ABOVE: Jerry (now nicely on the mend) with
an example of the type of hockey art that earned him a place in the Cincinnati
Hockey Hall of Fame.
The good news: On March 26,
2004, our own Jerry Dowling was inducted into the Cincinnati
Hockey Hall of Fame in recognition of his long career in sports cartooning.
The bad news: He didn't quite
make it through the ceremony. Jerry explains what happened just prior to
the Mighty Ducks game during which the induction was to take place:
"The (Cincinnati) Gardens in an archaic old building,
built in 1947 or so, and it's like a dungeon at the back and that's where
the reception was. You've got to go up a bunch of stairs and down three
stairs -- which I wasn't aware of. Without any yellow stripes or anything
to warn me.
"I was shaking hands with Don Biggs, who used
to play for the Cyclones, and I was walking sideways. And the next
thing I know, I wasn't walking sideways any more. I was walking flat! Crack!
The damage was a broken leg, up near the hip. There was blood all over
the place. It was a gory mess, so they called the life squad.
"My daughters came out after the first period to
get the award. I was kinda busy going down Montgomery Road, which is like
a war zone. The potholes are worse than falling down those stairs. I ended
up in U.C. Hospital. The nurses remember me from before, when I was there
for my liver transplant. None of the nurses wanted to work with me, 'cause
they all hate my guts! Two weeks in U.C. and two more weeks in Blue Ash,
which is a smaller version of the Gardens, it's a dirty old dump.
"The woman that set up the ceremony called me and
sent me some flowers. So did the Champions Golf Tournament for the Seniors,
which I've done work for years and years. But I haven't yet heard a
word from anybody from the Mighty Ducks. No card, no nothing. Although,
when I hit the floor they were there like a bullet with legal papers for
me to sign! If it wasn't for the honor of the thing I would consider taking
them to court. But I think that would be a little tacky since they did
make up this award, which is nothing but a little wooden plaque, something
they had made at K-Mart, I'm sure. It doesn't compare with my Reuben. It's
not going up on the wall near it!"
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