COLUMN: Charles Barkley laments Londoner Christine Simpson’s Sportsnet exit

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I didn’t expect Charles Barkley to call back.

He doesn’t know me. But he knows Christine Simpson. And he returned my cellphone message because he cares about his good friend.

Simpson, a London native, was let go by Sportsnet the other day in a move announced first by her and later confirmed by the network.

On the phone, Barkley admitted in rather quiet and unlikely tones he was shocked and saddened to learn that Simpson, the longtime hockey broadcaster, and sister of two former players, was shown the door by Sportsnet.

“I’m disappointed,” said Barkley, the voice of basketball in America and maybe all over the world. “I’m disappointed for my friend. She’s a tremendous talent and a just a wonderful person and a great friend.”

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Barkley first met Simpson in Las Vegas more than 20 years ago when she was on a trip with Wayne Gretzky. Barkley and Simpson, along with Canadian broadcaster Rod Black, became close friends over the years. Almost every time Barkley mentions Canada on television, he somehow references both Simpson and Black.

“I don’t know the circumstances of what happened,” Barkley said of Simpson’s departure from Sportsnet, where she has been prominent in hockey coverage — and in particular individual interviews — for the past 26 years. “I think she has to be in shock.

“But I do know this: To have a Canadian woman talking about hockey with her connections has to be a bonus for any network. Any network would be wise to hire her.”

Simpson, who is about to turn 60, is from a London family of sports stars.

Her mother Marion was an Olympic-calibre sprinter and her father Don played football for the Western Mustangs. Her brother, Craig, was a 40-goal forward in the NHL, won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers and is now a colour commentator on games. Another brother, Dave Simpson, was named Canada’s top junior hockey player in 1981-82 after recording 155 points for the hometown Knights.

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Simpson, an alumnus of Oakridge secondary school, is among the most recognizable hockey broadcasters in the country, frequently filing feature interviews with top players and coaches.

When it was suggested to Barkley that ageism might have been a factor in the parting because it has happened at other networks with other broadcasters in and out of sports, he wasn’t sure how to respond.

“I can’t answer that question personally because I don’t know,” the usually outspoken Barkley said. ‘I don’t talk about s— I don’t know about. All I can tell you is I’m surprised and disappointed for her and for those watching.”

–By Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun

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