This one’s for Ted: Tributes pour in for Sun scribe gone too soon

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We clashed a little now and then, the way a sports editor and columnist should clash when they both care deeply about what they produce for their readers.

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That’s what will always define Ted Wyman for me: How much he cared about the Winnipeg Sun sports section. That, and how much he enjoyed living.

The last time I saw Ted, one week ago, the later was difficult to see. Even so, he talked about coming back to the job he loved.

It wasn’t if, but when.

Ted fought his cancer to the end. The end came on Saturday morning — the day he should have been covering the CFL West final between the Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan. He was 58.

Covering sports was Ted’s passion. Nothing stoked that passion quite like the CFL and curling.

“Ted was one of my favourite people in the world, never mind one of my favourite reporters in the world,” granite great Jennifer Jones said in a text exchange hours after the news hit. “The ultimate gentleman. He had the respect of all the curlers, of all his co-workers, because he was honest and good and the stories he wrote were authentic.”

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Ted was with The Sun for 21 years, much of that in charge of the sports section. He wasn’t the type of editor who was chained to a desk, however.

A graduate of Kelvin High School and Red River College, Ted chased his passion around the world — covering Olympic Games, Grey Cups, national and world curling championships.

Jones remembers the Sochi Winter Games in particular.

“The joy he felt when we won our gold medal because we were from Winnipeg,” she said. “I felt like he was a part of that and got to share in the success of that moment.”

Ted had a smile as ever-present as his recording device, and it never seemed to need re-charging.

“This is a very emotional day for all of us,” Jones said. “Curling has truly lost one of the great ones… a person who advocated for all of us to help us shine.”

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Fellow curling legend Colleen Jones expressed similar sentiments, but also remembers another of Ted’s passions, one that only emerged after the interviews ended and his stories were filed.

“Once his deadline was done, his guitar came out,” she said. “And you saw another side of Ted.”

Young sports reporters who crossed his path remember the time Ted took to help them. He took several under his wing during their internships with The Sun.

When Ted became the sports editor, he told his boss, Mark Hamm, that it was his dream job. It showed — every day.

“It’s hard to put into words what Ted meant to me,” Hamm said. “His brilliant smile could lift anyone’s spirits. At work he was indispensable. He never shied away from the ever present challenges… always led the way by taking it head on and being a cheerleader for our paper.”

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Downtown, the Jets set up a seat in the press box with some flowers and a picture of Ted and his dog for Saturday’s game against Dallas.

Tributes poured in through social media, too, many from people who’d worked alongside him over the years.

“Teddy Wyman just enjoyed living,” Arash Madani of Sportsnet posted. “Burned the candle at both ends like no other, regaling in stories and laughs. Genuinely cared for people.”

From Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star: “Ted was the kind of guy who could sit down anywhere in the world and be open and curious, start a conversation, make a friend. An absolutely lovely big bear of a man. Rest in peace, Ted. You made every room a brighter place.”

Calgary sportswriter Danny Austin: “Ted was a newspaper man, through and through. He was a Canadian football man, it was who he was. He was also a dear friend and I miss him so much.”

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Ted’s fight with cancer coincided with the entire Blue Bombers season. He’d been covering the team on a daily basis for years, but couldn’t this year because he was in and out of hospital. His treatments took their toll, his seat in the press box remained empty.

Midway through it, the team had players send video messages his way, encouraging him to keep up the fight. The show of support touched him deeply. Saturday’s news touched them, too.

“Ted was immensely respected,” team president/CEO Wade Miller said in a statement, citing his fairness and knowledge of the CFL. “Even more evident was the joy he brought to the stadium every day he was here for a practice or a game. He will be sorely missed.”

Anyone working with or even near the media always noticed that smile and personality.

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“Players loved him,” Bombers public relations director Darren Cameron posted.

“It was amazing to see how much he loved what he did,” one former staff member told me via social media.

Fellow sports scribe Lance Hornby in Toronto called Ted the “consummate professional,” someone who had just one thing in mind: what was best for readers and sports fans.

“Our profession is playing shorthanded today,” Hornby posted on X.

From Farhan Lalji of TSN: “Never knew Ted not to have a smile on his face. The FRC suite next week won’t be the same without him.”

Ah, yes, the Football Reporters of Canada suite, a tradition at Grey Cup week that Ted took full advantage of.

Sharing a room with him at last year’s Grey Cup in Hamilton reminded me that the moment he closed his laptop wasn’t the end of his day, but rather the beginning.

Nobody pounded those laptop keys quite like Ted, and good luck to anybody trying to keep up with him after that. I certainly didn’t.

If I’m in Vancouver next week, rest assured I’ll lift one for a colleague who would have given anything to be there one more time.

paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca
X: @friesensunmedia

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