LookBack #3: “Fly Boys”

“Do you want to go with us.”

“Yes, I do,” I did want to go even though at the moment I didn’t know where “go” was.

“Um, where actually are you going to go to, actually.”

“New Brunswick, Canada.”

“Oh.” To be honest I know where Canada is, I have no idea where in Canada this New Brunswick is though. “What’s a New Brunswick.”

“It’s an Atlantic Province on the east coast of Canada.”

I’m in my Orthopedic doc’s office, I fell out of a boat and hurt my knee which he is telling me isn’t hurt. His name is Robert McAllister M&D, and he has so far replaced both my hips while pretty much always telling me, “Don’t do that with my hips please.” He has seen both my messed up hips once when he had to fix them, apparently that was enough to not want to dig around in there again.

He looks up at me and senses that I may not actually know where the east coast of Canada is, “You just drive though most of Maine and then turn right.”

“Oh.”

“We are going fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon on the world famous Miramichi River.”

“Oh.”

“You in.”

“Uh-huh,” and so I was in on an adventure to the Miramichi River somewhere in New Brunswick somewhere, “Ouch.”

“Did that hurt.”

“Yes.”

“No it didn’t.”

“Oh,”

“Ok, so how far is this river in New Brunswick…”

“About 10 hours or so.”

And Mac just looks at me since we are in my minivan and all of 23 minutes into this adventure.

“It’s going to be great.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a great river, we are going at the right time, it’s a great lodge, great guide and some good friends of mine.”

The 1st time someone told me I was going to a river “at the right time,” I asked “why is it only a river at certain times,” to which the look that came back my way taught me to never ask that again.

“Who are your friends.”

“Some hip sales people.”

“Oh that’s good most sales folks I know aren’t hip at all.”

There is momentary silence from the passenger seat. “Um, they sell hips, in fact they sold me your hips.”

“Oh” (and honestly what would you have said to that for gawds sake).

It is April 22…way up right of Maine in Canada…

…and there are mini-icebergs in this world class fly fishing river. And to be honest they can be dangerous…

“Excuse me, are you Don…”

I never answer to that right away, and besides I was writing…and sort of napping in the sun…3 hours to deadline why not.

“ “ That is me not answering the question.

“Are you the guy from ESPN…”

“ “

“Do you know who Ted Williams was.”

I actually do, I knew of him when he played baseball and when his head was frozen in Arizona which I had to go sort of ask questions about.

“I do, why…” thinking the forzed head may be coming back to haunt me.

“He used to fish this river all the time, he had a fishing cabin up here…”

“Oh.”

“…and I have the key to it, would you like to go see it and go inside.”

Full-Circle-Ted.

15 minutes later I’m a foot away from Ted ‘freakin’ Williams waders and…

…his fly tying table which had on it…

And for the record…it was still on his desk when I left and may still be there. “Just don’t tell anyone where this cabin is ok.”

“Yes ma’am.”

And I haven’t.

To be honest…

…I’ve had some amazing moments covering sports, many moments, but standing inside Ted William’s fishing cabin ranks right up there with holding an old scuffed up baseball that Babe Ruth launched into the bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium, holding a piece of straw that was in Ray Bolger’s scarecrow costume in the Wizard of Oz and even an Ice Skate from the 1980 US Olympic Team (my story of behind the scenes in the Smithsonian Sports History Vaults).

This though was hallowed ground…

…the place where “Teddy Ballgame” came to get away and to fish. A moment in time I’ll never forget.

And out there on the river it was indeed…

Meet…

After about 5 days Mac and I climbed back into my minivan and…

Thank you so much for going down memory lane with me next up…LookBack #4: The Race…fishing with…

Next Sunday 8/23/20…God Willing.

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