Neil Macrae
Born:
September 13, 1951
Neil
Macrae - All nights CJVI Victoria 1969-79; CHWK Chilliwack circa 1970; late
night sports/host The Blazer Report CJOR Vancouver 1972; CKWX Vancouver
1973-78; sports/talk host CJOR Vancouver 1978; sports/talk host then Whitecaps
colour commentator CKWX 1980-83; sports CKNW New Westminster 1983-current and
sports comment mornings CFMI-FM Vancouver current; Vancouver Province sports
columnist
***
1993
CKNW
sportsman Neil Macrae, 42, tells a neat story from years ago when he started
operating for an open-line host at another station. Neil was still unfamiliar
with the equipment. A caller used an obscene word . . . Neil's hand shot toward
what he thought was the kill button . . . and buzzed the station's front door
open.
***
1995
My gift for John McKeachie is a thesaurus
containing words of no more than one syllable, and how to pronounce
"thesaurus." - Neil Macrae
***
1987
Colorful
and controversial sports broadcaster "Big" Al Davidson has been fired
by the radio station he worked at for more than 30 years.
In a
written statement issued Friday, CKNW station manager Ron Bremner said
Davidson, 62, was terminated "effective immediately."
CKNW
program director Doug Rutherford said on advice from legal counsel the station
would not release its reason for terminating Davidson.
"We
had to make a difficult decision,"
In an
interview between periods of Friday's Vancouver-Edmonton hockey game, Davidson
said he was fired over a "misunderstanding" between himself and
fellow CKNW sports broadcaster Neil Macrae.
He said a
joke he made to Macrae during last Wednesday's Vancouver-Boston game was
misinterpreted as a physical threat and that Macrae subsequently contacted
police.
"It
was no threat at all," Davidson said. "The man's 30 years younger
than me, for Pete's sake."
Macrae
refused to comment.
Davidson
said no one from the station had talked to him about his termination and that
he learned of it through his lawyer Friday morning.
"They
haven't told me a thing," he said. "After 30 years with an outfit,
you expect a little more than this."
Davidson,
who spoke to reporters on the Coliseum mezzanine because his press-box pass had
been revoked by Canucks management, said he likely would join another
unspecified radio station "very soon."
***
1989
Archie McDonald
ALTHOUGH the story has received circulation
on Neil Macrae's radio station, it is too good not to share with the rest of
the world.
Macrae is
the one on CKNW with a voice that booms like a snare drum in the mornings, at
Anyway,
some young woman was smitten by the sound of his voice and a mutual friend
arranged a blind date. Since Neil had also had a life long romance with his
tonsils this rendezvous promised to form a breathless admiration society.
He was to
pick her up in West Van, take her to supper, and let his sweet talk do the rest.
He spent a long time getting ready, making sure his curls were coifed just
right, his beard was in perfect trim.
He double
checked that the heavy gold chain around his neck was not obscured by the dark
fleece sprouting from his chest. The piece de resistance was a three piece
suit, blue with a pale green stripe, which he had bought in
His only
fear was that the young lady might faint at the sight of him and be rendered
comatose the rest of the evening. Oh well, it was a risk he always ran.
He
stopped at the Esso station at Burrard and
He walked
back to the pumps to find his vehicle had disappeared. He figured maybe he was
dreaming. "Did I just drive in here in a red car?" he asked the
attendant.
Between
the disbelieving attendant and the stunned Macrae they reached the inevitable
conclusion: Sure as hell the car had been stolen.
The police
were summoned. A couple of red Hondas were pursued but turned out to be
look-a-likes. Macrae, you see, wasn't absolutely sure of the license number.
When he had filled out the charge receipt he had just guessed. Why worry about
facts.
As he
took a taxi back to his Kitsilano home the hopelessness of his situation struck
him. He couldn't phone the girl because her name, Kim something, her address,
her phone number, were in the stolen car. He couldn't look it up because her
phone was unlisted. The friend who had set up the date had gone to
He
couldn't pay the taxi driver because he had no cash. He couldn't get into his
house because the key was on the chain he had conveniently left in the
ignition.
He found
a ladder, slipped in through a window and dashed downstairs to disconnect the
burglar alarm in the 20-second grace period before it went off. He scrounged
enough cash to pay the cabbie, and went about repairing the damage to his
bruised ambitions.
He phoned
John Skidmore, manager of Langley Honda to find the license number. Skidmore
leases Macrae the car in return for some advertising and the privilege of being
disturbed at home on a Saturday night to be asked to go down to the office to
call up numbers on a computer.
Anyway,
the car still hasn't shown up despite Langley Honda's promise of a trip to
Macrae is
heartbroken over the loss of 20 tapes which were in the car, including the
prized Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits. This girl might have the world's second
greatest voice.
He still
hasn't found Kim to offer his apologies and stammer an excuse which she
probably wouldn't believe anyway.