Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame president Garry McKay (left) and retired broadcaster and hall founding director Al Craig, check out a replica Hamilton Red Wings Jersey that was worn by the Hamilton AHL Bulldogs at a home game in 2015 and signed by former Red Wings players who were at the game.
Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame president Garry McKay (left) and retired broadcaster and hall founding director Al Craig, check out a replica Hamilton Red Wings Jersey that was worn by the Hamilton AHL Bulldogs at a home game in 2015 and signed by former Red Wings players who were at the game.
Al Craig paused to look around and was impressed by what he saw.
A founding director of the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame, the retired sports announcer and director at radio station CHML — and longtime sports information officer at Mohawk College — finally set foot on Nov. 28 in the hall he helped establish.
“I think they did a great job,” said Craig, who had been unable to see the hall that opened this past spring in the Eva Rothwell Centre on Wentworth Street North due to scheduling conflicts.
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“People have been very appreciative in giving us the information (about the hall exhibits),” said the 74-year-old Craig, who noted he interviewed many of the people in the hall during his nearly 30 years at CHML.
Walking through the modest-sized room at the centre, Craig said all the trophies, photos and other exhibits brought back a lifetime of memories.
Those memories include doing play-by-play and colour commentary for the American Hockey League Hamilton Bulldogs, including during their one and only championship season in 2006-07.
“That was a big thrill,” he said.
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So was 2012, the year the Mohawk College men’s basketball team won the national college championship.
“That was crazy, man,” said Craig who retired in 2019.
These days the Grimsby resident is taking it easy and enjoying retirement.
There have been trips to Victoria to watch his grandson play hockey and lots of time walking Monty, the family’s eight-year-old miniature pincer.
While health issues have slowed him down and stopped him from driving, Craig said he continues to follow sports, including his fondness for European soccer.
“I still love it,” he said. “I’m feeling good.”
The once-booming voice is also noticeably weaker, something Craig said his doctors have told him is the result of all those decades of broadcasting.
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“It’s a hazard of the profession, I think is how it was put,” Craig said.
Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame president and retired Hamilton Spectator sportswriter Garry McKay said when the decision was made to start the hall, Craig was one of the first people to step forward and volunteer their time to help make it a reality.
“As a founding director Al’s knowledge of the Hamilton sports scene was invaluable and I don’t think we would have ever got this off the ground without him,” McKay said. “With his background in radio, Al became the voice of the HSHOF from our first press conference right up until he retired. Even now I know we can call on Al for advice any time.”
McKay said the hall started as an online entity in 2010 and it moved to the Eva Rothwell Centre in 2020, but due to renovations and COVID, the hall didn’t open to the public until this year with limited hours.
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