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Disgraced Toronto mayor Rob Ford voted to Hockey Hall of Fame board

By Patrick Schmidt

Nov 14, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Hockey Hall of Fame inductees (left to right) Peter Forsberg and Mike Modano and Bill McCreary and Line Burns (wife of Pat Burns) and Dominik Hasek and Rob Blake prior to a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Hockey Hall of Fame inductees (left to right) Peter Forsberg and Mike Modano and Bill McCreary and Line Burns (wife of Pat Burns) and Dominik Hasek and Rob Blake prior to a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former disgraced Toronto mayor and noted crack cocaine enthusiast, Rob Ford has been appointed to the Hockey Hall of Fame board.

April Fools Day was earlier this week, so maybe the memo was delayed for a few days, because this bit of news is straight out of left field and easily could be interpreted as a poor joke.

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Former mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford is now on the board of directors for the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, according to the Canadian Press.

He was elected to the board at a March 25 meeting and I know what you’re thinking. You’re asking yourself, what does Rob Ford have to do with Eric Lindros, Alex Mogilny or Jeremy Roenick making the Hall?

Well, that’s a valid point and one many would be wondering if they simply read the headline, because Ford will have no bearing on who is inducted in the hallowed halls of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

That’s a pretty smart decision considering Ford became a household name, not for his public policy as the mayor of Toronto, but for smoking crack cocaine on video tape and having a series of unfortunate and embarrassing public episodes as controversy followed his every waking move.

He’s even been kicked out of a Toronto Maple Leafs game in 2006 for being a drunken mess and causing a scene.

Ford dropped his reelection bid last September and is currently battling a cancerous growth in his abdomen and will have surgery in May to remove the tumor, so hopefully his health scare will serve as his latest wake-up call.

This is a head-scratching decision by the city council who appointed Ford and two other councilors to the board, but in what world did they think this would be a great idea?

Not only is this surprising and puzzling, but this is a black eye and an embarrassment for the Hockey Hall of Fame to be associated with the disgraced mayor.

Ford is defending his place on the board by saying he’s a season ticket holder and an obsessed fan, via the Canadian Press:

“When people call me they know they’re getting someone that’s experienced,” he said. “I’ve got season tickets to the Leafs and I’m obsessed with hockey and obviously football but hockey’s my number one sport and I’m going to try to just keep pushing it.”

So that makes 99 percent of the population of Toronto qualified to be on the Hockey Hall of Fame board if that’s the only criteria. I mean, I’ve been to 30 Chicago Blackhawks games this year and have the sweaters of all my favorite players, so can I be on the board?

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