Section B • Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, April 16, 1998
NHL wants to preserve Canadian hockey
The Associated Press
TORONTO — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman issued a blunt warning yesterday to Canadian fans: their six NHL teams will have trouble competing with U.S. franchises unless public officials change fiscal policies.
Bettman came to Canada seeking to ease doubts about the NHL's commitment to preserving big-league hockey in the land that gave birth to the sport. Anxiety has been deep since teams in Quebec City and Winnipeg moved to U.S. cities.
In a speech to business executives and a subsequent news conference, Bettman outlined the NHL's efforts to boost TV revenue for the six Canadian clubs and cushion the impact of the weak Canadian dollar.
Bettman suggested that the six franchises would not thrive unless Canadian politicians offered more help in the form of tax breaks and subsidies for new centers.
"Canadian teams start each season at a disadvantage compared to their U.S. counterparts," he said. "I don't want them to merely survive. I want them to be competitive."
Bettman cited taxes as a major problem, saying the Montreal Canadians and Ottawa Senators each pay more in municipal taxes than all 20 U.S. teams combined. The total tax bill for each Canadian team averages four times that of a U.S. team, he said.
Arena construction is another problem, Bettman said. He said that the new Nashville team would move into a publicly financed arena, while arenas recently opened or under construction in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto relied on private financing.
The Senators even had to pay for construction of a highway exit ramp. Bettman said.
hockey — in Canada.
On April 28, Bettman will return to Canada to testify before a parliamentary subcommittee that plans hearings on the health of the sports industry—particularly
Fans nationwide have been jarred by several recent developments, ranging from a sex-abuse case involving a prominent junior-league coach to the failure of the men's team to win a medal at the
N a g a n c
so c er recently has surpassed hockey for the first time as the sport played by the
most Canadian youths. And one of the country's leading newspapers
— the Globe and Mail — is running a 12-part series about why the sport is in crisis.
Bettman, well-briefed on these problems, said he hoped his comments yesterday would start a public debate about whether more should be done by public officials to support NHL franchises.
At the news briefing, skeptical reporters questioned whether Canadians would be willing to
support tax breaks for pro teams at a time when budget cuts were causing hospitals to close and doctors to stage walkouts.
"This industry is not getting even close to as favorable treatment as other industries," he said.
Bettman responded that the Canadian government already provided financial support for other industries and should look at pro hockey in the same light.
Bettman said he would be "extremely unhappy and disappointed" if another Canadian club relocated to the United States. But he said owners of the 20 U.S. teams would be unlikely to subsidize Canadian teams out of their own pockets, especially if tax policies were viewed as a major part of the problem.
Bettman stressed that the NHL would remain loyal to Canada, which supplies the league with 60 percent of its players.
"The NHL does not and cannot take hockey in Canada for granted," he said. "I assure you of our diligence."
Yankees play at Shea stadium
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Everything seemed slightly out of place.
The Yankees walked off their buses into Shea Stadium.
when the New York Yankees and their fans found the way from the Bronx to Queens for the first game of a doubleheader yesterday, things were familiar — but not quite right.
"Two teams from two leagues that have never gotten along, in the same ballpark," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "It's strange. It's just weird what's going on."
The Yankees were forced to borrow Shea while Yankee Stadium was closed after a 500-pound steel joint fell from the upper deck Monday. New York beat Anaheim, 6-3.
With the Mets at home yesterday against the Chicago Cubs, it marked the first time this century that two regular-season
games involving four teams played in one stadium on the same day.
A similar doubleheader was played in 1885, when the New York Metropolitans of the American Association and the New York Giants of the National League shared the Polo Grounds, said Tim Wiles, director of research at the Baseball Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.
It was a homecoming for several Yankees. Torre, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, third base coach Willie Randolph, pitcher David Cone and outfielder Darryl Strawberry all spent time with the Mets earlier in their careers.
Confusion struck again when a huge apple that salutes home runs by the Mets began to rise beyond the center field fence. Suddenly, it stopped moving when the operator remembered it had a Mets logo on it — and it was a Yankee home run.
Rookie driver overcomes injury seeks position in Indianapolis 500
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Serious injuries in a crash during practice made Danny Drinan even more determined to drive in the Indianapolis 500.
Drinan was a rookie two years ago but sustained a concussion, broken left hip, broken foot and bruised lung when his car slammed into the wall. All he could think about was getting back into a race car.
And Indv. of course.
"Inside, this means a lot. I've been working for this my whole life," said Drinan, one of four drivers who practiced yesterday before rain shut down the Rookie Orientation Program at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Drinan, who had to complete a rookie refresher test Tuesday, had a top speed of 213.63 mph in 11 laps yesterday. Jimmy Kite was the quickest at 215.646. The only others who practiced were Steve Knapp
and Stan Wattles.
Full practice for the May 24 race begins May 10.
Drinan's first injury was to his elbow during a 1992 U.S. Auto Club midget car race at Springfield, Ill. Doctors told him he left with about 45 percent mobility.
"I tore it apart on the therapy sessions and made it work again. I had the same attitude when they fixed my hip," he said. "Then they were trying to hold me back from doing things again, and I just pushed and pushed. I think this is the end result."
Drinan underwent surgery on his hip the day after his 1996 crash at Indianapolis. The next season, he was third in his only two starts in the U.S. Auto Club Silver Crown series. Driving for D.B. Mann Motorsports, he is trying for his first Indy Racing League start this season.
Seniors take swing at golf championship
The Associated Press
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.
The Bend School
— The PGA Seniors' Championship might look like a showdown between Gil Morgan and Hale Irwin, the two dominant players on tour, but don't forget one of the old boys out there — Jack Nicklaus.
While Nicklaus will be coming in this week trying to recover from what must have been an emotionally draining experience at the Masters, Irwin comes into the tournament with the added pressure of trying to win the PGA Seniors' Championship for an unprecedented third consecutive year.
Morgan, 51, is the hot player going into today's first round at the PGA National Golf Club with three victories. Irwin, who won nine times last year, has one victory this year.
Irwin won by 12 strokes last year on a course that proved to be second in difficulty on the Senior Tour, with a stroke average of 75.835. He scored a 14-under-par 24, six shots lower than his winning total of 280 in 1996. His margin was two that year.
The amazing Nicklaus, however, is playing in his backyard and comes into the tournament after an inspiring sixth-place finish at the Masters, a tournament in which he was a contender until the last two holes.
"This is another tournament in which I want to do very well," Irwin said, trying to downplay the significance of the event. "I don't look at the past as this being a three-peat. I don't get into that. I prefer to think about the present and the future."
"I would probably be stupid to say that I wasn't thrilled," Nicklaus said Sunday in Augusta. "But, also, I would be pretty dishonest if I didn't tell you, that I was disappointed. To finish three shots behind with the number of putts I gave away ..."
It was the third of nine titles Irwin won in 1997, matching the Senior Tour record set by Australian Peter Thomson in 1985.
Irwin earned a record $2,343,364.
So far this season, Irwin has one victory, at the Toshiba Senior Classic in Newport Beach, Calif., and never has been out of the top five in five starts.
Still, Irwin feels the role of favorite this week belongs to Gil Morgan.
"No doubt, Gil Morgan is the odds-on favorite," Irwin said. "Let him carry that burden."
Morgan has won three of eight tournaments this year and leads with $674,580 to Irwin's $470,650, second on the money list.
"Gil is off to a great start this year," Irwin said. "My year has been exceptionally good, too, except for a shot here and a shot there. He is making that extra odd putt and I'm not, that's all."
Nicklaus, who was second here last year and won the tournament in 1991, lives five miles away at Lost Tree Village in North Palm Beach. Perhaps he can draw on the same reservoir of self-respect he used in making his phenomenal run at the Masters.
"I guess my own pride," Nicklaus, 58, answered when asked what motivated him at Augusta. "I hadn't played very well lately, and every time I think I'm washed up and everyone else does, too, I seem to play a little better."
Irwin, 52, will be looking to become the second player to win the PGA Seniors three straight times, the first to do so in three consecutive years.
After finishing as the runner-up in 1941, Eddie Williams, a former club professional in Chicago, Cleveland and Louisville, Ky., won the title in 1942 and 1945-46. Because of World War II, there was no tournament in 1943-44. Williams died in 1972 at the age of 81.
Others to be watched included recent past champions Lee Trevino (1992 and 1994), Raymond Floyd (1995) and Larry Nelson, who won the PGA Championship on the same course in 1987. Nelson, who turned 50 last September, earned his first Senior Tour title in February in Sarasota, Fla.