Hugh Townsend, Author at The Pictou Advocate

There’s never been anything like this

March 18, 2020March 17, 2020Hugh Townsend

Through good times and not so good times, I’ve been around sports for an awfully long period. They were a big part of my life growing up, they became an even larger thing through my decades in the newspaper business, and they haven’t slowed down a bit well beyond a normal retirement age. I’ve seen...

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When Sunday sports were frowned upon

March 11, 2020March 10, 2020Hugh Townsend

Minor hockey excitement doesn’t get much more intense than it was this past weekend at the Pictou County Wellness Centre. For good reason. The 2020 Hockey Nova Scotia female provincial championships were being decided in the side-by-side Sobeys and Bell Aliant arenas. With both granddaughters participating in the three-day event, I knew what the atmosphere...

Why ‘our Coach K’ is the best I’ve seen

March 4, 2020March 3, 2020Hugh Townsend

When you spend your lifetime in sports journalism, you encounter a huge number of people — watching them, interviewing them, writing about them. I know it well. Quite a number of years ago, I determined that I had met literally thousands of athletes, coaches, officials and others involved in the sports world in various ways....

Embarrassed by a Zamboni driver

February 26, 2020February 25, 2020Hugh Townsend

My undying allegiance to the Toronto Maple Leafs has been well documented — verbally and in print — for a very long time. My dedication to the blue and white has survived through thick and thin for 73 years and two months — ever since Santa Claus left me a Leafs sweater under the tree...

How junior hockey took the main stage

February 19, 2020February 18, 2020Hugh Townsend

Back in the days when my generation was much younger — even back when our fathers and mothers were young — it was senior hockey that was attracting fans to the arenas in Pictou County and elsewhere. Remember some of the teams? Locally there were the New Glasgow Rangers, Stellarton Royals and Pictou Maripacs. Around...

Full marathon had grand run

February 12, 2020February 11, 2020Hugh Townsend

When I heard the full marathon would no longer be a part of the annual Johnny Miles Running Event Weekend after this year, I was disappointed, if not upset. My first thought: What a shame! I couldn’t help but think back to 1975 when I attended the original press conference in New Glasgow that announced...

Sports have had far too many tragedies

February 5, 2020February 5, 2020Hugh Townsend

If I were to ask you to name the top 10 hockey players in our lifetime, I’m sure you would think of Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau and Sidney Crosby. They all belong on the list. If I were to pose the same question about the 10 best baseball players in our...

“Liking what you do is happiness”

January 29, 2020January 28, 2020Hugh Townsend

Shannon MacLean, who has been serving as youth minister at Woodlawn United Church in Dartmouth, will be ordained on May 24. I won’t forget the date — it’s my birthday and I’ve had a good number of those. A few weeks later, she begins ministerial duties at St. Andrew’s United in Truro. I mention her...

Sports Illustrated takes another hit

January 22, 2020January 21, 2020Hugh Townsend

It was a sort of love affair from the very beginning — a love affair between a teenager just getting into a newspaper career and a new sports magazine filled with interesting stories and colour photographs. It was a summer day in New Glasgow in 1954. I had an appointment with my doctor — who...

Ryan appointment should be popular

January 15, 2020January 14, 2020Hugh Townsend

There are some things that happen in the sports world that allow media people like me to make immediate assumptions. Without speaking to ticket sellers or event organizers, I’m confident Pictou County hockey fans have been anxiously awaiting the 2020 IIHF women’s world championship being held in Truro and Halifax later this season. It’s one...

Author: Hugh Townsend