Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Conovision is all about stories — and the storytellers who bring them to life. Stories about art, culture, and philosophy. Stories that inform, entertain, and inspire. Stories that invite us to reflect on who we are and where we’re going.
Hosted by Jim Conrad — a seasoned broadcaster and voice actor with over 40 years of experience, giving voice to the visions of others in film, radio, and television for a global audience — Conovision marks a new chapter: a platform for Jim to share the stories that matter most to him.
On Conovision, you’ll hear stories of success and hard-won truths, love and laughter, and personal histories from people whose lived experiences offer wisdom for the modern age.
At its heart, Conovision is a living archive — a home for spoken-word prose, poetry, and what Jim calls “Aural Intelligence”: a place where sound, storytelling, and meaning come together to spark reflection and connection.
Production and sound design by GGRP Studios in Vancouver, Canada.
Jim Conrad: Hello, my name is Jim
Conrad, AKA Cono, and this is Conovision.
On episode five, we present stories
about the dichotomy of us versus them.
Team good guys versus team bad
guys, ego versus psyche or soul.
Given our fragile purchase on the
world, given our obdurate dependency,
given ignorance of alternatives, given
the lack of rational analysis, given
the imposing immensity of messages
from the information environment, we
all assemble a false sense of self.
We call it ego.
It is not false because we've
lied to ourselves about ourselves,
but false because it is not
about us, but about them.
It, the other, something outside of us.
So we are defined by the other, not
from within, not by divine design,
but by the otherness of the other.
Which we cannot fathom, understand,
contain, control, comprehend.
It's a mystery.
So we are defined as a reticulated
network of behaviors, attitudes
towards self and world, and reflexive
strategies designed to get our needs
met and to manage the anxiety in
whose slipstream we daily stride.
As most of this assemblage we call
ourselves remains unconscious, we
can't really address it, at least
not until it becomes conscious.
The fractious paradox of the unconscious
is that, well, it's unconscious.
Yet some of us learn that there
is such a thing as our psyche,
a Greek word meaning soul.
The psyche embodies the totality
of our being, brain, blood, bone,
cerebration effect and desire.
It is who we are.
Though we can only know ourselves
partially through the limited purview
of consciousness, yet, it knows us,
minds us, cares for us, corrects us,
and critiques us when we are off track.
It never sleeps, never ceases.
Always standing watch over our troubled
slumber and always registers its
opinion as to how things are going.
When from the psyche's purview, things
are going as they should, when we are
in the towel, it provides us with energy
sufficient for the task and supporting
the feeling that affirms our daily agenda.
When we're off track, psyche protests.
Noisy demonstrations are held
in the amphitheater of the body.
Streets are blocked in the brain
by rebels from the cane fields.
Dreams are invaded by spectral
disturbances, effects riot and
tear down the work of years.
Meanwhile, the timorous ego, that
nervous nelly of necessity, runs
from these tumults represses,
splits off projects, procrastinates,
rationalizes, diverts, and narcotizes.
But the insurgents dig
in for the long haul.
Our abdication, our overthrow seems
their aim and our terrors multiply.
Whatever shaky throne we purchased
at the price of our numerous
adjustments and backroom deals is our
presumptive treasure and our sanctum.
Nelly on the throne admits no
faults, and simply orders more
troops to guard the castle walls.
This sundered sovereign, ego, will
resist until resistance is futile.
Depression debilitates, the spouse leaves.
The cost of the addiction
is way too much troubling.
Dreams persist until a deep shaming sense
of sham may no longer plausibly be denied.
Thus, psyche speaks not with tongues
of angels, but with sounding brass,
and battens our brain and pommels
our person till we collapse, and
then, possibly, open the door.
Then, begins the healing, then,
begins the recovery of what was lost
by the necessary adaptations of ego.
Then begins the wisdom of
asking what really matters most.
Attention.
Alright, listen up, maggots.
Sir, yes sir. Today I am going to talk to
you about the US versus them mentality, or
for you brainiacs social identity theory.
Sir, yes sir. It is a psychological
tendency to view the world in terms
of an ingroup, us, and an outgroup,
them, often leading to rivalry,
prejudice, and hostility by idealizing
one's own group and devaluing others.
Sir, yes, sir. This thinking often
involves creating a negative or
inferior image of the them group using
stereotypes and ignoring individual
differences, which can lead to prejudice,
discrimination, and even conflict.
Sir, yes, sir. While it can serve as
a fundamental part of group identity,
it's a harmful dynamic in many
contexts, including, but not exclusive
to politics, workplaces, and what
you call your social interactions.
Sir, yes sir.
Here's how it works.
One, categorization.
The world is simplified into
opposing groups based on
differences in ethnicity, religion,
politics, or others shared traits.
Sir, yes sir. Two,
positive self attribution.
The us group is idealized, seen
as superior, and holds positive
beliefs about its members.
Sir, yes sir. Three, negative othering.
The them group is devalued and stereotyped
often with negative generalizations
that ignore individual differences.
Sir, yes, sir. Four, reinforced distrust.
This division creates an illusion
of difference and prevents
connection, empathy, and genuine
understanding between groups.
Sir, yes sir. Alright.
Are you with me so far?
Sir, yes sir. I can't hear you.
Sir, yes sir. Good.
Now how about manifestations
and consequences.
Sir, yes sir. First, polarization,
political divides deepen with each side,
perceiving the other as an antagonist.
Second, workplace silos, departments
or teams can become insular, fostering
competition, and a lack of collaboration.
Third, social division, it can lead to
scapegoating, hostility and discrimination
against minority or out groups.
And fourth, reduced empathy creates an
excessive focus on group differences
and diminishes compassion for others.
Sir, yes sir. Now, how do we
break the us versus them dynamic?
Listen up.
Sir, yes sir. A, promote collaboration.
Engage in cross-functional projects
to build understanding between
different departments or groups.
Sir, yes, sir. B, encourage inclusivity,
actively include diverse perspectives
in decision making processes to
prevent cliques from forming.
Sir, yes sir. C, offer
constructive feedback.
Challenge us versus them thinking
when you see it taken hold,
helping to resolve divisions early.
Sir, yes sir. D, practice empathy.
Make an effort to understand
the perspectives of those
outside your own group.
Sir, yes sir. And E,
focus on shared humanity.
You must all recognize the common
needs, aspirations, and values
that unite people, rather than
solely focusing on differences.
Do you hear me?
Sir, yes sir. Dismissed.
Uh, Dennis, uh, I know that
some in our audience don't know
the finer points of hockey.
Uh, could you tell them, for
example, uh, what is, uh, slashing?
Slashing is, um, like that, you know?
And, um, there's a penalty for that.
Yeah.
You do that, you go to the box,
you know, two minutes by yourself
and you feel shame, you know?
And then you get free.
The good old hockey game is the best
game you can play, and the best game you
can play is the good old hockey game.
This is the Conovison podcast, and I'm
joined by my good friend Alec Tidey.
Alec, how are you?
Alec Tidey: I am great.
Jim Conrad: Well, how about fine?
Okay, you're fine.
You're great and fine.
Alec, uh, give a bit of a
thumbnail sketch about your life.
Where were you born and raised?
Alec Tidey: Well, I was
born in Vancouver General.
My father bought our first house when
I was just born in West Vancouver.
So we grew up in West Vancouver.
My dad worked for Trans Mountain
Oil Pipeline in purchasing
and he also fixed up houses.
So we moved quite a bit as he
built and fixed up houses and
did that in his spare time.
Jim Conrad: And West Van, uh, back
then wasn't the West Van we know now.
Alec Tidey: Well, no.
We called, we lived below the
highway, so it was called the ghetto
and up in the properties where
all the money was, so, but yes, it
was a different setting for sure.
Jim Conrad: Now, uh, growing up,
going to school, you were dyslexic.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
Well, there's a couple of things
that growing up back 69 years ago.
Uh, one was, uh, the A
D D, H A D, all the DDs.
I invented that.
Um, I was outta my seat all the time.
And I acted out in my fear and had, um,
Jim Conrad: So because of
your ADHD and your dyslexia,
you felt alone and isolated?
Alec Tidey: Well, no.
Jim Conrad: As a, as a kid?
Alec Tidey: Yes.
As a kid.
And I didn't fit in because I was,
but I didn't realize it back then.
Jim Conrad: Right.
Of course you were child, obviously.
Alec Tidey: I just was going through life.
But my background or my way
of dealing with it wasn't to
isolate, it was to act out.
And I used to put kids in headlocks and
cause trouble in, you know, school not
knowing what was going on in my life.
And as I grew, went through grade one,
grade two, Pauline Johnson School, they
held me back, didn't know what that
was about, but I was never a bad kid.
I was just active all the time.
Jim Conrad: You weren't a bully?
Alec Tidey: Not a bully,
but, don't get me mad.
And that was inherently built into me.
I would act out.
Jim Conrad: Because of the dyslexia
and the ADHD, primarily the
dyslexia, were you labeled, dumb?
Alec Tidey: When you can't read, write,
or spell in school, going grade from
grade 1 into grade 7, 8, 9, I often
got called, oh, you're so stupid, Alec.
You know, you're dumb.
And instead of going, oh,
and hiding, I act out.
That is, you know, something that I didn't
like looking back in my life, but it
created something for me to deal with it.
And just like someone that
isolates, there's two different
ways of dealing with it.
Dyslexia wasn't known back
in the schools back then.
It was not identified and
so I got really lucky.
We joined Hollyburn Country Club and
started swimming and playing hockey.
I swam until I stepped on the jack
that put a hole in my foot and
the coach came and pulled the jack
out and made me swim the race.
And I said, okay, I'm out.
As I was crying, I was probably
six years old or something.
And anyway, I went and played hockey
and uh, that was a natural thing for me.
Very interesting too, is my
grandfather's father was the first
mayor of Merritt BC and my grandfather,
I've got a picture of, uh, 1915 on
the Merritt High School hockey team.
He was a rover and uh, A rover
was the guy that could skate.
Jim Conrad: Yes.
Skate better than the rest of the guys.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
Better than the rest of the guys.
He'd go anywhere over the,
this was back in 1915.
So I had this ability, which was a gift
from wherever that I could play hockey.
And I started excelling in that,
uh, a fellow named Greg Neild, his
family, his mother would rent the ice
or get the ice and we would skate and
skate and skate as we were younger.
You know, I'm talking 8, 9, 10 years old.
Jim Conrad: So hockey became a way for
you to excel and to be part of, because
you were in school, it was a no go.
Alec Tidey: Right.
Well, I've got a couple of stories
about that if you'd like one is,
yes, when I was 15 I played BC
Junior Hockey in Richmond, so 15, 16.
So I would miss school for playing hockey
and, um, we'd be on the road or whatever
and, uh, I'd, come back to school.
And then the following year was grade 11.
I had training camp.
And I missed a week of
school in training camp.
And then I came back into school
and I got all my books in my locker
and I went to the first class.
And uh, the teacher, you know, I
always sat in the back of the class
'cause I was a bit of a disturber.
And that's where I would sit.
And the teacher said, Alec, are
you playing hockey this year?
And I said, yes.
He said, well, I don't
want you in my class.
Jim Conrad: Really?
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
And I went, you know what, that's fine.
And I walked out.
Jim Conrad: And that was it
for you for formal education?
Alec Tidey: Well, what happened was the
next class I went to was in English and
he was always trying to help me in English
this teacher, this was West Van Secondary
School, and I went into the class again.
And at the beginning of the class he said,
Alec, are you playing hockey this year?
And I said, yes.
And he said, well, we don't want,
I don't want you in my class.
Jim Conrad: So this, another
teacher said the same thing,
Alec Tidey: Two things.
Jim Conrad: Wow.
Alec Tidey: And I walked
outta the class and you know,
big, tough Al started to cry.
And I went and got my books and I took
the books into the principal's office.
And I was crying.
He was on the phone and I
walked in and I threw the books.
And this is what I'm talking about.
This is how I acted.
And I took the books and
threw 'em on his desk.
And I said,
Jim Conrad: Your school is fucked.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
Fucked.
I can say it.
And, and he, he was, he hung up the phone
and I walked out and I phoned my dad.
And my sister swam for
Hollyburn Country Club.
She swam in the Pan-American Games
and she went to Sentinel School.
So he phoned Sentinel.
He said, okay, Al, told him what happened.
He said, I I'll phone Sentinel.
And Sentinel said, okay,
you can come to Sentinel.
And that's where I got to know
all my friends up in Sentinel.
I had friends from West
Van, but I went to Sentinel.
And boy, it was a gift to walk
into that place and start fresh.
But again, I had a general program.
I was, you know, woodwork
study, metalwork study.
I went on all these different programs
and, but we were causing trouble, my
buddies and I in school up there, and I
don't need to go into that, but finally,
about three quarters of the way through,
the vice principal came to me and he
said, what are you doing here, Alec?
And I said, I don't know.
He said, why don't you go play hockey?
And this is another thing about life.
My dad, I phoned my dad again and told
him what happened and he said, yeah, okay.
I had, uh, tutors in grade seven, in grade
eight and nine trying to teach me how
to read, phonically, sounding words out.
None of it worked.
Jim Conrad: Because in, in dyslexia
and because it is, common, and
some people there is a way to, to
work through it and to adapt to it.
In fact, studies have shown that
a lot of dyslexic people actually
become overachievers in various
things because of, you know, they're,
it's basically, I'm gonna show them.
You know, I was called dumb
in high school or school.
So, but no, I'm gonna show
them and they overachieve.
Alec Tidey: I had a little
different feeling of it.
I had, I lived in the moment,
didn't understand about what I
should or shouldn't be or do.
And I played hockey luckily
and turned professional.
Jim Conrad: Well, let's go.
Let's go back.
So, so out of school now you're
playing hockey full time.
That was in the BC Junior League.
Alec Tidey: Yeah, so a couple of
things that happened in there.
I played BC Junior for two years,
and then I went to Kamloops
and played my first year.
Got scouted and went and played with them.
I think I scored 16 goals, but I played
on, it was not a really good team.
Jim Conrad: So in the, in
the early juniors sphere of
hockey, this is quite a step up.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
Jim Conrad: To be drafted by
one of these major junior teams.
Alec Tidey: It is.
And it's, um.
You know, it was,
Jim Conrad: It's a pipeline to the NHL.
Alec Tidey: It is a pipeline to
the NHL, it's the way you get
drafted and this sort of thing.
You know, I can talk about some of the
issues that I had with that, or should I?
Jim Conrad: Yes, let's
get it all out, Alec.
Alec Tidey: You know, one of the things
about doing that is following your
passion and, uh, coming into playing
against 19 and 20 year olds and some
pretty good hockey players back then.
So it was a different deal.
And, uh, you know, I remember, um, one
of the problems that I had in my life,
oh, and I forgot to tell you about
this, when in high school I got a gift.
And being outside, looking in all the
time and not fitting in with all of my
peers, I started to drink on the weekends.
And what did that do for me?
It put me on the playing
field with all my friends.
And they didn't look
at me as a stupid guy.
I was popular, I was fun, I
was, you know, a hockey player.
I was, uh, now in the game of
unity with, with friendship.
Jim Conrad: Being accept, being
accepted through, through drinking.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
And partying and having fun.
And, uh, it, again, it was something
that turned my character into who I
am today as opposed to being angry
and feeling outside, not good enough,
and all the things that school gave me
because I couldn't read, write, or spell.
Jim Conrad: So now the party culture
gave you an in to be accepted.
Alec Tidey: Yes.
Jim Conrad: Yeah.
And that's very common.
Alec Tidey: Yep, it is.
Jim Conrad: Uh, that's why that's kind
of probably the main motivation for kids.
I know it was for me.
It wasn't about, I really
wanted to drink or do drugs.
It was everybody else was and if
I do this, I'll be in the club.
I'll be accepted.
And it was more abhorrent to me to be
outside and looking in than any harm that,
that I thought drugs or alcohol could do.
Alec Tidey: You know, Jimmy?
Jim Conrad: So I was kinda like,
yeah, let me into the party.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
Well, you know, Jimmy, the thing about
that is there's good drinkers, good
partiers, bad partiers and bad drinkers.
Jim Conrad: True that.
Alec Tidey: I was all the good ones.
I had fun.
Uh, the guys loved me.
The, I had girlfriends and that
was a gift for this guy to this
day that opened up my life.
But along with, comes with that,
I was a binge drinker and, um,
when I drank, I didn't know how
to go home or want to go home.
And so I was always out late and
partying and that sort of thing.
But I didn't drink all the time.
It's just when I was on, I was on.
Anyway, I wanted to say that to you
because when I went into my first year,
junior training camp was a month long,
and then we made the team and or we're
in the, the game and then the, uh, the
team said, okay, well we got a day off.
We're gonna let you guys go party.
So 19, 20 year olds that I'm
going with, we get a bottle of
Southern Comfort is what I got.
And, uh, some orange juice.
And, uh, that's what happened with my type
of drinking and what happened with hockey.
I stayed out late and got in trouble.
Jim Conrad: Past curfew.
Alec Tidey: Past curfew, and
that was the start of it.
And I wanna say that because
I didn't do that all the time.
But when I did it, I stayed out
too late and this sort of thing.
So my first year I, like I said, I've
scored I think, uh, 15, 16 goals,
which wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.
And they traded me to Edmonton Oilers.
Jim Conrad: Now this was
the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Alec Tidey: Oil Kings, sorry,
you might have to correct me.
They had a really good team.
They went to the finals the year
before and I didn't make the team.
Jim Conrad: And it was
because of the party?
Alec Tidey: No.
Um, I think they'd, okay, so this is
interesting because, um, I, I didn't
make the team and I didn't know why.
So I went down to Lethbridge and
tried out with Bryan Trottier
and Brian Sutter, Ron Delorme.
We had a pretty good team.
And the first preseason
game, I scored four goals.
The other thing that I did between
Kamloops and after I finished playing
hockey in Kamloops, went up to the
Cariboo and my dad built a net with two
cans in the corners and a, a shooting
platform, and I bought 300 pucks.
And all summer I shot pucks, after playing
in Kamloops and only scoring a few goals.
And I went to Lethbridge and I'm up
in, you know, playing with Bryan now,
Bryan Trottier, Brian Sutter, and we
had one of the hottest lines in hockey.
Then what happened was they traded
for Terry Bucyk, which Terry Bucyk
was drafted the year before, and
he was a high draft choice and
there's money in them there hills.
I didn't know this, but get a
draft choice that goes for them.
They get paid more money
for the higher draft choice.
I started partying and got pissed off.
Earl Ingarfield was the coach.
Not his fault, just he put me on
the second line and, uh, I started
hanging out with the wrong guys and
oh, I, the other thing that I wanted
to say was when we played against
the Edmonton, I scored three goals.
Jim Conrad: The team that didn't want you.
Alec Tidey: The team that didn't want
me, and they interviewed the general
manager and said, why wouldn't you
have kept Tidey and it says it in
writing, because he was causing trouble.
Jim Conrad: Oh no.
Alec Tidey: Yes.
Jim Conrad: This was a, a
quote from him on the record.
Alec Tidey: Why we didn't keep Alec.
We heard.
Yes.
Just that some form of that.
This is stuff that, you know, when
you're growing up and you're walking
through it, you don't know what that is.
Jim Conrad: But your reputation as a
troublemaker was now on the record.
Alec Tidey: And then I remember
being, after Christmas, I would play
on the power play with Trottier and
Sutter, but I'd play in the second
line and I ended up with 42 goals.
Bryan Trottier ended up with 44 goals.
I was second in scoring.
Fighting, I took boxing and I'm
left-handed and talented, so I
knew how to fight, but I hated it.
I hated fighting.
I didn't like the feeling,
I didn't like the aftermath.
Jim Conrad: On teams there were certain
players that were designated fighters.
We wouldn't call them goons,
but a lot of people did.
Were you a goon?
Alec Tidey: No, and, but I fought the
goons and I, I never lost a fight except
for one, but that was a long ways through.
But never got beat up and I hurt
a lot of guys with my left hand.
'Cause I knew how to hit, knew how
to box, and I knew how to fight.
But you had to get me really mad
for me to do something like that.
Jim Conrad: Would a coach
tell you to go get a guy?
Alec Tidey: Nope.
Never.
I wasn't that player.
I was this goal scorer, right?
I was a skater, goal scorer.
And the thing about that is,
you know, to, get drafted, you
had to have these abilities.
And so my agent in North Van, I think
of his name, said you know, Alec.
Jim Conrad: You forgot
the name of your agent?
Alec Tidey: Uh, just a sec. Its,
uh, that isn't, that's very bad.
Very bad.
Jim Conrad: I do as well.
Alec Tidey: I know, it's coming.
Jim Conrad: Especially when
they don't work for me.
Alec Tidey: It's coming.
But that's because I, I didn't, I
had a few hits in the head, okay?
Jim Conrad: Okay.
Alright.
Alec Tidey: It'll come to me.
He said I would get drafted in the
low first round, high second round.
Jim Conrad: Okay.
So now let's set the scenario once again.
So now you're playing for
the Lethbridge Broncos.
You're scoring goals.
You're a tough guy.
These are attributes that the NHL, you
know, they, they like, they like the
fact that you've got good hands, not only
scoring goals, but can handle yourself.
Alec Tidey: Correct.
Jim Conrad: You've got a
mean streak as they say.
And so now you're in Lethbridge and now
it's coming to what year of the draft?
Alec Tidey: So the end of the year, we
ended up losing out in the playoffs.
Uh, we had a really good team.
I scored the most goals in the playoffs.
We won the first round, the second round.
Again, playing with Trottier now, again
in the playoffs 'cause we're trying
to win and then the draft is coming
up and I'm at home by myself in West
Vancouver, where not many hockey players
came out back then, out of the west.
Jim Conrad: Okay, so your family
wasn't there watching the draft?
Alec Tidey: No.
This was a new thing too.
Late, uh, or sorry, mid seventies
when this was happening.
So it was all evolving, the drafts.
Jim Conrad: It wasn't the
big show that it is now.
Alec Tidey: No, not, not like it is now.
But I was watching it and,
uh, third round came along.
Fourth round came along.
Fifth, sixth, seventh,
eighth round I get drafted.
Jim Conrad: Drafted in the eighth round.
Alec Tidey: By Buffalo Sabres, San Diego
Mariners in the fourth round in the WHA.
I was shocked and I was uh,
Jim Conrad: Did you not
expect to be drafted?
You thought you were gonna
go in the first round?
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
Or the second round, like,
Ron Perrick from North Van.
Jim Conrad: Ron Perrick was your agent?
Alec Tidey: Yes, my agent.
Yeah.
I knew it'd come up.
Great guy.
I mean, and anyway,
that, that whole thing.
Jim Conrad: Now, how much do agents
influence, they're the ones who
are trying to sell you to the GMs.
So Ron didn't do a very good job.
Alec Tidey: Well, that's we, we
would say that, but I think what
happened was I got the bad name from
our coach and our general manager.
Jim Conrad: So the reputation
of being a troublemaker.
And, being put on record by a GM
in Edmonton, like in, in writing,
you know, quoted in an article.
Alec Tidey: It starts lathering up.
Jim Conrad: I guess it speaks to
character, but you can get, you
can get a bad rap, can't you?
Did you think you got a bad rap?
Alec Tidey: There's a couple of things.
The binge drinker as opposed to a
chronic drinker, doesn't get caught.
I didn't get caught up in
that I had that problem.
Or that it was just in the moment I would
stay out and do stuff and then get caught.
I'll give you an example.
In Lethbridge, it was three o'clock
in the morning in my little car
that, I had a little station wagon,
and I was coming down the Cooley at
three o'clock in the morning, ran
over a deer, and broke his back.
And I got out and I going,
oh, what am I gonna do?
And, and then a cop came by at
three o'clock in the morning.
19-year-old Al is driving his car
intoxicated and ran over a deer.
So he shot the deer.
I'll never forget this.
And he said, you go home.
Well, what do you think
happened the next day?
They phoned, they phoned the coach
or the general manager and told
them what happened, I'm sure.
'Cause I didn't tell 'em.
Jim Conrad: At that point in time,
Alec, did you think about changing?
Alec Tidey: No, not in, I
didn't think I had that problem.
I didn't,
Jim Conrad: Even though, even though
there was obvious consequences.
Alec Tidey: Yeah, it's funny isn't it?
Uh, and maybe I, maybe I looked
at it and went, oh well, you know.
Jim Conrad: You're 19.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
I, might've looked at, I, honestly didn't
think about that problem being a problem.
Jim Conrad: So, drafted by San Diego in
the fourth, by the Sabers in the eighth.
Who did you decide to go with?
Alec Tidey: Ron Perrick said to me,
Alec, if you go with Buffalo, they
played in the finals with, I think
it was Montreal and, uh, they had
a really good team and he said,
Jim Conrad: Gilbert Perreault?
Alec Tidey: Yeah, Perreault,
Martin, Danny Gare.
Jim Conrad: That was the big line.
Alec Tidey: Oh, great team.
Jim Conrad: Oh, so he
said go to San Diego.
Alec Tidey: Go 'cause you'll play,
you'll get ice time if you go to Buffalo,
you go down to the minors, right?
And so I went to San Diego
and uh, this is wild.
So I'm down in San Diego in
training camp around the pool.
And I said to my dad, I'm gonna go down
a day early 'cause it's really hot down
there and I wanna get used to the heat.
And so I went down the Dana Inn and I
went in and hung out the pool by myself.
And then the next day the
players start coming in.
André Lacroix, Wayne Rivers, uh,
Jean Piaget, and meeting these
guys, I didn't know any of them.
And there are a lot of older guys
because the WHA brought in some
older players, but they had us
young guys to fill in the team.
They were sitting around the pool
and then this burr head comes in.
With his nose over to the side and it was,
Jim Conrad: He's a white guy?
Alec Tidey: He is.
It was Goldie Goldthorpe.
From Slap Shot.
I'm not kidding.
Jim Conrad: Wow.
Alec Tidey: And he walked into the pool.
And he had nunchakus you know, the,
the things that you swing around,
the two pieces of wooden chain.
Jim Conrad: Oh, uh, chakras,
Alec Tidey: Or, or something like that.
Nunchakus, I think they were, anyway,
Jim Conrad: We'll Google it.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
And he comes up to me and goes
and pulls it under his, I'll
see you on the ice tomorrow.
And I said.
Fuck off.
Jim Conrad: I didn't know you told
Goldie Goldthorpe to fuck off.
Alec Tidey: Fuck off.
Yeah.
Jim Conrad: I like it.
Alec Tidey: And the guys are
sitting around the pool watching
this and going, ah, that's Goldie.
Don't worry about Goldie
and this sort of thing.
And I'm going, and, and, now I'm
finding out that they thought I
was a big, tough player, which.
I guess I was, but that wasn't my deal.
Jim Conrad: So your role,
their assumed role for you on
the San Diego team was goon?
Alec Tidey: Well, they, the, after
I've made the team, they, told me, a
couple of guys said that, that they
heard that I could really fight.
Anyway, Goldie, the next, so with
the first practice we have, and this
is training camp and we're working
out, and then we're gonna scrimmage.
And guess who he puts me against?
Goldie.
And he whacks me and I
whack him back with a stick.
We're going up and down the ice.
He's, he's whacking me again.
I turn around, I whack him, and we
drop the gloves with Goldie Goldthorpe.
And I'm standing there
watching him, throwing punches.
He's jumping around, throwing punches,
and I'm just sitting here like this and
I'm looking at his chin and I go, bang.
Knocked him out.
Out cold.
One shot.
And he gets up and he, he
wakes up and he's like this.
And he's pulling his, and the guys
are going, oh, Goldie, go sit down.
Tidey kicked your ass.
And, and I made the team.
Jim Conrad: Ah.
Great story.
Oh man.
Alec Tidey: I've, I've got
another story about him too.
But anyway, the, um,
Jim Conrad: Okay, well gimme the,
gimme the other Goldie story.
Alec Tidey: Well, the other Goldie
story is we're in the bus and, uh, this
is a month and a half into the season,
and I'm reading something and he grabs
my book and throws it out the window.
Just like, just because he's
Goldie, because he's, he's bored.
And I, and I turned to him,
I said, you want some more?
It was just the way my brain
worked when I did stuff, right?
Because of my history and my background
of growing up and acting out.
And I, I believe that today.
And it's not wrong.
It's just what it is.
Here's another great story.
So my, my first home game
was against, uh, Winnipeg.
You know who played on that?
Jim Conrad: Bobby Hall.
Alec Tidey: Bobby Hall.
And I was on a kid line, Joe
Norris, Kevin Devine, and Alec,
where we were the checking line.
We checked all the big players 'cause
I could skate and check and uh,
that's what position he put us in.
Uh, I'll never forget the coming out
and warm up and look, couldn't get
my eyes off of Bobby Hall is skating.
Now, we sat every Saturday
hockey night in Canada and grew
up watching these guys, right?
Gordie Howe, Bobby Hall.
Jim Conrad: Legends.
Alec Tidey: Legends, and you're,
and now I'm going to the face
off and I'm, he played left wing.
I played right wing and I'm standing
beside Bobby Hall and I go, Bobby, I
can't believe I'm standing here with you.
He said, it's okay, kid.
Have a good game.
And I said, thank you.
And we go up and down the ice.
I'm all over because I could skate.
The end of the game.
We won the game.
I scored three goals.
Jim Conrad: You got a hat trick.
Alec Tidey: I got a hat trick.
Jim Conrad: Against Bobby
Hall in the WHA Winnipeg Jets.
Alec Tidey: The, in the, and
the in the paper the next day
it said Tidey checks Hall, maybe
Hall should have checked Tidey.
I've got that clipping.
So those are the things that happened.
But in that, uh, San Diego,
I don't know if you remember,
Jim Conrad: Did they stick
around or they did they fold?
Alec Tidey: Well, here's what, there's
another thing that's really interesting.
So San Diego was golden girls and parties.
And all the rest of the stuff.
And you know, one of the things
that happened to me is I started
partying with the partiers and, uh,
Jim Conrad: The real partiers.
Alec Tidey: The real partiers.
Yeah.
Jim Conrad: The hardcore partiers.
Alec Tidey: The hardcore.
And, uh, anyway, uh,
Jim Conrad: Did they introduce
you to another substance?
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
That would've been a, so the,
the story of that was I was, uh,
Jim Conrad: Peruvian marching powder.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
So what what happened was I
went to my first, uh, party
in a house party in San Diego.
And, uh, this girl standing over and she
comes over and she says, do you toot?
And I looked at her and I went,
yeah, 'cause she was beautiful.
Jim Conrad: Do you toot?
Alec Tidey: Do you toot?
Jim Conrad: Now that could be, that
could be taken a lot of different ways.
Alec Tidey: Well, I
didn't know what it meant.
Jim Conrad: Okay.
Alec Tidey: And I, I, but I
looked at her and I said, sure.
Yeah.
And she said, okay, do,
let's go into the bathroom.
And I looked at her again.
I said, okay.
Seriously, I didn't
know what she was doing.
Jim Conrad: There was some
gonna be, some tooting going on.
Alec Tidey: And we went into the
bathroom and, uh, she pulled out a little
mirror and put this white stuff down.
And I'd heard of the cocaine,
but I've never ever seen it.
And she starts chopping it
up and she takes a snort.
And I said, what is that?
And she says, cocaine.
Oh.
She said, it'll help you party all night.
Oh, good.
Okay.
So I did a line, and then she
looked at me right in the eyes and
she said, and it's not addictive.
And I'll never forget that.
Jim Conrad: Delusional.
Alec Tidey: Yeah.
Oh yeah.
So the other thing that happened was
my first road trip was into Houston.
And guess who played in Houston?
Jim Conrad: Gordie Howe.
Alec Tidey: Gordie Howe And Gordie Howe
again, I'm in, you know, warm up watching
Gordie Howe going, I'm, with Mr. Hockey.
I'm skating on the same ice.
I'm not kidding.
It was powerful.
And then we're, we start facing off
and we start playing and I'm checking
Gordie Howe, we get in the corner.
What does Gordie do?
Elbow.
Right in the nose.
And I turned to him and I with my
stick and I was going crosscheck him.
And I go, oh, that's Mr. Hockey.
And I went to the bench and my
nose is bleeding, like, and, uh,
on Andre Lacroix down at the other
end of the bench, he says, Tidey.
You take that from him, you
take that from everybody.
And I went, okay, this is a true story.
The next shift,
Jim Conrad: Of course it's true.
Alec Tidey: It's true.
And I had the stuff up my
nose to stop it from bleeding.
Jim Conrad: And so you go out in the ice
with, with the two nose plugs up there.
Alec Tidey: The two nose plugs up my and,
he's in the slot and we're in our end
and I see the puck coming out to him.
So I crosschecked him down onto
his knees and he turned around
and broke his stick over my leg.
Jim Conrad: Back the day when the,
when the stick was a piece of lumber.
Alec Tidey: A piece of lumber.
Yeah.
And.
I threw my gloves off, like go
with, because I don't think about
anything, but I thought you don't
break a stick over my leg like that.
And I threw the gloves off and I look
back on both benches and now are emptying.
And I grabbed onto Gordie's on his knees
and I'm down there with him and I go,
oh, Gordie, I'm in trouble, aren't I?
And he said, yeah, you are kid.
And we didn't have helmets on back
then and all I could feel I was just
holding them in and the knuckles
were going off the back of my head
and so there you go.
I fought Gordie Howe.
Jim Conrad: True story.
Alec Tidey: True story.
Jim Conrad: Alec, uh, great
to have you on the show.
Hockey stories were always my
favorites, but thank you so much.
Those are great stories.
Alec Tidey: Well, thank you.
Jim Conrad: Well, that's episode
five in the digital archive.
Thanks for making it this far with me.
To review, on epi five, we heard the
wisdom of 84-year-old Dr. James Hollis,
PhD, a Jungian psychoanalyst, and
author, from his book What Matters Most.
Also, we heard the full metal jacket
explanation of the US versus them
mentality, and the story of my good
friend Alec Tidey and his battles,
both on and off the frozen pond.
Thanks for listening.
It's always a pleasure telling
stories, and of course, remember
we are all stories to be told.
Until next time, I'm Jim Conrad
and this has been Conovision,
the spirit of storytelling.
Bye-bye.