Canadian Trivia in state of emergency

For weeks, I've sat idly as you little ones make your best guesses on our weekly trivia, and I appreciate your participation. This week, however, it has become apparent that you need more Canadian trivia in your lives. Foster Hewitt is famous for the phrase HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES! It's internationally acclaimed! A phrase, and a man, that united this country every Saturday night with our common love for hockey. Born in Toronto and a fan of the greatest hockey team known to humans (The Maple Leafs, obviously), his voice rang out across the air waves to the delight of fans from coast to coast.

So here is your lesson for today (courtesy of Historica Minutes)...

Foster Hewitt was only 20 years old when he was assigned to announce the first radio broadcast of a hockey game by his employer, Canada Covers America First!, a radio station owned by the Toronto Star newspaper. Reporting on the game from a cramped glass box far above the ice, it was during this game that Hewitt first uttered his famous phrase, “He shoots, he scores!” After the broadcast, letters from listeners began pouring it; its popularity with listeners was unprecedented. Though officially a reporter, Hewitt began live broadcasting of hockey, lacrosse, sculling, motorboat and motorcycle races, sailing, football and baseball.

It was broadcasting hockey, however, where Hewitt really made his mark. In concert with Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe, Hewitt formed a company and began broadcasting all Maple Leafs games, doing so over the objections of many of the Maple Leafs’ Directors, who felt that broadcasting would hurt ticket sales. Needless to say, the directors were wrong. Soon, companies looking for popular programs in which to place advertising became interested in hockey broadcasts. In 1931, General Motors became the first corporate sponsor of a Saturday Night hockey broadcast, beginning a tradition that continues with Labatt’s Hockey Night in Canada today. This work would make Foster Hewitt a household name across the country, and a near institution in the history of Canadian sport.

Hewitt died in 1985. His honours include the Order of Canada, and inductions into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Foster Hewitt of Toronto. A Footprint on Saturday Night in Canadian sports.


Your homework over Spring Break, therefore, is to learn more about this wonderful country of ours. Explore the Historica Minutes and encyclopedias. Appreciate more Canadian art (the whole third floor of the Art Gallery in town is yours to enjoy- you can teach your parents about how Lawren Harris and Emily Carr had crushes on each other and wrote letters across the country!). Listen to Canadian singers. Neil Young! Joni Mitchell! Read the paper! Read Canadian authors -- Farley Mowat, Kevin Major, L.M. Montgomery! Check out this link to find some more ideas --

http://www.bookcentre.ca/authors/author_pages.shtml

Look at the scenery along the ocean and know that there are kids looking at the two other oceans connected to our country and also marveling at its beauty. There is much to be proud of and it is up to you to learn about it!