Post by bromine on Apr 24, 2010 22:48:23 GMT -5
McEnroe, Domi to faceoff on the court
John McEnroe and Tie Domi to square off
By BILL LANKHOF, QMI Agency
Last Updated: April 24, 2010 12:18am
www.lfpress.com/sports/othersports/2010/04/24/13703871.html
Tie Domi will try almost anything once.
“I’m trying to be the next Bo Jackson,” Domi laughed. The one-time Maple Leafs tough guy signed on this week to partner one of the greatest players in the history of tennis.
Domi, fresh off competing in figure skating’s Battle of the Blades, has hooked up with John McEnroe as part of the Legends of Tennis event,
May 8, at Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum.
“It’s the two bad boys,” Domi said, “together. If there’s any screaming, I like our chances. I’m known as a pretty good trash-talker and Johnny Mac can hold his own. And, if anyone messes with Johnny, I’ve got his back.”
McEnroe, now a television announcer, philanthropist and entrepreneur, was nicknamed the SuperBrat for his abrasive style. Domi? He was called a lot of things — most of them unprintable. But he was also an outstanding athlete, a more modest version of the multi-sport Jackson who played in the NFL and major league baseball.
Domi dabbled as an Argonaut, excelled at soccer, knocked the daylights out of NHL heavyweights and hasn’t slowed up when it comes to shooting from the lip as he and McEnroe face former world No. 1-ranked Jim Courier and NHL antagonist, Claude Lemieux.
“It’s weird,” Domi said. “I never thought in a jillion years I’d do something like figure skating and now I’m playing tennis with my favourite athlete all time.”
Whoa! Favourite athlete?
How does a northern tuque-head who grew up with a hockey puck as his best friend; someone who spent 17 years dodging fists, barbs, suspensions and hockey commissioners, end up with a tennis player as his idol? Tennis is great, but let’s face it, the game hasn’t had a decent punch-up (outside the pages of a supermarket tabloid anyway) in ages. Pastoral?
Not, said Domi, the way McEnroe, once thrown out of the Australian Open, played it.
“I liked his personality. He took no (crap) from anybody. He didn’t like losing,” Domi said. “We had a lot in common. Everybody used to say he was a bad boy and I was kind of the bad boy in hockey. So, the dynamic of what he did and my personality, that’s why I liked him so much.”
That, plus McEnroe was incredibly good, winning 17 Grand Slam titles, 155 tournaments and perhaps his greatest accomplishment; shutting up Domi, who has otherwise never been accused of being the shy, retiring type.
“I met him at Brian Leetch’s retirement party in New York,” Domi said. “I’ve met a lot of people and I had been to maybe a dozen events he was at but I had always been too intimidated to go up to him. Then, at the party, he came up to me and says: ‘Hello, Tie.’ I was shocked he even knew me.”
Tie Domi intimidated? Right. And, a pig just flew by my window.
“He’s a legend,” Domi said.
Domi became a local legend. He never did win a Stanley Cup. “But I got two Grey Cup rings. That’s pretty cool,” he said. That was a result of joining the Argonauts as a place-kicker during preseason. “That was for charity, too ... but I said if they won the Grey Cup they had to give me a ring. Both years they won; both years (head coach) Don Matthews gave me a ring.”
And, now he finds himself beside McEnroe.
“I was kind of reluctant because I don’t like embarrassing myself. Like the figure skating, I was cautious because I’m not a great tennis player. I get by. But I’m taking lessons and practising.”
Proceeds will go to Right To Play, which supports sports programs for children in Africa.
Domi is unfamiliar with Courier, but Lemieux is an old antagonist from the NHL and “I got to know Claude from the Battle of the Blades. He’ll be easy to pick apart,” said Domi, getting in the first jab.
Domi can’t recall getting into a hockey fight with Lemieux. Not that he didn’t try.
“I chased him around for 17 years,” Domi said. He laughed. “(Lemieux’s) the guy I probably hated the most to play against but I would have loved to have him on my team. I chased him around during a bench brawl one time when I was with the Rangers and he was with New Jersey but I couldn’t catch him.”
The sport may be different but some things never change; for Tie Domi, the gloves are off.
bill.lankhof@sunmedia.ca
John McEnroe and Tie Domi to square off
By BILL LANKHOF, QMI Agency
Last Updated: April 24, 2010 12:18am
www.lfpress.com/sports/othersports/2010/04/24/13703871.html
Tie Domi will try almost anything once.
“I’m trying to be the next Bo Jackson,” Domi laughed. The one-time Maple Leafs tough guy signed on this week to partner one of the greatest players in the history of tennis.
Domi, fresh off competing in figure skating’s Battle of the Blades, has hooked up with John McEnroe as part of the Legends of Tennis event,
May 8, at Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum.
“It’s the two bad boys,” Domi said, “together. If there’s any screaming, I like our chances. I’m known as a pretty good trash-talker and Johnny Mac can hold his own. And, if anyone messes with Johnny, I’ve got his back.”
McEnroe, now a television announcer, philanthropist and entrepreneur, was nicknamed the SuperBrat for his abrasive style. Domi? He was called a lot of things — most of them unprintable. But he was also an outstanding athlete, a more modest version of the multi-sport Jackson who played in the NFL and major league baseball.
Domi dabbled as an Argonaut, excelled at soccer, knocked the daylights out of NHL heavyweights and hasn’t slowed up when it comes to shooting from the lip as he and McEnroe face former world No. 1-ranked Jim Courier and NHL antagonist, Claude Lemieux.
“It’s weird,” Domi said. “I never thought in a jillion years I’d do something like figure skating and now I’m playing tennis with my favourite athlete all time.”
Whoa! Favourite athlete?
How does a northern tuque-head who grew up with a hockey puck as his best friend; someone who spent 17 years dodging fists, barbs, suspensions and hockey commissioners, end up with a tennis player as his idol? Tennis is great, but let’s face it, the game hasn’t had a decent punch-up (outside the pages of a supermarket tabloid anyway) in ages. Pastoral?
Not, said Domi, the way McEnroe, once thrown out of the Australian Open, played it.
“I liked his personality. He took no (crap) from anybody. He didn’t like losing,” Domi said. “We had a lot in common. Everybody used to say he was a bad boy and I was kind of the bad boy in hockey. So, the dynamic of what he did and my personality, that’s why I liked him so much.”
That, plus McEnroe was incredibly good, winning 17 Grand Slam titles, 155 tournaments and perhaps his greatest accomplishment; shutting up Domi, who has otherwise never been accused of being the shy, retiring type.
“I met him at Brian Leetch’s retirement party in New York,” Domi said. “I’ve met a lot of people and I had been to maybe a dozen events he was at but I had always been too intimidated to go up to him. Then, at the party, he came up to me and says: ‘Hello, Tie.’ I was shocked he even knew me.”
Tie Domi intimidated? Right. And, a pig just flew by my window.
“He’s a legend,” Domi said.
Domi became a local legend. He never did win a Stanley Cup. “But I got two Grey Cup rings. That’s pretty cool,” he said. That was a result of joining the Argonauts as a place-kicker during preseason. “That was for charity, too ... but I said if they won the Grey Cup they had to give me a ring. Both years they won; both years (head coach) Don Matthews gave me a ring.”
And, now he finds himself beside McEnroe.
“I was kind of reluctant because I don’t like embarrassing myself. Like the figure skating, I was cautious because I’m not a great tennis player. I get by. But I’m taking lessons and practising.”
Proceeds will go to Right To Play, which supports sports programs for children in Africa.
Domi is unfamiliar with Courier, but Lemieux is an old antagonist from the NHL and “I got to know Claude from the Battle of the Blades. He’ll be easy to pick apart,” said Domi, getting in the first jab.
Domi can’t recall getting into a hockey fight with Lemieux. Not that he didn’t try.
“I chased him around for 17 years,” Domi said. He laughed. “(Lemieux’s) the guy I probably hated the most to play against but I would have loved to have him on my team. I chased him around during a bench brawl one time when I was with the Rangers and he was with New Jersey but I couldn’t catch him.”
The sport may be different but some things never change; for Tie Domi, the gloves are off.
bill.lankhof@sunmedia.ca
