Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 37

SECTION Til I 1 ID 5455 Cmlfrr Trml Sli Baikley will be missed D2 Neilson battling cancer D3 The Stats Story D6-7 Critrolin 90 few Arta EDITOR: JOHN MacKINNON, 429-5303; sportsthejournal.southam.ca EDMONTON JOURNAL SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1999 WORLD OPEN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP OVERTIME Promoter quicldy discovers road to curling success full of potholes Rudy Ramcharan 't has hands full gettingbig spiel off the ground MarkSpector Spits Comment i ii in i in 3 iM-'-niir- 5 i VO No one in the curling world wanted Rudy Ramcharan to hold his press conference in the mid- die of Edmonton's Brierweeklast March, but the promoter in him knew that the timing was perfect So with the assembled Cana-' oUan curling press in town, Ram- charan not only announced his $500,000 World Open Curling Championship, but he did it in grand fashion, with a police-es-' corted attache case containing was to be the winner's share in AgriCom. "WeVegotaquarterofamillion dollars, but the guy who gave us that hopes he doesn't have to spend it," Ramcharan said that day last March. Now? 'lhadaquarter ofamilliondol- 1 lars in a suitcase when I started I charan said this week. "The mys-- tery man has given us the mon- I I ey he's promised to give and we've spent it. He'd like to get his money back.

That's not looking likely now, Aah, the life of a Ramcliaranhadit all at his March' coming out party. The briefcase full of cash is, of course, a staple in the press con-; ference business, while the mys-' tery backer had been borrowed from former local boxing pro-: moter Garry Stevenson, who with Don King almost staged The Cold War, a fight between Mike Tyson and Donovan Ruddock that never came off in 1989. And this would be the richest bonspiel ever undertaken in the history of curling, something the I giratBiUHunterhadhimselfde- clared a few years before. Ramcharan talked the talk that day, and todayhe walks the many walksthatgoalongwiththerole. I It is the promotePs hurried gait through the mire of details that pile up as the event draws near.

Or the tip-toeing that goes on jumped through a million hoops just SHAUGHN BUTTS, THE JOURNAL to make his dream a reality. Maier suffers slight concussion val d'isere, France Hermann Maier, who has won five of his six World Cup races this year, was left with a bruised spine and slight concussion Friday after a crash during practice. The Austrian star still intended to race today in his bid to win a downhill for the first time on this course. He also planned to compete in the giant slalom Sunday. Tm always so unlucky here," he said.

"At the start of the year, it was one of my goals to win downhills at the events where I've never won: Val d'isere, Ses-triereandKitzbuehel. "I don't know what shape fll be in tomorrow. Sometimes these things are worse the next day." Maier skidded off the course Friday during a giant slalom practice run. He was tossed in the air and slammed on his back, his head hitting the hard snow. Tyson wont face ferret-abuse charges las vegas Mike Tyson won't have ferret neglect charges on his record.

Authorities say they won't charge the former heavyweight boxing champion with neglecting two ferrets at his Las Vegas home mostly because they don't know who was supposed to be taking care of the animals. "We cannot prove who the caretaker was," said Donna Rosenberg of the Clark County District Attorney's office. "We believe that the ferrets were neglected, but Mike Tyson was not at home nor present during the incident He left them in the care of other people and it's really undear who was really responsible." One of Tyson's personal assistants stepped forward earlier to claim ownership of the two ferrets. The animals caused a stir af- -ter one was found dead and the other malnourished at Tyson's estate last month. Tyson assistant Darryi Francis said he was the one caring for the ferrets and sought aid when they appeared sick.

Francis said Tyson gave him the ferrets two years ago and that they lived in a cage in a weighdifting room at Tyson's estate. "Mike ain't no ferret abuser," -Francis said earlier this week. Wedding bells forRebagliati whistler, B.C. Canada's snowboarding king is getting married. Ross Rebagliati will wed Toronto native Renee Schembri in July and will take the year off to get ready for it "I think he needs a year off to be able to prepare for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and our wedding," said 29-year-old Schembri, a former competitive boarder.

"That way I get him all to myself." Both moved to Whistler in the late 1980s. They were acquaintances but never dated until a few months ago when fate stepped in on a street comer in Toronto. "I was basically standing on a street corner and he was in a car and I said, That looks like and he heard me say it -and he waved at me like I was a fan and he didn't recognize me," Schembri recalled. The next day I called him up." NHL BUFFALO 2 CHICAGO 1 DETROIT 3 LOS ANGELES 1 TAMPA BAY 3 CAROLINA 2 ST. LOUIS 4 NASHVILLE 2 CALGARY 3 VANCOUVER 2 DALLAS 4 FLORIDA 3 COLORADO 2 ANAHEIM 1 SAN JOSE 4 ATLANTA 1 TIIAV TV 11 p.m.,CBC New York Islanders at Ottawa Senators; 5 p.m., Philadelphia Flyers at Toronto Maple Leafs miniiiin ii, i'irliil I Maturity looking devilishly good on Jason Arnott World Open Curling Championship, has "Boxing matches continually get changed So we're not breaking any new ground here." Indeed, he is not His brand new Professional Cuders Association (PCA) stacks upnexttotheWorWCIurlingTour (WCT) and the Canadian Curling Association (CCA) like another of the alphabet boxing bodies.

Two nights ago Ramcharan, involved in seemingly every detail ofthis production, was pickingup B.C. skip Bert Gretzinger at the airport I'm betting he sent Gretzinger back in a cab, however, when he and his rink pulled out at the last minute. He admits he models himself after Hunter, from whom he has sought much advice in this endeavor. "He told me, 'Don't blow the budget on Ramcharan said. Jason Arnott, no longer a kid at 25, has a down day or whatever, but Arnie comes out and works and plays hard.

I like what he's given us." Maybe all Arnott needed to become the kind of player he is now was time something he ran out Rudy Ramcharan, promoter of the whenever issues like prize money are raised, often followed by the trademarkbackpedal when it is revealed that March's quarter-million first prize has dwindled to $30,000. This Trinidad-born, Alliance, Alberta-raised 35-year-old, has started big, with the yawning stands of the AgriCom waiting to be filled for nine consecutive days of curling this month. And his lineup of cuders, which at one time dwarfed any Brier roster in talent, has slowly dwindled. Although if there are no more last-minute deletions, it should still be outstanding. "You shoot high, thenyousetde for less," reasoned Ramcharan, who doesn't take offence to the boxing analogy.

"There are always changes in boxing. Competitors drop out, prize money gets altered. and Kenny Daneykos and Randy McKays of the league, you learn a lot from them. They go out and perform every night and you take little tidbits from them. It's been a great learning experience for me." Arnott still hasn't lived up to that rookie season, at least not statistically he had 27 goals last season and after just 10 in 1997-98 and maybe he never will.

But after a slow start, Arnott has played some very good hockey. He scored twice in the Devils' 40 win over Chicago Thursday. "Jason has played very well for us," New Jersey coach Robbie Ftorek said after practice Friday. "He's a big horse and we've got him between two young kids who are very talented, very gifted. "Arnie doesn't miss a beat with them.

He keeps up with them. He playmates with them. "He hits for them and he protects them, to a certain extent" The most significant change, consistency and maturity aside, is that Arnott hasadue in his own end of the rink. He will face the Oilers today at plus-5. In his final two seasons in Edmonton, Arnott was a combined minus-36.

"He's been doing really great things for us. We've been really happy with him and impressed with him since he's come over Ftorek said. "He hasn't been here that long, but he stays pretty consistent with his game. Everybody money has drawn some of Canada's top cuders, but others have steered dear. This event is as long as a Brier, and with only 10,000 seats sold out of a possible 75,000 as of late in the week, you can bet teams will be cashing cheques with hack-weight speed come next Sunday.

ButRamcharandoesn'twantto talk about that Next year, he says, it will be a shorter event "We wanted to make a lot of noise this year" and this won't be the only event on the PCA calendar, but one of five different bonspiels. And you can bet they'll be the finest bonspiels ever staged. Hunter's always were. E-Mail Mark Spector at Guy Hemmings profiled D5 ARNOTT ON TAP A quick sketch of New Jersey Devil centre Jason Arnott: I AGE: 25 I HOMETOWN: Collingwood, Ont. DEVILISH DAYS Arnott has scored 7-9-16 and is a plus-5 in 24 games with the Devils this season.

Signed a one-year contract for $1.8 million last summer after scoring 27-27-54 in 1998-99. In133 games with New Jersey, Arnott has scored 39-46-85. I GETTING HERE Traded to New Jersey with Bryan Muir for Bill Guerin and Valeri Zelepukin Jan. 4, 1998. Drafted seventh overall from the OHL Oshawa Generals by the Edmonton Oilers in 1993.

tion, because they really focused on the defensive game. It makes the game easier." Had the Oilers waited on him, who knows? He doesn't waste time thinking about it "When you're playing with two yoiinger guys, you trytobe more of a leader out there and help them along. Be positive. That's the biggest thing I've learned from a lot of guys, is try to stay positive even when it's down and out, and try to lead by example." Yes, he's into it now. Oiler notes D3 No problem there TSN was -supposed to televise this event but pulled out late last month.

So without TV, this is realty just theMiUeriniumversionofagood old car 'spiel "It's just the next level, really. Bill Hunter started it," hesaid of the Saskatoon and Red Deer events fronted by Hunter. "Bill is funny. The doctor told him one day, You have one day to So that day he announced, Tm taking a year off of running my Bill always did all the work himself. He was always in touch with everything." That's what Ramcharan has tried to do here, but it appears he has bitten off more than he can chew.

There was no press conference held to hype the event Page 1 in the promotions handbook. The ever-diminishing prize BRUCE EDWARDS, THE JOURNAL has become a leader for the Devils. of in Edmonton. "I feel that my defensive game has come a long way," he said. "The defensive style of game this team produces is the top.

vhen I first came here, it was difficult to learn, there's no ques- i tj I it It. 4 ROBIN BROWNLEE journal Hockey Writer EAST RUTHERFORD, "I just wasn't into it" Those are the five words indelibly stamped on Jason Amott's career with the Edmonton Oilers, words for which the big, good-looking kid with so much potential is still remembered. Uttered byahighry paid and underachieving Arnott after a particularly bad game, they stuck with him until he was, almost mercifully, traded to the New Jersey Devils in January of 1998. Two years later, older and dearly a lot wiser, Arnott has landed firmly on his feet on the New Jer-seyTurnpike. He is into it now.

"Ever since I got here, it's been nothing but open arms for me," At 25, Arnott is these days talking about taking a leadership role with the Devils and he is doing it with a straight face. No smirk. No shrug. None of the cockiness he carried after the Oilers drafted him seventh overall in 1993 and that lingered after he teased fans and coaches with 33 goals as a rookie. "No question, you mature as the years go on," said Arnott, who is playing between youngsters Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias.

"The morevou play, the more you learn. The older guys who you play with, the Scott Stevens i 11. Ai4iiiii'.