Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 2

Calgary Herald Entertainment D6 Classified D8 Weather D10 Bedtime Stories D12 TUESDAY February 9, 1993 Editor: Tony McAuley 235-7377 pip S)3 TAT Perfect challenge for the ultimate team LINDROS ACQUITTED Allan Maki Herald columnist J('j This just in: Stampeders win 1993 Grey Cup. Coach guarantees Says Stamps will not only be in the big game at McMahon Stadium, but will win it! Calgarians cheer. Many rush to 9th Ave. to get a good spot for the Nov. 29th victory parade.

Yes. He said it. Wally Buono has promised that, come the evening of Nov. 28, the Stamps will once again be champions of the Canadian Football League. He also winked, grinned and asked his boss, Stamps' owner Larry Ryckman: "You're not going to hold me to that, are you? That's just for today" today being Monday's confirmation that the Grey Cup game was returning here for the first time since 1975.

All kidding and back-slapping aside and there was plenty of both yesterday inside the Palliser Hotel's Crystal ballroom most everyone expects Buono's Stamps to be in the Grey Cup nine months from now. It's almost a given. Like Buffalo having its chicken wings clipped at the Super Bowl. People look at the Stamps and see the 1992 Grey Cup win, a quarterback who can run right out of his shoes and the best coach-general wounded pocketbooks. "I'm going to tell our guys: You want a raise? Win the Grey Cup and you get a $16,000 That's the reality.

There's nothing else I can do about it. But as a team, this is a chance for us to do something special; to be in three Grey Cups in a row. And I'll tell you what: You sure don't want somebody else sitting in your locker room, representing the West, while you're watching the game. I think we have the kind of players who are focused and motivated enough to try and win another championship." The Stamps do possess enough veterans to deal with adversity. They have character.

They have Doug Flu-tie. They were an incredibly driven bunch last year. But salary cuts and heightened expectations can mess with any chemistry and this season will test the Stamps like never before. Buono thinks that's good. It's the perfect challenge for the ultimate team.

The coach, of course, is convinced the Stamps will overcome everything en route to the promised title. That's what he said Monday. Today, he's preparing his list of salary-cut victims and promising he will hold himself to it. went out and captured the title is not going to be a popular move. Buono can appreciate that.

He doctored his salary, along with that of his staff, in the hopes of setting an example and reaching the required the total. It was an admirabe gesture but it's not going to soothe the grumbling that's sure to come from the Stamps' dressing room. Want more? There's more. The coming expansion draft, which will provide players for Sacramento Gold Miners, will cost Calgary at least two Canadians and both will be starters. Travelling to Sacramento will put an extra strain on matters.

Then there's the pressure of being the defending Grey Cup champ and having everyone in the CFL lining up to deliver their best shots. Toronto Argos took so many hits last year, they not only didn't reach the Grey Cup Game, but they sold their rights to the '93 final to the first guy who put up his hand. And now it's up to Buono to make sure his team doesn't suffer the same defeat. For purposes of pride, Buono is counting on a home-town Grey Cup to inspire his players and heal their manager in the league and they say: "Hey, bud. Move over.

This is my spot for the parade." But it's not going to be that easy and Buono knows it. For starters, repeating is now a CFL rarity. The last team to win back-to-back championships was Edmonton Eskimos in 1981 and '82. The last team to win a Grey Cup on its home turf was Montreal Alouettes in 1977. Buono was a member of that team and also started at linebacker in the first Grey Cup game played here.

"What do I remember about that game?" Buono was asked. "How cold it was." Also blocking the Stamps' plans to repeat is the CFL's new $2.5 million salary cap which requires Buono to trim a neat $500,000 off his payroll. Cutting money from players who Big game's icing on Stamps' cake Police, prosecutors and sexual politics combined to make Eric Lin-dros the real victim of a nightclub beer fight, his lawyer charged Monday after the hockey sensation was aquitted of common assault in Os-hawa, Ont. (Page D2) SLEEPING IN COSTLY Although it was the beginning of the All-Star break, there was cause for alarm last Thursday when Sergei Makarov and Alexander Go-dynyuk missed Calgary Flames' flight back from New Jersey. Alarm as in alarm clock.

"We just slept in," confessed Go-dynyuk, who rooms with Makarov. "We woke up at 8:30 and everyone was gone. The coaches said they called to our room, but we never heard the phone." Godynyuk said there was confusion because he and Makarov weren't assigned the room under which they'd been registered. He said Makarov had an alarm on his wristwatch but, if it went off, they didn't hear it. The Flames didn't discipline the players, who showed up for Monday's practice on time.

But they still paid for their tardiness they had to buy their own tickets on the next flight home, at $700 each. RATINGS A BUST The National Hockey League's All-Star Game was a bust on and off the ice. Preliminary U.S. television ratings for the game were down for the fourth straight year, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co.

Saturday's 16-6 laugher got a 3.3 rating on NBC. Previous ratings were 4.4 (1990), 4.0 (1991) and 3.4 (1992). One rating point represents 950,000 households in the U.S. The National Basketball Association All-Star Game rated 13.7 last year on NBC, while baseball's All-Star Game hit 14.7 on CBS. Observed NHL broadcasting director Skip Prince: "We'd like to have done better, but (the early score of) 6-0 didn't help." WALKER CASHES IN bTJasSSi By Murray Rauw (Herald writer) On the field, Calgary Stampeders have risen from Canadian Football League doormats to champions.

Now, the business side has transformed from a cash-strapped organization to a privately-owned team anxious to handle the league's showcase event the Grey Cup Game. "Clearly, this is what our city needs today," said Stamps' owner Larry Ryckman, after making the long-anticipated announcement that the 1993 championship game will be played Nov. 28 at McMahon Stadium. "We've won the Grey Cup, but to get football interest back to the levels it was at in the 70s, hosting the Grey Cup is the absolute perfect, perfect way to do it. "We've taken a bankrupt team that wasn't well-respected to one many are calling the class act in the league." Seated with Ryckman at the head table at the Palliser Hotel when the announcment was made were Mayor Al Duerr, Calgary Convention and Visitors Bureau president Henry Ku-tarna, McMahon Stadium Society president Tony Anselmo, Stampeders' Alumni president Herm Harrison and general manager-head coach of the Western Division team, Wally Buono.

All offered moral support, but Ryckman is on his own when it comes to financing the game. Ryckman said the CFL's board of governors had unanimously approved his acquisition of the rights to the big game from Toronto Argonauts' owner Bruce McNall. Ryckman guaranteed the league a minimum of $3 million and paid McNall an estimated $300,000 for the game. The next step is forming a steering committee to co-ordinate the many committees that will be needed to or ganize the week-long event. Ryckman confirmed a Grey Cup parade that event was cancelled last year in Toronto due to lack of interest will be part of the week-long festivities.

And he will study the wisdom of reviving a Miss Grey Cup Pageant, a tradition which also was scrapped by Toronto in 1992. The vision of hosting the big game at McMahon appeared to be deflating like a worn-out football in recent weeks because civic funds were not available and there were uncertainties about the cost of constructing as many as 12,000 temporary seats. Ryckman has now agreed to pick up the cost, although he will search for a corporate sponsor. "I have a firm signed and sealed quote on how much the extra seats are going to cost," said Ryckman. "That's what gave me the comfort zone." McMahon has 38,205 seats.

Capacity will increase to 45,000 with the temporary seats, with provisions in place to build higher if advance sales go as expected. As many as 50,000 seats will be available if the demand is there. Ryckman said the ticket prices will be the same as in Toronto last year, ranging between $85 and $150. Stampeders' season-ticket holders will have first chance at the prime seats. Season-ticket subscribers, as of March 31, will have the opportunity to claim that seat for the Grey Cup.

Ryckman agreed he had no way of estimating how season-ticket sales will be stimulated by the acquisition of the November classic, but he is counting on the lure of guaranteed sideline tickets to generate new sales. Last year, the Stamps announced their season-ticket base at 16,000. ft r2 F-J fan. Montreal right-fielder Larry Walker, the Expos' player of the year in 1992, now is the National League baseball team's salary leader. The native of Maple Ridge, B.C., signed a one-year, $3 million deal Monday.

WALKER Ian Gazeley, Calgary Herald GIANT ERECTOR SET: UMACS employee John Davidson can't wait to begin putting together all these 12,000 temporary seats at McMahon Stadium. The project is scheduled to begin around Labor Day. Walker, who more than tripled his 1992 salary of $950,000, was scheduled for an arbitration hearing within the next few days. (Page D2) PARADE IS OK Marge Schott can still participate in Cincinnati's annual Opening Day parade. She can bring her dog, too, if she wants.

An organizer said Monday the suspended owner of baseball's Reds will be invited to fill her customary Kleibrink ascends provincial throne role of starting the downtown parade. The Reds open the season April 5 against Montreal. Marge has never been in the pa rade, but she usually comes up and kicks it off," said organizer Jeff Gibbs. "It's always been a big deal for her to come up to the fire truck and blow the horn when the parade CURLING (s i I starts. Schott was suspended by base ball's ruling executive council last week for using racial slurs.

SCOREBOARD HOCKEY NATIONAL LEAGUE Funk is in a similar position to what Kleibrink was after losing the 1991 A Event final and, then, the playoff game to Deb Shermack-Santos. "I feel like we put our best foot forward for five games and tripped up on the sixth," said Funk. Funk had magnificent draw weight during the morning's first playoff game as she beat three-time provincial champ Shermack-Santos 9-7. But that touch deserted her in the afternoon. "You can't miss open draws against a team the calibre of the Kleibrink rink.

Our lead curled great, and the rest of us made half-shots. "I don't want to take all the blame, but I do want to take most of it." There had been plenty of talk that Kleibrink was in a tough position. Despite winning A Event, she had lost two straight before the playoffs, while Funk entered the final game with a five-game winning streak. "I didn't realize they were going in with five straight wins," said Kleibrink. She had a potentially harmful 24-hour wait before the playoffs.

"Two of us being pregnant, we thought we needed a rest," said Jenkins. The expectant mothers Kleibrink, three months and Jenkins, six aid they would have to temper their celebrations, notably by going easy on the special cocktails prepared with each rink's name. "Maybe just one Kleibrink Krusher," said Kleibrink. "I've saved up all week for this." (Distributed By SouthamStar Network) By Ray Turchansky (Edmonton Journal) EDMONTON Six years ago, LaDawn Funk plucked a couple of plane tickets from Shannon Kleibrink's grasp. Monday, Kleibrink stole Funk's heart.

Kleibrink displayed the guts of a burglar in the provincial women's curling championship, stealing a point on the third end, one on the fifth and two on the sixth for a 4-0 lead. As a result, the gold chain with a heart pendant was placed around Kleibrink's neck after her 5-3 win over Funk in the sudden-death battle of 24-year-old skips for the Alberta Scott Tournament of Hearts at the Balmoral. The Airdrie foursome, with Fort Saskatchewan native Sandra Jenkins at third, Sally Shigehiro at second and Joanne Wright at lead, will wear Alberta's colors at the national championship, Feb. 27-March 6 in Brandon. The trip was a long time coming, after Funk beat Kleibrink twice in 1987 to go to the Canadian junior championship in Prince Albert, and the Canada Winter Games in Sydney, N.S.

"When LaDawn beat us in '87, she was clearly the stronger team," said Kleibrink, who works for a food brokerage. "But, this year, we thought we were going to go all the way when we won the Saskatoon bonspiel in November. We had posters of Brandon on our wall. That's whon we learned how to win. We beat (Canadian champ) Connie Laliberte and a lot of tough teams.

The $10,000 (first prize) didn't mean anything to us, Ottawa Senators 4 Buffalo Sabres 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 4 Boston Bruins 0 New Jersey Devils 5 New Yor Rangers 4 St. Louis Blues 3 Hartford Whalers 1 Jim Cochrane, Edmonton Journal BIG HUG: Shannon Kleibrink gets hug from Randy Jenkins, husband of second Sandra compared to this. But it gets you prepared for this." The win was particularly sweet for Jenkins, who last played in the Canadians with Edmonton's Cathy Shaw in 1982 and '83, losing the final the latter year. "It's been such a long time," said Jenkins, 31. "I started thinking: 'When is this day going to Winning virtually in her old back yard was a bonus.

"It's so nice having everybody here. My grandparents are here. I like winning here, because people are probably forgetting about me now." TVRADIO TUESDAY 6:30 p.m (WSBK) NHL: Boston Bruins at St. Louis Blues. 8:35 p.m.

(TBS) NBA: Atlanta Hawks at Golden State Warriors..