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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-08-19, Page 13RandyTiernan Exeter native a TV sports reporter Exeter native Randy Tieman inspects a baseball during his va- cation. Centralia Selects close to ORSA championship CENTRALIA - The march to the top has been fairly quick for the Centralia Selects. in quest of the Ontario Rural Softball Association peewee girls 'A' title. the Selects have won six straight playoff games. Thursday r Centrali 3, a beg 10 -run fourth essung capper off an 18-0 win over visiting Hickson Last Tuesday, Centralia won a much closer 7-5 decision. The Selects arc comprised of gals 13-14 years -old primarily from Centralia with others from Isxeier, Lucan and.Cnediton. Following the semi-final seas win against Hickson, the Selects faced Caledonia last night. "We've done really well to get to the finals. Twelve teams started out," said co -coach Lorraine Gal- lagher. Centralia began the ORSA playoffs with two straight wins over Hanover and then they elimi- nated Limehouse, again in two straight. "This is my first year going inu> this and 1 didn't know what to ex- pect," said Gallagher who coaches the team with Marilyn Lightfoot Thursday in Centralia. rightfiekl- er Michelle Cruikshank had a bases loaded triple and . first baseman Shannon Revulgton hit one all the way to the fence at the Centralia .park. Pitcher Sherry Bell who comes from Lucan, has done a great job on the mound for the Selects. "She's pitched every game, every -single inning. She doesn't seem u> tire," said Gallagher. By Peed Groves T -A ataif EXETER - This story could just as well be datelined from Mon- treal, because that's where Exeter native Randy Finnan lives, works and reports on the Montreal Cana - diens, the Expos and anything else that comes along. He's a sports're- porter. After Tieman graduated from South. Huron District High School, he enrolled in the broadcast jour- nalism program at London's Fan- shawe College which soon blos- somed into a career in broadcasting. He has gone from radio stations in St. Thomas, Winnipeg and Otta- wa to a TV reporter with CFCF-TV in Montreal where he has been for over nine years. "1 went there to do radio. I did ra- dio exclusively for four years, I was the sports director," said Tie - man during a visit home last week. Tieman, his wife Lianne, 10 - month old son Jesse and daughter Gabrielle who is almost two, made Canadians, is still there. "When there is an Adams divi- Nott final, the place is just buzzing. It's almost like pins and needles. It's' -always nice to go to the forum. ICs always nice to go and watch the Hobs play. It's hard to describe." Tiernan is not exaggerating when he talks about the red -white -and - blue world famous hockey team. He said both major French Ian - !Nage newspapers devote a lot of time, energy and space on the Ca- nediens. "You pick up the Journal and you have five pages of nothing but Montreal Canadiens." According to Tiernan, the French media can be very tough on a coach. Pat Burns recently left Mon- treal and became the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. "If they don't like you, they go out of their way to make you look bad." Tieman noted it just got too much for Burns, always being criticized why this and why that French- Canadian was not playing. The "You pick up the Journal and you have five pages on the Canadiens." the trip to Exeter to visit with Tie - man's parents. When the radio station was sold he was asked to join the staff of CFCF-TV the English station which has both a mid-day and a supper -hour show. "I'm the guy who covers every- thing...hockey, the Expos." When Tiernan says everything he means u. He spends time during the -daily ritual with tbe.Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League which is overlapped in the fall with the quickly becoming popular Expos of the National Baseball League. Combine that with university football from Concordia and McGill and he's a busy guy. But the Canadiens are the team which not only he, but all the other report- ers in the city follow. "Tune Canadians are everything. Everyday you have to staff the practices. Quebec is the Montreal Canadiens. They live and breathe, day -in -and -day -out, the Montreal Canadiens." After covering two Stanley Cup finals, Tiernan says the excitement .of following and -reporting on the coach simply couldn't handle hav- ing 20 reporters hovering around him all the time. Rest of the idiots: When soon- to-be NHL hero Eric Lindros was in the process of making a major announcement, Tiernan was there in the Montreal hotel; waiting. "I was one of the guys staked out like the rest of the idiots waiting for an 18 -year-old to say. nothing.". While Montreal is known for the Canadiens, he said the city is slow- ly turning their attention to the Ex- pos. However, the French media don't cover ball like they do hock- ey. "They don't get the same amount of coverage but they still have a couple of guys covering the team ' With baseball, the French media simply cannot complain about the Expos not having are French- Canadians because baseball is pre- dominantly played by Americans But whether it be the Canadien.\. or the Expos, Tiernan seems to be doing a job which he enjoys. A true sporrsfan. Sterolds, not Illegal but they do kill S Ceroids. The drug which saw Canadian sprinter Ben sidelines Johnson brought to his knees, the drug which killed football player Lyle Ahdo and the drug which has killed John b� Kordic. ;. Fred 1 was never a fan of Kordic's. l ; roves This was a man who simply was put on the ice to beat up on people; he couldn't score goals and his one ambition in life seemed to be to get bigger, stronger and sec whose face he could push in the next night. But just because he wasn't a favorite of mind doesn't mean I'm not concerned about what happened. It could happen to others. It appears as though the National Hockey league has failed to face the facts. Steroids kill. Bob Ooodenow, president of the NHL. Players' Association, said the players are against all forms of dryg testing. Why? Anabolic steroids can give a person incredible strength. That is evident by Johnson, Alzado and the fact it took nine police officers to subdue Kordic. One reason Goodenow is crying halt on any drug testing is that steroids are not illegal. They can he obtained through a prescription. But why would a player want to put himself through something like that? Sure it will give him an edge over his opponents, but is it worth the personality changes, the aggressive behavior and the knowledge that it could indeed be fatal? Questions, questions but few answers about steroids. Drug testing in the. Olympics has become an open and shut state- ment. If you are found with any trace of them in your system, that's a trip home. It's about time the National Hockey League and other organiza- tions begin to realize, that yes, steroids may create the ultimate sports machine but we should sten caring about the athletes as hu- mans and not simply as trained performers. Amongst my files, I've come across some information about ster- oids and just how they can be detected in young athletes. Dr. John A. Geddes, from Kingston once wmtc in an article. "those in favor of anabolic steroid use claim that the medical side effects are not common and the small risk of reversible adverse ef- fects is outweighed by the gain in muscle bulk and strength that they experience." In other words, worrying about the side effects quickly disappears after an athlete has just scored the winning touchdown and deep down inside he knows steroids helped enhance his performance. Geddes also writes that acne, gynccomastia and male pattern bald- ness are not serious side effects but because they affect appearance may discourage users from continuing with the drugs. For women who are thinking about experimenting with steroids, they can expect facial hair growth, deepening voices and enlarg- mem of certain female parts. W.P. VanHelder, E. Kofman and MS. Tremblay from the School of Physical Health Education and Faculty of Medicine at the Uni- versity of Toronto also wrote a Lengthy paper on androgenic - anabolic steroids. They say that at the 1972 Olympics, a questionnaire completed to track and field athletes from seven countries, including Canada, re- vealed that 68 percent of them reported using steroids and 61 per- cent had used them within six months of the Olympic Games. In 1987, it was estimated that one million Americans were using Ataiods to enhance their physique. A survey that sampled 1,010 male students from three U.S. colleges reported that 17 used ster- oids and 11 of those were varsity athletes. VanHelder, Kofman and Tremblay write that, "many athletes use steroids in a cyclic manner, each cycle lasting four to 18 weeks. Drug-free periods generally last a month to a year. Usually more than one steroid is used at a time and athletes pyramid their drug use by building a higher dose and then tapenng off before stopping the drug use altogether.' Steroids may increase a persons strength for the moment but the future condition of the person taking them far exceeds a little ego building. In last week's sidelines, it was reported that the Exeter Minor Soc- cer Associauon was down in registration. However. the local association's numbers are very close to last year as there arc 269 compared to 261 a year ago. I apologize for the error. Bantam bQys Royals set to host provincial tournament EXETER - The Exeter Royals will try and cap off what has been a very successful season thus far, by winning the provincial championship this weekend. Beginning Saturday at 9 a.m., the Royals will go up against seven other teams for the Ontario Amateur Softball Association bantam 'C' title. They will host the eight -team tournament at the South Huron Recreation Center in Exeter. -The Royals will open the two-day tournament against Carp at 9 an. on Saturday. At die same time, Fergus will meet Meafotd. Following the 11 a.m. opening ceremonies, Campbellford meets New Hamburg and Mary- hill squares off against Goderich. "We should be very competitive. We know Goderich. we've played them and beaten them," said Exeter coach Fred Cook. The Royals compiled a 13-3-1 regular season record which they took into the South Perth League final tournament in St. Marys on the weekend. One of the highlights of the Exeter season carte recently when they eliminated Seaforth in two straight WOAA playoff games. Pitcher Steve Cook pitched both games which Exeter won 4-0 end 2-1. If there is a weakness on this team, Fred Cook says its lack of expert encc. "It's the first time in a tournament Wee this for any of these guys," he said. He said the Royals strength is pitching which is arnchuscd by Cook and Dennis Gower. depth and defame. Heating Cup against Nickson on Thursday was Centralia Se- lects' pitcher Sherry Bell. 4 scHEDUL,E'QFGAME Saturday: Exeter v$. Carp - 9 a,tn. <. Fergus ver. Meaford - 9.a.m. Wag Ceremonies - 1.1, a.m. ; tpbellforti vs. New Hamburg 12 noon ryhill vs. Goderich -12-noon er�ready for their provincial tournament this weekend ter Royals' front, Ief; Gavin Snell and Darren Kints. • Back, left; Ben Armstrong, Steve Cook end Ken Hines.