Dane

’m only 18, but as the millennium
pproaches I feel ancient as a sports fan,
or I feel that I grew up in the last great
ta of professional and college sports.
ow this is starting to sound like a rant
by your grandfather about how sports
haven't seen real men since Ty Cobb,
Bronko Nagurski and Gordie Howe
led their respective games. I, however,
ope to present an argument that the
ports world has seen an end to teams

being loyal to their fans, athletes playing

or something other than greenbacks
there are few exceptions) and the Nike
oosh plastered on everything.

The fall of the last“great sports era
began with the advent of “free agency.”
ore appropriately titled “An Excuse
ot to Report to Your Team because
ou Think You're Worth More than the
NP of Sudan,” free agency has driven
np ticket prices so high that a good seat
i.e. you can see the puck/ball/players)
osts more than a Big Mac in Moscow
the equivalent of one day’s pay). The
pnly league that I know of in which the
players don’t earn more than Ford and
hrysler combined is the CFL. Those

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    

the offseason, doing everything from
arbage collecting to swimming

thletes are to blame for these astro-
omical salaries; they don’t sign the
eques. I blame the owners. This is
eally easy to understand: if I demand
omething of you and you give it to me

    
  
   
    
   

om you is negative (e.g. ticket prices)

layers have to supplement their income

struction. Now, I’m not saying that the

d the result of me receiving something

 

sports@op.douglas.bc.ca

Requiem for an era

then you take the blame.

The next point I would like to bring
up is the movement of teams. I remem-
ber when Quebec had not one but two
NHL teams and the Jets not only played
football in New York but hockey in
Winnipeg. I also recall seeing the
Minnesota North Stars (currently of
DALLAS??!!???); Los Angeles Rams and
Raiders (of St. Louis and Oakland

~ respectively); and the Cleveland Browns

and Baltimore Colts, two teams with the
most loyal of fans, ripped out of town by
greedy owners (to Indianapolis and
Baltimore respectively). Fortunately, the
Browns will return in 99, but Winnipeg
and Quebec will probably never see the
light of the NHL again.

Another sign o’ the end came with the
mentioning of a sponsor in the title of a
game, or naming a stadium after a
company. For example, renaming
Candlestick Park in San Francisco
“3Com” Park, renaming Joe Robbie
Stadium “Pro Player” Stadium (origi-
nally called “Pro Player Park,” Pro Player
relented and changed the “park” to
“stadium” after massive outcry from the
public). Another thing is the college
bowl games. Now instead of being the
Alamo Bowl, the game is referred to as
the “Builders Square” Alamo Bowl. An
even greater travesty is renaming the
Copper Bowl the “Insight.com” Bowl.
Has the Internet taken over our lives so
much that we now have to include
“com” in every second sentence?

Something that saddens me but is
necessary is the replacement of old

stadiums and arenas. The
next generation of sports fans
won't know (unless they do
some checking), that the
Montreal Canadiens didn’t
always play in the Molson
Centre, the Baltimore Ravens
(née Colts) played in
Memorial Stadium, the
Canucks used to play in the
Pacific Coliseum and in a few
years, that the Maple Leafs
used to play in Maple Leaf
Gardens. One other beautiful
arena that I left off that list is
the Boston Garden (now the Fleet
Centre). When the Garden was retired
a writer for the Sporting News de-
scribed what the next generation of
Bostonians would be missing. “Fans
will never again have the pleasure of
sitting behind a steel I-beam that

roa

Tee ecur ie e

   
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
   
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  

partially blocks your view of the court,
while a drunken Irishman beside you
screams for the ref’s head.”

Change can be a good thing (see new
stadiums) or it can be a very bad thing (see
franchise relocation) but until Toe Blake,
Vince Lombardi and Babe Ruth rise from
their graves and take over the world, sports
will be run by the power of the green and
not by the love that makes athletes strive to
be the best and the fans who are willing to
make complete fools out of themselves (see
green and gold painted men with no shirts
on during a November football game in
Edmonton) simply because they love their

team.

Don't miss Royals basketball this Friday and Saturday

riday our Royals will take on the UCC Sun Demons at David Lam. Women play at 6 pm, Men at
B pm. Saturday at the New West Campus, they'll tangle with the CNC Kodiaks. Tip-off is at 6 pm
and 8 pm respectively.

 

When night
falls...

The temperature drops. Shops close up, and
hundreds of homeless youth are left with
nowhere to keep warm. Lacking even the most
basic essentials that we take for granted,
every night is a struggle to survive. To keep
warm.

The Youth Action Centre is dedicated to
helping these youth, but they can’t do it
alone. They need donations of warm clothing,
blankets, sleeping bags, towels and footwear.

Donations can be dropped off at the Douglas
College Student Society offices in New
Westminster, Coquitlam or Maple Ridge.

If you have any questions or concerns,
contact Rob Bates, DCSS Social Service Rep. at
525-5110 or Darryl Flasch, VP Internal at
527-5109.

Kevin Sallows photo

 

 

 

The Other Press January 14, 1997 5