Dink Carroll

Austin Carroll
(Dink)

• School McGill University

• Born November 12, 1899 in Guelph, ON CAN
• Died April 8, 1991 in Montreal, QC CAN

Biographical Information

Dink Carroll was one of Canada's best known sportswriters and a winner of the Jack Graney Award. Born in Ontario, he moved to Montreal, QC to attend McGill University and stayed there for most of the rest of his life. He went to McGill to study law, but also to play football under coach Shag Shaughnessy; in spite of weighing only 140 lb., he was a two-way player, playing quarterback and running back on offense and defensive back on defense. While he did receive his law degree, he never practiced, turning to writing instead.

He started out as a copywriter and an editor, but also covered the International League's Toronto Maple Leafs while writing freelance for a number of leading Canadian publications. He was the main sports columnist for the Montreal Gazette from 1941 until his death half a century later, his column being titled "Playing the Field". He was a proponent of integration in baseball and warmly welcomed the Brooklyn Dodgers' decision to sign Jackie Robinson and have him play for the Montreal Royals. He continued covering baseball for his entire career, along with hockey and football, although he covered just about every sport known to man. He received a number of distinctions throughout his career, including the Jack Graney Award in 1990 from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, membership in the Canadian News Hall of Fame, and the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, hockey's equivalent of the Graney Award. As a hockey writer, he is the person who gave Maurice Richard his nickname, "The Rocket".

Further Reading

• Bill Young: "Austin (Dink) Carroll", in Gilles Janson, ed.: Dictionnaire des grands oubliés du sport au Québec, 1850-1950, Les éditions du Septentrion, Quebec, QC, 2013, pp. 68-70. ISBN 978-2-89448-725-9