Introducing Two Canadian Sports Icons: An Aide Mémoire

Athletes who play multiple sports are a rare breed. Does anyone have to be reminded that Michael Jordan tried - and failed? Professionally speaking.

When it came to playing more than one sport, no one tried to be like Mike; Mike tried to emulate others. Just because Jordan failed didn't mean the same fate awaited others. In the United States, Jim Thorpe, Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson are the most famous multiple sports icons. Thorpe in particular is justifiably considered one of America's greatest athletes ever. The list, of course, does not end with them. There have been many great athletes who played and excelled in various sports at the collegiate and pro level including Jim Brown, Tom Glavine and Jackie Robinson.

Canada was and is not without its icons, though we do not celebrate them all that much. Here, we have Lionel Conacher and Gerry James.

Who? I love digging such figures up. Larry Walker is a more recent example. He played hockey as well as baseball.

Consider this quote by Carl Snavely of Cornell University when he said Lionel Conacher "was probably he greatest athlete that I have ever coached in football or in any other form of athletics…. I don't believe I ever had a fullback who was a better runner in an open field, or was a better punter, or who so fully possessed all of the qualities of speed, skill, dexterity, aggressiveness and self-control…"

On the Historica.ca website they add, "He had to have endurance, too. One day in 1922, he hit a triple in the final inning to give his Toronto Hillcrest baseball team the Ontario baseball championship, then jumped into a waiting car and crossed the city to join his Maitland lacrosse team in their championship game against Brampton. Maitland was trailing 3-0 when Conacher arrived, but he scored four goals and assisted on another to lift his team to a 5-3 victory."

Lionel 'Big Train' Conacher played and participated in several sports. Football, hockey, baseball, lacrosse, boxing and wrestling. He became the Canadian Light Heavyweight champion in 1920. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Maroons, New York Americans and the Chicago Black Hawks in the NHL - winning two Stanley Cups. In football, his best sport, he won the Grey Cup in 1921 when his Toronto Argonaut's defeated the Edmonton Eskimos.

Back then, Canada was a highly successful athletic society - especially on the amateur side**. The British legacy of needing to be athletic in order to be a 'fully integrated' individual.*

Gerry James was 'restricted' to two sports. Hockey and football. Football in Canada has had a strange evolution. The sport has always been popular - like baseball - but it could never emerge from the shadows of hockey. James played right wing in 149 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 1950s. In today's lingo he would have been a defensive forward in hockey. But his football numbers were far more impressive. He led the Blue Bombers in rushing for three seasons***:

1954 - 106 carries for 576 yards (5.4 yards per carry)
1955 - 189/1205 (6.4 yards per carry)
1957 - 197/1192 (6 yards per carry)

James won two Schenley Awards for Outstanding Canadian**** in 1954 and 1957. He is a member of the CFL Hall of Fame. He was the last Canadian to play two sports and the only one to ever play in a Stanley Cup and Grey Cup final. As if this wasn't enough he also played in a Memorial Cup with the Winnipeg Monarchs in 1952.*****

Now you know who they are.

*The concept of the well-rounded individual dates back to Ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy - AKA as the Renaissance Man or L'Uomo Universali. The British continued the tradition especially for men heading into the military. The concept seems to have been abandoned by the latest great power - the United States.

**And it wasn't only the men. Fanny 'Bobbie' Rosenfield was a star in track, tennis, basketball, speed skating and hockey. Her reincarnation can be found in Clara Hughes who represented Canada with distinction (including a gold medal in Torino) in cycling and speed skating.

*** The CFL does a poor job of cataloging its statistics. As the league improves in stature this may change but for now it can stand to learn one, two or 15 things from the NFL about marketing and immortalizing their great players.

****There is such an award because the majority of the players have always come from the U.S. The CFL's top QB's have always historically been American born. Think Warren Moon, Joe Theisman and Doug Flutie.

*****Again for my American audience an explanation. The Memorial Cup is a prestigious junior hockey tournament that brings together the champions of Canada's top three leagues: The Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and The Quebec Majors. Collectively known as the Canadian hockey league. In terms of purity, there is nothing better than the Memorial Cup. It's an outstanding tournament and wickedly fun to watch. It's the closest thing Canada has that rivals the College sports phenomena in the U.S.