Bruce with his sister Hazel McDonald of Blenheim and his "very understanding" wife of 54 years, Carolyn.

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I was honored to introduce old friend Bruce Huff on the occasion of his induction as a "Legend" in the Dresden Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 18. The following is the text of that introduction. My apologies for what was apparently a long-winded intro but it was the only shot I will ever have at honoring my pal in this way. We never know what's in store for us tomorrow. --Dick Wright

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The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia defines "legend" as a traditional story or group of stories told about a person or place. Formerly, the term referred to a tale about a Saint. The Dresden Sports Hall of Fame has honored, not a Saint in the original context, but a mere mortal who has dedicated himself to the world of sports by means of the written word and a lifetime of active involvement.

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I'm talking, of course, about my long-time friend and old baseball battery mate Bruce Huff. My intent is to share some background and personal reflections on Bruce's life because, in fairness, a few lines in a program do not do him justice.

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Bruce was the first born son in the Huff family, then of Morpeth. The Huffs moved to Dresden in 1937 where Bruce, younger brother Neil and Sister Hazel were raised in a small home on Chandler Street, then considered to be on the outskirts of town.

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I grew up with Huffy and a dozen other "South Dresden" guys playing scrub baseball in back yards and shinny on a patch of ice in a corn field adjacent to his home. Eventually we would graduate to baseball diamonds at Jackson's Park and the public school grounds, and ice pads on The Gully north of town and the Sydenham River. When the weather was not conducive to holding outside ice, we would play floor hockey in the old Boy Scout Hall. We really hit the big time when we travelled the half dozen miles to Rutherford and played hockey on the frozen floor of Pat Johnson's chicken barn.

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When a junior lacrosse team was formed in town, Bruce was front and centre not only as a player, but assisting Earl Garnet on the organizational side as well. When a bantam hockey team known as "The Orphans" was organized, it was Bruce and his good buddy Donny Brooker (still teenagers themselves) who were the driving forces. This, of course, was pre-community arena days and games were played in neighboring Wallaceburg, Blenheim and West Lorne.

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I mention these flashbacks to emphasize my belief that it was from such humble beginnings that Bruce developed his enduring interest in small town sports and unheralded athletes and coaches. Barely in his teens, he would cut his teeth in sports writing with the two local newspapers of the day and he never really worked in any other line of endeavor.

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Bruce was my catcher all through midget, juvenile and junior baseball. I was considerably younger than most of the guys on those teams and I credit Bruce for his steadying influence on me and for his ability to know opposing batters and to call pitches with amazing effectiveness. Even then he was a true student of the game and was always there to take a leading role, regardless of the sport.

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I remember too, Bruce as a high school athlete. In particular, his final year when he qualified for the senior one-mile event at the WOSSA track and field meet in London. With virtually no coaching and minimal training, he upset the field at J. W. Little Memorial Stadium, finishing a strong second behind a future international class runner who just happened to set a record for the distance that day.

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Quite frankly, we did not expect him to do all that well in the race. He was in pretty tough and had battled leg injuries in the weeks leading up to the event. Heck, he didn't even have proper track shoes. But he surged to the head of the pack at the crack of the starter's pistol and doggedly, with his short choppy strides, stayed on the heels of the six-foot gazelle-like front runner for the entire distance.

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None of us in the small contingent of Lambton Kent athletes could believe our eyes as our boy Bruce maintained his amazing pace, start to finish, without once falling behind.

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Bruce may not appreciate me telling this story, but for me, it is like Tom T. Hall once said: "I love winners they they cry, losers when they try." I don't know about the crying part, but Bruce has always been about trying. He demonstrated that day the determined grinder that he would become in every aspect of his life. Nothing fancy, just 100 per cent effort with a lot of heart for the next 55 years and counting.

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On the way home in the bus later that day, Bruce announced that he had accepted a job as sports writer for the Tillsonburg News and that he would be leaving school to start work almost immediately. A little bit of Huffy drama that left me completely downcast...I would miss him...Things would not be the same without his enthusiasm and spirit.

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Over the course of years he would stay active in baseball, and eventually softball. Hockey, too, was and is a passion. He has also competed in Canadian seniors track and field events. It's like he is powered by an Energizer battery -- he just keeps on running. He even took a crack at boxing in the early days, wisely, leaving the ring after a handful of amateur bouts in Chatham.

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He did not stay long in that first job in Tillsonburg, using his brief exposure to printer's ink as a springboard to the Chatham Daily News. Then it was on to the London Free Press where he joined Jack Park, Harry Eisen, Bob Ferguson and Ernie Millar on one of the best sports writing teams in the country. When Jack Park retired, Bruce took over as sports editor at the Freeps.

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In time, however, the bright lights of Toronto beckoned and he was hired in 1980 by none other than The Baron himself, George Gross legendary executive sports editor of The Toronto Sun. In all, Bruce spent 14 years at The Sun, the last eight as assistant sports editor.

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He retired from The Sun in 1994 and moved back to London and semi-retirement as a freelancer, writing columns for the Toronto Star and the Free Press.

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Oh, sure, he covered Stanley Cup playoff games, the Olympics, the World Series, the Grey Cup, the Super Bowl, the Indianapolis 500, the Queen's Plate, the Mann Cup and the Ali/Chuvalo heayweight boxing championship fight, but at no time did he ignore the community sports scene. All along the way -- in Chatham, London and Toronto -- he lent his "Off the Cuff" column to lesser known local athletes, teams and leagues. He was "the guy to call" when you wanted to report a game score or to seek some publicity for a sporting event. He was truly the champion of small town sports.

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As a fellow sports journalist, I even joined Bruce on several radio broadcasts of junior hockey games between the London Nationals and St. Thomas Barons in the mid 1960s. I don't think that London radio veterans Ward Cornell, Alex Kellman or Pete James felt threatened in any way by our between-periods commentary. Wisely, we did not quit our day jobs.

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Over the years Bruce was always ready to pick up a ball and glove, don hockey skates, or dust off the old lacrosse stick to take part in media charity events. But that was then...And this is now!

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Bruce is heavily involved in the City of London sports community as a facilitator and organizer. By means of quick summary:

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--He has been named to the Canadian Old Timers Hockey Hall of Fame,

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--the Ontario Legends of Fastball,

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--was a London Sportsman of the Year award recipient,

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--inducted into the London Sports Hall of Fame last year in the Builder/Founder category and

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--last but by no means least, he was included in the Dresden Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 as a member of the Dresden Legionnaires team that won the Ontario Juvenile "C" baseball championship in 1953.

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Long after most of us in his age bracket have been relegated to the easy chair, Bruce continues to demonstrate the tenacity he displayed in that one-mile race at J.W. Little Stadium some 55 years ago. He has played and coached in more than 1,500 old timer hockey games, reaching as far as the World Tournament in Santa Rose, California; a tour of Scotland, and the World Cup in Quebec City.

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Remember that we're talking about a guy in his mid 70s who plays hockey three mornings a week in a seniors league and is also a member of the London 70s travel team. He will be playing in the World Classic in September on Vancouver Island and, all told, between league games, exhibitions and tournaments, he averages more than 100 games a season.

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This summer he will again be player/manager of an elite slo-pitch softball team that plays across North America each year. Truly incredible!

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A sports legend today...Tomorrow, we may well read about him in Ripley's Believe it or Not!

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PAST INDUCTEES (LEGEND)

1997 Levi "Jiggs" McFadden

1998 Gerald Cook

1999 Gerald Wicks

2000 Keith Babcock

2001 Roy Holmes

2003 Lorden Crosby

2005 Gord Oliphant

2007 Terry Martin

PASSED

PAST INDUCTEES (BUILDER).

1979 Len Bedell

1998 Don Brooker

1999 Jack Martin

2000 Walter D. McFadden

2001 Ray Unsworth

Jack Latimer

Jack Martin

George Deacon

2003 Bob Campbell

Doug Gibson

Stan Wells

2005 Lynn Martin

2007 Dr. David Thompson

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MALE ATHLETE INDUCTEES

1997 Ken Houston

1998 Jeff Jackson

1999 Shelly Goudreau

2000 David Hoyles

2001 Rick Chinnick

2003 Reg Higgs

2005 Allan Houston

2007 Shawn Babcock

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FEMALE ATHLETE INDUCTEES

1997 Muriel McKim

1998 Mary Kucera

1999 Norma Johnston

2000 Marion Lennon

2001 Sandy Janssens

2003 Florence Chicks (team)

2005 Rose Bedell

2007 Michelle (Martin) Lambrecht