Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to CBC News and Hockey Night in Canada anchor, Jeff Marek. Jeff’s been with CBC for two years and is a staple on Saturday night broadcasts as part of the iDesk feature along with Scott Morrison. Maybe you already knew that, but did you know Marek is basically the Ron Burgundy of CBC?
It’s true. Having spent time with Marek at CBC’s headquarters hours before this past Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, I witnessed it first hand. Every employee at CBC has a friendly relationship with Marek as well as a few inside jokes. Marek can’t go anywhere for five minutes without questions, jokes, or microphone fittings coming his way. In fact, the only two differences between Marek and the real Burgundy are scotch before broadcasts and turtlenecks.
Below is the Classy interview with Jeff Marek. Enjoy!

Stayclassy.net's very own Burgundy at Hockey Night in Canada's iDesk. Extremely classy.
Stayclassy.net: How did you first get involved with sports broadcasting?
Jeff Marek: I never planned to get into sports at all. I was actually studying to be an English Professor. While working at a cemetery, my first bury was Harold Ballard (former Toronto Maple Leafs owner) in 1990. By stroke of luck, I met George Stroumboulopoulos and he helped me get a job with Toronto’s Fan 590 radio station. From there, I found my way onto various radio shows covering wrestling, the Leafs (and other topics), and eventually got a job offer from the producers of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.
Stayclassy.net editor’s note: Stroumboulopoulos and Marek actually made a bet to who would first appear on Hockey Night in Canada. Despite Marek’s gig on HNIC’s iDesk, it was Stroumboulopoulos who won the bet.
SC: Do you have any specific career highlight(s) that stick out in your mind?
Marek: Two highlights immediately come to mind. First, the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Being able to call Judo, Table Tennis, Pentathlon, and other sports was a thrill. It was challenging, chaotic, and exciting all at once. Secondly, my first ever appearance and interview on HNIC. It was the Washington Capitals versus the Ottawa Senators and Ron Maclean introduced me doing an interview with Alex Ovechkin. Hearing my name mentioned by Ron Maclean after the HNIC intro music was surreal to say the least.
Stayclassy.net editor’s note: This was the game Ovechkin scored 4 goals against the Senators and threw his glove in the air.
SC: Is it true you play rec hockey on a team called The Ron Burgundys? And if so, how good is your team?
Marek: Yes. As far as skill… I’m good enough to be a bad player on a great team.
Stayclassy.net editor’s note: I don’t know what you mean.
SC: Have you ever read punctuation incorrectly from a teleprompter in your career?
Marek: I’ve never used a teleprompter for my work on CBC! That all changes with my role on CBC’s News Now (which debuts this week). We use teleprompters for those broadcasts and now that you mention it, I fear I may be terrible reading from one.
SC: You’ve got a bit of a history covering professional wrestling. Do you ever miss the personalities of wrestlers when covering the NHL?
Marek: Wrestling does a good job marketing individual athletes – something the NHL should do more of with some of their superstars. The NHL certainly has a variety of characters, too.
SC: Do you think the NHL might do better in some markets (which shall remain nameless) if players had their own entrance music, and came out of the crowd as a surprise after an extended injury?
Marek: I love that idea! You might be onto something here…
SC: What do you think Sex Panther (illegal in 9 countries) really smells like?
Marek: The bowels of the worst smelling part of a hockey bag. Not the skates or the jock – something far worse – the insides of hockey gloves. They are without a doubt the ultimate chick repellent.
A huge thanks to Jeff for hanging out with us and fielding our questions. We like that. It should be noted Marek hasn’t yet seen the movie Anchorman, despite answering the questions above. As a thanks for doing our interview and as unofficial ambassadors of the movie, we bought Jeff a copy. With any luck, Stayclassy.net will finally make sense to him… and if it doesn’t, all hope is lost.
I highly recommend you do the following:
- Add Jeff Marek on Twitter
- Tune in to CBC News Now (weekdays; 6am-9am. Jeff tackles sports on the broadcast)
- Thank Jeff for doing this interview by leaving a comment below
Stay classy, Jeff Marek.
Follow Burgundy on Twitter or become a fan of Stayclassy.net on Facebook.
The spirit of Thanksgiving, Classy style
October 9th, 2009As Canada gets ready to celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend, I thought it would be fitting to show thanks to a very selective group of individuals within the NHL community.
First of all, thanks to Bryan Murray for getting the Dany Heatley trade done prior to the start of the season. There. I said it and that’s all I’m going to say about it.
Thanks to the tandem of Brian Burke and Ron Wilson for their uncanny ability to generate memorable sound bites on what seems to be a daily basis. Some of my personal favourites include Wilson’s feud with Howard Berger:
And a Best of Brian Burke’s quotes video:
Ah, you can’t make this stuff up! Haha, long live this ‘new era’ for the Maple Leafs.
Thanks to Mats Sundin for actually making a decision on his NHL career before the season started. This decision came about 12 months too late, but I’m still thankful that we don’t have to spend another season discussing it. Better late than never, right Mats?
Thanks to Carey Price for stringing together a couple of good games to start the season. Honestly, with the tragic starts for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks, I’m not sure we could’ve handled another meltdown in La Belle Province if the Montreal Canadiens had stumbled out of the start gates.
Along those same lines, I think it’s safe to say that all hockey fans that don’t worship the Canadians are thankful that Montreal’s Centennial Season is officially over. That whole celebration was overly dramatic and completely over the top. And by no means does a 100th season entitle any team a Stanley Cup. That was ridiculous and I’m just glad all that nonsense is over.
Thanks to Patrick Kane, who spent part of his off-season beating up a cab driver. Since then, I’ve noticed the annoying and uber-useless small-talk that cab drivers frequently do to me has been vastly reduced. What a nice surprise!
Thanks to Kidkawartha, one of our loyal readers, for the hilarious Oilers/Sens/Maple Leafs joke you posted on a previous Leafs blog. I fully admit that I’ve used that one a couple times since reading it, and it’s killed everytime! It’s gold Kidkawartha. Gold!
And finally, while I wish this show had never aired in the first place, I’m thankful that CBC’s Battle of the Blades only has 7 weeks left before it’s over. I shamefully tuned in to the premiere on Sunday night but all I could do was shake my head. All I could think was that Bob Probert used to be cool. This show is worse than any of the dancing or singing reality shows out there because it makes tough-guy hockey players look like wimps and losers. Besides, players like Probert and Tie Domi weren’t very good skaters when they played in the NHL, so why are they on this show now? For shame, CBC.
Your Reporter in the Field,
Fantana
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Posted in NHL Commentary, NHL Humour
Tags: Bob Probert Brian Burke Bryan Murray Carey Price CBC Dany Heatley Mats Sundin Montreal Canadiens NHL Ottawa Senators Patrick Kane Ron Wilson StayClassy.net Tie Domi Toronto Maple Leafs Vancouver Canucks