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ed 6 —

  

Patrick Witwicki
Sports Editor

“Major league baseball players have decid-
ed on a possible August strike date, because
they are unhappy with negotiations so far."
—Canadian newswire, May 15, 2002.

Right. So let me get this straight: exactly
eight years after going on strike and can-
celling the World Series in 1994, the players
have decided to do it again? Baseball is an
absolute mess right now. The only teams that
can afford to pay their players and make the
bottom line are in New York, and maybe
California, and every year, we all know the
Yankees will win the World Series (with the
odd exception, like last year, thanks to a
bloop single in the bottom of the ninth by
Arizona). Before opening day, baseball fans
in small markets like Milwaukee, Kansas City,
and_..Pittsburgh know they have no hope in
hell of making the playoffs.

Once upon a time, you could actually build
a winning team. You could draft players, and

build from within, and finally, one day, you
would have a team strong enough to com-
pete every year for the playoffs. Well, in base-
ball, not anymore. 1994 was the final nail in
any "building" team’s coffin. Three words: the
Montreal Expos. During the early 90s, they
built their team into a contender, and were
well on their way to possibly their first World
Series berth in 1994, when the strike hap-
pened. And you all know how this story
ended up.

Now, Montreal can barely compete, and
they draw less fans on an average day than
our Single A club here in Vancouver. More
recently, Oakland tried similar tactics, and
took New York to a fifth and deciding game in
last year’s playoffs. Oakland’s reward? Those
rich Yankees stole their best player, Jason
Giambi to make their payroll higher than the
Expos, Twins, Royals, and Devil Rays com-
bined, and basically made Oakland take
another step backward. Yes, Oakland still has
great pitching, but don’t worry—after this sea-
son, they will probably lose those pitchers to
the Yankees, or maybe the Mets.

So, of course the owners want to change
the bargaining agreement, otherwise, for 20
or so of the teams, remaining in the Major
Leagues is a complete waste of time. And if
you think surprising teams like Florida,
Montreal, or Minnesota will still be in the hunt
after the all-star break, think again. And can
any of those teams dream of coming up with
enough money to sign a free agent like Alex
Rodriguez at the tune of $25 million per sea-
son? Not a chance.

So, that’s why | hate baseball. Never mind
the fact that trying to watch a game is about
as exciting as watching paint dry, being a
baseball fan is a complete waste of time. How

Mired in Mediocrity

WLA recap for May

Patrick Witwicki
Sports Editor

For the most part, the Western Lacrosse
Association 2002 season has begun as
predicted: Victoria keeps winning, North
Shore keeps losing, and the New
Westminster Salmonbellies continue to
play with the expected inconsistency that
plagued them during the 2001 campaign.

|

Case in point: the Salmonbellies opened
their season with an impressive 14-10
victory over reigning Mann Cup
Champions, the Coquitlam Adanacs. They
also hammered the young Maple Ridge
Burrards 19-12, but were beaten easily by
Victoria and Burnaby.

However, perhaps the only surprise at
the beginning of the season is the fact
that Coquitlam is only at .500. The

Another Seventh Inning Retch (or why | hate baseball)

do you think baseball fans in Kansas City
feel, knowing they have no hope of making
the playoffs, ever? The days of building
around a player like George Brett are over.
Nowadays, if you have a player like Brett on
your squad, inevitably you’re going to lose
him to one of the New York teams, or a rich
owner like the one in Texas. Basically, you
build your team and develop your players
who eventually will become free agents, and
leave you in their dust. Baseball desperately
needs a new contract that would give all
teams a chance to at least compete, or keep
their franchise players.

But the players don’t care. They all know
that if they keep the status quo, they will get
ridiculous amounts of money to go play for a
team in New York, or they may have to settle
for Arizona or Los Angeles. They don’t seem
to realize that the majority of baseball owners
won't stick around if things don’t change.
How does an eight team Major baseball
league sound? Hm, that would mean over
300 players would be out of work. Maybe that
is what we need. The players go on strike,
piss off all the fans they still have from the
last strike, and suddenly find themselves on
the outside looking in when the league goes
under.

Yeah, | know, this probably won’t happen.
Instead, we'll see a new version of the usual:
the players will hold their collective gun to the
heads of the owners, the owners will cave in,
and the Yankees will keep on winning World
Series by stealing players like Giambi away
from the poorer teams. For this reason, |
once again pledge my oath: | will never watch
baseball, period. Instead, I’m looking forward
to Team Canada representing us next year at
the World Cricket Championship...

Adanacs opened their season against
Victoria, and despite a furious third period
comeback to force overtime, they eventu-
ally lost 17-15. After this, they lost to New
Westminster, and Adanac fans had to be
wondering what had happened to their
champions, especially since they had sup-
posedly improved the team from one year
ago. Since then, Coquitlam has rattled off
two impressive victories over Burnaby and

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