I was curious whatever happened to Sherwood Schwarz, the New York businessman who owned the Argos during the tumultuous 1999-2003 era, and who we should all thank for promoting Pinball to head coach.
(No, not the “Gilligan’s Island” guy, that was Sherwood SchwarTz.)
Sadly, it seems he passed away in February 2023, at age 92. (Did the team ever acknowledge this?)
He was, IMHO, a kind guy who probably didn’t quite know what he was in for when he bought the team at a time when nobody else would, although he’ll be remembered more for the strangeness of that era – hiring his cousin J.I. Albrecht as GM, John Huard as coach, getting Garth Drabinsky to produce the halftime shows, a Lucky Loonie contest that awarded one fan $1-per-person at every game, and a misguided and ultimately cancelled plan to stage pre-game wet t-shirt contests.
Eventually he couldn’t manage to pay the bills, and the league had to take over the team.
One time we got a call from the Argo office. Sherwood wanted the band on the field at halftime. I couldn’t imagine why. But we went down, and discovered that they’d planned a field goal kicking contest. Supermodels. Kicking field goals in their elegant gowns and high heels, and Sherwood wanted the band to play “Tada!” after each attempt.
I actually gave him a ride once. I was at the Argo office for some reason or other and he was there and I heard him ask the receptionist if she could call him a cab – coincidentally, I was headed to the airport myself and I gave him a lift, in a car full of Argonotes percussion equipment. We had an interesting yet somewhat awkward conversation – what restaurants did we each like in Toronto? and then he asked me some sort of investment question about Rogers and whether I would buy their denatured certificates of accrual, or something, and I mumbled some answer as if I knew anything about money.
Rest in peace, Sherwood. I hope someone writes a book about that Argo era, it was quite a story, and the team might have folded if you hadn’t stepped up.