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Gross Misconduct
The rollercoaster story of sex, family, hockey, violence, murder and mystery in the life of Spinner Spencer...a true crime.
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
37 people want to read
About the author
Martin O'Malley
4 books1 followerMartin Joseph O'Malley was a Canadian journalist and writer. He wrote for CBC News and The Globe and Mail. O'Malley was perhaps best known for a Globe and Mail editorial in which he coined the line about laws that criminalized homosexual behavior which Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau later made famous: "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 17, 2020
Brian “Spinner” Spencer played ten seasons in the National Hockey League. He was never a star, but was well known as a tough guy who never backed down from a fight. If Spencer had successfully transitioned to life after hockey, he would be largely forgotten today.
But that didn’t happen. After hockey, Spinner moved to South Florida, intermittently worked as a mechanic, and became a bar fly. At the time, he had two ex wives, five children, and almost nothing left from his hockey career. Maybe it wasn’t an impressive post-hockey life, but it wouldn’t have rated a book. However, as the dust jacket of Gross Misconduct reveals, in 1987 Spencer’s life suddenly put him back on the front pages.
The State of Florida accused Spencer of a 1982 murder and put him on trial. If convicted, he faced the possibility of execution in Florida’s electric chair. Adding to the tawdry headlines was the fact that Spinner had become involved in the case because the woman he was living with at the time was a prostitute - and the murder victim had been one of her clients. Gross Misconduct does a good job of recounting Spinner’s trial in a way that keeps the reader engaged. Events after the trial would only add to Spinner’s legend.
O’Malley (a Canadian journalist) had known Spencer since the beginnings of his NHL career in Toronto in the early 1970s. He offers good insight into what Spencer was like and provides a great deal of interesting background material on Spinner’s rough-and-tumble upbringing in Fort St. James, British Columbia. Brian’s hometown was a rough logging outpost miles from Canada’s population centers. Some of the stories about Spinner’s father (Roy) are just as good as are the stories about Spinner himself.
Though O’Malley does a good job with the book, he lets the reader down on occasion. He includes a number of unflattering descriptions of people he has met, including awful lines such as “He clicked on that sheepish smile that looked as if he had just let go a slow fart” (p. 77). While O’Malley knows Spinner’s story, his prose isn’t always up to his research skills.
Readers will wonder about whether the brawler had brain damage (i.e., CTE), but that wasn’t on the radar at the time of the case or the book. Sports fans will not want to miss this one. It’s the classic story of the too-much-too-soon athlete. Spinner had it all, but lost almost all of it in a life that will intrigue the reader.
But that didn’t happen. After hockey, Spinner moved to South Florida, intermittently worked as a mechanic, and became a bar fly. At the time, he had two ex wives, five children, and almost nothing left from his hockey career. Maybe it wasn’t an impressive post-hockey life, but it wouldn’t have rated a book. However, as the dust jacket of Gross Misconduct reveals, in 1987 Spencer’s life suddenly put him back on the front pages.
The State of Florida accused Spencer of a 1982 murder and put him on trial. If convicted, he faced the possibility of execution in Florida’s electric chair. Adding to the tawdry headlines was the fact that Spinner had become involved in the case because the woman he was living with at the time was a prostitute - and the murder victim had been one of her clients. Gross Misconduct does a good job of recounting Spinner’s trial in a way that keeps the reader engaged. Events after the trial would only add to Spinner’s legend.
O’Malley (a Canadian journalist) had known Spencer since the beginnings of his NHL career in Toronto in the early 1970s. He offers good insight into what Spencer was like and provides a great deal of interesting background material on Spinner’s rough-and-tumble upbringing in Fort St. James, British Columbia. Brian’s hometown was a rough logging outpost miles from Canada’s population centers. Some of the stories about Spinner’s father (Roy) are just as good as are the stories about Spinner himself.
Though O’Malley does a good job with the book, he lets the reader down on occasion. He includes a number of unflattering descriptions of people he has met, including awful lines such as “He clicked on that sheepish smile that looked as if he had just let go a slow fart” (p. 77). While O’Malley knows Spinner’s story, his prose isn’t always up to his research skills.
Readers will wonder about whether the brawler had brain damage (i.e., CTE), but that wasn’t on the radar at the time of the case or the book. Sports fans will not want to miss this one. It’s the classic story of the too-much-too-soon athlete. Spinner had it all, but lost almost all of it in a life that will intrigue the reader.
February 6, 2022
Superbly written. One of the top five Hockey books I have ever read.
June 10, 2024
Page turner.
Helps to have a pro hockey interest from the 70's.
Helps to have a pro hockey interest from the 70's.
September 29, 2025
Excellent book. The author provides a lot of insight about Spencer and his life.
November 12, 2012
I read this for the hockey, not really being into true crime per se. It was actually quite sad; O'Malley, who covered this story for the news, chronicles the life of Spinner Spencer without pulling punches, but at the same time conveying a clear respect for the man. I don't know--I understand why books like this exist, and why these stories are told, but I can't really get over how profoundly sad this was.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews