Author: greggdrinnan

Mondays With Murray: A Little Music Would Not Hurt Del Mar

DECEMBER 30, 1988, SPORTS

Copyright 1988/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

A Little Music Would Not Hurt Del Mar

  Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brien and a few of their cronies opened it as kind of their very own horse parlour. It wasn’t really meant for the general public.

  It was opened in the no-man’s land, the (then) still virginal territory between the beginning-to-boom marketing areas of Los Angeles and San Diego.

 They built a gorgeous, postal card clubhouse, a cross between a Spanish mission and a 1930s movie palace, and a good time was had by all.

 It didn’t cost all that much to build a racetrack of one’s own in the Depression-gripped mondaysmurray21930s, a time when movie people alone had a corner on most of the money earned in this country. Steel mills might be shutting down, soup kitchens might be opening up, but people still found dimes to go to the Saturday matinees and dream.

 Money was never really the point of the Del Mar racetrack, camaraderie was. Which was a good thing because money was not flowing. A track 110 miles from the horseplayers put too great a strain on their love for longshots. The year Del Mar opened, its daily average attendance was 4,654 and the handle was $101,104 a day. That same year, Santa Anita was averaging 18,541 a day and a handle of $653,820. Hollywood Park was to draw 16,708 a day with a handle of $499,882.

 But Del Mar made up in charm what it lacked in coin. It came to be serenaded as the “Saratoga of the West.” Where the surf met the turf. But it was not so stuffy as its Eastern counterpart; you didn’t have to wear

a hat or carry a parasol at Del Mar, and it had amenities the New York track couldn’t offer. The Pacific Ocean on its home stretch, for example.

 You could find Harry James and Betty Grable there almost any afternoon when they were two of the biggest names in show business. Crosby and Bob Hope were on the road to Del Mar constantly. Jimmy Durante bet there. So did, of all people, J. Edgar Hoover, at a time when he was America’s invisible government. It was the FBI director’s favorite recreation spot.

 As the megalopolis to the north and the mini-megalopolis to the south grew, so did Del Mar. But not disproportionately. The handle crept from $2,224,301 its first year to $23,846,789 the year after the Second World War. It hit $166,033,640 last year. Bing and Pat’s little hideaway horse parlor became very big business indeed.

 It has never been thought of as such. It has been run by the 22nd Agricultural District as a cross between a public library and crap game. Bing bowed out because he always hankered to own a big league baseball team, and when the chance came up, in those more puritanical times, he had to make a choice between owning the Pittsburgh Pirates and owning a racetrack. Or even a racehorse.

 The track was operated for about 20 years by the Texas megabucks combine of Clint Murchison and Sid Richardson, proceeds to a charity called Boys Inc.

 But Del Mar is 50 years old. Its picturesque grandstand is considered seismically unsafe. It must be replaced. By whom and with what has become a major issue in San Diego County. Estimated cost: $75 million to $100 million.

 There are 3 groups bidding for the next 20-year lease to operate the track: (1) The entrenched management now operating the club under lease, who propose two decades more of status quo with the grandstand to be built if and when revenues warrant it; (2) John Brunetti, operator of Hialeah Race Track in Florida, who proposes addition of a 10th race daily to up the take, and (3) A joint venture group consisting of the Ogden Corporation, a concessionaire and airline maintenance conglomerate, and James Nederlander, a theatre magnate, who propose to build the new grandstand at their own expense.

 The rub? Ogden-Nederlander want to use the facility in the off-season for “entertainment and non-racing events.” Opponents hiss: “Rock concerts!” Ogden-Nederlander counter: “Bolshoi Ballet!”

 Ogden-Nederlander foresee a kind of Hollywood Bowl South. Opponents see motorcycle gangs.

 Is it time for Bing’s dark-eyed little senorita to shuck the lace-mantilla past and join the world of commerce and contracts? Will it be like his other little crony lawn party, the golf tournament, that now is an AT&T extravaganza?

 On the face of it, it looks like a match race between Man o’ War and a claimer. The private-sector option promises the massive and necessary construction at no cost to the taxpayers — and at no great damage to the neighborhood.

 “Who ever heard of Nureyev breaking up a neighborhood?” demands Neil Papiano, lawyer for the Ogden-Nederlander group. “Is the Boston Pops going to pollute the air? People don’t come on motorcycles to see La Boheme.”

 His position and the position of his clients (Nederlander is a resident of nearby Carlsbad himself) is that the facility needs the transfusion from the private sector to even survive.

 “Our plan is to upgrade the facility at no cost to the state, the taxpayer, the community. So far as we know, there are no other funds ready for this purpose. These are stands which were thrown together as a tribute to palship by Crosby and his buddies a half-century ago. The facilities are outmoded, even dangerous, but the present operators offer no proposal for restoration other than to trust the matter to the state. Our proposal requires no legislative approval, no expenditure of state funds, no gubernatorial signature.

 “The plain facts of the matter would seem to be that there are no funds available from the state for the project, that the reality is the new grandstand is going to be built by private funds or it is not going to be built at all. We see a symphonies-by-the-sea program as a valuable adjunct to the racing program and an essential support to the racetrack.”

 In short, a little night music would seem to be in prospect for Bing’s playhouse by the sea. It’s hard to believe Der Bingle could object to that — where the blue of the night meets the gold of the day.

Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times

Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 60753, Pasadena, CA 91116

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What is the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation? 

  The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in 1999 to perpetuate the Jim Murray legacy, and his love for and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism. Since 1999, JMMF has granted 104 $5,000 scholarships to outstanding journalism students. Success of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation’s efforts depends heavily on the contributions from generous individuals, organizations, corporations, and volunteers who align themselves with the mission and values of the JMMF.

Like us on Facebook, and visit the JMMF website, www.jimmurrayfoundation.org.

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A dozen years ago, Linda McCoy-Murray compiled a book of Jim Murray’s columns on female athletes (1961-1998). While the book is idle waiting for an interested publisher, the JMMF thinks this is an appropriate year to get the book on the shelves, i.e., Jim Murray’s 100th birthday, 1919-2019.  

Our mission is to empower women of all ages to succeed and prosper — in and out of sports — while entertaining the reader with Jim Murray’s wit and hyperbole.  An excellent teaching tool for Women’s Studies.

Proceeds from book sales will benefit the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization providing sports journalism scholarships at universities across the country.

Scattershooting on a Sunday night as we continue to recover from an epic Wimbledon men’s final . . .

Scattershooting

Here’s one from Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe: “Texas Rangers pitcher Jesse Chavez was frustrated with the strike zone on Friday night, so removed his glasses and offered them to plate umpire Rob Drake as he walked off the mound. Drake didn’t throw him out. Apparently, he didn’t see Chavez’s offer.”

Headline at The Beaverton: Children agree not to get abducted after 8 PM so Amber Alert doesn’t wake anyone up.

AirportSecurity

“A Lithuanian couple won the 28th annual World Wife Carrying Championship in Sonkajarvi, Finland, on July 8,” writes Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “Just think of it as the flip side of U.S. soccer, where the women carry the men.”

Taking Note has heard that Jesse Wallin, who has spent the past six seasons scouting for the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, is moving over to the Detroit Red Wings as their director of amateur scouting. He would replace Tyler Wright, who left Detroit last week and now fills that position with the Edmonton Oilers.

Here’s Patti Dawn Swansson, aka The River City Renegade: “Still mourning the adios of Kawhi Leonard from the Tranna Jurassics to the L.A. Clippers? No need for long faces according to team mucky-muck Masai Ujiri. ‘Don’t lose one day of sleep, one second of sleep,’ he says. I hope Steve Simmons of Postmedia Tranna got the memo. He’s been typing from the fetal position ever since news of Kawhi’s departure dropped.” . . . Swansson’s piece, in its entirety, is right here.

 

MRI

Every play-by-play caller and analyst should be forced to watch at least the last hour of ESPN’s coverage of Sunday’s men’s final at Wimbledon. In doing so, they would learn that silence is golden, that there is no need for constant nattering when the TV audience can see all that is occurring. . . . Watching Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic scrap on Sunday was pure gold, especially with the telecast crew not feeling an urge to talk all the time.

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Of course, later in the day, one could tune into ESPN’s coverage of the MLB game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and host Boston Red Sox, and you could listen as another game was drowned by the flood of words from a three-person team in the broadcast booth.

ICYMI, a recent fire at a Jim Beam warehouse resulted in the deaths of thousands of fish in the Kentucky River. As Jim Barach of JokesByJim.blogspot.com noted: “Not only did it kill them, they were all sloshed to the gills.”

Dorothy, my wife of more than 47 years, is preparing to take part in her sixth straight Kamloops Kidney Walk; she also is one of the Walk’s organizers and a co-founder of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group. Oh, and she also helps organize a Christmas luncheon for dialysis patients, transplant recipients and kidney donors. . . . If you’re new here, she had a kidney transplant on Sept. 23, 2013, and she wants to give something back. . . . If you would like to help out, you are able to make a donation and become part of her team right here.

“Addictions to electronic cigarettes are derailing the dreams of promising young athletes, leaving them struggling to breathe, keep up with their teammates and find motivation to practice,” writes Erika Edwards of NBC News. . . . Later, she adds: “The popularity of e-cigarettes among teenagers has skyrocketed in recent years. In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 78 percent increase in high school students vaping from 2017 to 2018. Youth e-cigarette use has been called an epidemic by major public health officials, including the U.S. surgeon general. And it’s increasingly evident that vaping is affecting young athletes and youth athletic programs nationwide.” . . . This is scary stuff, and the entire piece is right here.

You no doubt are aware that Anthony Davis, formerly of the New Orleans Pelicans, has joined LeBron James as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. But did you know that James was going to give his No. 23 to Davis, who had worn that number in New Orleans? That, however, isn’t going to happen. Davis and James would have had to cut a deal of some kind with Nike, but that wasn’t able to get done because of the amount of James No. 23 merchandise already produced and ready to hit shelves in 2019-20.

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BaskinRobins

Ritchie moves into GM’s office. . . . Wright, Henderson go to Edmonton. . . . MacGregor no longer with Dallas

MacBeth

F Colton Kroeker (Regina, Lethbridge, Kootenay, 2014-18) has signed a one-year contract with the Dundee Stars (Scotland, UK Elite). Last season, in 28 games with Mount Royal U (USports, Canada West), he had six goals and 16 assists. . . .

F Ben Maxwell (Kootenay, 2003-08) has signed a one-year contract with Langnau (Switzerland, National League). Last season, with Spartak Moscow (Russia, KHL), he had 11 goals and 12 assists in 59 games.

ThisThat

Darren Ritchie is the new general manager of the Brandon Wheat Kings, a team for BrandonWKregularwhich he has played, coached and scouted. Ritchie, from Winnipeg, played four full seasons (1991-95) for the Wheat Kings, putting up 152 goals and 126 assists in 232 regular-season games. . . . He spent 10 seasons (2006-16) as an assistant coach, and has been the team’s director of scouting for the past three seasons. . . . Ritchie, 45, takes over from Grant Armstrong, whose contract wasn’t renewed after he spent three seasons as GM. Armstrong now is on the scouting staff of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. . . . Ritchie now will be working to sign a new head coach — David Anning’s contract wasn’t renewed after last season — and a director of scouting. . . . The Wheat Kings’ news release is right here.

Chad Harden’s 2019 Calgary Stampede is over and he could be looking at a lifetime ban. That was the verdict Friday after Harden was involved in an incident during Heat 7 of Thursday’s Rangeland Derby chuckwagon races in which one horse was killed and three others suffered minor injuries. . . . Harden was disqualified from the final three days of the 2019 Stampede and fined $10,000 for his role in what happened. He also must pay $10,000 to Evan Salmond, the driver whose horse was killed. . . . Harden, who scouts for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, won’t be invited to compete in future Stampedes, but he is able to appeal by Sept. 1. . . . Harden went into Thursday night in third place in the aggregate standings and with a real chance to be competing for the big money on Sunday. But he was hit with 30 seconds in penalties after the heat and fell to 33rd. Later, of course, he was disqualified. . . . Sammy Hudes and Alanna Smith of the Calgary Herald have more right here.

At the same time, other chuckwagon drivers are of the opinion that, considering Harden’s record, there was some over-reaction here and that the punishment was too harsh. Hudes has that story right here.

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JUST NOTES:

The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers have hired Tyler Wright as their director of amateur scouting and Archie Henderson as director of pro scouting. Both had been working for the Detroit Red Wings. Ken Holland, the Oilers’ new general manager, joined Edmonton from the Red Wings. . . . Wright played four seasons (1989-93) with the Swift Current Broncos. He had been Detroit’s director of amateur scouting for six seasons. . . . Henderson played three seasons in the WHL (Lethbridge Broncos, Victoria Cougars, 1974-77). . . .

According to a Facebook post by former NL radio sports director Rick (The Bear) Wile in Kamloops, former Blazers’ general manager Stu MacGregor “has parted ways” with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. . . . MacGregor signed on as the Blazers’ GM on Oct. 13, 2015. He lasted until May 20, 2018, when he was reassigned to the Stars’ scouting staff. Dallas owner Tom Gaglardi is the Blazers’ majority owner. . . . MacGregor and ex-Blazers head coach Don Hay are spending this weekend at the Kamloops Coaches Conference.

Tweetoftheday

Happy retirement to Ferguson and Marshall. . . . Nickolet leaves Blades for NHL. . . . Leason gets pro deal. . . . Chiefs sign Czech goaltender

MacBeth

F Alexander Delnov (Seattle, 2012-14) has signed a tryout contract with Admiral Vladivostok (Russia, KHL). Last season, with Molot-Prikamie Perm (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), he had 14 goals and 12 assists in 52 games. He led the team in goals and was second in points. . . .

F Andrei Pavlenko (Edmonton, 2017-19) has signed a tryout contract with Dinamo Minsk (Belarus, KHL). Last season, in 58 games with the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL), he had nine goals and 17 assists.

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The NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes have lost two veterans of their scouting staff to retirement, both of them with ties to the WHL. . . . Sheldon Ferguson, who had been Carolina’s head North American scout, and Bert Marshall, a long-time amateur scout, both have headed off into retirement. . . .

Going back to 1977-78, Ferguson owned the WHL’s Billing Bighorns (actually, it was the WCHL then) and the AJHL’s Red Deer Rustlers. He spent part of 1978-79 as the head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, before scouting with the NHL’s Quebec Nordiques for six seasons. From 1985-88, he was the Seattle Thunderbirds’ GM and head coach. He also worked for two seasons as the Swift Current Broncos’ assistant GM. For 18 of the past 20 seasons, Ferguson has been on Carolina’s scouting staff. . . .

Marshall has been an NHL scout since 1983-84. He spent 13 seasons with the New York Islanders and one with the Hartford Whalers. He has been with the Hurricanes since 1997-98. As a player, he came off two seasons (1962-64) with the Edmonton Oil Kings to play 868 regular-season and 72 playoff games, split between the Detroit Red Wings, California/Oakland Seals, New York Rangers, and the Islanders. . . . Think about this for a minute: Marshall has been a part of the NHL for 54 years — since 1965-66 when he played 61 games with the Red Wings. . . . A defenceman in his playing days, Marshall scouted the way he played — quietly efficient. . . .

At the same time, the Hurricanes have added Cody Nickolet and Eric Fink to their scouting staff. . . . Nickolet has been a scout with the Saskatoon Blades, and also was their director of analytics for four seasons. . . . Fink spent the past six seasons scouting for the Portland Winterhawks.

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F Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Leason was selected in the second round of the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . He is eligible to return to the Raiders for his 20-year-old season but, if he doesn’t crack the Capitals’ roster, is more likely to open with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. . . . From Calgary, he opened last season with a 30-game point streak, putting up 28 goals and 36 assists. He finished the regular season with 36 goals and 53 assists in 55 games. Leason added 10 goals and 15 assists in 22 playoff games in helping the Raiders to the WHL championship. . . . Leason may have been the best individual story of the 2018-19 regular season, considering that he went in with 24 goals and 27 assists in 135 games. He played his first 81 games with the Tri-City Americans before being dealt to the Raiders early in 2017-18.

The Spokane Chiefs have signed Czech G Lukas Parik to a WHL contract. Parik, 18, was selected by the Chiefs in the CHL’s 2019 import draft. . . . The 6-foot-4, 185-pound Parik was a third-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . The Chiefs haven’t posted their pre-season roster on the WHL website, but barring any unreported moves they have four goaltenders on their depth chart. Parik joins veterans Bailey Brkin and Reece Klassen, both 20, and Campbell Arnold, 17, who was a second-round selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft.

Whoops! Chad Harden was hit with 30 seconds in penalties on Day 7 of the Rangeland Derby at the Calgary Stampede. Harden finished second in the heat, but the penalties dropped him to fourth. . . . By night’s end, Harden, who scouts for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen when he’s not racing chuckwagons, had fallen from third to 33rd in the aggregate standings. . . . Harden was penalized, fined $10,000 and given a two-performance suspension after it was ruled that he cut off Evan Salmond, whose chuckwagon went into the inside rail. . . . Harden has won $22,300.

Tweetoftheday

Viveiros introduced as Chiefs’ head coach. . . . Raiders’ Protas gets NHL deal. . . . Shepard picks Giants over Harvard

MacBeth

F Max Gerlach (Medicine Hat, Saskatoon, 2015-19) has signed a one-year contract with Ambrì-Piotta (Switzerland, National League). Last season, in 68 games with the Saskatoon Blades (WHL), he had 42 goals and 34 assists. An alternate captain, he led the team in goals and was second in points. . . . According to a news release from Ambrì-Piotta, Gerlach will be loaned to the Ticino Rockets Biasca (Switzerland, Swiss League) for the season. . . .

F Ty Rattie (Portland, 2008-13) has signed a one-year contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Russia, KHL). Last season, he had four goals and seven assists in 50 games with the Edmonton Oilers (NHL). . . .

F Igor Martynov (Victoria, 2017-19) has signed a tryout contract with Dinamo Minsk (Belarus, KHL). Last season, with the Victoria Royals (WHL), he had 11 goals and 31 assists in 61 games. . . . He was Dinamo Minsk’s third-round pick (73rd overall) in the 2016 KHL draft. . . .

G Mac Carruth (Portland, 2009-13) has signed a one-year contract with Lausitzer Füchse Weißwasser (Germany, DEL2). Last season, in 49 games with Fehérvár AV19 Székesfehérvár (Hungary, Erste Bank Liga), he was 3.30 and .900, with two assists.

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The Spokane Chiefs introduced Manny Viveiros, their new head coach, to their fans on Wednesday afternoon. . . . Viveiros takes over from Dan Lambert, who left after two seasons to join the coaching staff of the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Lambert was in attendance at Wednesday’s news conference. . . . Dan Thompson was there for the Spokane Spokesman-Review and wrote this piece right here.

F Aliaksei Protas of the Prince Albert Raiders has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals, who selected him in the third-round of the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . From Belarus, Protas had 11 goals and 29 assists in 61 games with the Raiders last season, then added 12 goals and 10 assists in 23 playoff games.

The Vancouver Giants made it official on Wednesday — they have signed F Cole Shepard of West Vancouver to a WHL contract. . . . A second-round pick by the Giants in the 2017 bantam draft, Shepard, 17, had made a verbal commitment to Harvard. . . . Last season, he had seven goals and 17 assists in 53 games with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. . . . Shepard will get to play with his brother Jackson, 19, who was acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on May 24. . . . Steve Ewen of Postmedia was at the news conference and filed this story right here.

Here is a reminder of what a junior hockey player might have to deal with while away from home, living with a billet family, and trying to focus on a sport in which he hopes to someday have a professional career.

Jermaine Loewen played out his junior eligibility with the Kamloops Blazers last season. He was the team captain for what was his fifth season in Kamloops.

Meanwhile, back home in Arborg, Man., Tara and Stan Loewen, who adopted Loewen out of a Jamaican orphanage, along with Jermaine’s sister, Makeda, and brother, Nathaneal, were dealing with some else entirely.

As you can see from the above tweet, Tara was diagnosed with breast cancer during the hockey season, and just recently had her last radiation treatment.

We can only imagine how heavy this weighed on Jermaine during the Blazers’ season, but it’s definitely worth thinking about while watching junior hockey players grow up away from home.

Chad Harden’s team has him into third place in the aggregate standings after Day 6 of the Rangeland Derby at the Calgary Stampede. Harden, who scouts for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen when he isn’t racing chuckwagons, won his heat on Wednesday and his time  moved him from seventh to third in the 36-team field. Harden, who won the Derby in 2009, has won $19,900 to this point. . . . The top eight drivers move on to Semifinal Saturday. The top four times from the two semifinal heats move into Sunday’s championship heat.


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JUST NOTES:

D Jonathan Smart won’t be returning to the WHL for his 20-year-old season. Instead, he will attend UBC and play for the Thunderbirds. Smart, from Kelowna, started last season with the Kootenay Ice, but didn’t return to the team after Christmas. He finished up with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees, putting up a goal and two assists in 13 games. In 216 career WHL games, split between the Kelowna Rockets, Regina Pats and Kootenay, he had 14 goals and 66 assists. . . .

As was anticipated, F Igor Martynov won’t be back for a third season with the Victoria Royals. Martynov, 20, is from Belarus and has signed with Dinamo Minsk (Belarus, KHL). Last season, he had 11 goals and 31 assists with the Royals. . . . The  Royals now have two imports on their roster — sophomore Phillip Schultz, who is from Denmark, and Swiss F Keanu Derungs, who was selected in the CHL’s 2019 import draft.

Tweetoftheday

Chiefs welcome Viveiros back to WHL. . . . One team left without head coach. . . . Cougars prospect commits to Chilliwack

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The Spokane Chiefs made it official on Tuesday — Manny Viveiros is their new head SpokaneChiefscoach. He takes over from Dan Lambert, who left after two seasons to sign on as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Nashville Predators. . . . Viveiros, 53, spent last season as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers, but was released when Dave Tippett was hired as the NHL team’s new head coach. . . . Prior to that, Viveiros spent two seasons as the director of player personnel and head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, who won the WHL championship in 2017-18. . . . Viveiros will be introduced to Spokane at a news conference today.

With the Spokane Chiefs having hired Manny Viveiros as their head coach, it leaves the BrandonWKregularBrandon Wheat Kings as the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams still looking for one. The Wheat Kings chose not to renew head coach David Anning’s contract after last season. . . . Anning had been with the Wheat Kings though seven seasons — four as an assistant coach and three as head coach. . . .

The Wheat Kings also are without a general manager after having dropped Grant Armstrong after three seasons. Armstrong wasn’t out of work long as the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning has added him to its scouting staff. He will work as an amateur scout under Darryl Plandowski, the team’s head amateur scout.

JUST NOTES:

J.J. Daigneault is the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads. He takes over from Eric Veilleux, who signed on as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch after one season in Halifax. Daigneault, 53, was an assistant coach with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage last season, after spending six seasons as an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens. . . .

D Hudson Thornton has agreed to play for the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs in 2019-20. Thornton, who won’t turn 16 until Nov. 4, was a second-round pick by the Prince George Cougars in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft. . . . From Winnipeg, he played last season with the Rink Hockey Academy’s prep team.

Tweetoftheday

Report: Chiefs have signed a coach. . . . Cozens, Krebs scratched from camp. . . . Cougars ink first-rounders. . . . Harden hot on half-mile of hell

MacBeth

F Rudolf Červený (Regina, 2007-09) has signed a four-year contract with Hradec Králové (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL), he had 11 goals and 12 assists in 57 games. He also had one goal and four assists in 11 games with Brynäs Gävle (Sweden, SHL). . . .

F Masi Marjamäki (Red Deer, Moose Jaw, 2002-06) has signed a one-year contract with the Cardiff Devils (Wales, UK Elite). Last season, in 45 games with Piráti Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had eight goals and eight assists. . . .

F Adam Rossignol (Kootenay, Swift Current, Regina, Portland, 2010-14) has signed a one-year contract with HK Budapest (Hungary, Erste Liga). Last season, he had five goals and eight assists in 28 games with U of British Columbia (USports, Canada West). . . .

D James Bettauer (Chilliwack, Prince Albert, Medicine Hat, 2008-09, 2010-12) has signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). Last season, in 49 games with the Krefeld Pinguine (Germany, DEL), he had five goals and 13 assists.

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It seems that Manny Viveiros is coming back to the WHL, this time as the head coach of SpokaneChiefsthe Spokane Chiefs. . . . Jason Gregor, the host of The Jason Gregor Show on TSN1260 in Edmonton, tweeted the news on Monday evening. . . . Viveiros, who played four seasons in the WHL (Prince Albert, 1982-86), returned from Europe to spend two seasons as the director of player personnel and head coach with the Swift Current Broncos. After winning the WHL championship for 2017-18, he left the WHL for a job as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. That ended after last season, when Dave Tippett was hired as the Oilers’ head coach. . . . A month ago, he told Postmedia’s Jim Matheson that he didn’t have any interest in returning to the WHL. “It’s not really a place for me to go back to and no disrespect to that league,” Viveiros said. “I’ve won in Europe (in Austria) multiple times, I’ve won in the Western League. I had choices last year but (Edmonton) is home, my family, my wife’s parents are here.” . . . In Spokane, Viveiros will replace Dan Lambert, who left after two seasons as head coach to join the NHL’s Nashville Predators as an assistant coach. . . . With Viveiros in Spokane, it leaves the Brandon Wheat Kings as the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams without a head coach. The Wheat Kings also need a general manager.

Hockey Canada has scratched two injured WHL forwards from its summer development Canadacamp for the national junior team. . . . F Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and F Peyton Krebs of the Winnipeg Ice both are injured and won’t be on the ice during the camp, which is to run July 7 through Aug. 3 in Plymouth, Mich. . . . Cozens had surgery last week after suffering an injury to his left thumb in the Buffalo Sabres’ development camp. He is expected to be sidelined for up to three months. The Sabres had picked him seventh overall in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . Krebs suffered a partially torn left Achilles tendon during a workout and later underwent surgery. He attended the NHL draft and was taken 17th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights. A timeline hasn’t yet been established for his return. . . . F Connor McMichael of the OHL’s London Knights has been added to the camp roster. He was a first-round pick by the Washington Capitals in the NHL’s 2019 draft.

F Kirby Dach of the Saskatoon Blades has signed a three-year entry-level contract with Saskatoonthe Chicago Blackhawks, who selected him third overall in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . Dach had 25 goals and 48 assists in 62 games with the Blades last season. He added five goals and three assists in 10 playoff games. . . . In 2017-18, as a WHL freshman, he had seven goals and 39 assists in 52 games. . . . Under terms of the CBA between the NHL and the NHLPA, Dach, 18, will have to play with the Blackhawks or the Blades in 2019-20.

Here’s what was reported here on June 27 . . .

The Vancouver Giants are poised to announce the signing of F Cole Shepard, a Vancouversource familiar with the situation has told Taking Note. . . . Shepard, 17, was a second-round pick by Vancouver in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. . . . Last season, he had seven goals and 17 assists in 53 games with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. . . . Prior to that, he played at the Delta Hockey Academy. . . . Shepard made a verbal commitment to Harvard U on April 17, 2018, to start with the 2021-22 season. . . . Signing with the Giants will give him the opportunity to play with his brother Jackson, 19, who was acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on May 25.

The Prince George Cougars have signed D Keaton Dowhaniuk and F Koehn Ziemmer, PrinceGeorgeboth of whom were selected in the first round of the 2019 bantam draft, to WHL contracts. . . . Dowhaniuk, from Sherwood Park, Alta., was the third-overall selection. He had eight goals and 27 assists in 25 games with the OHA Edmonton bantam prep team last season. . . . The Cougars took Ziemmer with the fourth-overall selection. From Mayerthorpe, Alta., he also played with the OHA Edmonton bantam prep team, putting up 37 goals and 39 assists in 29 games. . . .

There now are only two of the 22 first-round selections who haven’t signed WHL contracts. F Connor Levis, the 20th overall pick, hasn’t signed with the Kamloops Blazers. D Tyson Jugnauth, taken 21st overall, has yet to sign with the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Levis, from Vancouver, won’t turn 15 until Oct. 5. Last season, he had 24 goals and 38 assists in 26 games with the bantam prep team at St. George’s School. He also has made a verbal commitment to the U of Michigan for the 2022-23 season. . . . Jugnauth, from Kelowna, had eight goals and six assists in 16 games with a bantam AA team there.

If it’s the second week in July, it means the Calgary Stampede is in high gear, and that means Chad Harden is driving in the half-mile of hell — aka the Rangeland Derby. . . . Harden, who scouts for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, is a regular on the chuckwagon racing circuit in Alberta and Saskatchewan. . . . On Monday, he won the first heat in 1:13.73 and won $2,700. For the evening, he was 15th of 36 entries. He goes into Tuesday’s action in fifth place in the aggregate and has won $13,300. . . . Laurence Heinen of Postmedia has more on Harden, aka The Prankster, and the chuckwagons right here.

Seattle has an NHL franchise that is scheduled to begin play for the 2021-22 season. While the team doesn’t yet have a nickname, its owner has a vision. Jerry Bruckheimer has told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he would like to see a USHL franchise and a western version of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in the area, both playing out of what will be the Seattle team’s training facility. . . . Bruckheimer and CEO Tod Leiweke also would love to see the World Junior Championship tournament played in Seattle, too. . . . Baker’s complete piece is right here.

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JUST NOTES:

Bill Rotheisler has joined the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder as assistant general manager and associate coach. He had been the AGM and associate coach with the St. Stephen Aces of the Maritime Junior Hockey League — the franchise has moved to Fredericton and now is the Red Wings. . . . Prior to moving east, Rotheisler spent five seasons coaching in the junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, the last two as GM and head coach of the Castlegar Rebels. . . .

Barry Dewar no longer is involved in the ownership of the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Dewar had owned 51 per cent of Storm before selling to Tracy Mero, who now owns 100 per cent of the franchise. . . . “This is what I wanted,” Dewar told Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week. “It’s been 18 years. The suspension was the final kicker. The league is moving in a direction that I’m not happy with.” . . . Prior to last season, Dewar was suspended for tampering, a decision with which he didn’t agree. . . . Matt Kolle now is the Storm’s governor, business manager, hockey operations manager and general manager. . . . Hastings’ story is right here.

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Mondays With Murray: Gamble Was Worth More Than Money

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1991, SPORTS

Copyright 1991/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

Gamble Was Worth More Than Money

  In the year 1936, in the little North Sea German town of Aurich, hard by Bremen, when a knock came on the door in the middle of the night, every Jewish family knew what it meant. A stormtrooper would be at the door, maybe with a piece of paper and a truncheon in his hand, and a truck with a swastika on it waiting at the door. Ultimate destination: gas chamber.

  Hitler had been in power two years and terror was abroad in the land. People were mondaysmurray2being beaten on the street for their religion. Yellow armbands were being distributed. The sound of breaking glass meant rocks were being thrown through synagogue windows and the worship areas set afire.

  So, when the inevitable knock came one midnight on the door of the Gluck family, and Mrs. Gluck threw open the door with pounding heart to see one of Hitler’s burly brownshirts standing there, her worst fears were realized. The family home would be Dachau.

  But then she recognized the intruder as an old high school classmate. This wasn’t necessarily reassuring, but this man quickly put his finger to his lips and slid inside the door. He had just come from a Party meeting, he told Henry Gluck’s mother, and he had an urgent recommendation. Why didn’t they get out of there now? Leave everything, if necessary, but go.

  They didn’t use the term then, but his message was clear: A Holocaust was in the making. They would get swallowed up in it unless they got out of Germany. He recommended they not delay a day.

  For Mrs. Gluck, the path was clear. She had read the signals. Germany was becoming a Hall of Horrors.

  But her husband balked. The Glucks had been in Germany for generations, as far back in time as anyone could trace. They were Germans. Why should they have to run from this Austrian paperhanger who wanted to put them out of their ancestral home, and give up their successful wool and leather business. He wouldn’t last. Anyway, where would they go?

  Anywhere, Mrs. Gluck insisted. If they didn’t, Hitler would find a place for them. A final place.

  Mrs. Gluck, fortunately, prevailed. The Gluck family sold their business at a loss — they were lucky because if they’d waited a year it would have been confiscated — packed their son and daughter and headed to Paris and, ultimately, Philadelphia, where a brother lived.

  Little Henry Gluck was nine at the time. Running around in lederhosen and hiking shoes, he was just learning to play soccer and he could not understand why his family wanted to turn into gypsies and head for the horizon. Henry and his young sister thought life was just fine.

   “I didn’t know what was happening,” he recalled 50 years later. “I remember my father taking me to a soccer game once, and on the horizon we saw this long line of cars. Then, suddenly, they all disappeared.

  ‘Where did they all go?’ I asked my father. He laughed. ‘They went underground,’ he explained. ‘They’re building planes for the war there.’ ”

  It was a period when Germany was girding for war in defiance of the treaty that banned military buildup. It was ominous for his elders, but the young Gluck remembers thinking it was exciting.

  That was more than half a century ago. The boy who escaped Hitler’s clutches is one of the most powerful financial figures in America.

  Henry Gluck is chairman and chief executive officer of Caesars World, the gaming conglomerate of Las Vegas, Atlantic City, the Poconos and Lake Tahoe, which does an annual business in the billion-dollar range. The boy who left Nazi Germany one step ahead of Himmler’s goon squads is an entrepreneurial genius who grew up in Philadelphia, attended the Wharton School of Finance and was so successful in the tricky world of merger and conglomerate financing that he was able to retire a millionaire at 43.

  Retirement was not all it was cracked up to be. “It’s not so much what happens to you, it’s that it robs your family of an identity. Someone asks, ‘And what does your father do?’ and they have to say, ‘Nothing!’ ” Gluck said.

  He returned to the stock exchange wars in 1983 when, as a board member of Caesars World, he saw what should have been a lucrative business slumping into a $21-million loss. The management was suspected of mob ties. It had problems being licensed. Gluck was coaxed out of retirement to give it direction and respectability. His reputation in banking circles was first-rate.

  If there are two ways to put your theretofore impeccable reputation at risk, one of them is to run a gambling establishment and the other is to promote prizefights. You are in danger in both instances of finding your picture in the tabloids standing next to Fat Tony Salerno or John Gotti or to find yourself in the Wall Street Journal being chided for doing business with the Don Kings of the world. Henry Gluck ignored the dangers. He took a bigger gamble than anyone at his baccarat tables.

  One result was, Caesars was turning a profit of more than $40 million by 1986.

  Such gambles are small potatoes compared to growing up in Germany in the 1930s. “They’re all gone now, most of the relatives and friends who stayed when we left,” Gluck acknowledges. “I would be dead if we stayed.”

  Instead, he is contemplating an expansion in the Las Vegas Caesars and yet another title fight where, this June, Thomas Hearns and Virgil Hill will meet for the light-heavyweight championship of the world. “Prizefights are perfect promotional vehicles for casinos,” Gluck explains. “We have 75,000 hotel rooms in Vegas, but with the proper fight, they’re all sold out.”

  Isn’t he afraid the boxing business will sully his otherwise spotless reputation? Gluck laughs and says: “Coming from where I did and what I got away from, that’s a small worry.”

  What of the brownshirt who came to the family home that midnight so long ago and warned them to get away? Henry Gluck grows thoughtful. “I don’t know. My mother (who is still alive) wouldn’t go back. I suspect he died in a snowbank in Russia somewhere.”

  It’s a strange success story. The Gluck family is probably the only one in Germany to have a knock on the door in the dead of night, throw open the door to see a stormtrooper standing there — and have it be the best thing that ever happened to them.

Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times

Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 60753, Pasadena, CA 91116

———

What is the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation? 

  The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in 1999 to perpetuate the Jim Murray legacy, and his love for and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism. Since 1999, JMMF has granted 104 $5,000 scholarships to outstanding journalism students. Success of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation’s efforts depends heavily on the contributions from generous individuals, organizations, corporations, and volunteers who align themselves with the mission and values of the JMMF.

Like us on Facebook, and visit the JMMF website, www.jimmurrayfoundation.org.

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A dozen years ago, Linda McCoy-Murray compiled a book of Jim Murray’s columns on female athletes (1961-1998). While the book is idle waiting for an interested publisher, the JMMF thinks this is an appropriate year to get the book on the shelves, i.e., Jim Murray’s 100th birthday, 1919-2019.  

Our mission is to empower women of all ages to succeed and prosper — in and out of sports — while entertaining the reader with Jim Murray’s wit and hyperbole.  An excellent teaching tool for Women’s Studies.

Proceeds from book sales will benefit the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization providing sports journalism scholarships at universities across the country.

Scattershooting on a Sunday while wondering if Kawhi will be able to survive financially in L.A. . . .

Scattershooting

While Pittsburgh was playing the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on May 25, Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli was struck on the chin by a piece off a broken back. He hasn’t played since. Now he says he’s through catching thanks to what was the sixth diagnosed concussion of his MLB career. . . . “That’s enough,” Cervelli, 33, told DKPittsburghSports.com on Sunday. “This time is different. I can’t live like this.”

I keep reading about how Kawhi Leonard left a few dollars on the table when he left the Toronto Raptors for the Los Angeles Clippers. Apparently, he signed for US$142 million over four years, when he could have stayed in Toronto for US$190 million over five years. While I understand the cost of housing is high in L.A., leaving that money on the table doesn’t mean that Leonard will be homeless, does it?

KidsMeal

The Curse of Hammy? Is it only a coincidence that the Saskatchewan Roughriders are 1-3 — with the lone victory over the woeful Toronto Argonauts — since someone made the horrible decision not to bring back Ian Hamilton for a third season as their senior reporter?

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Of course, Saskatchewan football fans have been so wrapped up in the appearance of a giant gopher that they may not realize that their favourite team is struggling.

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Patti Dawn Swansson (aka The River City Renegade) got in on the gopher madness with: “Summer swathing and happy banjo plucking came to a halt on the Flattest of Lands last week, after Gainer the Gopher went missing and was feared to be lost in a corn maze or abducted by body-snatching aliens. Left behind was a hairball that looked like Chucky’s pet rodent.”

There’s a whole lot more right here.

Congrats to the Victoria HarbourCats for grabbing a West Coast League playoff spot with an 8-1 victory over the visiting Bellingham Bells on Sunday afternoon. The HarbourCats, who will be in the post-season for the third time in four seasons, finished atop the North Division, winning the first-half title at 18-10. The lost left Bellingham at 16-11. . . . There still are rumblings that the WCL is working to get a franchise into Kamloops, but has yet to find a baseball fan with deep enough pockets to get involved.

RippedPants

It was on July 4, 1939, when Lou Gehrig stood at home plate in Yankee Stadium and spoke about being the “luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Now, 80 years later, Bob Molinaro of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot writes of that speech: “Words that still resonate . . . In another 80 years will anything a current athlete says be remembered?”

Here’s what Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun wrote about Don Cherry this weekend:

“One thing that hasn’t been confirmed for the next season of Hockey Night In Canada: the return of Don Cherry and Coach’s Corner. Rogers is cutting all over the place, which included the removal of Bob McCown on radio and television and Doug MacLean doing the same. Cherry is handsomely compensated for his work. Not sure if this is a place they want to go with the 85-year-old.”

Nothing definitive in any of that, but, oh boy, did the stuff hit the fan on social media. Gotta think the split was about 50-50, too, on whether folks want Grapes back on their TV sets.

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The debate even morphed into whether Don Cherry should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I’m thinking if he’s in, Paul Henderson is, too.

OrganDonation2

Dorothy, my wife of more than 47 years, is preparing to take part in her sixth straight Kamloops Kidney Walk on Sept. 22. She also is one of the Walk’s organizers and a co-founder of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group. Oh, and she also helps organize a Christmas luncheon for dialysis patients, transplant recipients and kidney donors. . . . If you’re new here, she had a kidney transplant on Sept. 23, 2013, and she wants to give something back. . . . If you would like to help out, you are able to make a donation right here.

Cozens on shelf for up to three months after thumb surgery. . . . Burnett signs to coach Blues. . . . Four more ex-WHLers get deals overseas

MacBeth

F Štěpán Novotný (Kelowna, Swift Current, 2008-11) has signed a one-year contract with Třinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, in 33 games with Frýdek-Místek (Czech Republic, 1. Liga), he had a team-leading 22 goals and 10 assists. On loan to Třinec, he had two goals and three assists in 14 games. . . .

D Tomáš Kundrátek (Medicine Hat, 2008-10) has signed a three-year contract with Třinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, with Kunlun Red Star Beijing (China, KHL), he had three assists in 25 games, and he was an alternate captain. He also had one goal and one assist in six games with Třinec, and one goal and three assists in 13 games with Davos (Switzerland, National). . . .

F Robin Kovář (Vancouver, Regina, 2001-04) has signed a one-year contract with the Bracknell Bees (England, National). Last season, he had five assists in eight games with Budapest (Hungary, Erste Liga), and 12 goals and 16 assists in 15 games with the Blackburn Hawks (England, National Division 1). . . .

F Trevor Cheek (Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, 2010-13) has signed a one-year contract with Esbjerg Energy (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). Last season, with the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL), he had seven goals and three assists in 63 games.

ThisThat

It would seem that F Dylan Cozens’ participation in the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ training Lethbridgecamp is up in the air. He definitely will miss the World Junior Summer Showcase, which is scheduled for Plymouth, Mich., July 26 through Aug. 3. . . . Cozens was selected by the Buffalo Sabres with the seventh-overall pick of the NHL’s 2019 draft in Vancouver on June 21. He suffered an injury to his left thumb on June 29 when he put his hand out in an attempt to cushion the fall after absorbing a hip check during the Sabres’ development camp. Cozens left the ice immediately and it was apparent that he had been injured just by the position of the thumb. . . . Cozens underwent surgery on Wednesday and, as the tweet from the Sabres suggests, will be sidelined for up to three months. . . . The Hurricanes will open training camp in late August and are to open the regular season on Sept. 20. . . . Last season, he finished with 34 goals and 50 assists in 68 regular-season games, then added four goals and four assists in seven playoff games.

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Gord Burnett is the new head coach of the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues. A Regina native, Burnett spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Ice, which has moved to Winnipeg, and Blues both are owned by 50 Below Sports + Entertainment. . . . With the Blues, Burnett replaces Billy Keane, who had been the GM/head coach for the past two seasons. . . . Taras McEwen was named the Blues’ new general manager in May.

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