Tall

TIME again for the
prose piece known as
the year-ender, in which
the guy at the keyboard
adds up the pluses, sub-
tracts the minuses and,
hopefully, discovers that
we broke even in 2000.

Going for us we had gicat
Olympic performances by our
greatest gift ever from Nigeria,
Daniel Igali, and from the
Games first-ever triathlete
champion, Victoria’s Simon
Whitield. The Lions came
from the back of the field in
league play to win the Grey
Cup. And the North Shore
can take particular p.ride in
Sean Millineton’s contribu-
tion. Maybe his best-ever CFL
season.

And don’t forget the rich-
est ball player in history, Alex
Redrignez and the 10-year,
$252-million contract that -
took him from Seattle to the’

"Texas Rangers. Obscene?
Certainly. But unlike the critics
in the local dailies, I’m not
stomping my feet in anger.

I'm cheering.

A few mare deals like this
— and there'll be more — by
the few ego-driven, billionaire
idiot team owners who have
killed off the fans’ world series
dreams in all but half a dozen
major league cities, will prick
the professional sports balloon.
everywhere. ;

A season-long lockout in’
2002, when the current labour

_ agreement expires, would be a
good start. Who knows, it
could be the catalyst for bring-
ing common sense — not to
mention the priced-out work-

“cing stiff fan — back vo all seg-

“ments of the pro sport enter-,

tainment business. :
Did I say that maybe we.
broke even? That was careless.

_ Vancouver for

of me. We didn‘r. Canadians
totally crapped out in the two
main events of the Olympics
— swimming and wack and
field. And bringing in Holgar
Osiek from Germany to
replace Bob Lenarduzzi as
national soccer coach changed
nothing. Canadians don't
know how to put the ball in

“the back of the net, so once

more we went out early in the
World Cup eliminations.
This also was the year

short-season, beardless Class A’:

baseball replaced the triple A
brand at Not Bailey Stadium.
And it was the year motor ...
sports followers learned that |
the Molson Indy comes to

¢ last time «
next Labour Day weekend.

“It moves to Montreal,

ancestral home of the Molson

“ empire, where there’s a perma-

‘nent track and a Iot bigger

. beer market to exploit. As and .
when the kindly brewmeister ©:
unloads the hockey Canadiens, .

as he’s trying so hard to do,

he’ll need replacement market--

ing tools on the home front.
This will be a start. There'll be

“a modicum of cheering from

:- noise-allergic False Creek resi-
° oh But he can hardly pick up his’.

The basketball Grizzlies

dents. '

remained as grisly as ever.’

.Given their on-court non-per.

formance, the regular sight 0

“fa few thousand backsides dis-

~”. guised as empty seats and the:

7 millstone of the 65-cent | ;

around their necks, how much -:
more time do you give them
in this city? Two, maybe three
years?
Chicago-based owner
Michael Heiskey didn’t get to °
be a billionaire ‘holding onto
losers that he couldn’t turn
into winners. He sold them or
dumped them. In pro sport
there's a third option: hove ;
them. Wouldn’t it be a hoor if *
they wind up in St. Louis, © 2.”
where the guy from Wal Mart ©. °
would have taken them had
the NBA not shot down his
transparent purchase pitch last-
year?” boa
No such option for
Canucks owner John McCaw, -

“whose team qualifies'as both a:

winner and loser. Even though
they made a pretty good run *
in the last few weeks of the |!

“ 1999-2000 season, they

missed the playoffs for the. =
fourth straight year. The good
news is that this season’s no-

~. name lineup not only is win-

ning, but playing an entertain

: ing style as well.

Cross your fingers and
hope it continues in January ..:.:
and February, traditionally the

: months the Feal powers i in the"...

league start asserting them- *

selves; and just as traditionally
© the months the Canucks g

into the tank. Should they
keep up their current pace, the
Lions will have company: asa

~ “winner, What a refreshing

thought.
_As for McCaw, :
Canucks can’t possibly m:
money or break even for h

pucks and leave, for he owns

© GM Place. What would he p
~in the séats 50 nights a year

there were no hockey team