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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-04-22, Page 41 ,i. t--(;UUEBICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1987 I've always been intrigued with the salaries commanded by professional athletes and presume the common man has taken more than a passing interest in the six -figure incomes. It's a rather incomprehensible, but in- triguing, situation. The average working stiff has little sympathy for high-priced athletes who make more money than their agents know how to invest or pilfer, whatever the case. That a man who has the physical capability to hit a round ball, tossed at an average 90 miles per hour, with a round, wooden stick, should earn more than doc- tors, presidents, surgeons, plambers, some crooks, members of parliament etc, represents something of an incongruous situation I would submit. Professional basketball, baseball, hockey and football players have the op - DAVE SYKES tion of filing for free agency if they can't seem to come to terms with their employer and often players already . under contract ask that the employer reconsider his• offer. I think you and I should have the same options. In fact, even as we share this intimate moment, I am considering filing for free agency in the newspaper business. I have a good notion to instrrlct management of your favorite weekly, through my agents (Null and Void) of course, that I would like to renegotiate my contract. • Now in consideration of the fact that I have authored and penned countless sparkling paragraphs; have hyphened ' every adjectival phrase and offered countless, witty phrases and bon mots for general consumption; management should.take-agenerous look at a new contract. In sporting circles it would be the least any self-respeeting owner would consider. Tony Fernanadez, earning a paltry $300,000 plus, believed Blue Jays manage- ment, in consideration of the year he had in 1986, should be somewhat more generous with its compensation package. He sat out a few games in spring training to amplify his case and tell the world how tough t is for today's ballplayer to get by on $300,000. Naturally, there was hardly akiry eye to be found when word leaked out about how much the little shortstop was earn- ing. Shame on you Pat Gillick. Well, why should the situation be any different for a machinist, nurse, welder, insurance agent or journalist. , The way I see it, I had a pretty good year in 1986. Just check my stats: 8,467 pictures taken with only 32 errors and no cameras dropped- a great ratio in photo- journalism; 2,391 news stories with a great on -front page percentage'; 21 feature stories; 158 pictures in which the people were properly identified; only 12 missed assignments in 1,368 attempts and a phone call fielding percentage of .987. As in the case of the consummate pro- fessional athlete, I will let my numbers do the talking in my negotiations with management. In sporting circles, those kinds of numbers would-be worth, what $1.4 to $1.9 million a season. I'm quite willing to settle for substantially less but feel I also have a statement to make. Principles don't come cheap. And if management maintains a hard- line then I may be willing to sit out an issue or two. Or if I can't come to terms, should I not be free•to negotiate with other papers and accept the highest bid. That seems to be the way of business these days.ln fact, it appears that I have several lucrative options open. poop : The publisher just walked in w. with a12 -pack. Contract settled. THE NEWS PORT FOR CODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 18413 the EST ALL ROUND COMMUNITY NUS/SPASM IN CANADA Goderichr f:n'cltleuW` CA. 1500 45001 C L: " A Better ^urwry,ep,r r:C' : eu4Pn 1904 U SLNA Bn.® '20 0-0L CKONS EST. INDUST,- DAL PARK 0®®ERICH, ONT. N7A 4B8 PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED. rounded In 1848 end publlehad every Wedneaday at Oodorlch, Ontario. Member of thea CCNA end OCMp.'1 Bubecriptlene payable In advance 8392.00, [Senior Citizens) 915.00 privilege cord number required] In Canada, 980.00 to U.S.A., 980.00 to all other countries, Single copies BOC. Oloplay, Notional end Claoelfled advartlaing rause avalloble en requeet. Plewa eek for Rete Cord No. 18 effective October 1, 1985. Advertising le accepted on the condition that in the event of e typographical error, the advertising space occupied by theerroneous)" item, together with the reasonable allowance for eignoturo, will not be charged for but that balance oa tha edvortleemont will bo peld foret the applicable rata. In the event of e typographical error advertising goods or nerviness et s wrong prices. goods or rvlcee may not be"void. Advert5sing in merely en offor to sell, end may be withdrawn et any time. The Signal -Star les not reeponelblo for the Isco or damage of NneolicIted manuscripts, photos or other moteriele Lamed for reproducing purponem. General Manager SHIRLEY J. KELLER Editor „ Advertising Manager . DAVE SYKES DON HUBICK FOR EIUSONESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES—please phone [519)524-2614 Second class mail registration number 0716 Member:eNA 410 A case of bad manners When .Pr•esi^Uent Ronald, Reagan addressed the Canadian Parliament recently, one might have expected, he would have been heard by a polite audience the Wingham Advance Times said.. Not so. When he 'mentioned Americaninvolvement in Nicaragua several members of the House heckled him with demands°that his countrymen get out of that Central American Country. . With his customary aplomb, Reagan paused briefly and then asked, "Is there an echo in here'?" The moment passed brut there was dead silence from all the others in the.chamber. News announcers later said that the interruptions had come from NDP members, although it 'night be difficult to prove that no other members had joined in. However, at least one NDP spokesman later claimed that he and his colleagues hada perfect right to assert their opposition to American actions abroad. Perhaps they had the. right to object, but they chose the wrong time and place. The presi- dent was, after all, an invited guest. Had the objectors chosen to remain absent when he was scheduled to speak, that option was, open to them, but since they were present, reasonable courtesy would, or should have demanded that they hear his remarks in silence. Such a display of bad manners does nothing whatsoever to enhance better relationships with a neighbouring nation and certainly will do nothing to convince the American leader that he should change his stand on Central American relations. • Severe weather watch Spring has sprung, and with it comes the. severe weather season. Tornadoes are the most dangerous of the severe weather systems experienced in Ontario, especially in this -part of the country. They occur infrequently but regularly throughout this province, for in recent years there has been an average of 25 tornadoes a year. Some are more devastating than others., but depending on where they strike, they all have the poten- tial for massive destruction. Over the last nine years, tornadoes have resulted in the deaths of 22 people in Ontario and caused over half a billion dollars in property damage. in recent years, Environmept Canada's Weather Service in Ontario has taken steps in key areas to increase the usefullness of their weather watch/warning program to the public. improvements, for example,' are continuing in detecting these severe storms early in their life using weather radar. Initial testing conducted last summer have proved effective, but further testing will be conducted this year. Experienced forecasters at. the Ontario Weather Centre have been studying the weather patterns that caused the major tornadoes which struck Wdodstock, Barrie and Grand Valley. Some similarities have been found, which might be indicators of potential for tor- nado development. These steps,°along; with volunteer weather watchers and increased study patterns, all make for an improved awareness on the experts behalf, not to mention the public's. The effectiveness of :summer severe weather forecasting is increasing. Although it is vir- tually impossible tir prevent property loss due to severe.orms, lives can be saved through more accurate forecasts serving a well informed public. That's the bottom line. *58 ON 5010'" TT/P5, 4/0 /NEED TO BUCKLE. UP House-to-house delivery of mail could be reality in Goderich by 1963 25 YEARS AGO April 19, 1962: House-to-house delivery of mail by carrier may become a reality in Goderich by the spring of 1963. Dependent factor • is a maintenance of the growth of the townft the current rate. The, minimum requirement for carrier delivery is a total of 2500 "points of call". During the survey of one year ago, a total of 2370 was registered, this figure having been enlarged' in the intervening period. Points of call have reference to all places that will require individual mail. delivery and have only a sort of ratio rela- tionship to the actual population'of the town. For general purposes, the population May be divided by three to arrive at the points of call figure; based on the average of three . persons to each family. Once the figure of 2500 is reached, carrier service becomes practically automatic depending only on the authorization . by. the Post Office Depart-, ment at Ottawa. The news service requires the services of five regular mail carriers, augmented • by one relief carrier and a supervisor. One innovation curtailed in the switch from box service to carrier delivery will be the necessary slot receptacles to hb installed in the doors of residences. Post of- fice boxes will be available to those who prefer to call for titer mail several times a' day. . Custodian of Goderich Harbor naviga- tional safeguards for the past three year, Lightkeeper Norman J. Cormier, left Satur- ' day for his new post on Welcome Island in Lake Superior. Allan McDonald of Goderich has replaced Mr. Cormier as keeper of lights at Goderich Harbor, beginning his new duties over a week ago. His new ap- pointment,involves the care and operation of harbor lights, range lights, foghorn warn- ings and other aids to navigation in the local LOOKING BACK harbor. Promoted to the position of Senior Lightkeeper, a mark of his 19 years of ser- vice, Mr. Cormier will have charge of one of the more important lights among the 122 lighthouses on Lake Superior. 50 YEARS AGO April 23, 1937: Widespread damage was caused in this district by a terrific,9easterly gale which swept the county on Wednesday, ,at times reaching a velocity of 60 miles an hour. Coupled with rain, the storm made motoring hazardous, sweeping cars broadside on the highway. Country sideroads were con- verted into seas of mud. In Goderich, where the storm was severe all day, telephone lines were snapped and Hydro lines brought down. Chimneys toppled arid pieces of roof- ing were ripped clear from houses and buildings. The entire front was ripped from am old barn on Newgate Street. Damage was considerably greater in the country districts where roofs were ripped from barns and straw stacks were littered about the fields. Two fires in town and one in Col- borne Township were indirectly caused by the storm. The annual doll parade sponsored by the Lions Club for the little girls of Goderich has been postponed twice owing to inclement weather, and it is hoped towrmorrow will be suitable for this big event in the lives of.the kiddies. If the weather is fine, the parade will be held on Saturday afternoon, when participants will meet on the Square at North Street. Prizes, now on display in a shop window on the Square, will be given for almost every type of -doll and for decorated tricycles and carriages. There is sure to be a large entry as the event is gaining in popularity year by year. Youngsters who are wont to have trap- shooting practice with bottles on the beach north of Goderich are warned that if they are caught by police they will be made ex- amples as a warning to others so 'inclined. Protests' of cottage -owners have been lodg- ed with police that the beach, a favorite summer spot, is littered with jagged pieces of bottles which obviously have been shat tered by young marksmen, several of whore have been seen in that vicinity in the last few days. ' 70 YEARS AGO April 19, 1917: It is reported that. the steamer Huron of the Star -Cole Line, Detroit, which for several years called' at Goderich on her regular run has been purchased by the In- terlake Auto Transportation Company, and will be used exclusively in the automobile carrying trade. In this case, Goderich will be altogether without passenger boat ser- vice this year. Though the loeal agents have not 'received official notice of the expected changes in the GTR time -table, it is understood that the changes' will take effect April 29 and that not only will the former.passenger train service be restored, but there may be some im- provements upon the old service. The morn- ing train may be arranged to arrive here at 11 a.m. instead of 11:35 a.m. and it is ex- pected that the late afternoon train, leaving about 5 p.m., will again go through to Toronto. � The list the entire sporting world was waiting for came nut only a few weeks ag;o• • 1 had been c•nntacted several times by the National Hockey l,eaguet,Central Scouting Bureau, asking me for the names, but as Usual I refused to release the list before the playoffs began. The list in question, of course, is the dreaded litany of pro shinny stars whose years as productive, useful, hockey players are hoot to come to an abrupt end. in other words, the players choosen by this particularly myopic sports swami in the annual playoff hockey pool. Many players, upon learning they have been choosen by moi in the pool either fake injuries, or actually incurr them, just to get out of scoring any points for me. Most however, simply play like they were involved, in a "t[•mday night ringette game rather than the Stanley ('up playoffs. A few, like some fellow named Peterson who played for Buffalo a few years back, fade off into complete obscurity never to be Beard from again. It seems ironic and a tad unfair that so- meone like myself, who can stay afloat indefinitely in a swimming pool, should sink like the proverbial stone to the very bottom, the minute I enter a hockey pool. But, alas, it is so. This year, rather than dying my usual slow death, i decided I would take an all - or -nothing gamble. The New York Rangers, i presumed, would probably g relatively untouched in the first eight rounds or so as they were stacked against the mighty Philadelphia Flyers. 1 was right about that, however I was com- pletely errant in my assumption they had a chance of pulling off an upset for the second year in a row. I had seven of them. My choice of the Rangera was not made purely on speculation. It was based partly on patriotic pride. While 1 realize that New York is an American city, I put my faith in that all -Canadian hero, Phil Esposito, who is currently acting as coach and general manager of the team — at least until the golf season is over. Who would not remember Phil's dramatic speech after the fourth game of that historic 1972 Canada -Russia summit series? Surely, I reasoned, Phil could give a speech like that to the Rangers should they fall upon hard times, and they would immediately rise to any • challenge they might face. Unfortunately, I neglected to take into account the fact that some of the current New Yorkers had yet to receive their first pair of skates when Espo first show- ed his great leadership ability against the Russian Red Machine some 15 years ago. Young players like Jeff Jackson probably think Valeri Kharlamov is a new brand from this angle Patrick Raftis of designer jeans. Still I though the man they have dubb- ed "Trader Phil," had built himself .a fairly impressive squad through his deal- ings. 1 fig'ure'd if nothing else, Phil's trades showed he had guts. Rumor has it, he came within a few phone calls of deal- ing his own mother to the New Jersey Devils for a solid defencernan and future considerations. Anyway, it seems none of the Rangers shared my conviction that Phil knew what he was doing. Or maybe Phil just forgot that if you deal away all your defencemen for fowards who think backchecking means looking over your shoulder to see if the cameras are focus- ed on your good side, you may have to go and man the blueline yourself. It's not that I'm out of the pool com- pletely now that the first round is over. 1 figure if Reijo Routsalainen and Craig MUni can just pick up about 10 points a night between them and the Oilers go all the way, I can still finish in the money. Does anyone have any openings left in their baseball pool?. 0