Broadcaster says unique family is ‘an amazing gift’
TORONTO — Kevin Armstrong likes to tell people he’s already won the lottery twice in his life. The first was being adopted. The second was being raised by Jack and Dena Armstrong.
“Definitely the coolest parents,” Kevin said from his San Diego home. “It was a great situation to grow up in, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. They’re amazing.”
Jack Armstrong has been the voice of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors for two decades. To fans, he’s a lovable everyman, recognizable by his gravelly Brooklyn, N.Y., twang and his signature calls.
A crisp pass prompts a “Hellooo!”
A big block: “Get that garbage outta here!”
Away from the mike, the 56-year-old and his wife Dena are parents of three adopted sons. Kevin is 22, Brian, 21, and
Tim, 20.
“I feel like people kind of have this picture of him like ‘Ooh Jack Armstrong. Sportscaster. Coolest man in the world,’” Kevin said.
“But he’s a regular guy. He puts on his pants one leg at a time, tucks his T-shirt into his pyjama pants. He’s a clown, but he’s also the best guy I know, and I couldn’t imagine having anyone else show me through this crazy world.”
Jack and his three brothers were born to Irish immigrants. His dad died when he was seven. His mom worked a department store lunch counter and raised the family alone.
Jack and Dena met at Niagara University. At 26, he was the youngest basketball coach in NCAA Division 1. She was the women’s soccer coach. They were married in the university chapel.
After failed pregnancy attempts, and a round of fertility tests that took a physical toll — Dena became violently ill after one — they decided to explore adoption. On a recruiting trip to New York, Jack had dinner with Ed Sands, a former coaching colleague at Fordham. Sands suggested adoption, and jotted down the Texas agency he and his wife had used to adopt their two children.
“When the agency asked us, ‘What kind of children would you like?’ we were like, ‘What do you mean? We’ll take what you got,’” Jack said.
“When we filled out our questionnaire, we checked all the boxes, because we didn’t care,” Dena added. “They called us and said, ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t mind being in our minority program?’
“We said, ‘Yeah sure, we’ll go in that program.’ I was close to 40 at that point. We said, ‘We’ll take any child you want to give us.’”
Minority children traditionally spend more time in the system before they’re adopted.
Kevin is biracial. Jack and Dena flew to Texas, accompanied by Dena’s three sisters and a niece and nephew, for his birth.
Brian and Tim are African-American. Jack and Dena adopted Brian when he was 11 months old. He’d been living in foster care with transitional parents.
The same foster parents reached out to the Armstrongs a few months later about Tim, saying, “‘Hey, we’ve got the cutest little guy, and he would be perfect for you guys,’” Jack said. “We’re like, ‘We’ve already got two in diapers . ... Ah, what the hell, we’ll go for it.’”
Jack talked about his unique family on a recent afternoon at Scotiabank Arena.
It was several hours before the Raptors tipped off against Melbourne United in a pre-season
game, and the arena was still quiet. He cherishes those pre-game hours at the gym, which he calls “my office.”
Jack, who’s been approached to be a spokesperson for a Canadian adoption agency, talked about the complex issues that come with transracial adoption.
He and Dena know it’s frowned upon by some adoption professionals.
According to Adopt Ontario, which supports transracial adoption, African-Canadians make up eight per cent of the population of Toronto, but children of African descent make up 41 per cent of all the kids in care at Children’s Aid Society of Toronto.
Adoption Ontario’s website lists a Bill of Rights for transracially adopted kids that include rights such as: “Every child is entitled to parents who know that she will experience life differently than they do.”
“Love is love,” is how Jack sees it. “I couldn’t love a biological son or daughter any more than I love my kids. And that’s love. I love my kids, they’re my kids. There are the highs and there are the lows, and everything in between, and every parent can relate to that, every parent goes through it.
“But it’s an amazing gift to have, and it’s an amazing gift to give . ... We’ve gone from being a couple to being a family. It makes the whole thing whole. It’s been an amazing experience.”