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Raptors boss in town to cement deal with Ford Thomas says the deal will give Toronto‘s expansion NBA team ‘the stamp of credibility‘ BY NORMAN NELSON Beaver Sports Editor : ried career, which includes two NBA world championships with the BA Detroit Pistons in 1989/90 and an NCAA championship in 1981. On Monday, the 12â€"time NBA allâ€"star, who is now biding his time as the ‘oronto Raptors viceâ€"president of basketball operations, was dodging hrough FEâ€"series pickup trucks as they flowed along the production line at akville‘s Ford truck plant. Esiah ‘Thomas has dribbled around many a basketball player in his stoâ€" At a modest (by basketball standards, anyway) 6‘ 1" and comfortably lothed in suit and tie, he looked less of a basketball great and ... well, nore like an executive. Which, of course, he is now. It‘s no wonder Thomas had come along to give the Oakville workers all he season‘s best. Last week; Oakvilleâ€"based Ford of Canada had given the Raptors a Christmas present in the form of a longâ€"term corporate sponsorâ€" ship deal acknowledged to be worth about $3 million a year over the next en years. While a media tour along a moving automobile production line is someâ€" hat rare, it didn‘t take a high paid auto consultant to figure out the motive. ‘The Eâ€"series truck, explained Tony Fredo, Ford‘s vice president of pubâ€" ic affairs, is about to become "the number one vehicle sold in Canada, car r truck." abtrisca That being the case it will become the first truck to win the honor, and etter yet (at least, from Ford‘s perspective), it will displace General {otors® Cavalier, the champ for the last three years. Okay, so the tieâ€"in with the Raptors? Well, the Raptors do have their own plans for being number oné, iIthough they‘re admittedly still on a long term agenda. Ford also has its own expansion agenda, noted Fredo. No kidding â€" the Raptors, no doubt, wish their own arena was as far along as the $400â€"milâ€" ion extension to the truck plant.. 4 Seriously, though, Fredo noted that Ford maintains a highly visible presâ€" â€"nce on the sports scene. It has exclusive automaker rights for the Blue ays at the SkyDome and for the Hockey Hall of Fame. "We‘re big in Hockey Night in Canada and we‘re big this year in curlâ€" ng," added Fredo. To un m oL N ie :. When Oakville Blades coach Ken Moodie was hired midway through the season, it was understood that he would have to skip last Friday‘s came against Royal York. What wasn’tvexpected, however, was that the players would also want to take it off. e â€"1 ut cbnded The Raptors, he said, will add "a different audience â€" a younger audiâ€" nce." WWe A}ld Ford will be able to reach them with, among other things, full dvertising exclusivity among automobile manufacturers for the stadium ignage and for all Raptors programming. old ols eRA sls in ce "It‘s almost as though they don‘t seem to respond when Ken‘s not M CC VE Ei o OBA T o es on â€" Although five more major corporate sponsors are pegged to come on oard, Thomas said "the first one is key." "Ford is going to give us the stamp of credibility. It will send a signifiâ€" ant statement to the business community." Besides fleshing out corporate support for the team, Thomas, of course, iIso has his mind very much on the onâ€"court activities. The two items of greatest interest at the media gathering were the recent innouncement of the Raptors taking over Copps Coliseum in Hamilton for ~Ad "Tickets are selling very well," chuckled Thomas. "As an insider I can tell you this â€" if you want (season ticket) seats, you better buy them quick (on Tuesday, news reports out of Toronto said they had reached their target but the Raptors weren‘t confirming it)." As for the site of the training camp, Thomas explained that as an expanâ€" sion franchise the Raptors will be putting a particularly high number of potential players through their paces. And Copps is big enough to handle > > Blades new goalie Greg Lovell (30) and an unidentified Blades defender Provincial Junior A hockey action at Oakville Arena on Friday. lades nab three of four points against Royal York Ho Ho Holy Cow! It‘s Already Christmas Time and What Better Way to Kick Off The fleafifl;é féfi; are proudly f Holidays Than to Catch The Blades In Action This Friday Night In their Final Game of 1994. of Osicome, ns taicvite Boover /fi% The Blades Will Take On The Hamilton Kilty Bees At 8 pm, Oakville Arena Kelsey‘s #%.¢+ In Attendance At The Game Will Be Our Jolly Mystery Guest. mm Walker credits\B-lades for keeping their cool as a frustrated Rangers team gets chippy _ there," said general manager Murray Walker. Against the second worst team in the eightâ€"team west division of the provincial juniorâ€"A hockey league, the Blades saw a quick 2â€"0 We‘ll also Have: â€" The Meray Motors Volvo Shootout â€" The Kelseys Restaurants Shootout â€" Doorprizes â€" Blacdes Souvenirs (They make great stocking stuffers!) i n * L C 0 Lo Mal~villa‘e Eard trmek assembly nI Isiah Thomas, vice president of the Toronto Raptors, talked with workers as he toured Oakville‘s Ford truck assembly plant on Monday. Thomas will be doing some assembling of his own as he prepares the Raptors for their first year in the NBA. (Photo by Peter McCuskér) their training camp this fall and (Hamiltonians will surely relate to this) them. how the NBA ticket ultimatum of 12,500 season tickets set for January 31 "We can put two or three courts down at one time," he said. is going. At the same time, he said the location lends itself well to an intense and Pm ue t t o Mana bait PSROT 5. aP Vn lead turn into deficits of 4â€"2 and 5â€" 3 before they finally started clickâ€" ing late in the third period, salâ€" vaging a 5â€"5 overtime tie which they almost won. For the return match on Saturday keep Royal York at bay in a e a o e o e o o (Photo by Riziero Vertolli) THE OAKVILLE BEAVER night, the Blades were in top form right form the word go, blasting Royal York 8â€"4. i3 3 Peoh "We were up 6â€"0 before the 10â€" minute mark," noted Walker. He gave credit to the players for maintaining discipline and keeping their cool as a frustrated Royal York team increased their minor penalty count throughout the three periods from 6 to 12 to 15, respectively. And most of them were of the chipâ€" py variety, said Walker. The Blades hosted the firstâ€"place Milton Merchants Tuesday night, the only team they have not beaten so far this year. Except for the first loss, however, Walker noted that all the games were close. He felt the Blades were primed to knock off the league leaders. On Friday, the Blades will try and give their fans a win over the always tough Hamilton Kilty Bees. Game time is 8 p.m. at Arena. The Blades next league game is not until Tuesday, Jan. 3 when they host last place Georgetown. Here are the Blades‘ scoring sumâ€" maries from the weekend games: > â€" OAKVILLE: 8 ROYAL YORK 4 (Saturday) Oakville held period leads of 6â€"2 and 8â€"2. First period: 1, Matt Swain from Matt Interbartolo; 2, Corey Waring from Dave Smith and Jason Slaney; 3, Mike Gamble from Mike Byrne and Kevin Cole; 4, Kent Williams from Matt Swain and Matt Interbartolo; 5, Mike Gamble from Corey Waring and Kevin Cole; 6, John Norwood from John Morrison and Mike Robinson. s --réééond period: 7, Jason Slaney from Dave Smith and Kent Williams; 8, Dave Smith from Jason Slaney. OAKVILLE 5, ROYAL YORK 5 OT (Friday): First period: 1, Jason Slaney from Kent Williams; 2, Mike Gamble from Matt Swain 'Wé;cond period: 3, Mike Gamble from Corey Waring and Bry_an Vines. Lt Thivr'dr pe;iod: 4, B.J. Hamilton from Paul Dolan and Kevin Cole; 5, John Norwood from Kevin Cole The Blades Will Be In Action On Tuesday January 3 Against Georgetown. Game Time is 7:30 at Oakville Arena. The Blades Management And Players Would Like To Wish All Of You And Your Families A Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year, We Look Forward To Your Continued Support. "We can put two or three courts down at one time," he said. At the same time, he said the location lends itself well to an intense and closeâ€"knit camp. hy s o ht cb isnnd "It‘s connected to the hotel. The players can walk over to the arena and lift weights. It‘s a nice fit." Tronically, as Thomas walked out of the fully staffed truck assembly plant, a few workers started up a chant of: "Go Leafs go, go Leafs go." i kn i To e Oe an e snn It appearsv as if Thomas will have his work cut out for him if he‘s to bring basketball into the promised land. Ford believes he can do it. First annual golf tourney on Boxing Day On Boxing Day this M;nday-, 72 golfers will compete in the first annual Charity Golf Tournament in support of the Good Shepherd Centres in Hamilton and Toronto. A shotgun start begins at 10:30 a.m. at Richview Golf Course in Oakville and the $29 fee includes golf, special dinner at the Abbey Arms Pub and a donation to the Good Shepherd Centres. d Een ELN K cave The format is a best ball, foursome scramble, however, individual entries are welcome and they will be paired up. There are still some openings available on a first come, first served basis. And what if the heat wave breaks and we get a white Christmas? "We‘ll use orange balls," said organizor Paul Foley. He can be reached at 827â€"3089. Donations to the Good Shepherd Centres are also welcome. CNIB is also planning winter golf tourney Volunteers are being sought by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) Halton/Peel for the second annual Polar Chile Open golf tournament to be held February 25. Aammiffen members are needed to seek event sponsors, golfers, prizes and Committee members are needed to seek event sponsors, goifers, prizes and general event organization. The goal of the event is $4,500. Cameron Miller of Camisle Golf Course near Burlington has donated the ‘greens‘ for the event and Spalding the golf balls. For 76 years, the CNIB has been on the leading edge of rehabilitation services for blind, visually impaired and deaf/blind Canadians. The CNIB Halton/Peel office helps 2,300 clients to live the lifestyle they choose at home, in the workplace and in the community. uon BANTAM TRIPLEâ€"AAA STREETSVILLE 2, OAKVILLE 0 (Dec the first and second periods. _ _ OAKVILLE 2, STREETSVILLE 2 (Dec. 15, away): the 5 twice to tie it up on goals by Joey Ranella and Brent Moyer. Gale, Chad Blundy and Jim Romph. _ esd a hm NCw o en ce c en CHINGUACOUSY 3, OAKVILLE 1 (Dec. 10, away): Brandon Gale scored Tor V@KVINIG, . assisted by David Vandelaar and Brent Moyer. NOVICE TRIPLEâ€"AAA e OAKVILLE 4, WELLAND 1: Nico Gill opened and finished the scoring as the Oakville Marlene‘s Moments Rangers beat Welland Tigers 4â€"1. On the first goal it was Michael Samardzich who fed him the pass on the second goal Steven Donnelly assisted. Also scoring were Donnelly from Sean Lavelle and Samardzich from Josh Shepley. OAKVILLE 6, STREETSVILLE 0: Josh Taylor earned the shutout and Josh Smyth picked up a hatâ€"trick â€" two of them unassisted and helped out once by Alfred Lee. Other goal scorers were Sean Lavelle, Nico Gill and Steven Donnelly. Picking up assists on those goals were Richard Meloche, Steven Donnolly and Joshua Shepley. * OAKVILLE 5, HALTON HILLS 3: it was all Josh Smyth as the Rangers defeated Oakville 5: 3. Alfred Lee and David Nugent set up his first goal; Lee and Nathan Hendricks the second; Steven Donnelly and Michael Swinton the third; Donnelly the fourth and Lee the fifth. MINOR ATOM DOUBLEâ€"AA OAKVILLE 4, MISSISSAUGA IROQUOIS 1 (Dec. 11, exhibition away): Brendan Murray notched a pair with singles to Dwayne Stseele and Dave Probyn. Assists went to Justin Close, Jordon Kaitting and Gary Rookyard. OAKVILLE 3, BRAMPTON 2 (Dec. 10, home): Ty Huggins, Brendan Murray and Dave Probyn accounted for the scoring. Assists went to Brendan Murray, Mark Stoma, Anthony Denino, Kevin Bell, Mike Knight and Jess Anguin. The team is sponsored by Century Printing. C For m'c;rlé i'r;'f‘mation, contact Josie Quinn at 905â€"275â€"5332 17, home): Streetsville wrapped it up with a goal in 15, away): the Standard Life Rangers fought back and Brent Moyer. Picking up assists were Brandon 10, away): Brandon Gale scored for Oakville, however, individual entries are December 21, 1994