The first time I met TV sports director Earl (the Pearl) Seitz in Kamloops, he was applying a makeshift sign to the rickety press box inside the venerable Memorial Arena.
His not-so-artistic offering, looking like one of those No Girls Allowed gems from a young boy’s treehouse, simply stated: No Cheering Allowed Up Here!
It seems that some rival radio types, who loved “covering” game nights, were singing and dancing to the Blazers’ theme song Takin’ Care of Business after every goal, yelling at the refs for “bad calls,” heckling visiting fans and shouting food orders to the concession stand directly under our grease-stained soles.
Seitz, a wise journalist with a loyal following, insisted there should be a healthy church-state relationship between the WHL team and media – at all times.
He taught this sporty scribe plenty about the “unwritten rules” of covering big-league hockey and its “what is said on the bus stays on the bus” culture, the egos, the sensitive subjects, the way to report not-so-pleasant news and live to work another day.
I still have two Kamloops Blazers jerseys in my basement office, and I’m sure an Abbotsford Heat uniform will be added once there is such a creation.
But while I’m a hockey nut at heart and a bit of a homer (no relation to The Simpsons!), I won’t be cheering from the press box at AESC. And I won’t be dancing to The Heat Is On or yelling at refs.
In fact, if history repeats itself, the team will likely be yelling at us after a lengthy losing streak or after reading not-so-glowing stories, such as Friday’s gem in the Times, explaining how our city had to shell out $350,000 (more or less, but probably more) to install therapeutic hydro pools in the AHL dressing rooms to “meet league requirements.”
It seems our cash-strapped city, stuck for spare coin in every department, has a special “contingency fund” for AHL “oversights.” Too bad Mission Memorial Hospital’s emergency ward – which is in some danger of closing due to a budget shortfall – doesn’t have an AHL sugar daddy, but I digress.
If we are real “partners” with the Heat, as certain councillors suggest when they spend our money, why won’t they tell us who those worthy “partners” are?
We know who owns the Vancouver Giants, Chilliwack Bruins, Kamloops Blazers and Vancouver Canucks. Who owns the Heat? And, if that’s none of our business, should we continue to pay for AHL upgrades without asking exactly who benefits?
Mayor George Peary, who inherited Plan A and the many challenges that go with it in an economic downturn, knows the “extra-sensitive issues” surrounding this team and the many taxpayers already yelling “uncle” over the escalating costs of staying afloat on The Good Ship Abbotsford.
Peary is a brilliant dude and was a great hockey player – heck, he still “stickhandles” like a pro when asked about AHL costs.
But when you have residents waving white flags at suspect spending and tax hikes during these recessionary times, and with federal/provincial deficits guaranteed to grow in the weeks ahead, don’t you think it’s time to stop the Good Morning, Vietnam shtick?
This so-called “contingency fund” is not play money; it’s taxpayers’ money now being used for luxuries instead of emergencies. And while the latest $350,000 cheque may not seem like a lot to the AHL or NHL – or some on the
city payroll – it represents at least six more cops, teachers and nurses, or another day of keeping an emergency ward open to save lives.
Enjoy your new taxpayer-funded hydro pools, “partners,” whoever you may be!
Ever wonder why we have a civic cash crunch?
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