May
O’Bie set for surgery
Courtesy Hamilton Spectator:
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic general manager. Bob O’Billovich will be that man. Better than he was before. Better … stronger … faster.
Well, perhaps asking 68-year-old Bob O’Billovich to perform the feats of Steve Austin, a.k.a. the Six Million Dollar Man, is a bit of stretch, but O’Billovich will get some replacement parts installed today.
O’Billovich will travel to Toronto Western hospital to have his right hip replaced, hopefully ending the chronic pain he’s felt in the joint, particularly since last summer.
“Over the years, having been the athlete I was in my day and being the age that I am now, some of that stuff has caught up with me,” said O’Billovich, who played football, basketball and baseball growing up in Montana and was named the state’s athlete of the decade for the 1960s.
“It’s bone on bone so it’s causing me to limp and walk with pain. It’ll be good to get it done because it’s affecting my quality of life.”
O’Billovich had his other hip replaced 10 years ago, so he’s well aware of the work involved in getting back on his feet. He’ll be in the hospital four days and then home for a week in Oakville before beginning rehab. He hopes to be back on the field — albeit in a golf cart — for the opening of rookie camp June 3.
“After the surgery it’s like magic, all that pain just disappears,” O’Billovich said.
The 75-man training camp roster is virtually complete — the team has yet to announce several signings — and head coach Marcel Bellefeuille can sign and release players in O’Billovich’s absence.
“If anything comes up that has to be done right away, Marcel can look after it,” O’Billovich said.
“I wanted to make sure everything was taken care of before I went in for surgery. We’re right on schedule.”
The annual Cats Claws Walk of Fame/Charlotte Simmons Award Dinner will be held Friday at the Renaissance Centre. Tickets are $45. The event will feature 2009 Walk of Fame honouree Henry Waszczuk and Charlotte Simmons Humanitarian Award winner Marwan Hage.
