Hitman: My Real Life In The Cartoon World of Wrestling

By Bret Hart
Grand Central Publishing, 571 pages

When Calgary’s most famous son named his 2007 autobiography Hitman: My Real Life In The Cartoon World of Wrestling, he summed up his story with all the precision and flash of his most fabled ring move. It was a “sharpshooter” of a title.

Except, perhaps, for the word real, because anybody who reads the book would have to agree that surreal is a better description for the life of Bret (Hitman) Hart. Growing up in the legendary Hart House and taking his knocks in the family Dungeon; following father Stu Hart into the weird world of pro wrestling, where the lines between sport and theatre collided like a head on a steel turnbuckle; learning the game in the family’s Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling promotion before hitting the big time in the WWE, the very juggernaut that put his dad out of business.

Hitman takes us through epic battles with the likes of (Stone Cold) Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels, and stinging betrayals such as the infamous “Screwjob in Montreal” where Hart feuded for real with his boss Vince McMahon Jr.

Then there are the tragedies, Hart’s tale is rife with them, most notably the death of his younger brother Owen during a 1999 pay-per-view match and the debilitating stroke Bret suffered in 2002.
Somehow Hart rises above it, emerging in Hitman as a true survivor, a title even more impressive than the many world championship belts he wore over the course of his iconic career.

— Heath McCoy

September/October 2011

Playing With Fire

By Theoren Fleury and Kirstie McLellan Day
Harper Collins, 272 pages

In Theoren Fleury’s Playing with Fire, Fleury and co-writer Kirstie McLellan Day take readers on an incredibly raw, emotionally charged roller coaster ride that corkscrews into Fleury’s personal hell with intermittent interruptions of bliss. The book seems to be a cathartic experience for Fleury. With every page you can feel the weight coming off the man’s shoulders.

All the experiences of Fleury’s life are not only put out into the open, but also onto the audience; the book creates a dynamic where  readers feel like a friend along for Theo’s wild ride, but powerless to help despite our sincerest wishes to do so. Since we know Fleury overcomes his demons, you can’t help but read to the last page to learn how the chaos didn’t kill him.
There seemed to be too few instances where Fleury got to celebrate his life; he did have his children, his Stanley Cup championship in 1989, and his Olympic gold medal in 2002, but the absence of joy in his early life was palpable.

The NHL has its share of legends whose careers were cut short; Mike Bossy only played until he was 31. Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux played until they were 30. All of these players are considered all-time greats.

Theoren Fleury’s NHL days ended in a blaze when he was 34, and Playing With Fire reveals that the player who everybody said was too small to make it, could have been in the conversation of “greatest of all time,” if the only opponents he had to face off against were on the ice.

— Luc Welner-Monchuk

September/October 2011

For immediate release: September 16, 2011

IMPACT Magazine honours top cover athletes of 20 Years

Readers choose Catriona Le May Doan, Bret Hart
for magazine cover

Calgary, Alta. - IMPACT Magazine has named speed skater Catriona Le May Doan and wrestler Bret Hart its top female and male cover athletes of the past 20 years.

The magazine is being unveiled Saturday at noon at the Talisman Centre in Calgary during Sports Day in Canada, a free fitness open house. Hart and Le May Doan will be on hand for the occasion.

Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Western Canada's leading independent sport, health and fitness publication polled readers to choose among 20 accomplished athletes who have had the biggest impact on their sport, community and country and appeared on IMPACT's cover over the past two decades. Almost 150 athletes have appeared on IMPACT covers, beginning with Calgary Flames star Theoren Fleury in September 1991.

After almost 3,000 votes were cast, readers chose the two-time Olympic gold medallist and the seven-time world wrestling champion to appear on the cover of the current 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition of IMPACT.

"Western Canada has produced so many great athletes over the past decades that it's truly an honour to be chosen by the readers as IMPACT's top cover athlete," said Le May Doan. "I hope I've had the opportunity to inspire other young athletes and have an impact on their lives. As a mother, I hope my children can look to an athlete in their future as a role model."

Each of IMPACT's Top 20 athletes in 20 Years is profiled in the magazine.

"Never does a day go by that I don't count my lucky stars for all my fans across Canada and around the world who refuse to let me be forgotten. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart," said Hart.

Publisher Elaine Kupser said IMPACT has been celebrating elite and recreational athletes for 20 years and has been a unique platform for businesses and professionals in the health, fitness and sport worlds to share their expertise with IMPACT readers.

"We are extremely proud to have Catriona and Bret on the cover of our 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition," said Kupser. "They represent the cream of an extremely elite crop of athletes who have been the faces of IMPACT since I started this magazine in 1991."

IMPACT's Top 20 cover athletes are being honoured at a special event at Canada's Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 28 in Calgary.

IMPACT Magazine is available broadly at sport and health facilities throughout Calgary and Vancouver.

Here is a list of the nominees for Impact's Top 20 in 20:

1992: Kurt Browning, figure skating
1992: Mark Tewksbury, swimming
1993, 1996 & 2005: Helen Vanderburg, fitness
1994: Bret Hart, wrestling
1995: Michael Smith, decathlon
1995: Diane Jones-Konihowski, pentathlon
1998 & 2001: Catriona Le May Doan, speed skating
1998 & 2004: Christine Nordhagen, wrestling
2000: John and Joe Forzani, football
2001 & 2008: Simon Whitfield, triathlon
2001 & 2006: Cindy Klassen, speed skating
2002: Clara Hughes, speed skating, cycling
2003: Ken Read, alpine skiing
2003: Beckie Scott, cross-country skiing
2005: Kyle Shewfelt, gymnastics
2007: Lisa Bentley, triathlon
2008: Steve Nash, basketball
2009: Jarome Iginla, hockey
2011: Jon Montgomery, skeleton

For information, contact:
Chris Welner, Editor
IMPACT Magazine
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
403-228-0605 ext 12   

IMPACT Magazine is Western Canada's best source of independent sports information. Published in Calgary since 1991 and in Vancouver since 2006, IMPACT has a circulation of 70,000 copies bi-monthly.

KELOWNA, B.C (August 21, 2011) — Victoria's Simon Whitfield was crowned Canadian Champion for a staggering 10th time in his illustrious career, but it was young Sarah-Anne Brault who made headlines in Kelowna, B.C. by shocking the field to win her first-ever national crown on Sunday at the Canadian Triathlon Championships, hosted by the Pushor Mitchell Kelowna Apple Triathlon.

Brault, a 21-year-old Winnipeger, had a perfect game plan on Sunday – stick to the number-three ranked triathlete in the world, Paula Findlay, for as long as she could and see what happens. The West Virginia University student, who is a 10-kilometre running specialist with the Mountaineers track squad, stuck to Findlay's heels throughout the 1.5-kilometre swim in Lake Okanagan, coming out of the water in sixth spot directly behind the speedy redheaded Canuck, and never let her out of sight. With a lead group of about eight athletes working together in the lead pack throughout the 40-kilometre bike course, it was the 22-year-old Findlay who shot out of the second transition in hopes of following the road towards successfully defending her Canadian Championship title.

"I felt pretty good today, but I am so surprised," said Brault, who carried Manitoba's flag into the Opening Ceremonies when triathlon made its debut at the 2009 Canada Summer Games. "Paula took off after the transition. She's the best in the world. I never once thought I could catch her or win. I had no idea how the run would go, but I just kept to my pace." Brault's pace gave Findlay, who is rebuilding her fitness after a hip injury, all she could handle. The Winnipeger wasted no time reeling in the five-time World Championship Series winner to take the gold with a time of two hours, four minutes, 41 seconds (2:04:41).

"I just kept telling myself to run my pace," said Brault. "Paula just came back. I wasn't supposed to win so that gave me an extra boost. I had some equipment problems with my goggles and gears on my bike, but it was a perfect day." Findlay was forced to settle for the silver medal after crossing the finish line with a time of 2:05:35. Lindsey Jerdonek, of the United States was the third fastest finisher at 2:06:03, but Calgary's Kyla Coates, who crossed the line fifth, took the bronze medal as the third fastest Canadian at 2:09:10.

Meanwhile, it was the veteran Simon Whitfield who put the hurt on the men's field while running away with his 10th Canadian Championship victory. The 37-year-old Whitfield has been topped in two straight races leading into the Kelowna event by Kyle Jones at the World Cup in Edmonton and the World Championship Series race in London, making Jones the first Canadian in a decade to best his friend and training partner. But the wily vet wouldn't be caught on Sunday as Whitfield stomped the field to win the gold with a time of 1:54:12.

"It is nice to get one on Jones because he has been bloody strong this year," said the two-time Olympic medallist. "We had some fun banter throughout the week. We have become like brothers. Every workout we are side-by-side so we know how much it will hurt to win." After Whitfield and Jones came out of the water in the lead pack with all four members of their training group, the top-two Canucks managed the lead group of 10 athletes throughout the bike before running ahead of the field. The two best friends and training partners stuck together for the first half of the run when Whitfield dropped Jones and never looked back – taking a 30 second lead into his final lap.

"As soon as I saw Kyle on the run I knew he was suffering. We trained pretty hard to this race so one of us was going to be tired – that was inevitable and that very much could have been me," said Whitfield. "It was great to see our whole squad in the front pack out of the water. I'm a big fan of Kelowna. The crowd support here is incredible and the race organizers always do an incredible job every year." Jones, of Oakville, Ont., hung on for the silver medal after clocking-in at 1:54:36. "The swim and bike went as planned, but I got on the run and didn't have the legs today," said the 26-year-old Jones. "I'm thankful for the support and cheering from the Kelowna people because I was definitely hurting on the second half of that run. It is not the performance I wanted to have. It would have been nice to get my first Canadian title."

Gregory Billington, of the United States, was third fastest on the day at 1:54:46, but Alexander Hinton, of Kingston, Ont., wins the bronze medal as the third fastest Canadian. Hinton, who finished seventh overall, stopped the clock at 1:56:34. Canada's elite triathletes will now head to Victoria for three weeks of training before the Grand Final of the World Championship Series on the 2008 Olympic course in Beijing, China,September 10-11, 2011.

Top-Five Women's Results:
Sarah-Anne Brault, Winnipeg, 2:04:41
Paula Findlay, Edmonton, 2:05:35
Lindsey Jerdonek, USA, 2:06:03
Annie Warner, USA, 2:06:46
Kyla Coates, Calgary, 2:09:10

Top-Five Men's Results:
Simon Whitfield, Victoria, 1:54:12
Kyle Jones, Oakville, Ont, 1:54:36
Gregory Billington, USA, 1:54:46
Tyler Butterfield, BER, 1:55:22
Felix Duchampt, FRA, 1:56:11

Calgary (May 31, 2011) – Research proves that the average person is spending half of their waking day sitting in a chair and it's slowly killing them. To combat this trend, a Calgary based company is looking to tackle this issue from ‘behind’.

Long periods of time spent sitting at work or at school have been linked to chronic conditions like low back pain, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and some cancers. Fitter International Inc. President and CEO, Louis Stack, believes the solution is to ‘revive the 9 to 5’ by introducing the concept of an active workplace.

"Active sitting is using an actively moving surface to take the place of a conventional chair. That means replacing a chair with an active sitting tool like an exercise ball chair, sitting disc or Swopper chair. An unstable surface increases blood flow to your lower back, lubricates your spine and improves your posture," says Stack. "Office workers find that once they've strengthened their postural muscles using an active sitting product, their back pain eases and they are able to be more productive and focused in the workplace."

Since Fitterfirst stormed onto the scene 27 years ago, they have become a world leader in balance and rehabilitation products. Their wobble boards, foam rollers and exercise balls have become staples in gyms, fitness centres and physiotherapy clinics around the world. Although, it has only been recently that active sitting products have started flying off the shelves as public awareness of the hazards of sitting has increased. Since day one, Stack has made active sitting a focal point for his business.

"The average person may have about an hour to exercise each day. That's only 4% of your day and it's not enough! We need to focus on making our non-leisure time, the time spent at work or in front of a computer, as active as possible. I strongly believe that sitting can be as hazardous as smoking and that we need to address it in the workplace.”

For more information visit www.fitter1.com.