Red Storey, 1918-2006

Red Storey was one of those Canadian originals who went through a number of different sporting phases in his life, from football to hockey referee to raconteur.

CP FILE PHOTO

Red Storey: All-round sportsman.

I remember him at a hockey banquet when I was quite young, telling stories and always laughing. To me, a Canadian kid reared on the lore of the Rocket Richard riots and epic football finals at Varsity Stadium, he was a larger than life figure, a link back to those times, and with better stories to tell than the ones in the books I was reading.

So I was taken a little aback this morning with the CP obit run in The Star and many other newspapers this morning -- at least this part:

In one 1938 game, Storey came off the bench in the fourth quarter and rushed for three touchdowns and 102 yards in a comeback win over Winnipeg.

One 1938 game? That was actually the 1938 Grey Cup, and the single most electrifying performance in the long history of that great game.

Storey's three touchdowns in a single Grey Cup game are a record since equalled by Jackie Parker (1956) and Tommy Scott (1980; Ross Craig of Hamilton also had three TDs in the 1913 final, and Storey and Craig share the record for rushing TDs in a Grey Cup) -- but none of them put together the concentrated burst Storey managed.

As the Star's Red Burnett noted in the sportswriting parlance of the day:

When the flame-thatched youth decided to rise and shine Argos were trailing 7 to 6 and the greater majority of the 18,846 paying customers very glum, while Winnipeg Blue Bombers' supporters were flushed with the joy of expected triumph.
Mr. Storey soon changed all that by turning in one of the greatest 15 minutes of football toting over seen on the Varsity or any other gridiron. All the 20-year-old lad, who tears along with the speed of a sprinter and the power of an elephant, did was chalk up three touchdowns and make the other possible as the brilliant Argo machine staged a thrilling 24-point rally to snatch victory from the hungry clutches of the Winnipeg gridders to retain their Canadian crown.

For a link to a pdf file of the Star's coverage of Storey's performance for the ages via Pages of the Past, click here.

Farewell, Red. Thanks for the stories.

Comments

[karim]

Hey Chris!

Wife gave birth to a baby boy on Monday morning! Name is Kahzmir Amin Kanji. Which reminds me of a story I heard Pinball Clemons tells of Red Storey on a plane trip. You really need to hear him tell it. But here is my attempt:

One day Red was flying and a young lady with a newborn came to sit beside him. Now, we all love newborns but not on a flight - if you know what I mean! Anyhow, Red, seeing that the young lady was nervous, started talking to her to calm her down. Well, as the plane is starting to take off the lady takes off her top and starts breast feeding! Right in front of Red! You can't blame the guy for staring but because Red was a gentleman he pretended to not notice. As the plane reached cruising altitude the young lady stopped feeding her babe and continued talking to Red. A few hours later the plane starts to descend. And what happens? Exactly! She starts to breast feed again! Now Red is really nervous and curious! So he asks her why she is doing this again. She replies that it calms and soothes her baby, and his ears won't hurt with the change in altitude.
At this point, Red thinks to himself, "Man! And I've been sucking candy for all these years!"

Thanks for the stories, Red, and thank you for being a friend to Pinball so he could share this story with us.

[Les Couchie]

I will always remember the night in Chicago when a fan jumped over the boards and tried to pour beer on Red. Doug Harvey proceeded to two-hand the guy over the head with his stick and Danny Gallivan quickly remarked that the fan would have more than a hangover tomorrow morning.

All around athletes and sportspeople are hard to find and we lost ours.

So Long Red.

[cy]

Stories about a storyteller. Thanks, fellas.
And congratulations Karim, to you and your wife. Have a cigar, just this once (but whatever you do keep the smoke away from little Kahz).

[Ron]

Thank you Mr. Storey. Rest in peace.

[Leslie]

I am trying to find out the names of the parents of Roy Alvin "Red Storey", well known hockey personality. Many bios give his birth place as Barrie, Ontario in 1918, however I have never seen the parents mentioned. In doing my Storey family history, I wanted to check out the family tradition that Red was a relative. Does anyone know the father's name?

Leslie nee Storey