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a VIEWPOINT/COUNTERPOINT John B. McClelland WHAT A YEAR! v _WVas it not just a touch ironic just before Christmas that on "the very day General Motors Corp. was announcing a major overhaul of its plants and employees, the Toronto Blue Jays were gleefully telling thé world that a pitcher by the name of Morris would join the Jays next season and be paid over $10 million for two years work? 1 know this topic of over-paid athletes (rocks stars, actors, eic) has been worked to death in regent years, but if the bubble has burst at a place like General Motors, how much longer before it goes "pop" in the world of professional athletics? Paying somebody $5 million a year to throw a baseball is in this day and age, is nothing short of ndiculous. Hey, I like the Blue Jays as much as the next person, and nothing would make me happier if this guy Jack Moris helped them 10 a World Series next October, But $5 million for to leap out of bed at the crack of noon and throw baseballs in the afternoon sun? Nope. It's not right. Professional athletes and owners in all the big money sports continug to wear huge blinkers, thinking that their world is' reces- sin proof, their bubble will never burst. It's kind of like the attitude GM, Ford and Chrysler had a few years ago when the imports hit North America. They thought they were invincible, totally immune to any forces or pressure from the outside. Well, the pre-Christmas announcement by GM said 74 00 jobs across North America will be cul by 1995 and 21 plants will be shut down. But Jack Morris will get his $10 million plus for tossing baseballs over the next two seasons. That is all going to change in the next few years. First of dll, professional sports, like the GM of a few years ago, is not invincible. The economy of the "90s is going to be completely different from the economy we have known and enjoyed for the last 20, even 30 years. Baseball teams like the Blue Jays are able to pay such.monster salaries for several reasons: they sell out every game; they get huge amounts of revenue from television and radio rights; and almost invariably they are owned by an extremely wealthy individ- ual or corporation. Already, the price of a ticket is steep enough that the average guy simply can't afford to take in a game at the Dome more than a couple of times a scason. And the sit- uation will get worse, It won't be 100 long before companies large and small, forced by thé new econonty, will have to trim their 'discretionary spending' and that means so long to things like season-tickets at the Dome or the Gardens. As forgelevision and radio revenues from advertising? Don't forget where it originates: the consumer, the same guy who can't afford to take his kids to the ball game. The companies that now. pay huge amounts to have their products plugged between innings on a Blue Jay broadcast are already noticing that most consumers. are buying less of those products. What will it be like in three or four years? If a giant brewery or soft drink company continues to see a consumer decling in the product it ms out, the choice is clegr when it comes 10 big bucks advertising: do less or pay less. Either way, it will mean reduced revenue for the sports team now paying peo- ple $5 million per year. It should really be no surprise that GM's 'day of reckoning' has arrived. The writing has been on the wall for 20 years, at least. And the 'day of reckoning' fos the $10 million pitcher is just around the comeras well. The 90s are going 10 see I looked at the wrkey on the floor -- wingless, legless -- and felt the tentative grip] had had on my sanity loosening like the bowels of the opera lady in the out- house. after she'd popped back a few con- stipation aids. The cat (Quicksdraw, that orange beast in the photograph with me), looked at the carcass, upside down in a rapidly growing pool of grease, and then looked back up at me as if to say," FEEL LIKE CHICKEN TONIGHT, CHICKEN TONIGHT!"). I kicked the cat, ever so gently, and he retreated to the corner, eyes black fix- ated on the oversized pigeon™®n my kitchen floor. Amazing. Without the wings or legs, the turkey looked just like a football. While my attention was thus directed towards the Turkey Frolics, | missed the warning signs being posted by the sauce for the leftover Christmas pudding. Bubbling away like a happy glass of Eno, higher and higher the sauce climbed in its pot, until finally it flowed to freedom -- all over the stove, down he sides... like Missi mud, it was. After one swipe, change in the way North America functions, both at the personal and corporate level. GM's recent announcement is just a taste of things to come. t What worked in the "70s and '80s won't work today, and it sure as heck won't work five years from now. That's a certain. 1 don't begrudge Jack Morris for going after every nickle. I'd do the same thing, if | could. But the gravy train is rapidly coming 10 a halt, and if the Blue Jays can't see this, perhaps Paul Beeston and his cohorts should get-together with Robert Stempel and his cohorts. North Americans have had things pretty mh their own way this century, and cer- ly since the end of World War 2. But the cycle that created unprecedented wealth has come 10 a close. North America is not about 0 become the world's basket-case of the '90s. The re- structuring is going to be massive and any- one who doesn't see this simply won't be around to welcome the Year 2000. Down-sizing, re-structuring, consolida- tion, lean and mean, penny-pinching, plain and simple, are words that will increasingly be part of every-day pérsonal and business jargon over the next decade and beyond. Just ask GM. As for that guy Jack Mois, all I can say is good luck with the Jays and handle all that loot very wisely because the vault is about to slam shut. 2 the dish cloth coated up like. like, 1 dunno, something really disgusting. With all that boiling over going on, | figured the sauce would, at the very least, "day. be nice and thick. It was nejther nice nor thiek. It was runnier than a kid's nose on a winter Meanwhile, the pan drippings were burning away nicely, hardening to a hearty black crust on the bottom of the roasting 'pan. The prognosis for gravy was not good Throughout all this, my husband remained glued to the television, watching the tail end of one of the countless foot- ball' games which litter the tube these days. The noise of me crying and food | falling/burning, was not enough to get his aucntion. I whimed louder. Still, he did not come out to the kitchen to see what was the 'matter with his loving wife. Later, he told me, "When you get like that, I've learned it's beuer all round if I just ignore you." So what if he's right. The fact is, 4 needed a litle hug and a litle sympathy. | Of which I got none. In retaliation, I gave my husband the dirty turkey that had fall- en on the "floor. I gave the cat the clean stuff. Fortunately; this happened on Sunday night. Christmas went without a hitch. Thank God for small miracles. xX : . x x B= UnNsILvED MYsyErY Ed This week we really don't have a mystery -- just a guessing game. For once, we know where this photo was taken. It's a postcard, owned by Mrs. A. Bruce of Port Pefry. If you'd like to guess where in Scugog this old photo was taken, d a note off to the Citizen, 36 Water St., Port'Perry, LIL 1J2 (no phone calls, please). We'll sa0'lf we can't come up with some kind of prize for the who guesses the whereabouts of this photo. Thetis 13 Whe Bitoe ny for RAGING we posisard Jous - 20a Happy Wevr eat vo veryons ot Sues) Shares Miseien fhe people who supply the photos) and all our Unsolved Mystery readers! SNAPSHOT OF THE WEEK P=Scucoc CITIZENS It's not exactly a traditional «Christmas turkey dinner, but it tastes marvellous to me! «P.S. I'm really a pretty cute kid underneath all this. Thanks to S. Wiseman for this rathef messy photo. Introducing one of Scugog's more patient and resourceful citizens. Mr. John Peattie recently cele- brated his 89th birthday but you'd never k it. This aglie gentleman eis his own snow, does dishes and walks dally, More impres- sive than that are*his ships- in-botties. Mr. Peattle is like- Send us your favourite snap- shots - of your family, your pets, your vacation, whatever photo you've taken and you're proud ofl Citizen staffers will select tfigir 'favorite snaps and run them in this space. Then, at the end of the year, we'll have a panel of judges choose 'their favorite pic: ture, and the photographer will win a brand new 35mm camera. Our address is 36 Water St., Port Perry. Bfing them in! > ly one of the oldest mem- bers of the "Association of America, a 1 ine painstaking oral o pal 9 constructing wk tles. There are numerous crafts at Mr. Peattie of house, con- structed entirely by hand from materials as varied as mother of pearl peach stones and goat horns! The intricacy of the bony quite spectacular. Mr. Pattie gets design Ideas from A pid ip Tc i pio . _