The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 16

B2 The Ottawa Citizen, Friday, June 3, 1994 SPORTS FOOTBALL RHadDalb among Mall off Fame friends a Hall off Fame File What: Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame induction Who: Ron Lacelle, boxing; Eddie MacCabe, builder; Barbara McLeod, running; Fred Morris, ski jumping; Janet Morrissey, figure skating, Gary Schreider, football Members: 163 w. v. A. Bruno Schlumberger, Citizen HALL OF FAME HUG: Former Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Journal sports writer Eddie MacCabe is given a hug by seven-year-old granddaughter Jamie Clark more. Being inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame is like coming home for MacCabe.

At 67, he esti- mates he has written about or knows 90 per cent of the hall's career at Queen's University and through the CFL, went to school with Morrissey's father, and watched Morris develop ski jumping at the Ottawa Ski Club. McLeod, an utramarathon runner, threatened to run for four hours if she ran out of words in her thank you speech. And she was prepared, wearing new running shoes with her summer white dress. She kept the 200 guests in stitches with her unrehearsed speech which included a mention of res-tauranteur Dave Smith. "When I need a place to stop and piddle (on training runs), I have been using his restaurant for the past nine years," she said.

"It's more significant for me than any other honor I have been accorded," said the oft-feted MacCabe, who accepted his plaque in front of family and friends. "There are so many great athletes here (in the hall), and I have covered most of them. But I don't equate myself to any of them." He knew the honor was in the wings. MacCabe automatically qualified for Ottawa hall entry because he is a member of a national sports hall of fame. In 1985, he was inducted into the media section of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

A determined and feisty athlete, Gary Schreider, 60 Football: A three-time all-star, Schreider played nine CFL seasons with Ottawa, British Columbia and Hamilton as a halfback and placement kicker, and was the first CFL Players' Association president in 1963. At Queen's University, he helped the Golden Gaels win the 1955 national championship. He also was an accomplished sprinter. other 162 members. This year is a good example.

He covered Lacelle's amateur boxing matches at the Coliseum about 50 metres from the site of the ceremo- ny, followed Schreider's football Janet Morrissey, 34 Figure skating: Morrissey won the senior women's singles title at the 1979 Canadian figure skating championships to qualify for her only world championship. In 1980, she was second at the nationals and retired after not being named to the Olympic team. She also won international medals at competitions in France and Germany. r'V (: Lions roar after Riders; sign Mills By Don Campbell Citizen football writer The B.C. Lions are prepared to take legal action against the Ottawa -Rough Riders over the signing of' offensive lineman Jim Mills.

The Riders held a press conference Thursday to anncince a deal with Mills, the two-time winner of the most outstanding lineman award. The contract was negotiated with the understanding that Mills is a free agent. The Lions don't agree, claiming that Mills is still contractually' bound to B.C. "We will defend our position any way we can," said Lions general manager Eric Tillman. "I am absdt lutely confident, from a legal stand' point, our position will be validated.

We would like a quick and mutually beneficial resolution. all comes down to one thing: a man's truth is either his bond or it isn't Personally, I'm very disappointed because I had tre mendous respect for Jim. CFL commissioner Larry Smith is well versed with the Mills' situation, and the Lions won't be getting his sympathy. "He was a free agent in accordance with the CFL bylaws," said league vice-president of communications Mike Murray. While terms of the Riders deal with Mills were not released, it's believed the total package is worth in excess of $100,000, enough to make Mills the top paid lineman in the league.

Ottawa outbid the Toronto Argonauts and the expansion Las Vegas Posse. The contract is believed to be for a base comparable to the $77,000 Mills was offered by the Lions this winter, a slight cut from the $85,000 he earned last season. But the Riders also offered accommodation, a leased automobile and a interest-free loan. The entire package is certain to cause grumbling among other CFL executives. "There will be the usual whining and bitching," said Riders player personnel consultant Mike McCarthy.

"Let them." The Lions contend Mills and the Riders cannot deal because of an addendum to his contract which Mills signed last Nov. 1. i i i ui a i lieu leicase Mills asked for and was granted his release from the Lions to pursue opportunities in the National Football League. Mills played from 1983-85 with the Baltimore Colts and 1986 with the Denver Broncos. He is only three games short of qualifying for the NFL pension plan.

Mills had hoped to get those games in by catching on with a team with injury problems. So he signed the addendum guaranteeing that should he return to the CFL, he would negotiate with the Lions in good faith. "The bottom line is we have a difference of opinion," said Mills' agent Rick Klassen, from Vancouver. Klassen, a former Lion, only got involved April 29 when negotiations between Mills and the Lions went sour. "We say he's a free agent.

The Riders say he's a free agent The league says he's a free agent. The (CFL) players' association agrees. The only people who don't agree are the Lions. "From my side, I did negotiate for three weeks with the Lions. But there came a time when I had to determine Jim's market value arid it became apparent it was higher than what the Lions were offering.

Ottawa stepped up to the plate. "I don't fear (legal action). The Riders say they don't. But I do feel it would be negative for all sides to have to get into an arbitration process to settle this." Riders head coach Adam Rita has a 15-year relationship with Mills that goes back to the University of Hawaii and continued for three years when Rita was an assistant coach with the Lions. Rita said the league ruled Mills a free aeent.

and that's good i- rm i 11. -I TIT 1 ii 1 1 wun rLi vice-presiaeiH xuuiuaii operations Ed Chalupka and CFLPA legal counsel Ed Molstad. Chalupka said while there may be trouble down the road, by definition from the league, Mills was free. "I think that's (Tillman) blowing a lot of smoke," said Rita. All we can go on is what the league tells us.

"I even told Tillman if he thinks (Mills) is theirs, we would trade for him. He didn't want to do that" Writing veteran iic stranger to fellow inductees By Martin Geary Citizen sports writer In the library quiet of the computerized newsroom, a golden oldie was humming from the far corner. rlt was a solo, as it was five nights aweek in the early 1960s, featuring ajrall of fame typewriter and the tap dancing fingers of Ottawa Citi-zen'sports editor Eddie MacCabe, a multi-media hall of famer. MacCabe, who was called into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame as a builder Thursday with his friends of sport Ron Lacelle, Fred Morris, Gary Schreider, Barbara McLeod and Janet Morrissey, was writing another of his daily columns on Ottawa's sports history. Four sheets of paper.

Double-spaced. Rarely a revision. Then the signature, which for him completed the signature of the sports page the sports editor's When he finished, he would regale his staff with the gospel according to MacCabe, sparking laughter and questions of authenticity, which were never asked. It was the perfect night shift tonic. i Writing and story telling was Eddie MacCabe as the readers of the Ottawa Citizen and the defunct Ottawa Journal for the past 50 years will strongly attest After 35 years at the Journal and in the midst of his 15 years with the Cifem writing sports and heartwarming Christmas short stories (en was made into a TV drama last year), MacCabe went on long-term disability after a heart attack inl985.

But once he started writing freelance stories on local and Valley heroes and examining the great outdoors, the readers chanted for Barbara McLeod, 56 Running: A trailblazer for Canadian women's long distance running, McLeod has set numerous world national age group records and her victories include a world masters ultramarathon title. A poor fitness in 1980 set her in perpetual motion, which also has 4aken her to the Canadian fioadrunners Hall of Fame. TENNIS Edberg suffers familiar fate -ijONDON (AP) Stefan Edberg, a first-round loser at the French Open last week, was upset again on Thursday, this time on grass at Beckenham. iY The Swede, ranked No. 3 in the world, squandered four match 'points in losing 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (7-2), 7-6 to left-hander Wayne Arthurs.

Edberg, who said later he suf--fered a back injury in practice earlier in the day, led 040 in the final set but couldn't put the Aus-, tralian away. Arthurs, ranked 364th, survived another match point later in that -game before forcing the set into a I tiebreak. Once there, Edberg had no real answer for the Australian's serving power and was overwhelmed. "I hurt my back this morning, and it's the fourth or fifth time this year," said Edberg, who lost to countryman Henrik Holm in the first round at Roland Garros. "I've played through with it before and got away with it I took a chance, -and it didn't come off.

"I was actually thinking about s. stopping at one point" A 1 his writing had a lot of the same characteristics, going well beyond the basic five Ws. "He called a spade a spade and he wasnt afraid of going out on a limb," said Mike Scott, a boxing and canoeing administrator. "He was close to the scene. He put his heart into it" MacCabe enjoys spinning the tale of how, while covering the 1974 World Hockey Association-Soviet Union hockey series in Moscow, he used an oil company credit card to visit some Russian family apartments, and later entered a factory which made train wheels.

The Canadian Embassy asked him to restrict his writing to hockey. MacCabe said no and would take his orders from his Journal editors, who told him to carry on. And he did. MacCabe, who has written books and worked on television and radio, wants to write again now that his health is improving. In February, he had a cancerous tumor successfully removed from his rectum, but he lost 30 pounds.

Nine years after suffering a heart attack, his ticker has a reasonable beat "The thrill of it was you got to meet people who were really great people," said MacCabe, who once caddied for former United States president Dwight Eisenhower when he played at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in 1959. "You knew at the time, while their greatness wasn't being recognized, that they would be immortal." MacCabe, Lacelle, McLeod, Morris, Morrissey and Schreider received their measure of immorality Thursday night and will serve as beacons of light for others. "Hall of fames are wonderful for the community," MacCabe said. "They glorify the past and illuminate the future." Ronald Lacelle, 65 Boxing: A prominent boxer in the 1940s, Lacelle won the Canadian amateur bantamweight title in 1940 and came within one win of qualifying for the 1948 Olympics. He retired in 1955 without turning professional, although he was considered one of the best in his class.

He was elected to the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame in 1976. banned from the tennis circuit, and from his daughter's life, after he made one disturbance too many during her third-round match here. Mary Pierce decided that same night to sever their relationship. One year, several bodyguards and a quasi-Christmas reunion later, she is still making her tennis career her own business. "Many things have changed in the past year on the court and outside of the court; life is more fun now," said Pierce, whose tennis results began to improve as soon as she stopped feeling the pressure to win every match, just to justify her father's investment in her tennis.

"It's a dream for me to beat the No. 1 player in the world, but it's also realistic, because I always felt I had the game to beat the top players," said Pierce, who was 0-19 against the world's top 10 until she staged back-to-back breakthrough victories against Gabriela Sabatini and Martina Navratilova in her debut run at the Virginia Slims Championships last November. Grafs loss Thursday, just her second in 44 matches this year, cost the German her 33-match Grand Slam winning streak and ended her year-long dominance of tennis's four major tournaments. It also marked the first time since February 1993 that Graf failed to reach the final of an event she had entered. Her remarkable consistency had taken her to 20 consecutive finals, just three short of the record set by Navratilova in 1984.

But all of that indomitability turned to vulnerability Thursday afternoon. Tense and off-target from the baseline, and thoroughly unable to achieve any accuracy with her first serve, Graf seemed little more than a pawn for Pierce's relentless aggression. With files from the Associated Press Fred Morris, posthumously Ski jumping: When the national ski jumping program collapsed after the 1976 Winter Olympics, Morris came to the rescue. As Canadian jumping, chairman, he took $7,000 and helped develop athletes like Horst Bulau and Steve Collins. Mom's, a past Ottawa sportsman of the year, was a jumping administrator for 38 years.

He died in February at age 76. TENNIS Pierce pounds (Graf into submission I Reuter photo PIERCING FOREHAND: Mary Pierce delighted French tennis fans with an upset of Steffi Graf at the French Open By Robin Finn The New York Times PARIS With the wind-whipped clay stinging her eyes and the pulverizing strokes of Mary Pierce getting under her skin, Steffi Graf, the defending champion of the French Open and all three other Grand Slam tournaments, was ambushed on a stormy Thursday afternoon in the semifinals by her opponent's simple combination of brute strength and iron will. Thunder, plus a wildly partisan French crowd at Roland Garros, provided the background music Thursday as the 12th-seeded Pierce pounded Graf into submission, 6-2, 6-2. Pierce, who had already caused a commotion here in her adopted homeland after reaching the semifinal round in record-setting fashion by yielding only six games, said she was determined to forget Grafs ranking and 15 Slam crowns and treat her like just another anonymous first-round opponent. In Grafs estimation, the Florida-trained Pierce more than succeeded.

"There was very little I could do," said Graf, whose most telling contribution to the match was her 27 unforced errors. "She attacked the ball, took it early, played very deep and very hard and my level of game wasn't enough to push her to make some errors." Meanwhile, Grant Connell and Patrick Galbraith had their men's doubles semifinal suspended by darkness. The top-seeded team of Connell, of Vancouver, and his American partner were tied at a set apiece, 7-6 (74), 3, with 12th-seed Jan Apell and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden. The match resumes today. Earlier, promising teenager Sonya Jeyaseelan of North Vancouver, B.C., advanced to the nals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Amanda Basica of the United States.

The 18-year-old will meet Amelia Castera of France in the semifinals. Graf found out for real Thursday that she no longer is the biggest girl on the block when it comes to overpowering the competition. One hour and 17 minutes after this upset began, the 19-year-old Pierce advanced to her first career Grand Slam final, becoming the first French woman to do so since Francoise Durr in 1967. Pierce's opponent in Saturday's finale will be Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the 1989 champion, who reached her third French final Thursday by dismissing her third-seeded countrywoman, Conchita Martinez, 6-3, 6-1. Like Graf, Martinez had trouble keeping the ball in bounds day afternoon, and she felt her 48 unforced errors sealed her doom in a first-ever trip to a Slam semifinal.

"It was a terrible day, and I was making all the mistakes myself," said Martinez, adding about her durable, dogged opponent, "I didn't have the patience to put the ball in like her." Although Sanchez Vicario leads her rivalry with Pierce by a 3-1 margin, when they last met on clay this spring in the Hilton Head quarterfinals, it was Pierce who prevailed in three sets. And Pierce after a painful tennis adolescence during which her confidence was repeatedly shaken by the criticism directed at her by Jim Pierce, her father and coach has achieved a mind-body aplomb over the past year that she has spent without him. One year ago, Jim Pierce was fW J-.