from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,
What happens when three legendary broadcasters, who have been at centre ice to call six decades of Maple Leafs hockey, meet for a beer in a team-themed man cave?
Some of the best stories you’ll ever hear, even though most don’t end with Toronto winning the Stanley Cup the past 48 years.
Brian McFarlane, Joe Bowen and Jiggs McDonald entertained guests on Wednesday night at the home of “Ultimate Leaf Fan’” Mike Wilson, whose downtown residence holds the largest private collection of Leafs memorabilia. The Sun picked some favourites:...
McFarlane and Bowen knew the golden rule at the Gardens: Never rile Harold Ballard.
“He and King Clancy were in the bunker listening to everything you said,” McFarlane recalled. “So you had to be very cautious or you’d be finding other ways to pay the mortgage.”
Bowen and the combustible Ballard coexisted for the most part, but Bowen resented the owner’s rule that broadcasters couldn’t fly or bus with the team as other clubs allowed.
“We had to stand outside Chicago Stadium in a blizzard trying to get a cab, which was absolutely impossible,” Bowen recounted. “Harold would go by us on the warm team bus and give you a little wave.”
In the late 1980s, going commercial also meant Bowen and Watters would share flights with Yolanda MacMillan, Ballard’s on again/off again girlfriend as she pursued him on road trips. MacMillan never travelled light, so Bowen and Watters ended up as her luggage porters.
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