Reporters get asked the question all the time. “So, you work long hours, you get paid very little and you open yourself up to the criticism of 40,000 people every week. Why do you do it?
I think I’ve finally figured out the answer to that question. Reporters stay in the business for one simple reason: They love to tell stories.
Here is a list of my favourite stories from the past decade. They may not be the biggest news stories, but I guarantee you they are the types of stories reporters tell their families about at the end of a busy week:
Covering the Bayside fire was the closest I’ve ever come to working in a war zone. At about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 30, 2005 a fire spread quickly through 12 condos under construction.
It eventually jumped the road, taking out a wide swath of the residential community.
To this day, I consider it an absolute miracle that no one was killed. I also thank God for the RCMP constables, as well as the off-duty Calgary police officer, who went door-to-door while vehicles were blowing up around them, to protect the public.
As the sun came up, the totality of damage revealed was truly unbelievable. It looked like the photos taken of the Iraq war. The next day we learned that after 30 hours of hiding in the basement of a burned out house, a cat named Rudy was rescued. Against all odds it was alive and well. Wow.
There are a lot of people who just don’t understand the allure of Junior B Hockey. That’s fine. But there is no doubt in my mind that they are missing out. For those willing to give Junior B a chance, I wish I could show them the 2004-05 Airdrie Thunder. Some standout players that year included Brad Roessler, Curtis Anaka, Joey Keys, Chad Moore, Trent Pittner, Wayne Befus and Matt Hanson.
That year, the offensive chemistry of the Roessler, Anaka and Keys line was starting to come together. The next year, they broke all sorts of records, with Roessler scoring 49 goals and 121 points.
The scariest thing on ice in ’04-‘05 had to be Matt Hanson getting into a fight. When his helmet came off, he looked like a cross between the grim reaper and the Undertaker of WWE wrestling.
The only thing that seemed to strike fear into opponents more was Befus’ stare. Without laying a hand on an opponent, Befus could make them back up two strides, just with that glare.
Without a doubt, I have never seen two players with more heart than Moore and Pittner. Pittner led the team in scoring at provincials with his broken arm in a cast. In that same provincials, Moore played the role of shut down centre with two bad legs and a serious abdominal muscle tear. Between games he struggled to climb stairs, but that didn’t stop him from giving more than he could or should.
To me, the ‘04-‘05 Thunder represented the best of hockey. To this day, I would rather watch them one Friday night than have a season’s worth of tickets to the Flames.
A sleepy little community near Calgary. Suburbia. A bedroom community. In a lot of respects, this was how Airdrie was seen in the early 2000s. For me, that all changed with our community’s bid to be named Kraft Hockeyville in 2006.
On March 29, Airdrie was announced as one of 50 finalists for the CBC contest, setting in motion one of city’s finest displays of community-togetherness. Led by now Mayor Peter Brown, Al Jones, Michelle Calloway and Murray Buchanan, the Prairie Pond Posse’s effort truly lived up to its slogan “Airdrie, Where Nobody Sits On The Bench.”
It was proof positive that our community could come together to make a difference, and make headlines across Canada. That enthusiasm translated to the screen, thanks to the efforts of Rob Ing, and brought our community more good will than any of us believed possible.
I would also like to note that CBC never released to the vote totals, but I have it on good authority that we finished second overall in the voting, just back of winner Salmon River, B.C.
There were numerous community events to mark Airdrie’s centennial, in 2009. For me, personally, I will always remember bringing my timid two-year-old daughter to City Hall to watch fireworks for the first time. What could be more “Airdrie” than that?
However, my favourite part of the entire centennial year was making the City View’s centennial supplement.
We dug up the front page of the first ever Airdrie newspaper, The Airdrie News, thanks to the Glenbow museum. We also built a timeline of the community, spread over 10 pages.
It was a lot of fun and I learned so much about our community’s history. After years of writing Airdrie’s history as it happened, I found it incredibly interesting to take a step back for a fresh look.
From postmaster Johnston Stevenson to Dr. Edwards, there is an entire generation of our community’s history that is lost to today’s residents. I encourage everyone to read more about our past.
There have been hockey players like Airdrie’s Ty Rattie and Dana Tyrell who can wow you with their ability to be the best player on the ice. People come from miles around to watch them play.
But there are far more players like Darcy Campbell, guys who do the most with the ability they have, play the role the coach gives them, and do their best to help the team. When one of these guys gets his break, it’s impossible not to love it. Growing up in Airdrie, Campbell was rarely the “best player” on his team.
But all of his teams were good teams. After wrapping up a solid minor and junior hockey career, he was ready to hang ‘em up, before the University of Alaska Fairbanks came calling.Three years later, he was signed by the injury-riddled Columbus Blue Jackets and became Airdrie’s first NHLer, logging 5:41 in ice time in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks, March 30, 2007. Campbell played alongside defence partner Sergei Federov, a scoring star converted to blue-liner to wrap up the season, under head coach Ken Hitchcock. True to character, his highlight of the game was not an end-to-end rush, or crazy individual effort.
“I was doing a D to D pass and one of the Blackhawks came to hit me. I braced myself to accept the hit and he ended up on the ice. I don’t even know who it was, I was just so happy I put an NHL player down. I couldn’t believe it.”
For anybody who goes to work every day and busts their hump for little recognition, Campbell’s story is one that sticks with you.
