Ted Reeve
Encyclopedia
Edward Henry "Ted" Reeve (January 6, 1902 – August 27, 1983) was a multi-sport Canadian athlete and sports journalist. He was on two Grey Cup
winning teams as a football player, a Mann Cup
championship as a lacrosse player and three Yates Cup
championships as a coach for Queen's University
. He is a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
. As an athlete Reeve was noted for determination and inspiring team-mates. He acquired the nickname "The Moaner" in later years after one of the characters in his newspaper columns, Moaner McGruffery.
players. He won the Mann Cup
with the Oshawa Generals in 1929 and the Brampton Excelsiors
in 1930. He turned pro with Montreal in 1931 in what was a new lacrosse league, but the league folded after one season. After serving in World War I, he attempted to break into professional football with the Canadian Rugby Union, precursor of the Canadian Football League
. He first played for the Toronto Argonauts
before winning the winning the Ontario Rugby Football Union championship five times and then the Grey Cup twice in 1927 and 1930, all with the Balmy Beach
club in Toronto. Reeve played middle wing position with the Toronto Balmy Beach rugby team who were at the time one of the most powerful teams in Canada. The often injured Reeve was admired for his toughness. During the Grey Cup final in the 1920s his Balmy Beach team was leading by a narrow margin late in the game when the opposition was preparing to kick the winning field goal. He had been forced to sit out most of the game due to a serious injury. Despite being injured he went on the field and blocked the kick. In his Toronto Telegram newspaper column the next day he wrote:
He was coach of the Queen's University
football team from 1933 to 1938 where they won three Yates Cup championships. He then coached the Montreal Royals
in 1939, the Toronto Balmy Beach in 1945 and 1946 and then the Toronto Beaches-Indians in 1948.
He had been writing a weekly lacrosse column as early as 1921 when he was with the St. Aidan's junior rugby team in the Toronto Beaches. He wrote for the Toronto Telegram
from 1923 to 1971. In 1927 the Telegram decided to discontinue his lacrosse columns. While he was recovering from a broken leg, Reeve began to freelance his stories and sold a couple to a US publication. He received an offer to join the Telegram full-time because editor C.O. Knowles liked his style. He was told, "have a crack at it. If you can't do it we'll let you out." His column Sporting Extras became known for its humour and was considered one of the finest sports features in Canada. He received a National Newspaper Award for excellence in 1961.
Reeve had the reputation for living life to the full and his friends each had their own favourite "Ted Reeve" story they would tell. One such story is from the time he was covering the Stanley Cup playoffs involving the New York Rangers
. The Toronto Telegram editors were finding that as the hockey series continued, the columns he was submitting from New York were becoming progressively shorter and shorter. They only later discovered that after each game he and the coach of the Rangers, Frank Boucher
, would meet at Hogan's Irish House, a drinking establishment that apparently never closed. Eventually the paper's editors received his shortest column of all, consisting of just seven words: "They got me, boys, they got me."
On another occasion, Reeve overheard the Telegram's sports editor complaining "that fellow Bassett", whom Reeve had never heard of before at the paper, was always asking them to get tickets for hockey games. That night in the VIP box at Maple Leaf Gardens, Reeve was introduced to Bassett and used the opportunity to deliver the reprimand, "You're the guy downstairs who's always bellyaching for tickets. Every time you get a couple from us, you're cheating some office boy out of them." The next day, Reeve discovered that John Bassett
was about to be the new owner of The Telegram.
When the Telegram went out of business in 1971, after writing for the paper for 50 years, he said "When I joined the paper they said it would be a full-time job." He then wrote for the Toronto Sun
which was launched only two days after the closure of the Telegram. When staff at the Sun saw him arrive they stood on their feet and applauded, as his presence gave the fledgling paper legitimacy.
Reeve once lamented the trend of sports writers creating articles which simply consisted of nothing more than the coach's opinions on the game. "Many of the writers are little more than stenographers," he said.
30th Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery as a gunner and went to France shortly after D-Day. Reeve sporadically continued his columns for the Telegram, but they concentrated on the war instead of sport. These columns, of the experiences of the Canadian soldier in Europe, were very popular with Canadians at home. While Reeve was a regular enlisted soldier and much older than many of the younger majors, captains and officers, they looked up to Reeve as a leader. He was discharged from the army when his elbow was smashed by a flying rock. In November 1944, the Canadian Press story from the military hospital in Southern England where he was recovering reported that Reeve's greatest concern "is to get his haircut, because he wants to look his best when he meets his wife and the gang around Toronto's Balmy Beach."
, a local area high school. They won so many championships under his guidance that the school board passed a ruling requiring that only teachers could coach.
Later in life, he was troubled with arthritis from his numerous sporting injuries. It was said he had broken 47 bones over the course of his playing career.
On Saturday, August 27, 1983, Ted Reeve died after a short stay in the hospital. Reeve was buried on a warm, rainy morning August 30 at St. John's Norway Anglican Church in his beloved Beaches area of east-end Toronto. Attending his funeral were Lt. Gov. John Aird
, Premier of Ontario William Davis
, Mayor of Toronto Art Eggleton
, Attorney General of Ontario Roy McMurtry
, former NHL stars Ace Bailey
and King Clancy
, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League Jake Gaudaur
, Harold Ballard
owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and many other sports figures. Rev. Bob Rumball of the Evangelical Church of the Deaf
delivered the eulogy. He was survived by his wife Alvern, a son and a daughter.
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
winning teams as a football player, a Mann Cup
Mann Cup
The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship series is played between the Western Lacrosse Association champion and the Major Series Lacrosse champion...
championship as a lacrosse player and three Yates Cup
Yates Cup
The Yates Cup is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Ontario University Athletics football conference of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport federation. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back to 1898 and surpassing both the Grey...
championships as a coach for Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
. He is a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established in 1955 to "preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada's heritage of sport." It is located at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta...
. As an athlete Reeve was noted for determination and inspiring team-mates. He acquired the nickname "The Moaner" in later years after one of the characters in his newspaper columns, Moaner McGruffery.
Athletic career
Ted Reeve was one of Canada's best lacrosseLacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
players. He won the Mann Cup
Mann Cup
The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship series is played between the Western Lacrosse Association champion and the Major Series Lacrosse champion...
with the Oshawa Generals in 1929 and the Brampton Excelsiors
Brampton Excelsiors (MSL)
The Brampton Excelsiors are Senior "A" box lacrosse team from Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The Excelsiors play in the Major Series Lacrosse Senior "A" Lacrosse League.-Season-by-season results:...
in 1930. He turned pro with Montreal in 1931 in what was a new lacrosse league, but the league folded after one season. After serving in World War I, he attempted to break into professional football with the Canadian Rugby Union, precursor of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. He first played for the Toronto Argonauts
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...
before winning the winning the Ontario Rugby Football Union championship five times and then the Grey Cup twice in 1927 and 1930, all with the Balmy Beach
Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers were a Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League...
club in Toronto. Reeve played middle wing position with the Toronto Balmy Beach rugby team who were at the time one of the most powerful teams in Canada. The often injured Reeve was admired for his toughness. During the Grey Cup final in the 1920s his Balmy Beach team was leading by a narrow margin late in the game when the opposition was preparing to kick the winning field goal. He had been forced to sit out most of the game due to a serious injury. Despite being injured he went on the field and blocked the kick. In his Toronto Telegram newspaper column the next day he wrote:
Sports writing and coaching
After retiring as an athlete he both wrote a newspaper sports column and coached football.He was coach of the Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
football team from 1933 to 1938 where they won three Yates Cup championships. He then coached the Montreal Royals
Montreal Royals (football)
Montreal Royals was a Canadian football team in Interprovincial Rugby Football Union. The team played in the 1939 season.-IRFU season-by-season:...
in 1939, the Toronto Balmy Beach in 1945 and 1946 and then the Toronto Beaches-Indians in 1948.
He had been writing a weekly lacrosse column as early as 1921 when he was with the St. Aidan's junior rugby team in the Toronto Beaches. He wrote for the Toronto Telegram
Toronto Telegram
The Toronto Evening Telegram was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at both the federal and provincial level. The paper competed with the liberal Toronto Star...
from 1923 to 1971. In 1927 the Telegram decided to discontinue his lacrosse columns. While he was recovering from a broken leg, Reeve began to freelance his stories and sold a couple to a US publication. He received an offer to join the Telegram full-time because editor C.O. Knowles liked his style. He was told, "have a crack at it. If you can't do it we'll let you out." His column Sporting Extras became known for its humour and was considered one of the finest sports features in Canada. He received a National Newspaper Award for excellence in 1961.
Reeve had the reputation for living life to the full and his friends each had their own favourite "Ted Reeve" story they would tell. One such story is from the time he was covering the Stanley Cup playoffs involving the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
. The Toronto Telegram editors were finding that as the hockey series continued, the columns he was submitting from New York were becoming progressively shorter and shorter. They only later discovered that after each game he and the coach of the Rangers, Frank Boucher
Frank Boucher
François-Xavier "Raffles" Boucher was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive. Boucher played the forward position for the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League and the Vancouver Maroons in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association...
, would meet at Hogan's Irish House, a drinking establishment that apparently never closed. Eventually the paper's editors received his shortest column of all, consisting of just seven words: "They got me, boys, they got me."
On another occasion, Reeve overheard the Telegram's sports editor complaining "that fellow Bassett", whom Reeve had never heard of before at the paper, was always asking them to get tickets for hockey games. That night in the VIP box at Maple Leaf Gardens, Reeve was introduced to Bassett and used the opportunity to deliver the reprimand, "You're the guy downstairs who's always bellyaching for tickets. Every time you get a couple from us, you're cheating some office boy out of them." The next day, Reeve discovered that John Bassett
John Bassett
John White Hughes Bassett, was a Canadian publisher and media baron.Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he was the son of John Bassett , publisher of the Montreal Gazette, and Margaret Avery. Bassett attended Ashbury College and graduated from Bishop's University with a BA in 1936...
was about to be the new owner of The Telegram.
When the Telegram went out of business in 1971, after writing for the paper for 50 years, he said "When I joined the paper they said it would be a full-time job." He then wrote for the Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
which was launched only two days after the closure of the Telegram. When staff at the Sun saw him arrive they stood on their feet and applauded, as his presence gave the fledgling paper legitimacy.
Reeve once lamented the trend of sports writers creating articles which simply consisted of nothing more than the coach's opinions on the game. "Many of the writers are little more than stenographers," he said.
War record
Ted Reeve was a strong supporter of the Canadian war effort in both world wars. Although he was well past military age during World War II, he attempted to enlist, but he was rejected by the medical officers because he was suffering from arthritis and varicose veins . He joined the Toronto Scottish reserve and then underwent surgery for the varicose veins which allowed him to pass his medical. He joined Conn Smythe'sConn Smythe
Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1927 to 1961 and as the builder of Maple Leaf Gardens...
30th Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery as a gunner and went to France shortly after D-Day. Reeve sporadically continued his columns for the Telegram, but they concentrated on the war instead of sport. These columns, of the experiences of the Canadian soldier in Europe, were very popular with Canadians at home. While Reeve was a regular enlisted soldier and much older than many of the younger majors, captains and officers, they looked up to Reeve as a leader. He was discharged from the army when his elbow was smashed by a flying rock. In November 1944, the Canadian Press story from the military hospital in Southern England where he was recovering reported that Reeve's greatest concern "is to get his haircut, because he wants to look his best when he meets his wife and the gang around Toronto's Balmy Beach."
Personal life and death
Reeve was a life-long Toronto Beaches resident. A rink in east Toronto is named in his honour. From 1929 to 1932 Reeve coached football at Malvern CollegiateMalvern Collegiate Institute
Malvern Collegiate Institute is a Toronto high school that was founded in 1903 as "East Toronto High School", in what was then the village of East Toronto...
, a local area high school. They won so many championships under his guidance that the school board passed a ruling requiring that only teachers could coach.
Later in life, he was troubled with arthritis from his numerous sporting injuries. It was said he had broken 47 bones over the course of his playing career.
John Black Aird
John Black Aird, was the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada, from 1980 to 1985.Born in Toronto, Ontario, the grandson of Canadian financier Sir John Aird, John Black Aird was educated at Upper Canada College, Trinity College and Osgoode Hall Law School. He was a Brother at the Toronto...
, Premier of Ontario William Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
, Mayor of Toronto Art Eggleton
Art Eggleton
Arthur "Art" C. Eggleton, PC is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and Mayor of Toronto, and is currently a Senator representing Ontario.-City council:...
, Attorney General of Ontario Roy McMurtry
Roy McMurtry
Roland "Roy" McMurtry, OC, OOnt is a judge and former politician in Ontario, Canada and the current Chancellor of York University.-Early life:McMurtry was born in Toronto and educated at St. Andrew's College, graduating in 1950...
, former NHL stars Ace Bailey
Ace Bailey
Irvine Wallace "Ace" Bailey was an ice hockey player who competed for the Toronto Maple Leafs during eight seasons, from 1926–1933.-Playing career:...
and King Clancy
King Clancy
Francis Michael "King" Clancy was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams and won All-Star honours...
, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League Jake Gaudaur
Jake Gaudaur
For the former world champion sculler see Jake Gaudaur Snr.Jacob Gill "Jake" Gaudaur, Jr., OC was a Canadian Football League player, executive, and commissioner...
, Harold Ballard
Harold Ballard
Harold E. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League as well as their home arena, Maple Leaf Gardens. A member of the Leafs organization from 1940 and a senior executive from 1957, he became part-owner of the team in 1961 and was majority owner from February...
owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and many other sports figures. Rev. Bob Rumball of the Evangelical Church of the Deaf
Evangelical Church of the Deaf
The Evangelical Church of the Deaf is a congregation of the United Church of Canada for the hearing impaired. It is located at the Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf in Toronto, Ontario.-External links:*United Church of Canada ....
delivered the eulogy. He was survived by his wife Alvern, a son and a daughter.
Honours and awards
- Canada Sports Hall of FameCanada's Sports Hall of FameCanada's Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established in 1955 to "preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada's heritage of sport." It is located at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta...
- Canadian Football Hall of FameCanadian Football Hall of FameThe Canadian Football Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is an open to the public institution. It includes displays about the Canadian Football League, Canadian university football and Canadian...
- Charter member - Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame inducted 1966 as Charter member
- Football Reporters of Canada Hall of Fame
- 1961 National Newspaper Award - Sports Writing
Sporting achievements
- Mann Cup 1929, 1930 (player)
- Ontario Rugby Football Union championship 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, and 1930 (player)
- Grey Cup 1927, 1930 (player)
- Yates Cup 1934, 1935, and 1937 (Coach of Queen's University)