by
Garf MacDonald from North Bay (1942 Mustang – super
stock heat).
Track and field on a local
level was in fine form in the early seventies thanks to
the existence of a pair of clubs: Sudbury Track Club and
Northland Athletic Club. The age span of competitors was
particularly noteworthy.
Competing at the Toronto
Police Games, Sudbury senior entries Ken Sellen and Joe
Zloty were both tackling the 1500m distance.
Joining the duo at the meet
were Fred Meandro (sprints) and Sakari Sirvio (400m).
Meanwhile, bantam and midget tracksters representing the
STC of provincials in Oshawa included twin sprinters Heather
and Kim Chisholm, along with fellow Conistonite Laureen
Veno and teammate Pat Garrett from Sudbury.
Having recently clocked a
time of 48.9 (400m) at the Olympic Trials in Toronto,
Dick Moss would accompany John MacAlpine to the juvenile
and juniors meet in Kitchener. Meanwhile, a NAC contingent
that featured the likes of Joanne McKinty (800m/1500m),
Dave Flowers (triple jump), Mark Cummins (110m hurdles)
and Jeff Gilles (800m) would also be part of those festivities.
All this at a time when soccer
was far more prevalent than track.
Nightly contests at Queen’s
Athletic Field would draw several hundreds, with particularly
big matchups reaching four-digit attendance. All of which
came with an account of the contest the next day in the
paper.
A mainstay in the men’s
league, the Polish White Eagles had played to a 1-1 draw
with Sudbury United when defender Shea O’Hanlon
capitalized late on a free kick awarded some ten yards
out. This nullified what appeared destined to be a game-winning
goal courtesy of a three-way passing play, started by
Colin Smethurst, played through Stewart Doran and on to
Steve Ross, who bested keeper Andre Mrozewski from close
range.
A call-up from the bantam
Cleanol Hawks crew, Mrozeski had delivered an outstanding
performance, serving notice the youngster would not look
out of place with the men. In an earlier encounter, Croatia
Adria controlled much of the game but were rewarded only
with a singular tally as Ilya Prodanovic fed a perfect
through ball to Danny Parovic, who made no mistake in
lifting his team past the Tridents 1-0.
And if there was any doubting
the intensity of the soccer of the day, consider that
one night later, the Sudbury Soccer Association executive
disciplinary committee would be meeting in the aftermath
of a brawl between the Sudbury Flyers and Cleanol Hawks
that forced the referee to vacate the contest with five
minutes to play.
Sounds like that outing would
have been very much to the liking of the trio of Richard
Lineham, Arvo Punkkinen and David Jamrozik – all
of whom would medal at the Canadian Junior Boxing Championships
in Edmonton in the summer of 1972.
Members of the Frood-Shamrock
Athletic Club, the northern lads produced a pair of gold
medals (Lineham and Punkinnen) along with one silver (Jamrozik).
Fighting in the 65-pound class, Lineham got the better
of Ken Stoekil from South Porcupine while Punkinnen recorded
a TKO over an opponent from the Yukon before being awarded
a unanimous decision over Marc Givaque (Toronto Cabbagetown).
Jamrozik (112-pounds) had
a busier stretch, picking up TKO victories over both Bill
Bruce (Newfoundland) and Colin Gallant (P.E.I) before
dropping a close split decision to hometown favourite,
Mike Young.
“That was the best
fight I’ve ever seen David fight,” said Frood-Shamrock
promoter & president Johnny Teale. “Some felt
it was a hometown decision but this Young was a superior
boxer.”
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