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02 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, September 27, 2000 Pinball hangs up the cleats E d. note: new Argos head coach Mike 'Pinball' Clemons, who is long settled in Oakville with his family, has left his legendary playing days behind. Matt Schurenko caught his last game at the SkyDome ... returner; however, throughout the game, he does play a few downs as a running back, slot-back, receiver. Toronto scores the first points of the game on a field goal, but it's all downhill after that. For the record, the final score is 44-17. But the game is almost inconse By Matt Schurenko quential and now comes the moment SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Pinball and his fans have been wait ing for. oung fans crowd the aisles, Fold up chairs are hustled onto waving footballs and jerseys mid-field for the final act. After and photographs, clamouring members of Pinball's family are for the small football player's atten introduced, a video montage of tion. Mike `Pinball' Clemons, long Pinball's career highlights plays on settled in Oakville with his family, the Jumbotron. jubilant as always, is slashing, bob A banner of all-time Argo greats bing around and through knots of with Pinball's name added unfurls fans and media personnel on the side from above the screen. The crowd line before the game. The huge smile cheers and applauds. that seems to have been permanently They also retire his number and etched upon his face is prominently there it is, hanging beside the banner. displayed. He's only too happy to Then it's Pinball, himself, for his stop for a quick moment, to pose for final act as a player, springing to life, a picture and an autograph. pulling off his shoes and elbow pads This is the last time Argonaut fans and handing them to kids in the will see him in the familiar blue/silstands, hurdling a long table and ver/white uniform, the last time Photo by C hristine Sm yth sprinting to midfield to begin his they'll see him returning a punt or a Pinball Clemons, here, lost his first game as player/coach in Hamilton. He fared better in his first game as full-time long impromptu thank-you speech to kick off, or accepting a hand-off or head coach, this past weekend in Edmonton, with the Argos, shockingly, upending Edmonton Eskimos 34-21. family, friends and fans. catching a pass. They'll have to get And then on to his new life, as used to seeing this short, powerful firms that he is the man and will continue to be last place Argos. But none of this matters. coach of the Toronto Argos. ball of energy confined to the sidelines in stan so for some time if he can bring to the sidelines Tonight, Argo fans are here to pay tribute to the dard coach's garb, devising plays and strategies most popular Argo of all time. what he has brought to the field and the com POSTSCRIPT: this past weekend, in his first for his former team-mates, now his players. munity for the last 12 years. There are more than 28,000 Pinball fans in game as full-time head coach o f the Argos, The level of noise and excitement belie the attendance -- a huge number considering the The first time Pinball touches the ball is on a Clemons was at the helm fo r a somewhat shock fact that this is a regular season game between seven-yard punt return. The crowd erupts in average attendance for the last two home games ing 34-21 win in Edmonton against the two of the worst teams in the CFL. was just over 11,000 -- and their energy con applause. Most of his playing time is as a kick Eskimos. Saskatchewan has only one win more than the Y National team members teed it up at Family Golf Oakville last m onth Aside from the fun, there was some serious business going on at Family Golf Oakville this summer. Unbeknownst to most patrons of the Upper Middle Road facility, two of the five team members heading to an international golf tournament at St. Andrew's in Scotland last month, were training there. Although James Burton of Simcoe and Robbie Greenwell of Georgetown, chosen after a series of tournaments sponsored by the Canadian Junior Golf Association, did not return to Canada as members of a victorious team, they gleaned much experience from the event and their instruction under the tutelage of Larry Armatage and Ang Puma. A third member of the Canadian team, Michael Schramm, was previously coached by Family G olf's Director of Golf Education, John Cochrane and is now on staff as an instructor. Preparation for the quirks of the famous course across the sea, was intense. Approach shots in North America are lofted high and soft, but on links courses in Scotland, this part of the game is a ground game, said Armatage. "This is because of the many mounds and valleys found near the greens. If a high approach shot hits them, there's very little control over where the ball will end up. When a pitch shot hits a mound, it could bounce long, or almost stop dead and roll back into who knows what." In trying to make the golfers "St. Andrew's tough", putting was also an area of concentration. With the combination of hidden greens, Strong wind, quirky bounces and the huge double greens found at St. Andrew's, the junior golfers were bound to face some tough putts, 100 feet or longer, said Armatage, him self a CPGA professional. Although the Golf Camps for Kids have wound up for the sum mer, the popular programs will be offered again next year beginning in July. The five day camps include instruction in golf basics, in course etiquette, good sportsm anship, avoiding slow play and how players help maintain a course. Along with Armatage and Cochrane, camp staff includes sev eral CPGA members as well as uni versity golf team members. And not to be outdone by the boys, 10-year-old Stephanie Simich of M ississauga, who carries a remarkable handicap of 15, is also training at Family Golf under the direction of Cochrane. The popular golf centre is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., daily. File Photo by Barrie Erskine Donovan Bailey at an indoor meet at Copps Coliseum earlier this year. H e' l l be back Ed. note: Donovan Bailey posted this message on his internet site (www.donovanbailey.com) on Sept. 23rd, shortly after pulling up in his sec ond round 100m race at the Sydney Olympics (as recounted in Sunday' s Beaver). Interestingly, he maintained that his flu-ridden Sydney sprint would not become the final page o f his storied sprint career ... Tiger intends to defend Open title next year at Royal Montreal (Continued from page D1) in Markham. Meanwhile, if you want to watch the Tiger defend his crown in person (assuming he still keeps it penciled in) better not leave the arrangements too long. `The RCGA is pleased to be offering tickets for the 2001 Bell Canadian Open so early," said tourna ment director Michael Taylor. "On the heels of the first sold-out Bell Canadian Open in its history, and with 2000 champion Tiger Woods' intention to defend his title, we hope to accommodate everyone who wants a ticket as early as possible. "The number of tickets available at the Royal Montreal will be 25,000 per day, so we hope that many Canadians will take advantage of the avail ability of tickets so early." Organizers cut off ticket sales at 35,000 per day at Glen Abbey. Weekly badges are available for $150 and daily passes are available for $55, Thursday through Sunday. That's up from $95 and $40, respectively, at Glen Abbey. Juniors, 15 years of age and under, are admitted free with a paid weekly badge, but on a limited basis, for Saturday and Sunday. At Glen Abbey, the juniors were let in free with all ticketed adults (not just weekly badges), any day. And there will be no group sales at Royal Montreal. For additional info on ticket sales and the tourna ment, visit www.bell.ca/cdnopen or www.rcga.org. "I would like to thank the thousands of fans and friends who have sent email in the past 24 hours. Your kind words of encouragement and support are truly appreciated. Your support has always been a source of strength for me throughout my training and rehabilita tion from my achilles injury. I have tried to do everything I can to win here in Sydney, but I guess it was not meant to be. "While I hope that my friend and team-mate Bruny will win, I wish all the remaining competitors the best of luck. "In the long term I look forward to facing all my competitors including the new Olympic Champion (it was Maurice G reene)... next year. You can expect to see a much faster and health ier Donovan Bailey at the World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton next year. "But for now I have to try my best to get over this flu, so I help support our 4x100 relay team defend its Olympic title." First place locked up, C ru still keeps w inning The Oakville Crusaders, with first place already wrapped up, improved their record to 12-1 in the top Ontario Rugby Union (ORU) league with a 3412 win over Barrie. Deep in the relegation zone, Barrie were full value for a scoreless stale mate after 20 minutes but seemed to become unhinged when the Crusaders put their first three points on the board on a penalty boot by Randy Warrington. The Cru then put together three consecutive tries by Chris Foster, Charles Thompson and Brian Anderson (the latter two converted by Warrington) for a 22-0 lead at the half. At the restart, Barrie again came out strong with two tries to make it 2212. But the Cru also turned it around again and their forward pack retained six consecutive possessions before Stewart Riley crossed for the try, con verted by Warrington, for a 29-12 lead. Sub Terry Wallace came on to score the last unconverted try. The Cru close out their season this Saturday against York Yeoman. CRUSADER SECOND-XV The Crusader second-XV had a more dominating victory, 71-8. Cru tries were by Kent St. Catherine (3), Ob Sealy (2), Steve Chong, Craig Gardner, Morgan Rawson, Steve Eastwood, Christian Evans and Terry Wallace. `Hom s dom inant on field, but not in league awards The Northern Football Conference, one of the last bastions of adult tackle football in Canada, handed out its all-star and major awards last month. The four-team league includes the now eight time NFC champion Oakville Longhorns along with the Sault Ste. Marie Storm, Sudbury Spartans and North Bay Bulldogs. Despite their eighth straight NFC title and ninth straight first-place finish, the `Homs were all but shut out of the major awards. Their only winner was Oakville's Dana Segin, and that one didn't come down to the vote. He won his first August Kangro Memorial Trophy by virtue of being the leading scorer with 53 points. Segin was named to the all-star team, both as placekicker (also named in 98 and 99)and punter (also named in 96, 97, 98 and 99) and they were both unanimous . Also on the all-star team were forty-something quarterback Mark Demerling (previously named in 86, 87, 88, 89 and 90) and linebacker Wayne Sliwinski (also named in 95, 98 and 99). These two players were also the championship game MVP's in the `Homs 39-3 win over the Sault. Here are the other `Horn all stars (along with their previous selections n o ted )... receiver Stephen Moore (first selection), offensive lineman Chris Nadon (also selected in `98), defensive lineman Joe Periera (first selection) and defensive back Jason Nunez (first selection). The `Horns are set to announce their partici pation next month in a first ever national cham pionship. Oakville Blades Next Games at Oakville Ice Sports Centre O A K V IL L E B L A D E S at Oakville Ice Sports Cent * i I i I