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Monday, May 1, 2017
Jerry Udell, Terry Bullen, Lawrence Mervyn McKenzie and Rob Town join Orillia Sports Hall of Fame
Four iconic Orillia citizens, pillars of the city’s rich sporting heritage, were inducted into the Orillia Sports Hall of Fame Saturday night as part of the Orillia Sports Council’s sold-out gala at Casino Rama.
Jerry Udell, widely regarded as the best baseball player ever to sparkle on a local diamond, Rob Town, an Olympic-calibre athlete and two-time national decathlon champion, Terry Bullen, a three-time Canadian champion lacrosse player who went on to win a pair of professional titles, and Lawrence Mervyn McKenzie, an elite athlete who became a heavyweight in sports boardrooms, composed the impressive class of 2017 – the third group of legends to be inducted into Orillia’s sports shrine since it was created three years ago.
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All four are deserving hall-of-famers, said former Toronto Maple Leafs star Jack Valiquette, who was the evening’s guest speaker. The former NHL player shared many colourful, funny stories of his days in the NHL, but he turned serious when talking about the new inductees. “My parents told me a long time ago that it is more important to be a good person than a good hockey player, but you can be both,” said Valiquette. “The men being inducted tonight have the qualities of achieving a goal and living a good life. Each made a tremendous contribution to the community. Merv, Jerry, Terry and Rob are great examples for Orillia.”
Bullen said he was humbled by the induction. “One of the great things about this event, for me, is sometimes I think (what I’ve accomplished is) not really a big deal,” he said. “But this makes you realize how important it is what you do every day and to give back.”
Stuart Finlayson, who began playing lacrosse with Bullen as a young lad, provided some highlights of Bullen’s storied lacrosse career that began in Orillia. He told the crowd how Bullen moved to Whitby to play Jr. A lacrosse where he played on a team that traveled to B.C. and defeated the New Westminster Salmonbellies to win the Minto Cup. “The Salmonbellies had two players named Paul and Gary Gait (two of the greatest offensive stars to ever play the game) and Terry Bullen and company shut them down.”
When a group of Orillia businessman bought the Ontario Raiders and turned them into the Toronto Rock, they quickly signed Bullen, who anchored the league’s best defence and helped them to win back-to-back NLL titles.
And while his feats on the lacrosse floor are legion, his real legacy may be as a coach, said Finlayson. “He has been coaching (at local high schools) in Orillia for over 30 years,” said Finlayson. “He coaches three or four sports every year. By my calculation, that’s about 2,500 student athletes Terry has touched. Plus, he also coaches with the Orillia Lakers, boys’ lacrosse and girls’ field lacrosse – that’s another 500 athletes, bringing to a total of 3,000 young athletes who have been inspired by this incredible man.”
Bullen credited his parents for giving him a solid foundation and expressed his gratitude for growing up in a north-ward neighbourhood where he could play hockey, football, lacrosse and other sports with his friends; that experience gave him the confidence to try out for a variety of teams when he went to high school at ODCVI, where he starred for the Blues in basketball, football and other sports.
“I really enjoy being able to give back to students and I am so very proud to be part of the Orillia scene and to be an athlete that grew up in Orillia,” said Bullen. “I’m humbled by the experience. Thank you.”
Rob Town, an accomplished decathlete who shone for Canada at the Commonwealth Games and narrowly missed qualifying for the 1984 Olympics, echoed those sentiments. “I was born in Orillia, went to school in Orillia and returned to Orillia to work... this community has been so supportive. I am truly humbled.”
He was also truly dominant in track and field circles, said Ian MacMillan, who coached at ODCVI for 53 years and helped Town hone his abilities from 1971 to 1976 at the West Street school.
“Rob won 12 throwing medals at (the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association) during his five years at ODCVI. I don’t know of anyone else who did that and I went through the records,” said MacMillan, noting Town still holds an OFSAA record – one he set in 1973.
“I was there that day when he threw the discus 193 feet. I’ll never forget it. Officials were around the 145-feet mark ready to mark … and, all of a sudden, (Town) let it go and you could see these officials scrambling to mark it. That record still stands today.”
Town also played volleyball and basketball at ODCVI and helped the Blues win a bronze medal at the OFSAA basketball championship. While the medals and records and results are written in the history books, Town said the teammates and coaches that shared his journey are equally important memories of his pursuit. He said innovative coaches with the Orillia Channel Cats, at ODCVI, at the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto were integral to his success.
“I had wonderful coaches in my career,” said Town. “I always tell athletes to cherish their coaches and the commitment they give to their charges. These mentors deserve to be celebrated.”
Mervyn McKenzie also deserves to be celebrated. Growing up in the shadow of the YMCA, McKenzie excelled in hockey, football and swimming, but it was in lacrosse that he really shone. He led the Orillia Terriers to the 1940 Minto Cup, played senior lacrosse in Mimico and went on to play with the Hamilton Tigers for seven seasons where he routinely earned all-star and MVP status. Despite missing time to serve his country during the Second World War, McKenzie won a Canadian senior title with two different teams, was named commissioner of the Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) senior league in 1954 and is in both the Ontario and Canadian lacrosse halls of fame.
In 1953, he was appointed the Ontario Athletic Commissioner and was instrumental in arranging the 1966 heavyweight title fight between Muhammad Ali and George Chuvalo, who was on hand Saturday night at the induction. McKenzie was an ardent supporter of boxing and his hometown.
“Uncle Merv was instrumental in ensuring (Orillia’s) Walter Henry was recognized for qualifying for the Olympics and he presented Walter with a trophy at the CNE,” said Judi Fairwell, McKenzie’s niece, who accepted the award for McKenzie, who died in 1977. Henry, inducted into the local sports shrine last year, was on hand to support McKenzie and the other inductees.
Fairwell said McKenzie never forgot his roots. “He attended several Christmas parties here in Rama, bringing gifts of lacrosse sticks and hockey sticks. Walpole Island First Nation made him an honorary chief and presented him with a headdress that was proudly displayed at the family home in Mississauga.”
In 1967, McKenzie was presented the Canadian government’s Contribution to Sports medal. And, to this day, the OLA remembers one of its favourite sons with an award given annually to someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of lacrosse. The Mervyn McKenzie Trophy is also awarded annually to the top player in the Ontario senior circuit.
“After his death, a sports writer described Mervyn as the best all-around athlete to ever come out of Orillia,” said Fairwell, who noted her uncle was also Inducted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame and the Orillia Sports Hall of Fame (1971). “I’m sure he’s looking down on us tonight, humbly appreciating this honour bestowed on him.”
While it was a night of celebration and nostalgia punctuated by laughter and infused with a sense of pride, it was a bittersweet night for the Udell family; they were thrilled to see Jerry get his due, but sad that cancer cut short his life. Jerry Udell’s widow, Brenda, accepted the award on behalf of her husband, who succumbed to brain cancer on Oct. 17, 1995. He was just 45.
“It truly is an amazing tribute to his talent to be inducted into the Orillia Sports Hall of Fame and I know he would be so very proud,” said Brenda, after donning Jerry’s beloved Blue Jays jersey with his trademark number 33 on the back. “Jerry left me three very special gifts – our girls, Krista, Alison and Whitney” who joined their mom on the podium.
With pride, Brenda recounted some of her late husband’s incredible athletic achievements: provincial baseball titles in 1969, 1970 and 1983, a provincial curling crown in 1976, playing for Team Ontario at the Canadian Baseball Championship in 1973 and 1975, winning Orillia’s athlete of the year award in 1982 and being named Orillia’s athlete of the half century in 1987.
While he was a scratch golfer, a renowned curler, an avid skier and excellent basketball player, he shone brightest on the baseball diamond. He once pitched 19 innings in a single contest and won 48 straight decisions over six spectacular seasons – including a perfect game. He almost always led his team with his powerful bat yet laid down a perfect, totally unexpected squeeze bunt to help the Orillia Majors win a dramatic provincial title in 1983.
“In my humble opinion, he was and still is the best baseball player to ever play in Orillia. He outshone them all,” said Rick Watters, a long-time teammate.
Brenda Udell said the support the family has received in the 21 years since Jerry’s death has reaffirmed her faith in the community. “Not only did we lose an amazing husband and father, the world lost a remarkable human being,” she said. “They say it’s not the years in the life but the life in the years and Jerry lived every day to the fullest – he just didn’t get enough of them. But his spirit and legacy will live on forever.”
Brenda urged those in attendance to “value life and treasure every breath.” She then asked everyone to raise a toast to the legendary athlete and capped the evening by leading all those in attendance with a rousing rendition of ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game.’
--- Story re-published courtesy of the Orillia Packet & Times.
Ontario police are investigating what could be a huge data breach at one of the province’s popular casinos, Casino Rama Resort in the cottage country north of Toronto.
The resort said a hacker claimed on Nov. 4 to have accessed customer, employee and vendor information, some of which dates back nine years. As a result anyone who has been to or worked at the the hotel or casino are being warned to monitor and verify all bank accounts, credit card and other financial transaction statements and report any suspicious activity to the appropriate financial institution.
“We can confirm that certain employee and customer information was stolen.” the resort said.
“The hacker claims to have accessed information that includes Casino Rama Resort IT information, financial reports regarding the hotel and casino, security incident reports, Casino Rama Resort email, patron credit inquiries, collection and debt information, vendor information and contracts and employee information including performance reviews, payroll data, terminations, social insurance numbers and dates of birth,” the resort said in a statement on its Web site. “The hacker claims that the employee information dates from 2004 to 2016, and that some of the other categories of information taken date back to 2007.”
The resort said its internal IT team has been working with cyber security exerts to “neutralize the issue.” There is no indication now that the attacker continues to have access to its systems, it added.
UPDATE: On Nov. 14 a Toronto law firm filed an application in the Ontario Superior Court asking that a multi-million dollar breach of care class action lawsuit be certified on behalf of a man who was at the Casino Sept. 25, gave a driver’s licence and credit card as identification and recieved an email from the resort on Nov. 10 alerting him that Casino Rama had been the victim of a data breach; and a woman who has been to Casino Rama since 1999 and gave personal information to join the resort’s rewards program. Lawsuits filed on behalf of a class of people with identical claims — as opposed to individual lawsuits — have to be approved by a judge. Before the certification others who think they are victims can join the lawsuit.
The lawsuit asks for $50 million in damages plus $10 million in punitive damages from the defendants, who include the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, who own the resort; CHC Casinos Canada; Penn National Gaming, which operates the resort; the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., which oversees gaming in the province; and the provincial Alcohol and Gaming Commission.
Without any details on how the enterprise was breached the first suspicion falls on the hotel, restaurant and gaming point of sale machines. POS machines at hotels and restaurants have been a target for years. In 2009 we reported on a presentation at that year’s SecTor cyber security conference in Toronto that outlined how the POS server at an unnamed club connected to a major Las Vegas casino was breached through an integrator’s remote desktop support app. Both the username and password was the POS vendor’s name.
Last year we reported that a new variant of a memory scraper POS malware that dates back to 2008 had been victimizing guests in casinos, resorts and hotels in the last few weeks in Canada, United States, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
Casino Rama has notified the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) , the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.
The resort, which opened in 1996, is owned by and located on the Rama First Nation, and operated by Penn National Gaming, Inc. , a U.S. based conglomerate which, through its subsidiaries, owns, operates or has ownership interests in hotel, gaming and racing facilities in 16 American states as well as here.
In its statement the resort emphasized that the casino games hadn’t been breached.
In addition to the casino the resort has a 300-room hotel, eight restaurants and a 5,000 seat entertainment centre, which has hosted The Tragically Hip, Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Derulo, Carrie Underwood, Don Henley and production shows such as Dancing with the Stars and boxing events.
“Overall we’ve seen a rise in attacks targeting gaming institutions like casinos,” said J.Paul Haynes, CEO of eSentire, a Cambridge, Ont.-based managed security provider. “In cases like this where hackers have targeted and obtained sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) like social insurance numbers and credit card information, the effects of a breach can be felt for months and sometimes even years; usually the information ends up for sale on the dark web. With over 3 million customers per year and more than 2000 staff and a number of third party vendors, thousands of individuals could be impacted. All former and current customers and employees should remain vigilant and monitor their accounts for compromise.”
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