TORONTO – Rogers Sportsnet president Doug Beeforth and TSN host Dave Hodge will receive lifetime achievement awards from Sports Media Canada, the group announced today.
The awards will be presented at SMC’s annual luncheon at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto on October 18, 2006. For 16 seasons, Canadian families saw Hodge as the face of Hockey Night In Canada (’til that day he infamously flipped that pencil…) and for another sixteen years he has hosted TSN Inside Sports and The Dave Hodge Special.
Beeforth’s career began as a news and sports announcer at CFRB radio in the late 70’s, after which he migrated to television as a producer with Hockey Night in Canada. A former member of the International Olympic Committee’s radio and television commission, Beeforth (who has also worked at CTV and CBC) developed hockey’s net cam, a small remote controlled camera inside the goal. An extraordinary innovation at the time, the camera is now a production staple of hockey coverage worldwide.
Other awards to be presented include the Magna Sports Executive of the Year to Stacey Allaster, president of the WTA Tour, Broadcaster of the Year, to Ron MacLean of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and Writer of the Year to George Johnson of the Calgary Herald.
Don Garber, the Commissioner of Major League Soccer, will be the guest of honour at the luncheon.
Sports Media Canada is the Canadian chapter of A.I.P.S., the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive. It is known in English as the International Sports Press Association and has chapters in 130 countries, one of which is Canada. There are some 10,000 card-carrying members world wide.
