The Big Brawl
August 6, 1998
Point
(A note as to the fallout of last nites game in Whitby from a "reliable
Source" regarding the brawl.)
My Source writes:
I personally hate these kinds of incidences because it puts people in a
state of anarchism which is very dangerous to players, coaches and fans
alike. Secondly it is not what our game is all about. This isn't the
first or the last time something like this happens.
Jim Bishop's Warriors were clearly the antagonizers bringing in an
element of the game that is totally out of character for Whitby.
What I found even more appaling was the fact that Bob Hanna and Jeff
McCombe were throwing punches at players.
The A's have, as a result of the mele, three suspended players, which
includes one player receiving criminal charges. Doug Lawrence was
charged after the game with assault with a weapon and assault causing
bodily harm. Tom Hajek and Ryan Donnelly also received matches.
Whitby only really lost Voituk and one of the goons they brought up from
Oshawa.
The other thing that really irked me was when the police arrived they
went straight over to Hanna and Bishop, and the police made all their
decisions based on what was said to them by Whitby. When I approached
the officer in charge, his only comment to me was, "that's not what they
told me", and when I procceeded to try and tell him our side of the
story the police officer threatened to arrest me. The officer wasn't at
all concerned when he saw the stick welts on the necks and heads of our
players.
I personally have lost all respect for Jim Bishop, Bob Hanna and the
management of the Whitby Warriors. The Whitby officials did absolutely
nothing to try and settle the situation down. When you watch the game
tapes it clearly shows St. Catharines personnel, including players
trying to break up the fights.
I have a very long fuse but to see a coach strike a defenseless player
is totally gutless. " I am mad"
Nonetheless, the OLA is having a hearing regarding this incident on
Monday. The OLA is also requiring us to have uniformed police officers
at tonites game. We were informed late yesterday afternoon, and the
police are having a hard time finding two that will work the game.
I trust tonites game will be a tame affair, but you never know!
Counter Point
Where's the True Story?
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 16:35:22
From: "Tara Artner" tartner@sprint.ca
Glen:
I was at the game in Whitby, and after reading your, 'From a reliable
source' version of the story, I could do nothing more than laugh. If your
version of the story was any more one sided towards the "A"'s, I would
think that maybe you are one of their personelle, or am I right? You made
the whole story out to be Whitby's fault, which is utter bullshit! Now, if
you would like to bear with me here, I will tell you what I saw, though,
St. Catherines names evade me. To start, the Jr B call ups for Whitby
weren't goons, they just play a more physical game that one is used to
seeing from the Warriors. Throughout the whole game, Whitby's #15 was
trying to fight on of St. Kitt's players, and vice versa. At the end of
the game, the St Catherines player took a wild swing at #15. #15 for
Whitby, in retaliation to the swinging stick, made the attempt to finish
the fight that the referee's prevented the whole night long. Again, the
fight was broken up before anything could be settled. As the ref's walked
away, the two players met up again in front of the Whitby bench. This time
there was no stopping the fight. As the Whitby players resumed on the
bench, the St Catherines players left theirs, and circled the two fighting
players. When the fight became completely one sided for Whitby's # 15, a
St Catherines player decided it was time for him to take some action. By
involving himself in a fight that wasn't his business, the Whitby players
became livid. They all jumped over the bench and proceeded to beat on
anyone within their view. As this took place, the St Catherines player
that had been thrown out of the game jumped over the glass on the
spectators side of the arena, and got himself involved in the fight also.
Now, who the player was that jumped the boards is unknown to me, the little
pansy ass proceeded to beat on any Whitby player that was vulnerable. I
personally saw two Whitby players after the game that said they had been
punched by him while being held. And you said that this guy chasing the
kid through the stands was, "Humorous?" How old was the kid that he was
chasing? 13 at the most? How tough do you have to be to chase a 13 year
old out of the arena? Being a cheap shotting, kid chasing punk, is that
what you call humorous? If so, then I can see why your whole take on the
brawl was so tainted. Next, if you would like to go into detail about lack
of respect on the coaches behalf, here I go. It may be true that Bob Hanna
and Jeff McCombe were throwing some knuckles, but I guess you failed to see
the St Catherines coaches swinging the sticks eh??? I would really like to
know the perspective through which you saw this game, for your accusations
are so one sided. If Whitby was so in the wrong, then why did you write
that three St Catherines players received suspensions, and one of them
receiving criminal charges? Where is your verbal onslaught for the actions
of these three young men? Your "Source" said that when the officers
arrived at the arena, they went straight over to the Whitby side. What the
hell do you expect when they are the ones wanting to charge a St.
Catherines player with assault with a weapon? Who would you talk to first,
the attacker or the attacked? I think that your source was exaggerating
his point when he said the officer didn't care about the welts on the St
Catherines players face. Lacrosse isn't such a big deal that it will sway
an officer's judgment and potentially put that officers job on the line.
What I don't understand is how your respect has been lost for Jim Bishop.
He is the best coach in the history of the sport, and for you to make such
a statement has put your fate around the league in the balance. What did
Jim Bishop do that was worthy of losing your respect? Did he throw a
punch? Did he swing a stick? I think you had better double think your
comment before it buries you. In your second passage about the brawl, you
said that the 2 Jr B call ups contributed nothing positive to the Warriors
game. But earlier in the passage, you wrote that the Warriors finally look
like Minto Cup Champs. Is it not possible that the physical element
brought to the game by the two call ups was the spark that light the flame
under the ass of the partially stale Warriors? I sure do.
Now, having said all of this, I would like to hear what your view is on
my perspective of the incident. A response would be greatly appreciated.
Whitby fan #1, Aaron Lowes
Some Thoughts from Timothy Evans
March 17, 1998
Timothy evans (bt829@webtv.net) writes:
$$$ killing amateur boxla?
1998 may be the last year for the venerable Tuscarora Thunder Hawks
Senior B franchise, and players salaries in other leagues may be the
reason.
T-Hawks players are getting older, with not enough young players to
take their place. One team member told me "everybody wants money to play
today", another added, "we're the last of the old-style players who will
play for a can of (soda) pop".
With increasing salaries being payed to players in the professional
"National Lacrosse League", and to some top players at the "Major" or
"Senior A" level in Canada, "Senior B" teams like the Thunder Hawks
apparently have difficulty attracting the younger players needed to keep
the franchise alive.
Are other Senior B teams facing the same problem? How are the big
salaries payed by some Canadian teams effecting the competitive balance
in the OLA and WLA?
Its good that players are being payed, but it would be a shame if
amateur and "semi-pro" teams like the T-Hawks were put out of operaton.
March 2, 1998
This from Janice De Marco.
From rugby@easynet.on.ca
Date: Mon, 02 Mar 1998 09:27:24
To: glendundas@hotmail.com
From: Janice De Marco
Subject: lacrosse
I heard the scheduale was finalised last week so why don't you have it yet
"MR LACROSSE".
Hi Janice,
Thanks for your interest and question.
I have tried repeatedly to get the OLA's 98 schedule; so far without
results. I understand that the OLA met in Hamilton over the week-
end to finalize it. When I have it, I'll put it up.
Bye the way Janice, I'm not "MR LACROSSE", Please feel free to call
me Glen.
ONE OF OUR NATIONAL SPORTS
February 26, 1998
Cathy Woods sends me her view of the Lacrosse scene. I couldn't
have expressed it better. Her sentiments define why I do this page.
As an interested observer, a parent of a player and a former Business
manager for a Junior team, I have always wondered why Lacrosse gets so
little media coverage. As one of Canada's official games you would think it
was entitled to some recognition. From the minor level to the professional
level it is virtually ignored. On any given day you can look in the paper
or watch TV or listen to the radio and find scores for high school
volleyball, the results of a swim meet or the score of the Cricket game in
India but there is no mention of Lacrosse. We do have a professional team
here in Ontario now.
There are thousands of minor players both boys and girls ranging in age
from 4 to 21,in Ontario. There are minor organizations from Cornwall to
Windsor and from North Bay to Toronto. There is indoor box lacrosse, men's
and ladies field Lacrosse, as well as University Lacrosse but there is no
media coverage.
On February 22, 1998 the draft for the Ontario Major Lacrosse League was
held. For those in Lacrosse this signals the beginning of the "season".
Teams start conditioning practices, instructional clinics are scheduled and
try outs begin. If this had been the "Hockey" draft the papers would have
been full of names and teams to say nothing of contract details. The number
one pick over all was chosen from a Scarborough Team as well as the third
pick. The second pick was from B.C.. Was there anything in the news, No.
These players are every bit as dedicated as any other. They put just as
much time, hard work as well as heart into their development as any other
athlete and deserve just as much recognition. For anyone who has watched a
good lacrosse game there is no denying that the speed, skill level and
excitement rivals any game there is. Why is there this lack of media
support? Are these athletes not just as deserving as our Hockey players. As
a matter of interest many of the players participate in both hockey and
lacrosse. There are also many professional hockey players, Shanahan,
Gretzky, Nieuwendyk, Oates, to name a few, who have expressed their love
of the game.
Lacrosse players do it "for the love of the game". Even at the professional
level there are no big contracts, no large signing bonuses. These players
have to maintain full time jobs to support themselves and their families
and yet they continue to play the game.
Are we to continue with this hypocrisy or are we going to give the game the
recognition it deserves. and if so maybe you can advise us as to how we
can initiated the changes necessary to give our official National summer
game the attention it is entitled to.
Cathy Woods can be reached at Cathy.Woods@fourseasons.com
This responce from Bill Stevens of St.Catharines
To Cathy Woods Article.
Subject: Cathy Woods>Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 21:01:32
Glen
Some words of thought after reading Cathy Wood's. letter. I know you will
not realy have the time, but hey... I care.
The article by Cathy Woods has the same message I have been saying
for over 30 years. Glen, look at your page as an example .... it is better
than the OLA page. Look at the NLL page. it is updated too late, hard
to access (read slow), the news media is NOW, this instant... news
10 minutes old is not news to them, never mind 12 hours old ... deadlines
for going to press dictate tight time lines etc .... Junior A games
that end at 11 p.m. and someone (whoever it might be that night) might
decide by 11:30 to phone the newspaper ... with incomplete results
etc .... it is too little too late. I just finished e-mailing the NLL web
site ... I e-mailed them last Sunday and no reply ... do they care?
NO NO NO..... IF the OLA teams and the NLL teams want news coverage,
they must provide it, on a regular basis, and with full details. The OLA
site is seldom updated. Fan sites such as yours are more
informative .... and you are UNOFFICIAL....
The news media will not touch unofficial news. Schedules are released
too late. I have had to go to great lengths every year just to get the
local team schedule... never mind a league schedule ,until the
unofficial internet sites like yours started to post it.
And, while I am at it .... Lacrosse has always found a way to seek
negative attention, fighting, league squables, bad decisions, infighting
(I could go on) Take St.Catharines as a prime example .... two seperate
clubs always competing for attention, players, sponsors, fans and media,
is this good for the game? NO. The local media even said so, encouraged
a get together, to no avail ..... and you want this paper to print
stuff on the game? Write a letter to Canada Press, ask the sports editor
his comments... see if you get a reply.... and if you do look carefully
at the written words on the sheet of paper....
does lacrosse pay attention...
NO.
Fans, instead of promoting the game ridicule each other, call it
rivalry if you will, but it gets to name calling at times and the non
fan tunes out.
When lacrosse gets its act together, it will be recognized. If it does
not, you can have all the growth and all the core fans you want, but
never the recognition.
Glen, I could write an essay about this, it is one of the reasons I got
out of Lacrosse back in 1980 after 14 years of direct involvement.
I have remained a fan of the game since, but I must say, that I don't
know why I bother at times ....
Bill Stevens
St.Catharines
bibmstev@computan.on.ca
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your interest and comments.
Bill, I do have the time and I do care as well. That's why I do this
page along with the unofficial Raiders' page.