Last call: Blue Jackets broadcaster Bill Davidge continues to face adversity with a smile and a help

Publish date: 2024-05-25

COLUMBUS, Ohio — If the medical community and hockey world combined to put a brave face on cancer it would resemble the one greeting Blue Jackets fans last Thursday night in Nationwide Arena.

Almost five years since being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, Bill Davidge remains a picture of health and irrepressible optimism. His eyes are bright. His smile is infectious. His hair is the best in the NHL this side of Henrik Lundqvist.

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Dressed impeccably in a black suit, the longtime Blue Jackets broadcaster and ambassador formed a one-man reception line as well-wishers approached the Fox Sports Ohio desk, next to the team’s signature cannon off the main concourse. A day earlier, the 65-year-old Davidge had announced his retirement, effective at season’s end.

His legion of supporters lined up to offer cards, handshakes, hugs, memories and thanks. Davidge, a franchise fixture even before it began play in 2000, recognized faces and called out names. Over the years, he has met fans around town, at various team functions and here at his broadcast perch, where the former Miami University coach offers pre-, post- and between-periods analysis.

As his patient wife, Jayna, attests, Davidge is willing to break down the Blue Jackets’ power play for fans watching at home and the ones standing in the frozen food aisle at Kroger.

“He’s never met a stranger,” Jayna said.

Carol Bomlitz, an arena usher and breast cancer survivor, wrapped Davidge in her arms and squeezed him tight. They have known each other for eight years since Bomlitz and her husband began working arena events.

She has never met someone imbued with such compassion for others.

“I am just so happy you are able to retire on your own terms,” Bomlitz told him Thursday night. “We’re gonna miss you.”

Davidge said his health did not factor into his decision to quit. He continues to receive encouraging test results. He also continues to raise money and awareness in the fight against a disease that’s treatable, but not curable.

While speaking with one fan, Davidge noticed the man was wearing a crucifix. He reached out, touched it and reminded him about the power of prayer.

“Some of their stories will move you to tears,” Davidge said.

Most interactions lasted just a minute or two and focused on the Blue Jackets, who are close to clinching their third consecutive trip to the playoffs.

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Brian Giesenschlag, who’s spent the past five seasons partnering with Davidge, spotted a few reporters chronicling the steady stream of fans approaching his studio co-host.

“You know this happens every game, right?” Giesenschlag shouted. “It’s not just because he’s retiring.”

Davidge’s appeal isn’t his mastery of the telestrator or his command of the language. In his excitement to teach fans the game, he’s occasionally had Blue Jackets on their “high horse” in pursuit of an opposing puck carrier. Hey, there’s no delete or backspace button in live television.

But in a field dominated by former NHL players and coaches, Davidge has thrived as an analyst because of his passion for the game and his authenticity. Fans connect to his deep-rooted appreciation of central Ohio hockey and identify with his causes and struggles.

Life has sucker-punched Davidge so many times, and he just keeps getting up and readying himself for his next shift.

It’s why his imminent departure has evoked such an outpouring of emotion from fans and those associated with the Blue Jackets and league.

“People are drawn to Billy because of the way he makes them feel,” Giesenschlag said. “He’s got a genuine quality that lets people know that he cares about what they say. … You never have a hollow- or shallow-feeling conversation with Billy. He makes you feel like you are a person he cares about.”


Check out that slap shot. Bill Davidge idolized Bobby Hull, and he’s shown here during his playing days at Ohio State letting loose with a big drive. (Courtesy of Bill Davidge)

‘Stop it right there’

The Blue Jackets locker room was filled with media members last Thursday morning prior to the season’s most pivotal regular-season game against the Canadiens.

Davidge hung on the periphery of player scrums, making mental notes for the night’s telecast. After reporters finished talking to Boone Jenner, Davidge stepped forward and shook hands with the rugged forward.

The conversation involved no formality. Every word was personal, spoken from the heart in inimitable Davidge style. He wished Jenner luck and told him to keep up the good work. This is how the old coach operates, and it’s what makes him so popular among the players.

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“He’s been a mentor for me,” winger Cam Atkinson said. “He’s been around longer than I have in this organization, and he’s a guy that I definitely have leaned on for advice … I think we have very similar features as far as how we go about our business and our ‘give back’ mentality. He reminds me a lot of my dad. I think that’s the biggest thing why him and I have such a good connection.”

Davidge grew up as one of four kids in small-town Dunnville, Ontario. His mother was, in his own words, as stern as Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella. His father was a fighter pilot, who like many from the Greatest Generation, returned from the horrors of World War II a changed man. Davidge was the first member of his family to earn a high school diploma and he came to Columbus in 1973 to play hockey for one of Ohio State’s early teams.

His stories about the old university rink are priceless. He played in an era before plexiglass was standard equipment. The only blemishes on his face are the indentations on his nose courtesy of the chicken wire that once separated fans from the action on the ice.

“It took a whole chunk out of me,” Davidge said laughing. “They probably could have stitched it, but they let it go. Old-time hockey.”

Davidge remains a tireless advocate for Ohio State’s program. Don’t get him started on the university’s need for a hockey-specific arena. The former Buckeyes captain helps raise funds for the program through golf outings.

When Davidge arrived in Columbus there were 175 kids playing youth hockey. He is immensely proud of the game’s growth here and the handful of natives who have reached the NHL.

The story of hockey’s rise in Ohio cannot be told without mention of Davidge, who helped start the Miami program and served as a scout for the Red Wings, Panthers and Blue Jackets under Doug MacLean.

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After starting his broadcasting career with the minor-league Cincinnati Cyclones, he transitioned to the Blue Jackets radio booth, where he called games alongside former play-by-play man George Matthews. In the summer months, Davidge and Matthews crisscrossed the state on barnstorming tours, appearing at every strawberry and pumpkin festival from Maumee to Ironton to spread the word of Blue Jackets hockey.

“What those two guys did for me and the organization was over the top,” said MacLean, the club’s former general manager and president. “They did an amazing job of building hockey in Ohio and they deserve a ton of credit.”

Davidge moved to the television booth in 2009 to work with Jeff Rimer before joining forces with Giesenschlag in 2014.

Among his most cherished memories are the team’s inaugural game, its first playoff appearance in 2009 and getting the chance to interview Gordie Howe and boyhood idol Bobby Hull.

In his suburban Columbus home, Davidge has detailed notes from every production meeting and specially designed yearbooks in which he kept line combinations from each game and pertinent observations he wanted to make on air.

Giesenschlag, who joined the telecasts as a hockey outsider, raves about Davidge’s preparation and his willingness to introduce him to players and coaches around the league.

“Billy has built so many relationships within the game at every level,” Giesenschlag said. “We’ll be talking on air about some third-liner for the Flames and he’ll say, ‘Well, he played junior hockey here and he played for this coach and he grew up in Thunder Bay.’ Billy knows all those people he’s talking about. He’s not just reading it from somebody’s bio.

“One of the most common things you hear from fans is how much they learned about hockey watching him during our pregame and intermissions. It speaks to the passion he brings.”

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Davidge punctuates telestration segments with commands to his video director of “stop it right there,” like he’s still a coach, trying to drive home a point to his players.

Cam, The Captain and Torts all wish a very fond farewell to Mr. Blue Jacket, Bill Davidge. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/QQjGGgEmm3

— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) April 3, 2019

One of the few aspects of the job Davidge grew to dislike was the long winter drives to Cincinnati, where he and Giesenschlag worked in a studio for road games. (Fox Sports inexplicably doesn’t have a studio in the state’s largest city, which figures to be a turnoff for any former Blue Jacket the network might want to hire to replace Davidge.)

Giesenschlag, who also does studio work for the Reds, marvels at his partner’s sartorial splendor.

“I have never seen him in a suit with his tie undone or top button unbuttoned,” Giesenschlag said. “He walks off the set in our studio in Cincinnati and packs his bag and walks to his car still with his suit coat on and his tie done. Meanwhile, I’m putting on a sweatshirt to drive home 25 minutes.

“If the Jackets ever win the whole thing and we are together, I am going to do what the Cowboys did with Jimmy Johnson when they won the Super Bowl and mess Billy’s hair up. I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone with hair that perfect.”


Jayna and Bill Davidge have been married nearly nine years. The Blue Jackets broadcaster calls Jayna, “my rock.” (Tom Reed / The Athletic)

‘You sucked it up’

In the summer of 2014, Davidge was on a golf course about to hit a ball when his cellphone rang.

A few days earlier, his world had been rocked by news of a cancer diagnosis. The family was reeling, but Davidge steadied himself and accepted his latest challenge. He planned to wage a public battle against the disease. He considers it “my calling.”

Davidge had already met with Dr. Don Benson in his office — more on that conversation in a minute — and now the myeloma program director at the James Cancer Hospital was on the phone.

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Benson called to confirm that it was multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell. Nowadays, patients who have the disease are expected to live at least five years.

Benson has heard and witnessed many reactions to his diagnoses. Nothing prepared him for Davidge’s comments.

“I told him there are spots on the X-rays and we’re going to need to start some treatments,” Benson recalled. “His immediate reaction was: ‘Don, that’s great. That’s great news because I can’t wait to go over to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and visit those kids and tell them, I have cancer, too, and look how great I’m doing.’

“It waters it down to say it’s optimism or hope or courage. It’s just all out of love. Bill’s view is, ‘how can I use this to make the world better?’ It sounds Pollyanna, but he’s the most genuine person I know. He’s as real as it gets.”

Davidge is no stranger to devastating news.

His first wife, former OSU tennis great Leann Grimes, was killed in a car accident in 1985. She was 29 years old and had just given birth to the couple’s son, Rob. Davidge was the newly appointed Miami hockey coach and suddenly had to raise an infant on his own.

Somehow, he endured. When the RedHawks went on road trips, he left his son in the care of his in-laws in Middletown, Ohio. Davidge also found a dependable rotation of baby sitters in Oxford to watch the boy while he coached practices and taught four classes at the university.

“I never did deal with the grief,” said the father who established a scholarship in Grimes’ honor. “You just kept going. You sucked it up. You didn’t know any better in those days.”

Davidge’s next marriage ended in divorce. His second wife found the demands of his coaching career too much to bear, he said.

Perhaps the luckiest day of his life was meeting Jayna. They fell in love and shared many of the same interests, including an affinity for golf. The couple has six children between them.

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Jayna was so understanding she agreed to be married on Canada Day (July 1), which in 2010 fell on a Thursday.

“She is my rock, the person who gives me stability in my life,” Davidge said.

Husband and wife have become advocates in raising awareness and funding for multiple myeloma research. Any time Davidge learns of someone being diagnosed with cancer, he volunteers to call them and offer support.

Benson has witnessed Davidge walking through waiting rooms and hospital hallways seeking out fellow cancer survivors. The doctor knows firsthand how much Davidge cares about people.

During their initial 2014 consultation, Benson laid out the arduous road ahead. The meeting lasted for more than an hour. It wasn’t until the end that the doctor sprang a surprise on Davidge.

Years earlier, Benson and his family attended their first Blue Jackets game. They knew nothing about the sport but decided to give it a try. As they toured the arena, the Bensons stopped to look at the cannon. The doctor saw a well-dressed, gray-haired gentleman sitting at the Fox Sports Ohio desk motioning to his young son, Christopher, to come over.

For a few minutes, Davidge and Christopher talked about hockey. The brief chat had a massive impact on the boy’s life.

“The next night we were all at Chiller North,” Benson said. “It was the first time we had skates on. Christopher was on the ice and holding on to the side wall for dear life, but he loved it.”

Christopher Benson, 16, is a member of the St. Charles High School hockey program in Columbus.

“That was a gift from Bill Davidge,” Benson explained. “Hockey has come to define my son. The friends that he has made, the experience he has had and the confidence he’s gained go back to a little meeting with Billy Davidge.”


Bill Davidge talks to his grandson Beau during Tuesday night’s game from a suite provided by the team. (Tom Reed / The Athletic)

Final tribute

Prior to the start of Tuesday night’s nationally televised game, Davidge and his wife stood on the Nationwide Arena ice bathed in the spotlight. The sellout crowd roared its approval. Players from the Blue Jackets and Bruins tapped their sticks in a sign of appreciation.

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Team president John Davidson introduced Davidge moments after a video tribute was shown on the center-ice scoreboard. The franchise gave Jayna a bouquet of flowers and Davidge a watch to make sure he doesn’t “miss his tee times.”

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Davidge acknowledged.

Thank you and congratulations, Bill! pic.twitter.com/sqDT4vLlar

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 2, 2019

Following the ceremony, the couple was led to a private suite where they watched the game surrounded by family. As they walked through a corridor toward an elevator, Davidge reached for Jayna’s hand. The Blue Jackets’ hockey ambassador and his “rock” were embarking on a new adventure together.

They will split time between Columbus and Naples, Fla., where the couple has a two-bedroom condo.

In the suite, Davidge accepted hugs from loved ones. His grandson Beau demanded to be held by grandpa.

“You wanna go downstairs and hear the ‘beep, beep’ of the Zamboni?” he asked the boy, who nodded approvingly.

In that moment, Bill Davidge looked like a man with his whole life ahead of him.

Stop it right there.

— The Athletic’s Alison Lukan contributed to this report.

(Top photo: Jamie Sabau / Getty Images)

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