Lou Marsh Lewis Edwin " Lou " Marsh ( February 17 , 1879 – March 4 , 1936 ) was a Canadian athlete and referee , and one of the pioneers of sports journalism in Canada , working at the " Toronto Star " for 43 years . Marsh was born in Campbellford , Ontario and lived there until the age of nine , when he moved with his family to Toronto . At 14 , in the first year after the launch of the " Toronto Star " , Marsh walked into the newspaper ' s office responding to a want ad and was hired as a copyboy . He rose to junior reporter , reporter , columnist ( " With Pick and Shovel " was the name of his long - running column ) , assistant sports editor under W . A . Hewitt , and finally , in 1931 , sports editor . He held that position until his death in 1936 . As an athlete , Marsh ' s first love was sailing , and through his life he played a wide variety of sports . At the age of 21 he became interested in rugby , and played with some of the top teams in Toronto , including the Toronto Argonauts . Marsh was said to be a top - notch sprinter , once defeating Canadian and Olympic champion Bobby Kerr in a 120 - yard hurdle race . He became a supporter of Tom Longboat and accompanied him to the 1908 Summer Olympics in London . In May 1914 , Marsh was aboard the first passenger airplane flight out of Toronto , taking off from Toronto and flying to Hamilton , Ontario and back . Around this time , he is said to have swum across the Niagara River from Lewiston , New York to Queenston , Ontario . Marsh was one of the top boxing and hockey referees of his era . He also worked as a referee in professional wrestling . During a match in Toronto in 1921 , Marsh surprised the wrestlers after 30 minutes of showmanship by telling them that it was time to stop their exhibition and wrestle a real contest . He brought a similar attitude to his work as a boxing referee where , over the course of thousands of bouts , Marsh wasn ' t reluctant to demand action from the fighters . He was a referee in the National Hockey League , and saw action in Stanley Cup playoff games . During World War I , Marsh was an officer in the Canadian Expeditionary Force , enlisting with the 180th ( Sportsmen ) Battalion , CEF in 1916 . He briefly served in France before being sent back to Canada after being diagnosed with heart problems . He rose to the rank of major while serving in the military . While in his 40s he was advised by doctors to stop working as a referee . Marsh ' s final appearance in the NHL was in the 1929 playoffs . In the late 1920s , he developed an interest in racing small outboard hydroplanes , which he called sea fleas . One of the most successful sea flea racers in Toronto was future Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard . When professional wrestling started coming to Toronto on a weekly basis in 1929 , Marsh told readers right from the start that the matches were exhibitions and not real contests . In 1935 , he coined the term " [ sportive entertainment " to describe professional wrestling — a term that in a slightly modified form would come to prominence fifty years later . One of his closest friends was Toronto wrestling and boxing promoter Jack Corcoran . In 1931 , he succeeded Hewitt as the " Star " ' s sports editor after Hewitt accepted a job as the first attractions manager of the new Maple Leaf Gardens . Marsh became an avid fisherman and hunter in his 50s , and made a return to officiating as a hockey referee at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid , New York . Marsh died unexpectedly at the age of 57 in 1936 . The following day , the " Star " devoted 11 pages to coverage of his life and accomplishments , starting with a banner headline on page one . Before the end of the year , the Lou Marsh Trophy was created and named in his honour . It has been presented to Canada ' s top athlete each year since then . He is buried at Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto .