A key part of the relationship between the fans and the BC Lions Football Club has long been the intermediary voice of the media and the insight they provide. Over the history of the club, print media and beat writers have contributed their questions, opinions, viewpoints, facts and figures that have “filled out” the story and added colour to the game. Even Jim Kearney’s colleagues in the press would concede that few if any did it better than he did over several decades.
Kearney covered the Lions for the Vancouver Sun right from the club’s inception in the early 1950s, and for as long anyone can remember. His career covered many other important sports areas all the way from the 1954 British Empire Games to the 1972 Munich Olympics. He received numerous, well-deserved awards throughout his career, including the 1966 National Newspaper Award for a two-part series on drugs in sport.
He was inducted into Canadian Football Hall of Fame media wing in 1993 and to the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Fellow Hall of Famer Jim Taylor contributed likely the best summary of Jim Kearney’s career and selfless attitude. In times of need, Jim would freely give others his best column ideas without a thought or worry, pretty much what Jim gave Lions’ and other sports fans throughout his career.
