The Globe and Mail's List of the 25 Figures Who Most Influenced Canadian Sport in 2006
The field included Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes, both champions and also symbols of Canada’s best showing ever at the Winter Olympics.
There was Justin Morneau, who had a breakout year in baseball, and Sidney Crosby, who emerged as the best young Canadian hockey player in years.
Behind the scenes, there were the usual number of executives who made important decisions at the club, league and network level.
But the winner, the person who had the most influence and impact on Canadian sport in 2006, is a point guard playing for an American team.
Steve Nash, basketball player and activist, is The Globe and Mail’s choice as Canada’s most influential sports figure.
Nash won the National Basketball Association’s most valuable player award for the second consecutive year, but his influence extends well beyond the game on the floor.
In Canada, television audiences spiked when Phoenix Suns playoff games were aired. Sporting goods distributors say the Nash factor has resulted in sales of basketball equipment skyrocketing.
Nash is also an activist who opposed the Iraq war and whose foundation has helped disadvantaged children as far way as Paraguay.
“I still can’t believe in many ways where my career has gone,” the native of Victoria said in an interview. “In some ways, it makes you uncomfortable to be singled out. I don’t want to be glorified. In other ways, what’s happened is the result of much hard work and dedication.”
Nash, 32, is followed on our list by National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman, a perennial top-25 selection because of the importance of the NHL to Canada.
Klassen, at No. 3, was the star of the Turin Olympics, winning more medals than any other athlete and serving notice that Canada is now among the best winter sport nations.
Rounding out the top five are two executives: Robert Wetenhall, the outspoken Montreal Alouettes owner who led in the ouster of Canadian Football League commissioner Tom Wright; and Larry Tanenbaum, the chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the country’s most powerful sports organization.
Ken Read, the chief executive officer of Alpine Canada, placed sixth, because of the advances made by Canadian skiers on the world scene.
Ivan Fecan, the president and CEO of Bell Globemedia, which increased its already large investment in sports TV, is seventh. He’s followed by Colin Campbell, the NHL executive in charge of the game on the ice who has held firm on zero-tolerance toward restraining fouls.
Hughes, an Olympic gold-medal winner and charity fundraiser, is ninth. Finishing off the top 10 is David Braley, the B.C. Lions owner who has pushed for changes at the CFL front office and whose team won the 2006 Grey Cup.
Nash has yet to win an NBA championship, but his influence and impact in and outside basketball are remarkable. His flashy, aggressive style has brought a dynamic element to a game that was badly in need of more offence. And, in Canada, where the Toronto Raptors consistently finish out of the playoffs, he has become the face of the NBA.
Allan Gooch, the chief operating officer of TFG Marketing International, which distributes Spalding products, says recreational basketball equipment is “growing in leaps and bounds,” in no small measure because of Nash.
Sales have increased by more than 34 per cent over the past three years. About 330,000 balls and 110,000 hoop sets are sold annually in Canada.
“He’s been great for Canada and basketball,” Gooch said. “He’s really given focus to it. Our sales have grown each year and certainly you can attribute a portion of that to him just making the game more visible. He’s become basketball’s ambassador.”
Away from the game, Nash is a rarity — a professional athlete unafraid to speak out on social issues.
In February of 2003, during the run-up to the Iraq war, he became a lightning rod for controversy when he demonstrated against the war during the NBA all-star weekend by wearing a T-shirt with the message: No war, shoot for peace. He was attacked by political commentators and sportswriters, as well as San Antonio Spurs star David Robinson, who felt everyone should support the troops.
Given the American failure in Iraq, does Nash feel vindicated?
“That wasn’t my goal,” he said. “I just thought it was a situation to guard against.”
“I thought it was unjust to go over there in that capacity, especially without exhausting all possible resources beforehand. . . . That was my goal, to look at it more closely and find a better solution,” Nash said. “But never was it so I could say at the end of day, I told you so.”
In 2001, he established the Steve Nash Foundation, which is dedicated to assisting underprivileged children in areas of health, personal development, education and recreation. It has helped equip a neonatal intensive care ward in Paraguay and set up an all-access children’s basketball centre in the Toronto area.
The Globe and Mail’s list, compiled by members of the newspaper’s sports department, takes into account influence and impact. A sports figure needs to achieve both to be considered, and certainly, Ted Rogers, at No. 11, meets the standard. As president and CEO of Rogers Communications, he runs one of the most powerful sports-media companies in the country.
Pierre Boivin, president of Montreal Canadiens, which is among the NHL’s most successful franchises, ranks 12th.
Crosby, the young Pittsburgh Penguins star, is 13th. He’s followed by broadcast executive Nancy Lee and Richard Peddie, the president and CEO of MLSE. Keith Pelley, the Toronto Argonauts president and behind-the-scenes CFL mover, is 16th.
Stacey Allaster, president of the women’s tennis WTA Tour, is 17th.
Completing the top 20 are Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency in Montreal; Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour commissioner who had a negative impact on golf in Canada; and Morneau, who helped the Minnesota Twins win the American League Central title and was voted league MVP.
At No. 21, San Jose Sharks forward Jonathan Cheechoo was the NHL goal-scoring champion and is the first member of the Moose Cree First Nation to play in the league. He’s followed by Pierre McGuire, the TSN and NBC commentator who was on the cutting edge of broadcast innovations.
The late Mark Lowry, the former executive director of sport for the Canadian Olympic Committee, set the stage for Canada’s success at Turin. He’s No. 23.
John Furlong, president of Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, is 24th. Last is John Levy, chairman and CEO of Score Media Inc., which moved heavily into TV sports acquisitions in 2006.
The list consists of seven league or association officials (Bettman, Read, Campbell, Allaster, Finchem, Lowry and Furlong); six club executives (Wetenhall, Tanenbaum, Braley, Boivin, Peddie, Pelley); six athletes (Nash, Klassen, Hughes, Crosby, Morneau, Cheechoo); four broadcast or communications executives (Fecan, Rogers, Lee, Levy); one watchdog (Pound); and one on-air personality (McGuire).
Of the 25, three are American (Bettman, Wetenhall, Finchem). The remainder are Canadian.
Four are women.
2. GARY BETTMAN, NHL commissioner
3. CINDY KLASSEN, speed skater
4. ROBERT WETENHALL, Montreal Alouettes owner
5. LARRY TANENBAUM, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
6. KEN READ, CEO of Alpine Canada
7. IVAN FECAN, president and CEO of Bell Globemedia
8. COLIN CAMPBELL, senior V-P of NHL operations
9. CLARA HUGHES, speed skater
10. DAVID BRALEY, B.C. Lions owner
11. TED ROGERS, president, CEO Rogers Communications
12. PIERRE BOIVIN, president of Montreal Canadiens
13. SIDNEY CROSBY, Pittsburgh Penguins forward
14. NANCY LEE, former executive director of CBC Sports
15. RICHARD PEDDIE, president and CEO of MLSE
16. KEITH PELLEY, Toronto Argonauts president
17. STACEY ALLASTER, president of WTA Tour
18. DICK POUND, head of World Anti-Doping Agency
19. TIM FINCHEM, PGA Tour commissioner
20. JUSTIN MORNEAU, Minnesota Twins 1B
21. JONATHAN CHEECHOO, San Jose Sharks forward
22. PIERRE McGUIRE, TSN and NBC commentator
23. MARK LOWRY, former executive director of sport for COC
24. JOHN FURLONG, president of VANOC
25. JOHN LEVY, chairman, CEO of Score Media Inc.
