Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 22, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Brian Cole 697704 focus the magic has gone for a major league sports fan big salaries spoiled game by Bedford the magic has the Bloom is off the All my life i have been in love with the Best of All the and hockey and football were never far my of Long ago moved naturally to the major and through the years i thrilled to the world series in then looked toward Grey cup and afterwards settled Down to enjoy hockey and await the Stan Ley cup playoffs in the these and the regular season proved to be always exciting and genuinely interesting to i became a Follower in the late Days of babe Ruth and Lou then admired dizzy Dean and Pepper Martin of the Gas House gang and after Ward watched the Progress of Ted Williams and Joe of Warren Spahn and Bob of Jackie Robin son and Willie Mays and Stan Musial and later still came Bob Sandy Reggie Jackson and Pete All of whom were Brilliant in hockey we had Sylvanus red Maurice and Henri Don Charlie Rayner and All the others Down to Wayne Gretzky and the oilers of the and i shall never forget the glory Days of our Blue and Fritz Bud Ken Leo Lewis and Joe this now i tried again to to to but the inter est was Why i finally realized the that which hovered always at the Back of my the something which i could not shake the obscenely High whenever i turned on the to for i Felt i was contributing to those so i turned it off even for my favorite hockey has gone a similar everywhere i everyone i ask says the same the magic has gone gone because a sport has become a Busi Ness and great plays Are drowned in As we have been robbed of something that was most precious to for Many months i hesitated to believe for was i really opposed to athletes earning a secure living but is that the Issue when the average nil salary is probably in and on this continent growing numbers of the general population Are falling into unemployment and depression status one must censure the owners for paying equally with the players for accepting and i can understand Why baseball attendance has fallen 25 per cent in a sin Gle Why individuals have said they Are unwilling to Purchase a ticket and waste an evening watching million Aires strut their and Why two major to networks have apparent that they will cease to carry baseball in the real problem is that major league players Are not they believe otherwise and argue for wealth partly on this for a fans have watched because they appreciated team great individual the old College try the giving of ones and while fans always accepted they expected a we do not fill the Arena to be entertained we attend because we want to see our team win we do Root for the Home but All this has now shifted to support for millionaire salaries and exorbitant and fans everywhere Are object the Grey cup is a Symbol of Canadian which is under the Cal is a different the prob Lem Here is not based upon High salaries but is rooted in american and we Are told that within two seasons or no Canadian players will appear on any of the what is gained by such nonsense the Grey cup was donated by the governor general lord Earl Grey in 1909 to be awarded for the Rugby football championship of Canada can we not even keep our own cup in our own coun try Why do we not Send these current teams packing and begin anew with Cana Dian As was lord Greys it has become difficult indeed for Cana Dian fans to become excited Over a game Between Memphis mad dogs Memphis what and Birmingham we have a game much Superior to the slow moving America played on too Small a Field with too Many players and too Many let us begin afresh with a new keep our Grey cup at Home and permit no non Anadi ans to even stronger is the argument for our own Canadian league in let us write off the soar ing salaries and the Large american Cen tres and establish a league of our it May be too late for us to Lay claim to the Stanley cup and keep it in but surely above is our and surely the Earl of when he donated the cup in 1892 for hockey presumably in the Ottawa intended it for Canadian compete perhaps we should inquire into How the nil gained control of it in but after nearly three quarters of a it May be difficult to reclaim the Stanley cup for Canadian there will be of who will say that All the Good players will follow the and that fans wish Only to attend games played by but i have met Many who maintain that far More exciting and interesting games Are played at the Amateur level and the lesser league surely it is Canadian Competition that we want to to cheer for and give Loyal support to not the Success of a business venture that happens to be in the realm of i was indeed by the argument that linked the building of a new Arena or Complex which our City sorely for a dozen reasons to one single Factor a hockey the Many events and activities would fill a new but would it Ever have been filled for a jets game at double the current ticket and with a team doomed to be permanently in or near the cellar almost entirely due to the effects of the High salary disease even diehard fans have to see their team win Why not preserve Canadian sports for establish our own a level playing Field for our own and write off these curious business ventures of the late 20th Century i have found it difficult to shake the belief that major league North american born As the Century is about to die As it it was great while it but now the magic has the Bloom is off the and a new generation May never know the thrill of the great can we Ever build it again formerly a professor of English at the University of is a freelance letters to the editor budget Law Good Medicine i read with disgust your Edito rial comment in saturdays 23 edition of the Winnipeg free press budget fantasy in the Premier Douglas Campbell balanced the budget and brought Manitoba out of he warned the people to be vigilant of those who offer them something for we didst listen and his legacy As a fiscally prudent Leader has been squandered by a Succes Sion of irresponsible provincial and Federal in 1991 Premier Hatfield new Brunswick in a speech the Toronto chamber of Commerce stated that the politicians of the 70s and 80s have placed first and second mortgages on our childrens this nation is billion in debt and climbing at a rate of per minute because we listened to the politicians that offered us the very thing that Campbell warned us 1 can Tell that your mind is very but i assure you that this is a very Large finally we gel some responsible politicians Harris that realize that the party cant go the Bill has to be paid every Day we read or hear of cuts to health and education because of budget the total Bud get Hast gone Down its interest is consuming More and More of lie you state that consulting the people is an abdication of a governments ii the governments had been responsible then this legislation would not be you also state that Transfer pay ments from Ottawa Are impossible to the Federal govern ment has a history of giving the provinces a two year the drop of five per cent in provincial revenues has Only occurred once in the last 60 i suggest you know what you Are talking about before you write did you know that recently stats Canada reported that the Federal government spent five times More on interest than on health care and nine times More than education 1 have my doubts bused on your Edi in the Canada West foundation in its study of the Var ious balanced budget in Force or proposed gave Manitoba an the Canada West foun Dation is a think tank i emphasize think on political 1 emphasized think because you obviously Are incapable of that Waller a renowned How to reach us the free press welcomes letters from letters must be signed and should include a clearly printed address and Telephone names will be published but not All letters May be edited or style and Short letters Are less Likely to be please address letters to letters to the Winnipeg free 1355 Mountain Winnipeg r2x letters can be sent to our fax number letters May be submitted through the internet at letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone economist and once said the history of Man is one of government mostly in the name of he also said that wherever Freedom has it has survived Only through the Strong restraint on this legislation allows the taxpayers some control Over the Way spend our hard earned you cant appreciate this concept because i suspect you Are another pull toy of the i could go on but in a working individual likes Many other canadians just trying to make ends meet so i dont have the time to write a novel concerning your Luna i do have one How Many Trees have to die to print the Winnipeg free press drivel Bush Winnipeg Winnipeg ranks in top 10 of arts i am writing in response to the play the High As Many of us Winnipeg is a great City in an even greater province in which to with several High the his arts and culture of our province Are All sometimes Winnipeg is one of Only ten cities in North America which contains a full scale resident Ballet and is Home to Canadas first regional the atre plus a similar sized symphony Art gallery and As our province is Home to hundreds of arts and cultural groups which All add to the vibrancy and life of the marketing of our provinces arts and culture is crucial to both the Winnipeg symphony orchestra is just one of the Many world class arts institutions we can be proud our present and future events such showcase week whose purpose is to celebrate and promote Manitoba arts and culture speak to the issues raised in your efforts Are already underway to Market these assets and its encouraging to see a Call for action from other sectors of the Ian Ross Winnipeg what a difference a decade makes 1 am a Little a group called the Urban knights started Back in 1982 and fashioned them selves after the no famous guardian Angels of new York and started patrolling the streets of the people loved i should 1 founded we were forced to but unlike the one initiated by the downtown Biz and sanctioned and trained by the my group was mocked and ridiculed by the police and then police chief Herb we were called vigilantes by Roland then attorney we had All the same training and per haps we were called the urbane blights by Gord Sinclair of the lne we were called nazis and we would Only cause some critics Barry Marchand Winnipeg Wake Peter Kauf Tinann anybody who really knows the cites issues knows that until Winnipeg was the child poverty capital of the Only that we lost this dubious distinction is not because our Situa Tion has gotten any but because the situation has deteriorated in other people who shop at Winnipeg Harvest go there out of not because they want something for i suggest that before you open your Mouth and Embarrass yourself any further you should visit Winnipeg Harvest and see firsthand the positive contribution that this Bank makes to our City each fur i will not spend one More cent in your let alone vote for you Cheryl Rowe Winnipeg maybe Ottawa needs glasses i am shocked and alarmed that Ottawa wishes to jeopardize patient care and treatment in Canada by removing from canadians the option of choosing to pay their own Way if they Are Able and if they wish to have a Choice of facilities and each Lime a patient pays his or her own thai frees up Money for the Public sector and i cannot comprehend what fault you find with my sister is a University cataracts were blinding she could not get surgery through i to Public medical system unless she went into an actual Hospital Selling and unless she was Able to Wail 1 or 2 years for the 1 lad she done by now she wild be Dorothy Mcdonald Winnipeg Swec courting Ihl Winnipeg enterprises is at it spending and risking tax payers playing at being sport and entertainment moguls using Only other Peoples this powerful Dinosaur has been involved in the demise of a Basket Ball and the departure of our nil they refuse to share revenues with but will loan them Money so they can gain control of Liko the they always seem to have another million or three around when its convenient for Winnipeg enterprises is trying to buy their own hockey an Ihl because they could not wrestle control of the jets away from they will rationalize this move As Pru Dently filling dates at their outdated while really risking millions of Wec cannot even handle the hot dog so Why should they be Able to spend millions to show us How they can run a hockey team if its a Good private Enterprise will move on it As they if its not a Good and is unattractive so As to not interest the private then enterprises should be smart enough to slay but lets not allow them to Rig Llie Deal so its unprofitable to private Enterprise but still of for sport and entertainment Are not businesses that government or their arms length company structures should be taxpayers never mandated politicians to invest in As track records Are nothing to be proud consider stopping Wec while preparing the legislation to wipe them out fore Mulvaney Winnipeg v can it wait until after dinner this letter serves As an expression of my discontent with the City of Winnipeg police a few nights a bicycle was stolen from the parking lot of a nearby High shortly the owner of the bicycle identified it at a local in evaluating the he noticed a Large crowd of and thought that apprehending the bicycle himself was not As the potential of violence in these situations tends to be the local District police were notified in an attempt to receive help in retrieving the stolen the response from the person at the local District office was that the officers were currently having Din Ner and would get to it As soon As they 1 realize thai bicycle theft May not be a priority of the police with both Federal and provincial initiatives to address and reduce youth crime in the one would have thought that a different response should have come from the if youth crime is to be addressed there needs to be some evaluation at the very Basic it is these situations which tend to escalate into violent and need to lie stopped before they get out if but the question remains what crime is serious enough for the police to Stop eat ing dinner and intervene maw Winnipeg ;