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Wednesday, July 4, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D1 Oakville Beaver Feature Editor: N O R M N ELSO N Phone:845-3824, ext 255 Fax:337-5567 KOOLEN DOWN: Theo Koolen gets coolingl off Saturday before heading out for the Oakville Blue Stars second half against Woodstock. See page D4, for story and more photos on the Sunoco Boys International Soccer Tournament. SportsMMwk By Kevin Nagel SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Halton high school sports fans w on't have Oakville's Clint `Bubba' O 'Neil to push around anymore, or vice versa. The co-host of Halton Sportsweek along with Steve Foxcroft, for the past 13 years, O 'Neil has had to hang up his headphones and moved east to Agincourt and MOJO AM 640. The longtime Oakville resident is under contract with Sportsnet, providing half-hour sports updates each weeknight for the new all talk men's radio station. It's a promotion for O'Neil who went to Assumption Secondary School in Burlington as there was no Roman Catholic high school in Oakville at the time. He spent the last two years at Sportsnet, the first year clipping game highlights for anchors and the last year work ing with the on-air "talent" providing statistics and game notes for the Sportscentral news casts. In addition to giving up the popular Cogeco assignments, O 'Neil recently had his `retirement' party at the Burlington Philthy McNasty's, his day job the past six years. "I'm really going to miss doing Halton Sportsweek and the games," said O 'Neil. `T o have someone come up to me and say, `It was a blast watching the game on Cogeco' or `we pulled out the Halton final tape from 1993 and watched it again' was a great feeling." While O 'Neil won't be providing the playby-play for Halton sports or providing his keen insight on Halton Sportsweek, he has negotiated the right to keep his job providing cable viewers with Hamilton Tiger-Cat cover age. "I'm really going to miss the kids at school," said O 'Neil. "It's not even a job, it's a joy. To cover something like Nelson's first Metro Bowl win (at SkyDome), with Jay Currie becoming all emotional about coach Bob Stacey, for example, those are special." Brad Scott, who produced virtually all of O 'Neil's adventures on Cogeco, was a tad emotional himself when he said his goodbyes to Bubba at the company's annual banquet recently. But he's recovered now. "When Bubba started, it was rough ... Take 10, Take 12..." he laughed. "But he improved dramatically over the years." Scott asserts that O 'Neil may be Cogeco's only celebrity. "W hen I pull the truck up to events, it's not `where's Foxy', or `where's Fred or Larry', it's always `where's Bubba," said Scott. "H e's very popular. It's his personality. And he's been doing it for 13 years." O 'Neil is sometimes criticized for his opin ions, a recent one being his insistence that Nelson Lords basketball team's backcourt couldn't contain the big Toronto schools at OFSAA. "A source told me this," he laughed, enjoy ing the notoriety. "The comment, I believe, sparked the Lords to win the OFSAA title. I take some credit for that." After graduating from Assumption, O 'Neil entered Mohawk College in the radio broad casting course. It was one of two vocations he ever envisioned. "The other was being an air traffic con troller," he said, one path his father -- who passed away in 1993 -- dissuaded him travel- E-mail:nnelson@haltonsearch.com The Cable Guy moves on to network television Oakville's Clint `Bubba' O 'Neil ling. A classmate at Mohawk was Foxcroft, part of a two-man team on Cogeco's Halton Sportsweek that included former Post sports reporter Dave Rashford, now at Sportsnet. Foxcroft and O 'Neil had some run-ins in foot ball when Foxcroft was quarterbacking the M. M. Robinson Rams and O 'Neil was a Crusader centre. "W hen Steve suggested I fill an opening on the show, I said `TV?, no w ay', but I tried it and got along very well with Brad." O 'Neil and Foxcroft soon decided to accentuate high school sports, an idea hatched while watching some of the phenomenal sup port high schools received south of the border. The move eventually led to such features as the high school game o f the week, and later, the Friday night doubleheaders. The Ticat coverage occurred when the CFL team approached Cogeco in order to provide more coverage of the team in the OakvilleBurlington area. The Cogeco crew televised a preseason game between the Argos and Ticats, and when they approached rights holder The Sports Network to do more, TSN 's Keith Pelley "was knocked out" by the quality of the cable pro duction. "We had all the technical aspects down from doing Halton football finals," said O'Neil. Cogeco is currently allowed to televise all Ticat games not shown on regular network TV. So far, Cogeco has televised three games in 1998, four in each of the following two years, and is scheduled fo r five more this sea son. Foxcroft, who will remain with Cogeco, nevertheless said O 'Neil's departure leaves a huge hole that won't easily be replaced. "How many people in your life can you say you shared time with for 13 years?" said Foxcroft before taking one last dig. "It's just hard to believe (Sportsnet) went with an Assumption grad instead of a Robinson grad." Photo by Peter C. McCusker Olympians will help motivate you towards a more active lifestyle: free seminar toniyht at Oakville Place By Kathy Yanchus SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Getting up and off the couch is the first step. Then, instead of heading for the cupboard for a bag of chips, walk out the door and around the block. The next day, park the car slightly further from work so the blood gets circulating and the heart gets pumping before you slide behind your desk for eight hours. It's quite simple really. Physical activity doesn't necessarily mean running marathons, committing to a fitness club or a rigorous daily schedule of pumping iron. It means being active. Garden, walk, cycle, roller blade, golf, just avoid that arm chair. Experts say 60 min utes of accumulated light activity each day will maintain health. Physical fitness is an easy thing to incorpo rate into your daily routine if you set and main tain realistic goals, and the benefits will be grat ifying. Just feeling better about yourself and the world, is bonus enough, but in addition, experts say memory and concentration improve with regular exercise. Physical strength begets men tal health. Though this message was delivered by the elitist of athletes, two of our very own Olympians whose history of gruelling training boggles the mind, it rang true. Who better to listen to about the benefits of being active than the experts, those who have pushed their bodies to the limit. They had to start somewhere, right? Most of us have come to terms with the fact we aren't going to be world-class athletes, nor do we want to be; we simply want to deflect stress and stay healthy. Even though they stood before us with sculpted bodies and remarkable tales from inter national competitions, their message about healthy living was palatable, easy to digest. Somehow it filtered through to the grassroots level, hitting home to the young and old, to the fit and unfit. Get moving is the bare bones man date of `high5 for Life', a series of interactive and educational presentations featuring Olympic athletes and sponsored by LifeMark Health, a leading Canadian health care services provider, iU . / · OG Oakville Beaver File Photo Olympic gold and silver medalist Larry Cain and fellow Olympian Karen Stemmle (downhill skier) lead a free seminar, called high5 for Life, designed to guide participants into an active lifestyle. It's free and it's at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts tonight. and Human Resources Development Canada. "It doesn't have to be a sport, or a competi tive sport," commented triathlete Isabelle Turcott-Baird who recently shared the stage at Sheridan College with Olympic gold medalist, Larry Cain in the first of three high5 for Life presentations being held in Oakville. "It can be an activity as easy as going for a walk, anything that gets you moving, maybe causes you to break into a sweat." Though retired from international competi( S e e 'D o w n h ill' p a g e D 3 ) Get off and running A new running clinic designed by Oakville running instructors will start this Saturday (July 7) at the Running Company. A ccording to head instructor Brian Bidwell, "the six-w eek Saturday m orning program incorporates several unique but now proven concepts in its approach to introducing people to the pleasure and advantages o f running." "It allows beginners as well as more experi enced runners to properly train for distances up to and beyond the traditional 5K distance. It's a fun program and a great way to meet other runners." The entire program , including the 60-page m anual, was produced in Oakville under the guidance o f R unning C om pany instructor Brian Bidwell and other local experts on the sport. "We call it a `first step' approach to recre ational running," said Bidwell. Instruction will take place at the Running Company, Thom as Street, downtown Oakville. Each Saturday morning session will last up to 1 1/2 hours. Cost, including manual and t-shirt is $40, plus GST. More inform ation, phone (905) 815-1952. »* * ! -OUNDAS & \ TRAFALGAR ROAD 4 00 Dundas S t. E. 0AK T0W N SHOPPING PLAZA 550 Ker r 8 4 4 0 2 0 257-TIR E 2 5 7 -0 4 2 9 SERVICE HOURS: STORE HOURS: Mon. -Fri. 8:30.-im-9prro " Lobk for" *dur flyer in Friday's _Oakville Beaver m . -y - v JE