Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

oy, you know, I’ve actually been
feeling pretty good about things
lately. Nothing in my life is drasti-
cally wrong, and the prosecutors dropped
all charges. However, The Saskatchewan
Roughriders’ recent victory over
Edmonton, despite the cold and the heavy
winds, has inspired me to do a little reflec-
tive writing on the down side of sports.
This week, I would like to mainly
focus on Baseball and Soccer as the
objects of my criticism. You see, it’s

always been a problem with me how, in
these billion-dollar sports, the games are
always cancelled the moment a drop of
rain hits the ground. I just don’t under-
stand how the athletes in these sports
can’t handle an element of the game that
athletes in other sports such as rugby and
football deal with regularly.

Is it because Alex Rodriguez doesn’t
want to trip and ruin his $252 million
dollar pedicure? Or because David
Beckham can’t take the chance that his
hair will be ruined? You know, I have a
couple of friends that volunteer as cross-
ing guards for elementary schools and if
they can stand in the rain two hours a day
for free, then I don’t see why these mil-
lionaires can’t be bothered to do the same.

And it’s not like injury is a real prob-
lem. You can’t tell me that baseball, a
non-contact sport, is more dangerous
than rugby when the field is wet. And I
can’t see how a little slip on a soccer field
is more likely to cause injury than the
vicious cheap shots that soccer players are
so adept at applying,

Which leaves me with only my main
reasoning left to explain. The reason why

I think that these sports should continue
to play despite the weather is because it’s
just way more entertaining that way. It
adds an element of chance that makes the
game more interesting because when no
one can see the ball through the fog, sud-
denly you’re not so sure who’s going to
win. An excellent example of the excite-
ment that strange weather can create
would be the 2002 “Snow Bowl” between
the Raiders and the Patriots. A game
where two teams produced a thrilling
overtime result whilst battling a torrent of
snow.

Why, I even think that adding the
unpredictability of “field” conditions
should be considered in all sports that
don’t already deal with that. Maybe have
some kids tear up the ice before hockey
players start up a game—after all, a
bouncing puck makes for more turnovers
and more scoring opportunities. Or, per-
haps, pull up the floorboards a bit at
basketball games—see if we can get
Iverson to trip and mess up a clean break
to the hoop.

I just think that the entertaining part
of sports is when you’re not sure what’s

going to happen. And in sports like base-
ball and soccer—where teams with the
richest owners buy all the talent available
to them, therefore removing any doubt of
which teams will win and which ones will
lose—I think that Mother Nature can
provide that unpredictability I crave. And
so, the fact that they cancel games, instead
of playing through all weather conditions,
represents, to me, the down side of
sports.

 

 

 

 

 

ell, this whole lockout thing is a
real pain in the you-know-what
for lowly college sports editors
who love to report on all things NHL...or
so I’ve heard. I have, however, managed
to pull a couple of noteworthy tidbits out

 

Lockout Gorner

Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

of last week’s lack of NHL news.

Firstly, Wayne Gretzky, the man who
many believe should be the one to arbi-
trate a deal between the players and
owners, has dispelled all possibility that he
would help to negotiate a deal. He said
something along the lines of “Blah, blah,
blah, it’s not my job, I don’t wanna.” Or
something like that. This comes as a dis-
appointment, considering that he is
perhaps the one person in hockey who
can make everyone listen to him, and per-
haps bridge the gap between two sides
that are prepared for two years’ worth of
lockout.

And secondly, did anyone bother to
read last week’s paper, when I mentioned
the Russian team AK Bars Kazan and
their drive to win a Russian championship
to celebrate their millennial anniversary?
Well, they’ve just beefed up a little more

 

by signing superstars Brad Richards and
Nikolai Khabibulin of the Stanley Cup
champion Tampa Bay Lightning, as well
as Alexei Kovalev of the Montreal
Canadiens. How have they managed to
sign 11 NHLers (five of them all-stars)?
Money. That’s how. Apparently, players
have been offered NHL-like money by
the team that plays in a 6,000-seat arena.
This team’s drive to win is causing them to
shell out $300,000 a month to Richards

Alexei Kovalev

and teammate Vincent Lecavalier while
they are also paying Ilya Kovalchuk $3
million for the season.

Sadly though, big bucks in the mother-
land and Wayne Gretzky passing the buck
are the only things of note that have been
produced by the NHL world this week.
There’s still no CBA agreement and
there’s still no talks between the NHL and
NHLPA, but at least there’s still hope. So

we'll just have to hold on to that for now.

hovember = 17/200