Orr Has Scored for Canada

Bobby Orr wrote this in his recent book, Orr: My Story, p. 127:

I have won a few trophies over the years, and I never really liked individual honors, because they seem to miss the point. No one guy can accept the praise for the statistics he puts up, because it takes all kinds of unacknowledged help to get there. All the coaches in minor hockey and in Oshawa. All the friends and volunteers, teachers and billets. The neighbors who lent a hand at some point, and the teammates' parents who drove me to the rink. There is really no such thing as individual accomplishment.

That is actually quite astonishing - “There is really no such thing as individual accomplishment” - especially coming from the highest scoring defenseman ever, a very much individualized person if ever there was one.

He gets right to the heart of the current political knot with that, dealing with the crazy idea that if you're not selfish, you're a communist; the whole “you're on your own” fallacy. It also happens to get to the fundamental problem of sociology: How is social order possible?

He wrote further on, p. 235, “I was never particularly fond of school and couldn't imagine having to sit through four years to get a university degree.”

I just love it because Bobby Orr is, and always has been, known for being a decent human being, the real thing, aside from his professional prowess. It has been a long time battle for me against my academic colleagues to recognize that being a decent human being is a prerequisite to arriving at an accurate understanding of how society works!

One more thing: Orr and his book are exemplary of Canada. I have spent several years in Canada, travelled widely in Canada, read everything I can about it, and just plain old think about it a lot. There are certain events in Canadian history that represent or exemplify Canada which are useful to me whenever I try to articulate to anyone what is special about Canada and why I love it so much. The battle of Vimy Ridge and “the Henderson goal” are often cited in this respect. If you are interested in Canadian identity and history you have to listen to Foster Hewitt saying “Henderson has scored for Canada” -

I submit that Orr's book, and life, are similarly expressive of what it means to be Canadian and of Canada's gift.

Finally, here is a video containing some of his time on the ice and some interviews with people who know him well. There are many clips on YouTube of Orr on the ice that I have watched but I think this is one of the best.