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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-05-20, Page 56it PAGE 8A —GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR. WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1987 KINSMEN (.` 1ABB CO1)ERICU Presents IST ANN SPORTS DINNER :wary p06 Marty Springsted, Americans League Umpire supervisor was one of the most popular and humorous speakers at the annual Sports Celebrity Dinner Tuesday. The head table featured a fine cast First annual Kins BY DAVE SYKES If the Goderich Kinsmen Club's. first at- tempt at an annualsports celebrity dinner here Tuesday was just a starting point, then the public is in for an annual treat. . Featuring a head -table list of 16 interna- tional, national' and local' sports celebrities, the Kinsmen Club's first din- ner had all the elements of a -winning performance. • From start to finish, it was simply good fun. It was entertaining, it was inspirational, it' was light and it was worth the price of admission. And more importantly, it will aid minor athletics, in Goderich. The celebrity lineup included American League umpire supervisor, Marty Spr- ingstead, kick boxer Leo Loucks, Wendel Clark and Steve Thomas of- the Toronto Maple Leafs, Earnest Byner of the Cleveland Browns, Toronto Blue Jay presi- dent, Peter Hardy,, Harness'driver Dave Wall, ^former Montreal Alouette lineman Glen Weir, former Leaf and Red Wing Larry Jeffrey, NHL linesman Ron Ac- ccltine, Western Michigan University coach Bill Wilkinson and Father' Jack Costello of the Flying Fathers Hockey team. World -ranked special Olympic swimmer Linda Reid, was present along with Goderich natives Trevor Erb of the Strat- ford Cullitons, Scott Garrow of St. Marys IJncolns and Jeff. Denomrne,.project co- ordinator for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Organized by dinner chairman Rob Sherwood, and with the help of the Strat- ford Rotary Club, the local Kinsmen Club should be congratulated for their in- defatigable efforts in bringing a sports celebrity dinner of this calibre to Goderich. It was well done and, no doubt, tickets will be more difficult to come by in subsequent years. CLARK -THOMAS Two of the dinner's featured guests were Toronto Mapl,t Leafs Wendel Clark and. Steve Thomas. The pair have been an in- tegral component of the Leafs the past two years ansa -their efforts are a major reason the Leafs were a force in the Norris Divi- sion, playoffs. Finishing third just ahead of Chicago and Minnesota, the Leafs made good ac- count of themselves in the playoffs, eliminating the St. Louis Blues in six games and then losing to Detroit Red Wings in seven games despite holding a three games to one edge. While he was more than satisfied with his pe:rfornrance throughout the ,80 -game schedule, Steve Thomas, a 35 -goal scorer in the regular season, wasn't enamored with his playoff stats. "Personally I was satisfied with my •season but post 'season was a different story," he explained. "It's different hockey in the playoffs and there is alway someone on you and 1 just couldn't get the flow going. The game is played with a lot of intensity in the playoffs and there's no time to do anything. The checking is very close." ' While the resurgent Leafs were a force in the playoffs after falling flat in the se- c(tndalf of the season, Thomas says the club eeds some experience and depth to make a serious run in future playoffs. "We tailed off during the second half of the season but picked it up again in the playoffs. We played a lot of games last year, about 102, and we simply ran out of steam in the playoffs because of injuries and a lack of depth," he said. Thomas, who began renegotiating his contract with Leaf management last week, is hopeful he can remain in Toronto; with the team that gave the undrafted player the chance at a spot in the NHL. "I would really like to play with the Leafs. I started with them and they. gave me a chance when no-one else would," Thomas said. "But it's a short career and if I have to go elsewhere, then I will." Thomas wasn't drafted as a midget player but went on to play Tier II in Markham, the Toronto Marlboro affiliate. He joined the Marlboros for his overage year and was given a chance to show his stuff at a 'Leaf camp. Wendell Clark could easily be called the heart and soul of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The truculent, fiesty winger- defenceman ha.Srinjected a good measure of personality into the Leafs and his work en Clu 1 Sports Celebrity 'nment inner is an unprecedente success • Toronto Maple Leafs Wendel ('lark -arid Steve Thomas. were busy signing hundreds of autographs for many youngsters ,during the Kinsmen Club's Sports\'Celebrity Dinner here•Tuesday. The duo patiently signed the autographs as did Cleveland Browns running back Earnest Byner, at right, who was a favorite among the crowd. (photos by Dave Sykes) ethic has been nothing short of exemplary. A 30 'plus goal• scorer in his first two years in the league ('lark, at the age of 20,E will provide' the kind of on -ice leadership the Leafs need. Both ('lark and the Leafs progressed well this season and the winger finds it•difficult to believe that he was ac- tually being checked closely by the opposi- tion during his sophomore yeas.. "I think the team progressed well this year, we had 13 more points and we finish- ed the year off well in the playoffs," he said. "We're ayoung club and we're shy on depth and with the injuries we just couldn't keep up in the playoffs. "I'm also happy with what I've done. i don't really set goals hut just go out and see what happens but I didn't think that I would be getting checked my second year in the league. i'll just have to (earn'to play with it." • Clark insists there i5 no real.pressure playing for the Leafs, everyone has a job and must see to it that it's done, A. for his own agressiVe style, Clark says, everyone in the NH1, knows what to look for from him. "I didn't try to consciously cut down on fighting or hitting but with the style of game I play you can only hit and run over people so many times," he explained in an interview at Br•uno's• "The players know me know and when I'm on the.ice they're • looking for me and they are read•. The big hit, just isn't always there now." Clark can still surprise the.NHL's best goaltenders with the hardest and one of the 'most accurate wrist shots i the league. It's a shot whose importance seems to have diminished but it is a shot that Clark would like more young hockey players to use and develop... With the coaching situation riow relative- ly astable in Toronto ( Brophy signed a new three-year deal ( Clark says the club must improve on its depth and 'maturity. And with the development of young talent like Vincent Damphouse, Al Iafrate, Russ Courtnall, Gary Leeman, Clark .and 'Phomas, the Leafs shduld be contending in the Norris Division for a long time. But for' now, Clark ,has some summer relaxation to worry about. He'll play fastball in Kelvington, Sahk. and generally take it easy ,,on the family f• rm, • 'FATHER JACK C STELLO ,'l'iise famous Flying Fathers are as, much a of Canadian. hockey tradition as the Stanley Cup. and Father Jack Costello; a long-time member of., the hockey earn, says the club has raised up to $6 mi ion for charities ih its 25 years of existen e. Originally from Dublin; Ont. a d now a parish priest in Windsor, Father 'ostello told the audience the Flying 'Fathers have played all across North America, in h:urope and at armed forces bases. Admitting that most members of the team were "over the hill" Father Costello suggested the team couldn't get rid of any of the old players. "We travel and we get out of work," he explained. In explaining his team's incredible win streak of 1,400 straight victories, Father Costello 'said it was simply because "we, cheat" and flood the ice "with .holy water." . He told the crowd his greatest thrill was playing the four -time Stanley Cup Cham-. pion Montreal Canadiens in an exhibition game at the Forum in Monti eal. His cousin Les Costello was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1940s. Father Costello' told the 'audience that :'sports teaches youngsters discipline and it teaches you about yourself." He added that sports takes effort, it requires dedica- tion and is a good opportunity for young people. • • LEO LOUCKS Health a id, fitness and a positive mental attitude ' w'hat minor sports should be prof -not' g world kick -boxing champion Leo Lc cks told the.audience atthe dinner. "Sports has always been clear cut - winners and losers -but there are .prices to • pay to bete ne winners,"' he said. "Strive . for succ:.,•s in ever aspect' of your life whether 'ts ata • is sports or business. You hav to t nk like a winner: "The di ence between a .winner and an ordinary person is that a winner looks at every situation as a challenge and the ordinary person looks at it as an obstacle." 'Loucks also told the young people in at- tendance that while they may admire and respect the talent of the professional athletes that were at the head table, he told therrl' they possess something all the head table guests respected- youth. ,,.Piper Jim Muir• leads the sports celebrities into the arena auditorium" at the KinsmenClub's first annual Sports Celebrity' Dinner Tuesday. Reid, who is world ranked in swimming was a four -medal winner at the Special Olympics in Calgary last summer with two gold medals and two silver. She was praised by many celebrities as the real athlete at the head table. The head table guests included local and international personalities. (photo by Dave Sykes) BILL WILKINSON ' A return to the Goderich Memorial Arena for the 'Sports Celebrity Dinner brought back some vivid memories for former Goderich resident Bill Wilkinson. Wilkinson, now the successful head coach of the University of Western Michigan Broncos at Kalamazoo, recalled how he and his young friends used to play hockey in any ,corner of the arena they could find, including the washroom. "But this is where they( young people start, in this building and there's always people there to help 'like th'e Kinsmen, Lions and Optimists because you can't make it on your own," he told the 'au- dience. "We all havedreams of snaking it to the NHL when we play hockey but you have to realize that you need help along the way. "There is really nothing shore important than being involved and helping youth. But you have to have a dream and you have to go after it and the big guys here have to help you along." Wilkinson congratulated the Kinsmen on their "out tanding job" in organising the dinner, the pr ds from which would be used for minor athletics. • A former coach at St. Lawrence Univer- sity, North Dakota, and Bowling Green, Wilkinson has won coach -of -the -year honoes tvvo of the past three years. EARNEST BYNER Athletes can have a big 'impact on the lives of •young=,"' people who idolize the big leaguers and Cleveland Browns running back Earnest Byner spoke ' from ex- perience and from his heart when he of- fered the young people in attendance some sound advice. • "I started playing football wjien I was six or seven and I was a trobulerriaker," he explained at the dinner. "But through organized sports, through football, I was able to be aggressive in a constructive way," In speaking from his own personal ex- periences, Byner urged the young, people.. to "respect yourself" and to never underestimate themselves, regardless of the task they' faced. He suggested they could achieve anything. through work and respect for themselves, parents and the school system. "Realize what you area and then go straight ahead," he admonished. "But above all respect your parents and respect your teachers." As the Browns running back and kickoff and punt return specialist, Byner has quickly distinguished himself as an offen- sive threat with the Cleveland Browns. Last year the Browns lost a tough con- ference championship game to the Denver Broncos in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium on a last minute scoring drive engineered by .John Elway. The Browns, AFC Central Division champions, defeated New York Jets before losing to Denver in a battle that determined one Super Bowl finalist. Turn to page 9*