1. William George Westwick was a Canadian sports journalist.
25 Facts About Bill Westwick
1. 2.
Bill Westwick wrote for the Ottawa Journal from 1926 to 1973, was mentored by Basil O'Meara, then served as the paper's sports editor from 1942 until retirement.
3.
Bill Westwick regularly covered ice hockey, Canadian football, and boxing; and had a reputation for not hurting anyone, being accurate, and unquestioned veracity.
4.
Bill Westwick was the son of Harry "Rat" Bill Westwick, and was inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
5.
William George Bill Westwick was born on August 2,1908, in Ottawa, Ontario, to parents Harry "Rat" Bill Westwick and Rubina Duval.
6.
Bill Westwick's father won the Stanley Cup playing for the Ottawa Silver Seven, and won national championships as a lacrosse player.
7.
Thomas Bill Westwick was an uncle to Bill Westwick as his father's brother.
8.
Tommy Gorman was an uncle to Bill Westwick, having married Harry Bill Westwick's sister Mary in 1910.
9.
Bill Westwick attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute, where he was an amateur boxer and a collegiate champion.
10.
Bill Westwick began writing for the Ottawa Journal in 1926, mentored by its sports editor Basil O'Meara, who convinced Bill Westwick to write about sports instead of pursuing a professional hockey playing career.
11.
Bill Westwick served a brief time as city editor of the Ottawa Journal, then succeeded O'Meara as the sports editor from 1942 to 1973.
12.
Columns by Bill Westwick regularly covered ice hockey, Canadian football, and boxing.
13.
Bill Westwick frequently wrote about heavyweight boxing championships, and reported on the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Olympic Games, and the British Empire Games.
14.
When coach Chan Caldwell suggested that the team could practice on a train ride to an away game by attaching a railway flatcar filled with dirt, Bill Westwick played along with the joke although the plan never happened.
15.
Fellow journalist Eddie MacCabe recalled that Bill Westwick reported on the idea with "brilliant clarity and memorable hilarity".
16.
Campbell stated that Bill Westwick took the words out of context, accused him of "breaking confidence" in the article.
17.
Bill Westwick retired from the Ottawa Journal on August 29,1973, and was succeeded by Eddie MacCabe as the sports editor, who had been his assistant since 1952.
18.
When Bill Westwick said something, he was above all, fair, painstakingly accurate, and although he will disclaim that he was never an expert on anything, spoke from the authority of many years of experience.
19.
Bill Westwick always regarded himself primarily as a reporter, and because of his innate and deep-rooted sense of fairness, only took a solid stand after he'd become firmly convinced it was necessary.
20.
Bill Westwick was married to Rita, and had two sons and three daughters.
21.
Bill Westwick resided in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa, and had a family cottage on Long Lake near Buckingham, Quebec.
22.
Bill Westwick died on June 19,1990, in Ottawa, and was cremated.
23.
In 1948, Bill Westwick received the National Press Club of Canada Sports Award for his coverage of the 36th Grey Cup, when the Ottawa Rough Riders lost to Calgary Stampeders.
24.
Bill Westwick received lifetime passes to games for the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Ottawa 67's, and a key to the city of Ottawa.
25.
Bill Westwick was inducted into the builder category of the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame on May 24,1983, and was inducted into the Football Reporters of Canada section of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1984.