Times Colonist from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada • 11

HOMEOWNERS 22 388-5533 gg HARBORD INSURANCE LIVINGB6 FINANCEB8 Sunday, April 5, 1987 Top awards to Campbell, Bowker DAVE SENICK I I iii i i Tirrmnrroimn mimrim.iniiftfflinii nififtii'ffm i 1r i.l I Ik ft (n Maybe Mr. would help The Eh Team has slipped badly in the ratings. The Montreal Expos are the original Eh Team, the first Canadian franchise in baseball's major leagues. This was a club that could do no wrong in the eyes of their supporters when guys like Mack Jones and Ron Fairly stepped into the batter's box in 1969. It didn't matter that Les Expos were far from a collection of the best the major leagues had to offer.

It was enough that a Canadian team was playing ball in the same league with the big boys. The Expos developed a national' follow ing. The love affair was like that of a parent toward a child. Fans were prepared to pamper their team and put up with the moments of frustration, all with the hope that someday these Expos ould blossom into something special. And it did seem that the hours spent watching players strike out, fielders fumble fly balls and pitchers surrender home runs were to be rewarded.

The Expos were tagged as the team of the 1980s. Their talent was to be enough to scare the opposition into submission, to impress fans and win games. But the closest the Expos came to becoming a big winner was in 1981 when they lost the National League championship to the Los Angeles Dodgers. That has been it. It could be called a moment of glory but losing a league championship causes more grief than celebration.

And like the parent who has watched a child mature with the only ambition of setting up camp on a couch, beer can in hand, patience is no longer-endless. The love affair has ended and the Expos have to prove themselves before it is rekindled. Carling O'Keefe Brewery emphasized that point when it pulled a sponsorship deal with the Expos a year ago. The explanation for the move was that the team had only a regional interest rather than the blanket allegiance it had once commanded. And regional interest has declined.

Attendance was peaking in 1983 at 2.3 million. Last year, 1.1 million payed to watch the Expos play ball. Players are even squawking about having to take the Expos' money. They don't want to live in a town where many people speak only French, taxes are high and, they say, vegetables are not as fresh as might be the case in San Diego. Some have contracts stating they can't be traded to a team based in Canada.

There are players who have admitted, though, that it would be easier packing up for Toronto than Montreal, simply because the Blue Jays have looked like more of a winner in recent years. The Blue Jays appear as if they could become the team that brings a World Series to Canada.The Expos will continue to languish in the middle of the pack, or even sink deeper. The fact that Tim Raines and Andre Dawson became free agents this year, rather than sign contracts with the Expos, doesn't help the plight of the Montreal team. Both players were an important part of the offence the Expos have been able to generate in the past few seasons. Without them, the club could even stumble a notch below their level of mediocrity.

It wasn't the script the Eh Team planned when it burst onto the scene. By Cleve Dheensaw Times-Colonist staff Walt Disney would have loved it. Yes, dreams do come true. One year ago, Dave Campbell couldn't possibly have imagined that he would have been standing on the podium Saturday night at the Greater Victoria sports award dinner and accepting the Victoria male athlete of the year award. Debbie Bowker also made a trip to the same podium during the dinner at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre as female athlete of the year for an unprecedented fourth time.

One year ago Campbell was unfunded by the federal government, another ace in the crowd. Then lightning struck. Although unranked, he won the bronze medal in the 1,500 metres at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. And lightning kept striking. Campbell won four races in the elite Mobil Grand Prix Series over top runners like Eammon Coghlan, John Walker and Sidney Maree and finished second to Coghlan in the overall men's mile standings.

Sport Canada can tell you who Campbell is now. This year's other male finalists Victoria Cougar junior hockey scoring machine Ken Priestlay and national archery champion John McDonald join a strong list of past non-winners which includes Barry Pederson, Grant Fuhr, Gerald Ka-zanowski, Greg Wiltjer, Hans de Goede and Kevin Alexander. (A Complete list of past award winners is on Page B4.) A torrid neck-and-neck battle in the voting for the female athlete of the year ended with Bowker claiming the award. Rules prohibit the actual margin of victory in the media balloting being made public. It was the fourth time the award was claimed by Bowker, who has held every Canadian women's middle-distance track record.

Bowker was gracious in victory, drawing attention not only to the two other finalist nominees but to all of the many world-class athletes in Victoria. "Deciding on a winner this year must have been very tough all the nominees are world-class athletes," said Bowker. "The competition to win this award is so incredibly stiff now. The level of athlete in Victoria has increased dramatically over the past decade. There are many sports in Victoria that produce world-class performers, and this is a tough award to win and I'm especially honored to have been chosen." Finalist nominee Andrea Schreiner, Commonwealth Games gold-medallist rower, won the award in 1983.

So the loss may have been toughest for nominee Lori Clarke, the lithe forward who helped the University of Victoria Vikettes to the national women's basketball championship and the Canadian national team to the bronze medal at the world championships in Moscow. Clarke was a nominee last year as well, losing to Olympic and Commonwealth games swimming medallist Pam Rai. This was Clarke's last chance. She graduates from UVic and will now be centered with the national team in Ottawa. The University of Victoria Vikings were honored as Victoria team of the year.

Although the Vikings domination of Canadian men's university basketball ended in 1987, the awards were for achievement in 1986. That was the year of the Vikings seventh consecutive national championship. Achievements of the other nominees were impressive. The UVic varsity rowing eights with every rower a national team member and led by Olympic gold medallists Brian McMahon and Kevin Neufeld stunned the crews of Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard to win the Victoria Boat Race. The other team nominee was the Victoria Firefighters baseball team, which advanced to the championship game of the 16-year-old World Series before losing by a run to Long Island, N.Y.

Gareth Rees, picked as one of the top 15 rugby players in the world junior or senior by Rugby World magazine, was named Victoria junior athlete of the year, beating bowl- Leonard came out of retirement to stop Kevin Howard in the ninth round May 11, 1981, at Worcester, then retired again. Even Hagler has asked, "Why didn't he come get me in 1982 when we were both in our prime? It's doubtful the fight could have happened in 1982 because Leonard would have insisted on a 154-pound limit rather than 160-pound middleweight limit. That would have been unacceptable to Hagler. Leonard, who will be 31 on May 17, feels he has grown into a middleweight and expects to weigh about 157 or 158 pounds for the fight, which has been the subject of tremendous hype. It also has been the target of criticism because of Leonard's past retinal problem with his left eye, The award winners Victoria's athletes were honored and their achievements applauded Saturday evening during the annual sports awards dinner at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre.

Those receiving recognition for their performances during 1986 included distance runner Dave Campbell (left) who won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. He was named the male athlete of the year. Debbie Bowker (upper right) who took silver medals in the 1,500 and 3,000 metres at the Commonwealth Games, claimed the female athlete-of-the-year award. Cord Clemens (middle) and the rest of the University of Victoria Vikings basketball team had a seventh consecutive Canadian men's university championship to celebrate in 1986. It was also reason to be selected as Victoria's team of the year.

Gareth Rees (bottom right) was named by Rugby World magazine as one of the top 15 rugby players in the world last year. Saturday night, he was also named Victoria's junior athlete of the year. fjmm v. Xv-" 5 'Til mm 4(, mrnmMmmMSmm ing whiz Chris Booty for the $500 scholarship (presented by the Victoria Police Athletic Association) which now goes along with the junior award. Booty was picked over Rees as B.C.

junior athlete of the year by a different panel of media voters last month. Last year's winner, lacrosse wun-derkind Gary Gait, and world-ranked squash player Trevor Thorn, were the other nominees. There were four nominees in the junior category this year because of a tie in balloting for nominees. The Saanich Kiwanis Distinguished Service Award went to Vern Fergu HERMAN Hagler-Leonard fight may be late but it's a bonanza son, who for years in his capacity as manager of the Imperial Inn has always gone out of his way to host sports dinners, give free rooms for press conferences and rooms at cut-rate prices for visiting sports teams. The Sportsman of the Year Award was won by Robyn Johl.

Her determination and persistence was mainly responsible for getting Oxford, Cambrdige and Harvard to the first Victoria Boat Race last year and for making it an annual event. Simon Keith, who was one day headed for Canada's World Cup soccer team before a virus attacked his heart, was given the Victoria Shield award for his courage in the face of a heart transplant. Baltmore-Washington area. That should earn another $1 million or so for Leonard, who does not have a manager. One-third of Hagler's purse will go to managers Pat and Goody Petronelli.

The fight, at a sold-out outdoor stadium, will start about 8:15 p.m. PDT. It will be shown on closed-circuit television at between 1,500 and 1,600 locations, with about three million seats, in Canada and the United State. The promoter also said it will shown on limited pay-per-view television in the U.S. and will be beamed to about 75 other countries.

Hagler, who will be 33 on May 23, enters the fight with a 62-2-2 record with 52 knockouts. Leonard is 33-1 with knockouts. By Ed Schuyler Jr. The Associated Press LAS VEGAS Sugar Ray Leonard will challenge Marvelous Marvin Hagler on Monday night in what he calls "only a continuation of my career." The scheduled 12-round bout also is his final chapter, Leonard said. Hagler also has indicated the bout at Caesars Palace could conclude his career.

Many boxing people feel the fight has come too late, that Hagler has started to slip and that inactivity has dulled Leonard's skills. It will only be Leonard's second fight since he knocked out Bruce Finch in the third round of his final defence of the undisputed welterweight title Feb. 15, 1982, at Reno, 'Nev. which led to his first retirment in 1982. "This fight is not for money," Hagler said.

"This fight is to see who is the best in the world." But the money is there, as much a part of this as the gloves. Hagler is guaranteed $12 million US. He also is working a percentage deal, and promoter Bob Arum said Hagler is assured of $15 million and could earn much more. Early in the week, Arum said, "We've taken in more money than any fight in history." He thinks the net revenue will top $30 million and could even approach $10 million. There are skeptics.

Leonard is guaranteed $11 million and has 50 per cent of the closed-circuit television rights to homes in the "If you're that worried about catching it, sleep in the stupid kitchen.".