The story behind the Jay McBride outdoor basketball court next to Pitt Meadows secondary is intertwined with the Vancouver Canucks, and their onetime “Sleep Doctor” Pat Byrne, a pioneer in the science of sleep.
McBride was a standout basketball player with the Marauders who died too soon. Byrne was his uncle and godfather, who helped baby Jay take his first steps.
Byrne said his nephew was a great athlete. When the Marauders faced St. Michaels University School of Victoria in the 1992 provincial championships, McBride drew the assignment of checking future NBA star Steve Nash. The hoops star also stood out for working with young players in Pitt Meadows.
Tragically, McBride died in a car accident. He graduated from BCIT’s Forestry program, and was working in Northern B.C., near Chetwynd. After a long shift, he fell asleep at the wheel, and the vehicle plunged down an embankment.
His teammates and the community convinced council to create the Jay McBride Sports Court, located within feet of his parent’s home, as a legacy to his contributions to the community. Jay’s father Jim McBride was a senior official at Maple Ridge city hall.
Byrne was working with WorkSafeBC when his nephew died, and the sudden death set his career on a whole new course.
“I changed my career to focus on sleep and fatigue, because I wanted to find ways to prevent such accidents,” he said.
“Absolutely nobody was working on sleep.”
In 2008, Canucks GM Mike Gillis approached him to help deal with his club’s onerous travel schedule. He worked for seven seasons with the Canucks, was interviewed for a feature on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, and soon he would be working with professional sports organizations across North America.
“We created the first ever sleep program for sports teams in the world,” said Byrne. “They improved their road record dramatically.”
He also helped create the first automated sleep watch that the Canucks used, years before the modern devices.
“Now every pro sports team in the world uses our model,” said Byrne.
He could demonstrate how even a half-hour nap could help a tired athlete recover 10 per cent of reaction time lost to being overtired.
Byrne worked with Seattle’s pro sports teams – the Mariners, Seahawks and Sounders, as well as baseball’s New York Giants and Yankees, and many other pro sports organizations.
He had no trouble getting pros to buy in.
“The players understood – pro athletes want to win, and they always want to improve. They take advantage of everything.”
Byrne wants people to remember it started in B.C. He likens the Canucks dedication to sleep science to the white towels that are waved at sporting events. Towel Power started in 1982 when Canucks coach Roger Neilson waved the white flag in surrender to the referees, during a playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s our history.
“Vancouver doesn’t get enough credit for the things we start,” said Byrne.
Teams were interested in his work because it works. He demonstrates much performance is impacted by sleep loss.
“Being awake for 24 hours is the same impairment as a 0.1 blood alcohol reading,” he noted – which is well above the legal driving limit of 0.08.
“You can’t fight your biology – when your brain wants to sleep, it’s going to put you to sleep,” he said.
He also wrote the book “Inconvenient Sleep: Why teams Win and Lose,” which includes a chapter about his nephew’s contribution to this evolving industry.
“I am sure people walk by or use the Jay McBride Sports Court without ever realizing the global impact of his death,” said Byrne.
His expertise is still sought after. Recently TV journalist Nancy Grace interviewed him about the high-profile Nancy Guthrie kidnapping – where the elderly woman was taken by intruder at 2 a.m.
He admits to sadness is that my original objective was to provide education and influence to prevent fatigue related accidents, but his work hasn’t translated to the real world in ways he would like.
A new Pitt Meadows Secondary school will be built, but the Jay McBride basketball court is on city land, and no changes are planned.
Tips to help you sleep:
For those who have trouble sleeping, Byrne has some suggestions.
One is to nap. Our natural circadian rhythms like to put us to sleep in the early afternoon, and even a half-hour nap at about 2 p.m. will help recover performance.
Waking in the early morning hours, and not being able to return to sleep, plagues many people. Byrne explains their busy brains are trying to solve problems. He recommends actually writing down what you plan to do about the problem – “Let your brain know you have a solution.”
A good routine also assists in sleep. “Your brain and circadian rhythms love routine.”