Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 79

r- Inside Section Ron Lsjoie Bustss reports Stock listings Pete Brewster EDITOR: MARC HORTON Wednesday, September 22, 1982 1 Ron Lajoie Sports Journal. i ii. ii iii iiii--- i iMK.iijiiiij.w inn iiiBjpui- -i iiii.jiiiiii.il. iii ii i i iii i uiiiiiiiiiii i.y jTzyi 1 y. Sometimes the label 'A chip off the old block' is an unfair one to pin on a kid.

Especially if that block is carved into a granite monument. Ask any kid who has had to grow up in the shadow of a famous parent. Ask Mark and Marty Howe, ask Nancy Sinatra. Ask Ronnie Lancaster Jr. The 19-year-old son of one of Canadian pro football's all-time great quarterbacks is a fair quarterback himself with the Prairie Junior Football Conference Regina Rams.

A big kid with a strong arm and thoroughbred blood lines, he has all the tools. But he isn't a great quarterback. In fact, he doesn't even start for the Rams. He's only been given the starting assignment since regular signal caller Chris Hamilton has been sidelined. So Lancaster doesn't have any delusions of making football a professional career.

Football is just for fun. Perhaps that's why the younger Lancaster doesn't seem to have the identity crisis so common to other super-star's children. "I've got three years of (junior) eligibility left, says Lancaster. "I'm not even really looking at football beyond that. "I'm taking journalism in university so maybe I'll get into that, I hear there is a shortage of good sports reporters," he chuckles.

Still, Lancaster admits that growing up in the shadow of Ronnie Lancaster, superstar, in a small city like Regina hasn't always been easy. "Oh, it probably happened," Lancaster said of the special treatment he received from other kids and parents when playing peewee football. "I guess people said things like 'Gee he's not as good as his things like that." But Lancaster, who began playing football when he was only eight years old, says he has never let that bother him. "What my father did was great," says Lancaster. "But I've got my own life." In fact, when it comes to football Lancaster seems at pains to put as much distance between himself and his famous dad as possible.

"My dad would give me advice if I went up and asked for it," says Lancaster. "But he'd never say anything without me asking first. "Besides if I have problems I'd just as soon go and see my coach. He knows the plays and sees me every day so he'd be the best person to talk to." Ronnie Jr. was in Edmonton on the weekend when his father was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton.

He would have liked to have gone to Hamilton, but he had a game to play here. So while the rest of the Lancaster clan celebrated in Hamilton, Ron Jr. led the Regina Rams to a 52-8 drubbing of the Edmonton Huskies his first big win as a junior. Dad was probably proud when Ronnie Jr. phoned and told him the news.

Ronnie Jr. is proud of his dad, too. But the Junior Lancaster is determined to make his own mark. PICTURE: Ken Orr Making like a forward, Oilers netminder Grant Fuhr does a little stickhandling past Blues' Wayne Babych with Garry Lariviere coming to the rescue in formula eluding Oilers Neither of the newcomers auditioning defencemen Joe McDonnell, Randy Gregg or winger Jan Ludvig looked ready for a move to the man stage. The questions remain.

Who's going to be the sixth blueliner? McDonnell, John Blum, Gregg, Reed Bailey? Who are the third and fourth centres behind Gretzky and Linseman? Sather will keep experimenting tonight when Buffalo Sabres are in town. He's going to bow to curiosity and put Linseman with Anderson and Mark Messier, a line that jeems made in heaven. "I hope the puck can keep up," said Sather. ON THE BENCH Paul Coffey pulled a groin muscle Oilers put winger Curt Brackenbury on waivers without right of recall. If nobody picks him up, he may retire.

They also sent fifth-round drat Dwayne Boettger back to Toronto Marlies T. Czech winger Ludvig nimains the property of Oilers until ihb tryout; agreement runs out Oct. 26. (30-footer) scored by the 10:32 mark. Right about then Blues looked like the guy who comes into a party three hours late lost in space.

By the 26-minute mark, it was tied 4-4, however. Perry Anderson, Joe Mullen (two goals in 20 seconds) and Wayne Babych beat Grant Fuhr. Fuhr left after 18 shots and four goals, giving way to Ron Low. He allowed Babych's second and Bill Baker's 30-footer to deadlock the game with 8V2 minutes to play. Fuhr was victimized by one weak goal (Anderson's) when he wandered out of his net but was helpless on the others.

Rick Heinz replaced Liut and surrendered goals to Lowe and Dave Lumley. "It was an exciting exhibition game and I guess exhibition is the key word," said Oiler coach Glen Sather. "The guy that put on the best exhibition was the referee (Bob Hall) but I guess it's too early for those kind of comments." on Blues, who were playing their fourth game in five nights. OK, exhibitions don't count in the standings. But not winning can become a bad habit that's tough to break like sleeping in.

"After the finish we had last year, we've got to start getting the winning attitude back and it doesn't matter whether you've got 10 regulars in the lineup or 20," said Wayne Gretzky, who had two goals and an assist on Kevin Lowe's powerplay score. "We have to start thinking of burying teams again and winning seven, 8-0," said Gretzky. "We lost a 4-1 lead in our first playoff game against LA, then 5-0 in LA in Game 3." They were also up 3-1 against Calgary last Saturday, before losing 5-4. Glenn Anderson (breakaway) and Gretzky (20-footer) beat Mike Liut on the game's first two shots. Ken Berry (goalmouth open net) and Gretzky again By JIM MATHESON Journal Staff Writer Oilers 6 Blues 6 Exhibition season is three weeks in a lab.

It's a time for experimenting with numbers as coaches try to come up with the right formula. The object? To have the finished product win big in the market place. After three pre-season games, Edmonton Oilers have found a left winger (Jaroslav Pouzar) who plays with crash and dash; a thoroughbred at centre (Ken Linseman) and a sleek, born-again goalie (Andy Moog). Now, somehow, they've got to recapture their ability to beat teams. Oilers extended their winless streak at home to four games (including the 7-4 playoff loss to Los Angeles last spring) Tuesday, with a 6-6 National Hockey League draw with St.

Louis Blues. They led 2-0 after 69 seconds and 4-1 after lOVi minutes, but refused to drop the other shoe Ilesic may be done for year Bucks will settle strike Strife! According to a well-informed the Eskimos are obliged to make payments on Ilesic's mammoth house in Mill Woods, as part of the deal in the 1Z one-year contracts he signed. Ilesic's understanding was that no tax: consequences were included. He's outraged because those payments ar now being taxed to him. "They challenged us with something we're just not prepared to live with," Kimball said.

McMenemy refused to comment on whether the issue involves the taxes, "We're going to play football with or without Hank Ilesic," said Kimball. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it." Ilesic is the league's career leader, with a 46.4-yard punting average. He ranks 12th on the career list for yardage, with 29,825, despite being in the league for only 5V2 seasons. resolved in the problem that arose last week. "We're doing our best to see if Hank Ilesic will play for Edmonton," said McMenemy, "but it takes two sides to negotiate." "I don't anticipate anything else to be done about it," said coach Campbell.

"I expect Hank to be (remain) suspended." "We're not going to make any moves," said Eskimo executive manager Norm Kimball. "The question is if Hank chooses to do something about it. "He's going to remain suspended. I don't know if he's done for the season." Zenon Andrusyshyn, 35, acquired from Toronto Argonauts on waivers last week, flew in today to rejoin the team at practice. He replaced Ilesic, 23, in the Eskimos' 32-14 Sunday win over Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

By MARTY KNACK Journal Staff Writer The Hank Ilesic serial has reached the serious stage. Edmonton Eskimos' talented punter could stay on the suspended list for the remainder of the Canadian Football League season. Ilesic and his lawyer, Francis McMenemy, must alter their thinking drastically before the suspension is lifted. They were planning their strategy Tuesday, after their proposals were rejected by the team's lawyer earlier. "We're not going to say anything at the moment," said McMenemy.

"We're discussing a proposal tonight which we may be putting to the Edmonton Eskimos tomorrow (Wednesday)." McMenemy met with Eskimos' officials Tuesday morning. Nothing was Threat rumors investigated the price of a Mercedes 380 SL. Factor in the five-year length of the new TV contract and that comes to about $150,000 per man per year. So if a formula taking skill and experience into account is set up, that billion dollars might just cover the players' demands. How it is divided up, whether by a set wage scale or by individual bargaining, is really little more than bookkeeping.

What would an offer of this magnitude really cost the owners? A billion dollars, to be sure. But there is another way to look at it and that is to ask what the owners would have left over. They would have all the gate receipts from all those stadiums that are sold out six months ahead of time and then put into interest-bearing CD's. They would have all the revenue from those luxury boxes that are paid for five years in advance at phenomenal rates. They would have the fees they charge for radio rights.

Many of them would have parking and concessions revenue. They would have the money they make from the caps and shirts and jackets and posters and magazines and all the other assorted paraphernalia they license at a considerable And they still would have a By RON RAPAPORT Chicago Sun-Times The subject before the house is a billion dollars. It starts with a B. It's a lot of money. A billion dollars will keep the government of a fair-sized city running for several months.

And it will settle the National Football League strike. If that magic phrase, a billion dollars, flows across the bargaining table from the team owners to the players, then the strike need not be a long one. It need not even disrupt this weekend's games. It was only when the players abandoned their 55 per cent of the gross concept late last week that it all suddenly seemed so simple. Never mind percentages, the union told the owners.

Give us half of that $2. 1 billion television contract you just signed and there will be labor peace in our time. It did not take long to figure out why. Nobody had the slightest idea what 55 per cent of the gross meant. But everybody knows what a billion dollars is.

No matter how many ways you slice it up, it keeps you way ahead of inflation. Consider. There are 28 teams in the NFL. Each of them has 49 players. That's 1,372 men wearing helmets.

Cut them in for equal shares of a billion dollars jand they get thre-quarters of a million each, give or take billion dollars of the television money for themselves. There is one other point that should be made. If the strike drags on through the next couple of weekends, we will be hearing an awful lot about how worried everybody is about the poor deprived fans. Will they be turned off football? the first season after its own lengthy strike during which fan reaction was such a worry, baseball is well on its way to an all-time record attendance. Very soon now, we will discover just what the NFL owners, who have allowed things to reach this perilous state without making an offer the players could take seriously, have in mind.

Once they do make a real offer, take my word for it. Skip all the fine print and go down to the bottom line. If the most important word there begins "I told him to take Monday and Tuesday off because he was sick," Hilts said. However, he said Seymour wanted to race because he was in. the running for leading rider at the track.

In the meantime, the Alberta Racing Commission has posted a new directive in the owner-trainers' room that no trainer can be involved in a syndicate that are betting horse other than his own. "The directive has nothing to do with the rumors at the track," Jenkins said. "It's been a grey area so now we've made it definite. You can't bet another horse and it simply lays it out clearly. "This syndicate flared up with the select six and it happened in Vancouver and then died down." rider threatened but there may be no substance to it.

"At this point I couldn't say there's anything to it but if it did happen it would be a helluva thing," Jenkins said. He pointed out that it is not a formal hearing that has been called by the stewards this morning. "It's just that we're calling people in to talk to them. I don't know if there's any fire in the smoke or not." He said it's not unusual for a rider to ask to be taken off a mount because many of them are fighting to keep their weight and may be run down. Fred Hilts, agent for the jockey, said he didnh know much about the incident but said that Seymour had been sick with the flu for about a week.

By MARC HORTON Journal Sports Editor An informal investigation into rumors of a jockey being threatened at Stampede Park will take place in Calgary this morning. The race in question was the second last in Friday's select six when there were four winning tickets of $100,000 each. Don Seymour, aboard Dedicated Envoy, notified the stewards at the post parade that he was ill and unable to ride his horse. Sean Giblin took over and the horse finished fifth in a nine-horse race. "I don't know that much about it," said Marc supervisor of racing in Calgary.

"Rumors are that maybe there was a with a te strike is as good as over. 1C 5R.