Late last semester, Senior Scholar and Professor Emeritus Norm Gledhill and Faculty of Health Professors Roni Jamnik and Lauren Sergio welcomed CBC Television personality and York University honorary degree recipient Rick Mercer to the Human Performance Research and Teaching Laboratory in Norman Bethune College. Mercer is a Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist and author.
They put Mercer through his paces and gave him a taste of the kind of gruelling physical tests that National Hockey League (NHL) prospects face. Though he won’t be playing hockey at the elite level any time soon, Mercer gave it his all and left his York audience laughing.
Gledhill and Jamnik have been testing top hockey players since 1993 when they began working with NHL Central Scouting to establish NHL Combine testing. Sergio’s expertise was brought on board in 2004. The ongoing development of the testing has provided experiential learning opportunities for School of Kinesiology and Health Science undergraduate students enrolled in the Fitness Assessment and Exercise Counseling Certificate Program, as well as Masters of Fitness Science graduate students.
While at York University, Mercer also visited the School of Nursing where he hammed it up with the nursing students and was lifted into a bed using a patient transfer hoist. The comedian also spent some time in the York University Observatory and hung out with Senior Lecturer Paul Delaney. The two engaged in some star gazing.
The results of Mercer's foray into NHL Testing, nursing and star gazing activities at York University will be featured in tonight's broadcast of the comedian’s self-titled program, the "Rick Mercer Report" on CBC Television at 8pm. It will repeat Friday, Jan. 16 at 8:30pm. You will also find it at http://rickmercer.com and on the Rick Mercer Report YouTube channel after the air dates.