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Rob Ford's Toronto

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stoobiedood said:
Yeah, I think DoFo has been editing the Wikipedia page, since the math doesn't add up and no one can find any evidence for the claim. The city's press release on the park naming says "He was a championship swimmer and, at the age of 16, became the youngest person ever to attempt the annual CNE marathon swim across Lake Ontario." The CNE had annual marathon swims, though not always attempts to cross the lake. It's possible he entered the 1949 race when he was 16, but I can't find any references in the Globe archive for that year. Smacks of FoFam BS to me.
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I searched the Toronto Star online from 1949 to 1954 inclusive. "Doug Ford" and "Douglas Ford".

Not to say it didn't happen, but I was unable to find a record of it.
 
casita said:
I searched the Toronto Star online from 1949 to 1954 inclusive. "Doug Ford" and "Douglas Ford".

Not to say it didn't happen, but I was unable to find a record of it.
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Maybe there's a record of him being a member of the Lakeshore Swimming Club w/Bell.
 
EagleEye said:
Tonight's Ford-free debate can be seen here:

http://nationalethnicpress.com/events/mayoral-candidates/
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John Tory pulled a Ford (No, he wasn't video taped smoking crack) but he did show up half an hour late to the debate. He couldn't decide if he wanted to come in his limo or horse drawn carriage :cool:

He was too busy pretending to be a talk radio host, because as we know he didn't have enough years to get his message to a talk radio audience in the last decade.
 
http://www.pc.gc.ca/APPS/CP-NR/release_e.asp?bgid=1001&andor1=bg

No mention of Doug Ford Sr, but it also doesn't mention how many competitors began the swim. It does however mention two other swimmers and doesn't seem to imply that there were others.

http://www.citiesintime.ca/toronto/story/marilyn-bell/

This one very clearly says that only two other swimmers took part:
The Canadian National Exhibition had offered $10,000 to American swimmer Florence Chadwick to swim the lake. Many thought it was unfair not to include Canadians in the event. Only two others took up the challenge, Winnie Roach Leuszla and a 16-year old student, Marilyn Bell.
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vic said:
Actually, I'mm 99% sure it's the same Jim McMillan that ran for mayor in 2010 (and possibly same guy you're referencing). I remember seeing him on Yonge St. hanging up posters, and also on the subway serenading me and my wife with that version of This Land is Your land. :)
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Hang ‘Em High Jim makes me nostalgic for ol’ Ben Kerr. Ben also had a bigger song repertoire.
His cayenne pepper cocktails sure were tasty!

He threw a party some years ago and I spiked the pepper punch with a couple of hits of acid.
I don’t think he ever quite forgave me for that one.

Not long after that Ben decided to run for Mayor, as I recall.
 
2013.05.22 GFL truck 7794 (AC-10005) attempts aggressive illegal overtake on SB Symington

[video=youtube;3DpMwJVLGH0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DpMwJVLGH0[/video]
 
From the wikipedia
As a youth, Ford was a championship swimmer, and in 1954, at the age of 16, attempted to cross Lake Ontario in the same CNE Marathon swim which was completed by Marilyn Bell.[5]
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At least according to the two articles I found that I posted previously, that claim is not true.

http://www.loumarsh.ca/en/athletes/view/11
Article about the 1949 swim. It talks about how the best marathon swimmers in the world competed, but it doesn't mention names. However, you would think that if at 16, Doug Ford Sr was the youngest person to attempt it, there would be at least a mention (as well as mentions in the Marilyn Bell pieces that would say something like "in 1949 Doug Ford Sr was the youngest person to attempt the swim, Marilyn Bell has beat his record as the youngest person to complete it" since she was also 16).
 
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not that this answers the doug sr swim questions, but...

A talented athlete, he played football for the East York Argonauts and attempted to swim Lake Ontario in the same crossing that turned Marilyn Bell into the nation’s darling, but it was a job as a lifeguard that changed his fortunes. At the pool, he met a statuesque blond swimmer named Diane, who became the mother of his four children and, not incidentally, a driving force behind his success.
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http://www.torontolife.com/informer/features/2012/05/15/rob-ford-the-weirdest-mayoralty-ever/2/
 
StatGeek said:
John Tory pulled a Ford (No, he wasn't video taped smoking crack) but he did show up half an hour late to the debate. He couldn't decide if he wanted to come in his limo or horse drawn carriage :cool:

He was too busy pretending to be a talk radio host, because as we know he didn't have enough years to get his message to a talk radio audience in the last decade.
Click to expand...

Lamport Davenport said:
Hang ‘Em High Jim makes me nostalgic for ol’ Ben Kerr. Ben also had a bigger song repertoire.
His cayenne pepper cocktails sure were tasty!

He threw a party some years ago and I spiked the pepper punch with a couple of hits of acid.
I don’t think he ever quite forgave me for that one.

Not long after that Ben decided to run for Mayor, as I recall.
Click to expand...

I love this thread.
 
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