Sport is a hobby Dr. Cecil MacLean has always cherished. It has now brought him induction into the Sport Heritage Centre Hall of Fame.

Born in Bailey’s Brook, a retired French professor, Dr. MacLean maintained a sports column in the weekly Antigonish Casket. While the Casket covers the local sport scene, Dr. MacLean was asked to stick to the philosophy of sport and the world scene (transcripts of two of his column articles can be found as images below).

There has been a general athletic and academic association for Dr. MacLean with both the French language and St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish. He went to France on two occasions in the 1930’s, played hockey there, was on a European all-star team and received his Doctorate in French from the University of Paris. He taught French at St. F.X. for 47 years after returning to Antigonish in 1936.

A goaltender, Dr. MacLean continued his hockey career with the Antigonish senior team. He coached the hockey X-Men from 1939 to 1942. He also coached the Antigonish intermediate hockey team.

Baseball was another sport MacLean enjoyed. He coached the Xaverian, St. F.X.’s baseball team, which featured such sterling stars of the game and future Hall of Famers such as John Brother MacDonald, Harold Skit Ferguson and Johnny Myketyn. The baseball season began in the fall with workouts, resuming in April through late May.

“It was not always warm,” Dr. MacLean recalled. “Baseball flourished then.”

Radio was Dr. MacLean’s first venture into media before his present association with the written word. He started broadcasting when Danny Gallivan came to St. FOX. and Antigonish radio station, CJFX was founded. Many are the nights, too, when Dr. MacLean would trek to Cape Breton to broadcast sport events, such as Cape Breton Senior Hockey League. The radio station in Sydney wasn’t interested in broadcasting live sport, Dr. MacLean related. Later along came a mere youth with a fabulous voice to change that policy and allow sport to travel the air waves. His name was Pat Connolly.

Dr. MacLean broadcasted rugby-football games involving St. F.X. He recorded the blow-by-blow boxing match between the great George (Rock-a-Bye) Ross and then Canadian Middle-weight champion Len Wadsworth. To Truro, New Glasgow, Sydney and North Sydney he’d go to broadcast horse races.

He broadcast baseball and hockey games in various Nova Scotia communities.

All this travelling and sport coverage landed Dr. MacLean his fair share of offices. He was secretary of the Nova Scotia Rugby Football Union, chairman of the Nova Scotia Racing Commission and vice-president of the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association.

He was president of the APC Hockey League for three years and secretary of the Nova Scotia Baseball Association during the days of the Halifax and District League.

“This was always a hobby of mine, just a good sideline,” Dr. MacLean noted of sport, “l never thought of being inducted into the Hall of Fame. It’s very kind of them to induct me.”

Bio Courtesy of Stephen Goodwin