Wilson heads up Victoria’s 2020 Memorial Cup bid . . . Ex-WHLer has court date in Prince Albert . . . Fire threatens eagles’ nest

MacBeth

F Tomáš Vincour (Edmonton, Vancouver, 2007-2010) signed a two-year contract with Hradec Králové (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, he had 10 goals and 10 assists in 39 games with Brno (Czech Republic, Extraliga). . . .

D Mark Louis (Brandon, Red Deer, 2003-08) signed a one-year contract extension with the Cardiff Devils (Wales, UK Elite). Last season, he had two assists in 30 games. Louis is spending this summer in Cardiff completing his MBA. . . .

F Sami Sandell (Brandon, 2004-06) signed a a tryout contract with Davos (Switzerland, NL A). Last season, with Ilves Tampere (Finland, Liiga), he had 16 goals and 32 assists in 53 games. An alternate captain, he led the team in assists and points. . . .

F Rihards Bukarts (Brandon, Portland, 2013-16) signed a one-year contract with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, DEL). Last season, he had two goals and two assists in 17 games with Zlín (Czech Republic, Extraliga); one goal in 14 games with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL); and one assists in two games with the Eisbären Berlin (Germany, DEL).

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The wheels are in motion in Victoria as the Royals prepare to bid on being the host team for the 2020 Memorial Cup. . . . The Royals announced this week that businessman John VictoriaRoyalsWilson will chair the bid committee, with Darren Parker, who is the Royals’ senior vice president of sales and marketing, the vice chair. . . . Wilson, a Victoria native, is the president and CEO of The Wilson’s Group, which, according to a Royals’ news release, “serves as Vancouver Island’s largest charter transportation company, and has been in operation since 1962.” . . . He is involved in the ownership groups for the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies and the junior B Peninsula Panthers. He also is part of the group that owns baseball’s Victoria HarbourCats, the perennial leaders in attendance in the West Coast League. . . . Parker, meanwhile, has been with the Royals since the franchise relocated from Chilliwack over the summer of 2011. . . . The Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets and Lethbridge Hurricanes also have said they will involved in the bidding for the 2020 Memorial Cup. Organizations and cities will present their bids at a board of governors’ meeting in Calgary on Oct. 3. The host city is scheduled to be revealed at the end of that meeting.

There is an interesting sidebar involved with the fire that broke on Shuswap Road in Kamloops on Thursday. A tree that was near the fire on Thursday has a bald eagle’s nest on its top. Right now, that nest is home to a pair of chicks. . . . Firefighters were able to keep the flames away from it on Thursday. On Friday evening, with high winds having arrived as was forecast, the fire blew back and, as you can see from the below tweet, Kamloops firefighters were again working to save the tree, the next and the chicks.

Barkley Swenson, who played 150 regular-season WHL games over four seasons (1990-94), will be back in a Prince Albert court room on Aug. 2 after being charged with possession of stolen property, obstructing a peace officer, attempting to evade police, dangerous driving and being unlawfully at large while on an undertaking. . . . Swenson, 44, was in court on Thursday, according to Charlene Tebbutt of panow.com, represented himself and was released on bail. . . . Swenson was arrested following an incident on June 24. . . . He played 80 regular-season WHL games with the Prince Albert Raiders and 70 with the Tacoma Rockets. In all, he had 35 goals, 50 assists and 251 penalty minutes. . . . Tebbutt’s story is right here. . . . An earlier story from panow.com is right here.

Tyson Ramsey has signed on as an assistant coach with the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals. . . . Ramsey, who is from Brandon, spent the past seven seasons with the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings, three as an assistant coach and the last four as head coach. . . . Last season, he also was the head coach of the bantam AAA Westman Wildcats female team. . . . He has scouted for the Moose Jaw Warriors for the past three seasons. . . . With the Oil Capitals, Ramsey will work alongside GM/head coach Troy Leslie.

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Meier takes three Stanley Cup rings into retirement . . . Broncos lose scouts, associate coach . . . News on two WHL trades

NOTE: Updated to include resignation of Swift Current Broncos associate coach Ryan Smith.

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Wayne Meier’s three Stanley Cup rings.

Wayne Meier, a longtime WHL and NHL scout, has told Taking Note that he is “ending my career and off to retirement.” . . . Meier, from Edmonton, has scouted, mostly in the west, for more than 45 years, spending 31 seasons working for NHL teams. . . . He started his scouting career with the Portland Winter Hawks in 1976. He went on to spend a total of 10 seasons with Portland, and was the director of player personnel for seven of those seasons. . . . He also worked in the NHL as a scout with the Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins. . . . He spent the past 12 seasons with the Penguins, so was part of three Stanley Cup-winning teams.

There have been rumblings out of Swift Current for the past while that there was going to be some upheaval in the Broncos’ scouting department following the signing of Dean SCBroncosBrockman as director of hockey operations and head coach.

The above tweet from veteran scout Brian Leavold would seem to signal that something is happening as he indicates that he is leaving the staff “as have many others.”

There has yet to be an announcement from the Broncos on the state of their scouting staff, but all names have been deleted from the team’s website. As well, one person familiar with the WHL scouting fraternity has told Taking Note that “I believe they all have quit.”

The Broncos won the WHL championship on May 14, and Manny Viveiros, the team’s director of player personnel and head coach, left shortly after to join the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach.

Brockman was named the director of hockey operations and head coach on June 27.

One day before that, Jamie Porter, the Broncos’ assistant general manager and director of hockey operations, announced that he would be leaving the organization at the end of July. Porter had been with the Broncos since signing on as a scout in 2003.

Meanwhile, the Broncos also have lost a member of their coaching staff with the resignation of Ryan Smith, who had been their associate coach.

Smith had been the Humboldt Broncos’ general manager and head coach when he left three years ago to join Swift Current as associate coach.

In Humboldt, Smith, who had been the head coach of the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers, took over from Brockman, who had been there for 16 years before signing on as an assistant coach with the Saskatoon Blades.

Jamie Heward, the director of player development and head coach, is still with the team, although Steve Ewen of Postmedia tweeted this week that the Vancouver Giants “are talking” to Heward “about being assistant coach.”

As Ewen pointed out, Heward and Michael Dyck, the Giants’ new head coach, were teammates with the Regina Pats “in the late 1980s.”

The Saskatoon Blades have acquired veteran F Riley McKay, 19, from the Spokane Chiefs Saskatoonfor a fourth-round selection in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft and a seventh-round pick in 2020. . . . From Swan River, Man., MacKay has played two seasons with the Chiefs, putting up seven goals and 15 assists. . . . McKay is one of the WHL’s toughest players and you can bet that Mitch Love, the Blades’ first-year head coach, saw a lot of him while he was an assistant coach with the Everett Silvertips. In other words, you can bet that this deal has Love’s stamp of approval.

The Spokane Chiefs have acquired F Michael King, 18, from the Kootenay Ice for a conditional fifth-round pick in the WHL’s 2020 bantam draft. . . . King was selected by the Ice in the seventh round of the 2015 bantam draft. . . . King, from Winnipeg, had eight goals and seven assists in 56 games as a sophomore with the Ice last season. In his freshman season, he had two goals and seven assists in 66 games.

The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed F Vladimir Alistrov to a WHL contract. From Belarus, he was selected in the CHL’s 2018 import draft. Last season, he had 31 goals and 39 assists while splitting 50 games with Team Belarus’s U-17 and U-18 teams. He also had three goals and four assists for Team Belarus at the IIHF’s U-18 World championship.

John Dean is the new head coach of the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. Dean, 37, is the reigning coach of the year in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, where he guided the Toronto Patriots to a 40-8-3-3 record. . . . He spent three seasons (2014-17) as an assistant coach with the OHL’s North Bay Battalion. . . . Dean takes over from Drew Bannister, who left the Greyhounds to become the head coach of the San Antonio Rampage, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues.

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Dorothy and I live on Shuswap Road, about 20 km east of Kamloops. This fire, which started at 20 hectares and quickly grew to 400, was about 10 km west of us and we were never in any danger. As the fire burned, it moved north and west, but the crews did a tremendous job of keeping it away from homes and other structures.

It was a reminder, though, that it was one year ago when we were blanketed by smoke in what turned out to be an ugly summer.

Here’s hoping that we aren’t in for a repeat performance.

If you are interested in more photos and some terrific videos of planes fighting the fire, just go to Twitter and do a search for ‘Shuswap Road.’

Pats, Chiefs sign import skaters . . . Moose Jaw d-man has KHL tryout . . . Americans add former Calgary forward

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D Dmitri Zaitsev (Moose Jaw, 2016-18) signed a tryout contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia, KHL). Last season, he had six goals and 22 assists in 62 games with Moose Jaw. . . . Zaitsev’s contract lasts through the end of the exhibition season, after which the two sides will decide on extending the contract. Metallurg plays its first exhibition game on Aug. 4 and its last on Aug. 26. The KHL regular season begins on Sept. 1. . . .

D Andrej Meszároš (Vancouver, 2004-05) signed a one-year contract extension with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). The team captain, he had six goals and 11 assists in 51 games last season. . . .

D David Turoň (Portland, 2002-03) signed a one-year extension with Polonia Bytom (Poland, PHL). Last season, he had eight goals and 15 assists in 38 games.

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The Regina Pats have signed both of their selections from the CHL’s 2018 import draft — PatsRussian F Sergei Alkhimov and Russian D Nikita Sedov, both of whom played last season with the Colorado Evolution, a U-16 midget team that plays out of the Evolution Elite Hockey Academy in Denver. . . . Alkhimov, 17, recorded eight goals and 15 assists in 13 games, while Sedov, also 17, had three goals and eight assists in 11 games. . . . According to the Pats, both players are “in training camp with Team Russia, competing for spots at the 2018 Gretzky Hlinka Cup.” . . . Sergei Bautin, a Russian defenceman who played with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets (1992-94), is the head coach of the Evolution Elite midget team. John Paddock, the Pats’ general manager, was the Jets’ head coach when Bautin played in Winnipeg.

D Dmitri Zaitsev, 20, who played the past two seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors, has MooseJawWarriorssigned a tryout deal with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, a Russian team in the KHL. The MacBeth Report spells out the details of the agreement above. . . . Zaitsev is from Togliatti, Russia, and played for Metallurg’s youth teams, before coming over to the NAHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights for the 2015-16 season. . . . He had two goals and 18 assists in 70 games with Moose Jaw in 2016-17, then had six goals and 22 assists in 61 games last season. . . . The Warriors also had Russian D Oleg Sosunov on their roster last season. Sosunov, 20, is expected to play in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s organization in 2018-19. . . . The Warriors made two selections in the CHL’s 2018 import draft, taking F Daniil Stepanov, 17, from Belarus, and F Yegor Buyalsky, 17, who also is from Belarus.

The Spokane Chiefs have signed Russian D Yegor Arbuzov, 17, after selecting him in the SpokaneChiefsCHL’s 2018 import draft. He played last season for CSKA Moskva’s U-17 club, scoring eight goals and adding five assists in 22 games. . . . Arbuzov owns sophomore D Filip Kral as the Chiefs’ two import players. Kral, from Czech Republic, was the club’s rookie of the year last season, after putting up nine goals and 26 assists in 54 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs selected him in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2018 draft.

The Portland Winterhawks have added assistant general manager to Kyle Gustafson’s portfolio. Gustafson, who is preparing for his 15th season with the organization, also is Portlandthe associate head coach. . . . According to the Winterhawks, Gustafson “will take on an increased role in player recruitment and scouting. Travis Green, now the head coach of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, was the last person to hold the combined position with the Winterhawks.”

As well, Matt Coflin, Portland’s head scout in B.C. since 2012, now is the assistant to the general manager, director of scouting and player development. He will “oversee the Winterhawks’ scouting department, as well as the development of Portland’s list players.” Coflin has been with the Winterhawks for six seasons.

Lisa Hollenbeck, who had been director of hockey administration, now is senior director, hockey operations. She has been with Portland since 2011. According to the news release, “She will handle all hockey operations’ communications, fillings, reporting with WHL, while maintaining a working understanding of rules and regulations, and organizing training camp.”

Again, from the news release: “These moves come in response to former assistant general manager Matt Bardsley accepting the position of general manager with the Kamloops Blazers in May.”

The Tri-City Americans have signed F Matt Dorsey, 19, after he played last season with tri-citythe BCHL-champion Wenatchee Wild. Dorsey is from Wenatchee. . . . He had four goals and seven assists in 18 games with the Wild, then added two goals and an assist in 14 BCHL playoff games. . . . The Calgary Hitmen selected Dorsey in the third round of the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft after he had 32 goals and 20 assists in 30 games with the U-14 Arizona Bobcats. . . . The Americans selected him in the 11th round of the 2018 bantam draft. . . . In 2016-17, he had three goals and three assists in 34 games with the Hitmen. . . . He missed most of two seasons (2014-16) with knee problems.

The Americans also have signed F Tyson Greenway, who was a fourth-round selection in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft. Greenway had 21 goals and 26 assists in 34 games with the bantam AAA St. Albert Sabres last season. This season, he is expected to play with the midget AAA St. Albert Raiders.

The Swift Current Broncos have acquired F Colum McGauley, 18, from the Kelowna SCBroncosRockets for an eighth-round selection in the WHL’s 2021 bantam draft. . . . McGauley had two goals in 47 games as a freshman with the Rockets last season. . . . From Nelson, B.C., he was a fourth-round pick by the Spokane Chiefs in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Kelowna acquired him from Spokane for F Tanner Wishnowski on Oct. 17, 2016.

Meanwhile, the Broncos have added Nathan MacDonald to their front office as director of business operations. With his Chartered Accountant designation since 2011, he has been working with Crowe MacKay LLP in his hometown of Calgary for seven years. He takes over from Dianne Sletten, who left the organization on May 25. She had been with the Broncos through six seasons.

The AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs have “released” Larry Draper, their assistant general manager and associate coach, “due to budget constraints and position reformation,” according to a post on the team’s website. . . . Draper had been with the Pontiacs for five seasons. . . . Rick Swan has been the Pontiacs’ GM and head coach since 2013.

Brian Lizotte has signed a three-year deal as head coach of the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan, the defending Memorial Cup champions. . . . Lizotte takes over from Mario Pouliot, who left to join the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies as general manager and head coach. . . . Lizotte worked the past two seasons as associate coach alongside Pouliot.

Johnathan Aitken, a former NHL first-round draft pick off the roster of the Medicine Hat Tigers, is the first general manager and head coach of the Cold Lake, Alta., Wings, a franchise in the Western Provinces Hockey Association, which is part of the Western States Hockey League, a pay-to-play circuit that has branded itself as junior A. . . . Aitken, from Edmonton, has been coaching minor hockey in Edmonton. . . . Aitken, 40, played four seasons (1994-98) in the WHL, the first two with Medicine Hat and the last two with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Boston Bruins selected him eighth overall in the NHL’s 1996 draft. He went on to play 44 NHL games — three with the Bruins and 41 with the Chicago Blackhawks.

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Tory, Stasiuk together, again . . . Blazers add assistant coach . . . Rebels sign Russian forward

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F Layne Ulmer (Swift Current, 1997-2001) signed a one-year extension with the Cardiff Devils (Wales, UK Elite). Last season, he had 18 goals and 35 assists in 55 games. . . .

F Joel Broda (Tri-City, Moose Jaw, Calgary, 2004-10) signed a one-year contract with Dornbirn (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, with the Linz Black Wings (Austria, Erste Bank Liga), he had 20 goals and 27 assists in 54 games. . . . Rick Nasheim (Spokane Flyers 1980-81, Regina, 1982-83) is the assistant coach for Dornbirn. . . . For the curious ones out there, the Spokane Flyers began WHL life as the original Flin Flon Bombers, a charter member of the league in 1966. The franchise transferred to Edmonton for the 1978-79 season as the second version of the Edmonton Oil Kings. The franchise lasted one season in Edmonton, then was sold and moved to Great Falls MT, as the Great Falls Americans. The Americans ceased operations in December 1979 after 28 games. The franchise was re-activated as the Spokane Flyers for the 1980-81 season. The Flyers lasted one season plus a bit, folding 26 games into their second season in December 1981. . . .

F Brodie Dupont (Calgary, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with Dornbirn (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, with the Norfolk Admirals (ECHL), he had 21 goals and 47 assists in 68 games. The team captain, he led the Admirals in assists and points. He was pointless in one game while on loan to the Stockton Heat (AHL).

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The Tri-City Americans have hired Roy Stasiuk as their head scout, filling the spot in tri-citytheir front office that was created when Barclay Parneta, who had been the assistant GM, left to join the Vancouver Giants as general manager. . . . Stasiuk, 55, is quite familiar with the WHL, having worked with the Prince Albert Raiders, Red Deer Rebels, Calgary Hitmen and Edmonton/Kootenay Ice. . . . He spent 10 seasons (1995-2005) as the Ice’s head scout. While with the Ice, Stasiuk worked with Bob Tory, the Americans’ co-owner and general manager. . . . Stasiuk also worked as the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ general manager for four seasons (2005-09) and scouted for the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs (2009-15).

Dan Kordic, an assistant coach with the U of Alberta Golden Bears for the past two seasons, has signed on with the Kamloops Blazers as an assistant coach. . . . Serge Lajoie, the Golden Bears’ head coach for the past three seasons, joined the Blazers as their new head coach on June 25. . . . Kordic, 47, played four seasons (1987-91) with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and won a Memorial Cup with them in 1988. He went on to a pro career that included 197 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Meanwhile, the Calgary Hitmen and Tri-City Americans remain the only WHL teams without head coaches. Steve Hamilton, who was fired as head coach by the Edmonton Oil Kings on May 28, is believed to be in the mix in Calgary.

The Red Deer Rebels have signed Russian F Oleg Zaitsev, 17, who was selected in the CHL’s 2018 import draft. . . . “He’s an elite level player, a stud,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ Red Deerowner, GM and head coach, told Greg Meachem of reddeerrebels.com. “Right now he’s the best Russian centre iceman in his age group. We’re very excited about adding him to our team. He’s signed a contract. He’s all in.” . . . Meachem reports that the Rebels likely will go with Russian D Alex Alexeyev, the Washington Capitals first-round pick in the NHL’s 2018 draft, and Zaitsev as their two imports. However, F Ivan Drozdov of Belarus, the Rebels’ other 2018 import draft pick, isn’t yet out of the picture.

Meanwhile, the Victoria Royals dropped F Jeff de Wit, 20, from their protected list and the Rebels have added him to their list. De Wit, who is from Red Deer, was a first-round selection by the Rebels in the 2013 bantam draft. Last season, he played with the Regina Pats, Kootenay Ice and Victoria.

Meachem’s complete story is right here.

Chris Beaudry, an assistant coach with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos last season, now is on the coaching staff of the Melville Millionaires. Beaudry wasn’t on the Broncos’ bus when it crashed on April 6. He was driving to that night’s playoff game in Nipawin and was about 20 minutes away when the accident occurred. . . . In Melville, Beaudry fills a vacancy created when Mark Chase left to join the junior B Osoyoos Coyotes of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League as general manager and head coach.

Raelene and Russell Herold, and the estate of their son, Adam, who was killed in the crash of the Humboldt Broncos’ bus, have filed a statement of claim in Regina Court of Queen’s Bench. The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount in damages, expenses, costs and interest, and names the driver of the big rig that was involved, along with the trucking company and the bus manufacturer. . . . Heather Polischuk of the Regina Leader-Post has more right here.

“At first,” writes Mike Aiken of drydennow.com, “it seems like he’s living the life of Riley. Joe Murphy works as a labourer, when he needs money, and he sleeps in a tent in a farmer’s field, when he needs shelter.

“During a short chat, he’ll talk about settling down a bit in an apartment. He says he now calls Kenora his home by the water, but finding affordable housing is next to impossible, not just because of the market.”

This would be the same Joe Murphy who was an NHL first-round draft pick and who played in the league for 15 seasons. Yes, his story now is about concussions.

Aiken’s complete story is right here.

John Branch of The New York Times has written a terrific essay that is headlined: Why the N.F.L. and the N.B.A. Are So Far Apart on Social Justice Stances. . . . This is a great look at the NFL and how it has reacted to its players social protests, and the NBA and how it backs its players and promotes its stars. . . . Pour a cup of coffee and enjoy this piece right here.

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Scattershooting on a Sunday . . . Warriors get a Harley . . . Get outta here, Buck . . . Froot Loops on a hot dog

Scattershooting

I haven’t yet watched Sunday’s heats from the Rangeland Derby at the Calgary Stampede, so don’t know how Calgary Hitmen scout Chad Harden did. But he won his heat on Saturday night. Wes Gilbertson of Postmedia has more on Harden right here.

There are seven Sportsnet channels on my satellite TV package. On Wednesday, four of those channels started showing the MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and the host Washington Nationals at 8 a.m. Pacific (11 a.m. ET). Meanwhile, the visiting New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves, two of the best young teams in MLB, were to begin at 10 a.m. PT (1:05 p.m. ET) and Sportsnet had that game scheduled for the same four channels. . . . By the time the Braves and Yankees got on those channels, the Bronx Bombers had a 5-0 lead. You would think that maybe, just maybe, the Braves-Yankees game could have been shown in its entirety on one of those channels. . . . You just wonder if Sportsnet does things like this on purpose, you know, just to upset viewers.

Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times wonders . . . The biggest competitive mismatch these days is: (a) Globetrotters vs. Generals; (b) Warriors vs. NBA; (c) Joey Chestnut vs. hot dogs?

After the Golden State Warriors signed free-agent centre DeMarcus (Boogie) Cousins, who is all-star calibre, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle noted: “It’s like you ask Santa for a bike, and he brings you a Harley.”

Hey, TSN, I think we can do with fewer shots of beer-swilling fans during your CFL telecasts. I would suggest that it was completely out of hand during Thursday’s game from Pilsner-land (aka Regina).

“If Brendan Shanahan wants a shot at the Stanley Cup immediately,” writes Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express, “he should trade John Tavares to Ottawa for Erik Karlsson.”

If auto-correct had half a brain it would correct your spelling mistakes, instead of taking words that you spell correctly and changing them.

Headline at Fark.com: 29 NBA teams to change their name to the Washington Generals in 2019.

Jack Finarelli, over at sportscurmudgeon.com, had a tasty note the other day: “In Cleveland at Progressive Field, fans attending Indians’ games can order a Slider Dog. That would be a hot dog topped with mac and cheese, bacon and Froot Loops. Seriously . . .”

I don’t know what is more hilarious . . . Buck Martinez, the lead cheerleader on most Toronto Blue Jays telecasts, screaming “Get outta here ball” as one dies on the warning track, or hollering “Get outta here ball” with his favourite team trailing 8-4 with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“I was just watching Terminator 2 where the T-1000 becomes so brittle that part of his body breaks with each movement,” reports RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “Anyone else just think of Milos Raonic?”

Currie, again: “God’s truth, I’ve just watched 11 minutes of TSN without any mention of John Tavares. So I must — ooops; they didn’t make it to 12 minutes.”

One more from Currie: “So far, Cavaliers Game 1 goat J.R. Smith hasn’t gone into witness protection. And if he did, what would his last name be?”

WHL scouts on move . . . Calgary scout has good day at Stampede . . . Raiders d-man signs Czech pro deal

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F Zane Jones (Chilliwack/Victoria, Calgary, Everett, Lethbridge, Vancouver, 2010-15) signed a one-year contract with Visby/Roma (Sweden, Division 1). Last season, in 28 games with Sollentuna (Sweden, Division 1), he had a team-high 16 goals and five assists. . . . Currently, Jones is playing his second season with the Newcastle North Stars (Australia, AIHL). In 12 games, he has eight goals and seven assists. Jones has dual Canadian/Australian citizenship, so doesn’t count as an import in the AIHL. . . .

F Geordie Wudrick (Swift Current, Kelowna, 2005-11) signed a one-year contract with the Chiefs Leuven (Belgium, BeNe Liga). Last season, with the Berlin Blues (Germany, Regionalliga), he had 29 goals and 21 assists in 22 games. He led the Blues in goals and points. . . . Presently, Wudrick is playing for the Sydney Ice Dogs (Australia, AIHL). He has 11 goals and 23 assists in 15 games. He leads the Ice Dogs in assists and points, and is second in the league in assists and third in points. This is his fourth season in the AIHL. . . .

F Kyle Beach (Everett, Lethbridge, Spokane, 2005-10) signed a one-year contract with Tölzer Löwen Bad Tölz (Germany, DEL2). Last season, with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga), he had nine goals and 13 assists in 44 games. . . .

D Vojtěch Budík (Prince Albert, 2015-18) signed a one-year contract with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, with Prince Albert (WHL), he had 14 goals and 27 assists in 63 games. . . .

F Alexander Kuvayev (Lethbridge, Vancouver, 2010-12) has been traded by Spartak Moscow to Admiral Vladivostok (both Russia, KHL) for Vadim Pereskokov. Last season, with Khimik Voskresensk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), Kuvayev had 13 goals and 13 assists in 52 games.

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They are the unsung heroes of the WHL — and all other junior and pro hockey teams — and a few of them are on the move.

This isn’t at all surprising, considering the changes in the player personnel/scouting whldepartments made by a handful of teams.

For starters, Dylan Franson has left the Prince George Cougars to join the scouting staff of the Everett Silvertips, who have brought in Alvin Backus as director of player personnel and Mike Fraser as head scout. Backus had been with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, while Fraser scouted for the Brandon Wheat Kings. Franson had been with the Cougars for two seasons.

Meanwhile, Matt Blair has left the Kamloops Blazers’ scouting staff. He had scouted for the Blazers for 11 seasons. The Blazers have a new general manager in Matt Bardsley, who had been with the Portland Winterhawks since 1999. However, they have yet to replace Matt Recchi, who was dropped as director of player personnel on May 10.

There also is speculation that Jamie Porter, who is vacating his post as the Swift Current Broncos’ director of hockey operations at month’s end, will surface with the Tri-City Americans. Bob Tory, the Americans’ general manager, has an opening after assistant GM Barclay Parneta signed on as GM with the Vancouver Giants.

As well, the buzz is that veteran scout Daryl Anning will be leaving the Broncos for the Vancouver Giants and what one source told me would be “an increased role.” Anning is the father of David Anning, the head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

If you are a scout making a move, or if you are aware of anyone switching teams, help me give these folks some recognition by emailing me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

Still with the scouting fraternity, Chad Harden, who works for the Calgary Hitmen, is busy these days at the Calgary Stampede.

A pro chuckwagon driver when he’s not in the rinks, Harden won Heat 3 of the StampedeRangeland Derby at the Stampede on Saturday night.

Harden came off the No. 4 barrel and almost got the rail on Chanse Vigen of Wolseley, Sask., who was driving his father Mike’s team. Vigen got to the finish line first, by about a head, but took a five-second penalty because of a barrel infraction.

That left Harden, who won the 2009 Rangeland Derby, with the Heat 3 victory in the Kubota Dealers of Alberta rig. His time of 1:11.79 was the second-fastest of Day 2.

Harden, 47, is from Mulhurst Bay, Alta. He also has scouted for the Prince George Cougars and Kootenay Ice.

The Colorado Avalanche has signed Czech F Martin Kaut, the 16th overall selection in the NHL’s 2018 draft, to a three-year, two-way contract. The Brandon Wheat Kings hold Kaut’s WHL rights, but he is expected to open the season with the Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate. . . . Kaut has played the past two seasons with HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga, the country’s top pro league.

D Vojtech Budik won’t be back for a fourth season with the Prince Albert Raiders after signing a one-year deal with Pardubice of Czech Republic’s Extraliga. Had Budik, who is from Holice, Czech Republic, returned, he would have been a two-spotter as a 20-year-old and an import. . . . In 189 regular-season games with the Raiders, he had 18 goals and 65 assists. . . . He was a fifth-round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL’s 2016 draft but wasn’t signed.

So . . . LeBron has joined the Los Angeles Lakers, and the way that columnist Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post sees it, LaVar Ball is about done with the that particular NBA team. Her superb column on this situation is right here.

Memorial Cup-winning coach on move . . . Two WHL coaches get U-17 postings. . . . Lambert joins Trotz with Isles

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D/F Curt Gogol (Kelowna, Saskatoon, Chilliwack, 2007-11) signed a one-year contract with Fehérvári Titánok Székesfehérvár (Hungary, Erste Liga). Last season, he was pointless in one game with Rubin Tyumen (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), and had three goals and three assists in 27 games with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL). . . .

F Taylor Stefishen (Prince George, 2010-11) signed a one-year contract with UTE Budapest (Hungary, Erste Liga). Last season, he had one assist in four games with the Edinburgh Capitals (Scotland, UK Elite), and eight goals and 16 assists in 56 games with the Atlanta Gladiators (ECHL).

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Mario Pouliot, who guided the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan to its first Memorial Cup title in May, has left the team to become general manager and head coach of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Pouliot, 54, had been the Titan’s head coach since 2014. . . . The Huskies had an opening after Gilles Bouchard left to work as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.

Andre Tourigny has taken over from Gilles Bouchard as head coach of the Canadian team that will play in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup next month in Edmonton and Red Deer. . . . Bouchard has signed on as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. . . . Tourigny is preparing for his second season as vice-president of hockey operations and head coach of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. . . . Tourigny’s assistant coaches are Mitch Love, the head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, and Ryan Oulahen, the head coach of the OHL’s Flint Firebirds. . . . The Gretzky Hlinka Cup runs Aug. 6-11.

Two WHL coaches were among the nine coaches named to Canada’s U-17 teams that will play in the World Hockey Challenge in Saint John and Quispamsis, N.B., Nov. 3-10. . . . Dennis Williams, the head coach of the Everett Silvertips, was named the head coach of Team Canada Black, while Mark O’Leary, an assistant coach with the Moose Jaw Warriors, is an assistant coach with Team Canada Red. . . . Brett Gibson of the Queen’s U Gaels was named head coach Team Canada White, with Louis Robitaille of the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres the head coach of Team Canada Red.

Hockey Canada has invited 40 players to its World Junior Showcase in Kamloops, July 28 through Aug. 4. The news release is right here.

Lane Lambert, a former WHL player and coach, is moving to the NHL’s New York Islanders, where he will be back with head coach Barry Trotz. Krotz left the Washington Capitals after winning the Stanley Cup and then signed with the Islanders. Lambert had been an assistant in Washington for the past four seasons. . . . The two also worked together in Nashville when Trotz was the Predators’ head coach. . . . Lambert, 53, played two seasons (1981-83) with the Saskatoon Blades. He has coached in the WHL with the Moose Jaw Warriors and Prince George Cougars.

F Jackson Niedermayer of Newport Beach, Calif., will be joining the BCHL’s Penticton Vees for the 2018-19 season. Niedermayer, 17, is the son of Scott Niedermayer, a Hall-of-Fame NHL defenceman who played ?? seasons with the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Jackson played the past two seasons with the U-16 Anaheim Jr. Ducks. Last season, he had 23 goals and 19 assists in 34 games. . . . There’s more on this story right here.

Former NHL D Joe Cirella is leaving the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds to work as an assistant coach with the Stockton Heat, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Cirella had been with the Greyhounds for six seasons, the first one as an assistant coach and the last five as associate coach.

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Hunter takes over Team Canada . . . Ex-Hitmen coach lands in Denver . . . Everett adds Backus, Fraser to front office

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F Kaspars Saulietis (Kelowna, Regina, 2006-08) signed a tryout contract with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL). Last season, he had eight goals and seven assists in 25 games with Nové Zámky (Slovakia, Extraliga). . . .

F Roberts Lipsbergs (Seattle, 2012-15) signed a tryout contract with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL). Last season, he had two goals and three assists in 40 games with Dinamo Riga, and was pointless in three games while on loan to Liepaja (Latvia, Optibet Liga). . . .

F Curtis Valk (Medicine Hat, 2009-14) signed a one-year contract with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL). Last season, he was pointless in one game with the Florida Panthers (NHL), and had 20 goals and 42 assists in 73 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL). He led the Thunderbirds in assists and points.

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Tim Hunter, the head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors, has taken over as head coach of Canada’s national junior team. Hunter, 57, was an assistant with Canada each of the past Canadatwo seasons. . . . Hunter, who is preparing for his fifth season in Moose Jaw, replaces Dominique Ducharme, Canada’s head coach for each of the last two seasons. Ducharme has signed as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. . . . With Hunter moving up from assistant coach, Brent Kisio, the head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, has been added to Canada’s staff. The other assistant coaches are Marc-Andre Dumont of the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Jim Hulton of the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders. . . .

Mike Burnstein of the Vancouver Giants and Khore Elliott of the Victoria Royals have been named Team Canada’s athletic therapists. . . . Canada won the gold medal at the 2018 tournament in Buffalo, and will attempt to defend the title at the 2019 tournament that is scheduled to open in Vancouver and Victoria on Dec. 26. . . . While Canada will play its round-robin games in Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, it will hold its selection camp in Victoria. . . .

Group A comprises Canada, Czech Repulic, Denmark, Russia and
Switzerland, with Finland, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden and Team USA in Group B, which will play out of Victoria’s Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Dallas Ferguson, who left the Calgary Hitmen last month, is joining the U of Denver Pioneers as an assistant coach. He will work under first-year head coach Matt Carle, 28. . . . Carle has taken over from Jim Montgomery, who now is the head coach of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. . . . Ferguson, 45, left the U of Alaska-Fairbanks to join the Hitmen as head coach prior to last season. He had been on the Nanook’ coaching staff for 13 seasons, the last nine as head coach. . . . In announcing Ferguson’s resignation on June 26, Hitmen general manager Jeff Chynoweth explained in a news release: ““Dallas approached me last week, stating his wife is unable to continue to work her current job in Alaska while moving to Calgary as originally planned. As a father to two young girls he does not want to live apart from his family again this year.”

The Everett Silvertips firmed up the top end of their scouting department on Tuesday as Everettthey named Alvin Backus their director of player personnel and Mike Fraser as their head scout. . . . Backus spent the past seven seasons as an amateur scout with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. His contract with Montreal expired on Saturday and wasn’t renewed. . . . Backus lives in Salmon Arm, B.C. Garry Davidson, who is heading into his seventh season as the Silvertips’ general manager, was the owner, general manager and head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks for seven seasons (2001-08). . . . Fraser, a WHL scout since 2005, lives in Edmonton. . . . He started scouting with the Swift Current Broncos in 2005 and spent seven seasons with them. Fraser has been working with the Brandon Wheat Kings since 2012-13. . . . The Silvertips lost Bil La Forge, their director of player personnel for four seasons, to the Seattle Thunderbirds, who named him general manager on June 6.

Bob Jones has signed on as an assistant coach with the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Jones had been the head coach of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals for three seasons, although he missed the 2017-18 season due to a serious health problem. Jones, 48, and the Generals then went their separate ways in April. . . . Derek Laxdal, a former head coach of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings, is the head coach with Texas.

Nathan Oystrick, a native of Regina, has been named the general manager and head HumboldtBroncoscoach of the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. Oystick, 35, replaces Darcy Haugan, who was killed in the April 6 bus crash that also claimed 15 other lives. . . . Oystrick spent last season coaching a high school team in Colorado. In 2016-17, he was an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators. . . . A defenceman, he played two seasons (2000-02) with the BCHL’s South Surrey Eagles before going on to four seasons at Northern Michigan U. His pro career included stints with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues. . . . Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.

Brayden Pettinger was a 20-year-old defenceman with the MJHL’s Portage Terriers when he suffered a devastating back injury during a game against the host Winnipeg Blues on Nov. 12, 2015. Pettinger, who is from Elgin, Man., now is in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. . . . These days, he and his father, Rick, are in Bangkok, Thailand, where he is undergoing a medical procedure. Brayden’s uncle, Larry, updated things with steinbachonline.com, and that piece is right here.

Geoff Grimwood has joined the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors as assistant general manager and associate coach. Grimwood, 37, spent the past three seasons as the GM and head coach of the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. . . . In the past, he has worked with the WHL’s Victoria Royals and the BCHL’s Powell River Kings. . . . With the Warriors, he’ll work alongside GM/head coach Rylan Ferster.

Jesse Dorrans is back as the general manager and head coach of the junior B Castlegar Rebels of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. He replaces Bill Rotheisler, who was dismissed after two seasons on the job. . . . Rotheisler was hired prior to the 2016-17 season, taking over from Dorrans, who left to become GM and head coach of the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. He resigned after one season due to what the team said ws “personal reasons.”

F Skyler McKenzie of the Portland Winterhawks has signed a three-year entry-level deal Portlandwith the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. He was a seventh-round selection by the Jets in the NHL’s 2017 draft. . . . Last season, McKenzie, 20, had 47 goals and 40 assists in 72 games. In 282 regular-season games with Portland, the Sherwood Park, Alta., native has 101 goals and 111 assist. He was an eighth-round pick by Portland in the WHL’s 2013 bantam draft. . . . He is eligible to return to the WHL for one more season, but likely will start the season with the Manitoba Moose, the Jets’ AHL affiliate.

Two WHLers have been selected to the roster of USA Hockey’s representative for the U-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup that is scheduled to be played in Edmonton and Red Deer, Aug. 6-11. It will feature teams from Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. . . . F Luke Toporowski of the Spokane Chiefs and G Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips were named to the roster. Toporowski is from Bettendorf, Iowa, while Wolf is from Tustin, Calif. . . . The complete Team USA roster is right here.

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Ex-WHL coach next up in Tucson . . . Pats’ defenceman to miss start of season . . . Reichel gets deal with Moose

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F Chase Schaber (Calgary, Kamloops, 2007-12) signed a one-year contract extension with the Fife Flyers (Scotland, UK Elite). Last season, he had 30 goals and 31 assists in 55 games. He led the Flyers in goals and was second in points. Fife’s head coach since 2005-06 is Todd Dutiaume (Brandon, Moose Jaw, 1991-94). . . .

D Brendan Mikkelson (Portland, Vancouver, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL). Last season, with Luleå (Sweden, SHL), he had 12 assists in 50 games. He was an alternate captain.

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Jay Varady, a former coach with the Everett Silvertips, is the new head coach of the Tucson Roadrunners, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. Varady heads for Tucson after one season as head coach of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. . . . Kingston was 36-26-9 last season and reached the OHL’s Eastern Conference final, where they lost to the Hamilton Bulldogs. . . . According to a Coyotes’ news release, Varady signed a “multi-year contract.” . . . Varady, 40, is a native of Cahokia, Ill. He spent seven seasons (2003-10) in Everett, the first four as assistant coach and the last three as associate coach. . . . Varady is the Roadrunners’ third head coach in as many seasons. He takes over from Mike Van Ryn, who left after one season to join the NHL’s St. Louis Blues as an assistant coach. Van Ryn replaced Mark Lamb, who was dismissed after the 2016-17 season and now is preparing for his first season as general manager of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.

D Brady Pouteau of the Regina Pats is expected to miss the beginning of the 2017-18 WHL season. Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that Pouteau underwent shoulder surgery early in June. . . . The Pats are hopeful that Pouteau, 20, will return sometime in the second half of October. . . . He has four goals and 28 assists in 150 regular-season games. . . . Pouteau was a fourth-round selection by the Pats in the 2013 WHL bantam draft. He was traded to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Jan. 5, 2017, then re-acquired at last season’s trade deadline.

Czech F Kristian Reichel, 20, is eligible to play a second season with the Red Deer Rebels, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be back in the WHL after signing a one-year contract with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Reichel signed the deal after attending the NHL-Winnipeg Jets’ development camp last week as a free agent. The Moose is the Jets’ AHL affiliate. . . . Last season, his first in the WHL, Reichel had 34 goals and 23 assists in 63 games. . . . He is the son of former NHL F Robert Reichel.

Bryant Perrier is out as general manager and head coach of the junior B North Okanagan Knights of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. The team announced the move on its Facebook page Saturday night, saying “the Knights and Perrier have parted ways.” . . . Perrier spent three seasons with the Knights, who play out of Armstrong, B.C.

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Mondays With Murray: Plenty of Bread in NBA’s Circus

JULY 28, 1996, SPORTS

Copyright 1996/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

Jim Murray

Plenty of Bread In NBA’s Circus

You know, it was not too long ago — I’m old enough to remember — when, if you were seven feet tall, the best you could do with your life was join the circus. Or get a fur hat and open cab doors for rich folk outside a New York hotel. Now you get $17 million a year and all the Rolls-Royces you need. People open cab doors for you.

  And you get it while you’re young and can enjoy it. It’s not as though you have to work your way up the business ladder or plug away at Wall Street as J.P. Morgan had to do. You mondaysmurray2don’t have to invent the elevator or electric light. All you have to do is post up, whatever that means.

  I can remember when if you were seven feet, you couldn’t play basketball. For one thing, you had to bounce the ball on the floor if you went to the basket, and seven-footers were too slow and too clumsy to do that. Today, you can go to the basket like a guy running for a bus and everybody scatters out of your way. Also, seven-footers aren’t pituitary freaks anymore. They’re perfectly proportioned.

  Dr. James Naismith invented basketball precisely so you couldn’t carry the ball like a fullback. He wanted a sport in which brute strength didn’t count so much as finesse and grace.

  You think Naismith ever envisaged the dunk shot? You think he ever envisaged anyone signing a $120-milliion contract to play his game?

  Of course, it’s the oldest con in the world, as old as the Roman Empire. Juvenal first called attention to it in the 1st century A.D. when he wrote, “Two things only the people require — bread and circuses.” The Roman emperors gave it to them. Chariot races, Christians vs. lions. Only, the best the Christians could get was their freedom; the best the lions could get was a Christian for lunch.

  Nothing changes. To keep the citizenry from becoming mutinous, you give them the circus — something that lets them paint their faces blue or red and jab their forefingers in the air and scream “We’re No. 1!” on television. Nero would have understood.

  You think basketball fans aren’t high-fiving each other over the capture of Shaquille O’Neal by the Lakers? Get real.

  You think the public cares what Shaq cost? They think it’s somebody else’s money. Television’s, maybe.

  It isn’t. It’s their money. Even if they don’t pay the $600 per game for the courtside seats, they pay for the dunk shots, the sky-hooks, the fast breaks. “Free TV” is an oxymoron. Every time you buy a Ford or Toyota or can of Pepsi or pair of Nikes, you’re paying for what they sponsor. The cost of the ad is factored in the cost of the car. You’re paying for your circuses.

  Sometimes it’s difficult for us old-timers to comprehend what’s happening in the counting houses of sports these days.

  I’m also old enough to remember when Bob Short first brought the Lakers to Los Angeles. They were going broke in Minneapolis, where the games were played in relative privacy.

  They didn’t exactly have SRO, either. Basketball was far from a sports-page staple. Baseball was America’s sport of choice. Football. Boxing. The highest salary in the NBA those days was $19,000 a year. Plumbers did better.

  I went to a playoff game once — a playoff game! — at which there were 2,800 paying customers.

  All that changed. I helped. I had the sport almost to myself. And what a sport! Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain. The Big O. I was like a kid in a candy store. I traveled with the Lakers. What a cast of characters! They almost wrote themselves.

  But modesty dictates I must confess it was Chick Hearn who did the most to make the Lakers household names in L.A. First on radio, then on TV. Television was slow to pick up on the sport, but basketball, like football, was uniquely suited to the TV screen, a rectangular sport with a large ball.

  The pro game didn’t even have a radio contract at first. Teams played league games in places like Sheboygan, Morgantown, Peoria. A league game was a prologue to a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition. The Globies drew the people, not the Knicks or Lakers.

  The graph grew. Smart entrepreneurial owners such as Jack Kent Cooke moved in. Jack knew what sold tickets — stars. The Lakers had an Academy Award lineup. What they didn’t have was the clincher — the big man in the pivot. Jack twisted arms till he wound up with Wilt Chamberlain. When Wilt left, Cooke angled to get Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Jack didn’t want playmakers, point guards, sixth men. Jack wanted the marquee players, guys nicknamed “Magic.”

  Now, Jerry Buss has joined the owners’ wing of the Hall of Fame. He has done what Cooke did, brought the Big Man to town, put the team on Page 1 again.

  The circus is in place; the bread is somebody else’s problem.

  Will O’Neal be a tumble-down Shaq? Or are Michael, Olajuwon, the Admiral Robinson, Patrick Ewing ready to yield their positions?

  Is even a championship circus worth that kind of bread? Do you know how much $120,000,000 comes out to? Well, if you spent $1,000 a day for the next 300 years you’d still have almost $11 million left.

  But there’s only one Shaq. And Buzzie Bavasi, the baseball man, said it best. “You don’t mind giving all those millions to a Babe Ruth. But where does it say you have to give $34 million to a second baseman hitting .230?”

  Exactly. It’s the other guys on the coattails who boggle the mind. Chris Childs is getting $24 million for six years? Who, pray tell, is Chris Childs? Antonio Davis is getting $38.5 million for seven years? I wouldn’t know Antonio Davis from Bette. Dale Davis is getting $42 million for seven years. Allan Houston is getting $56 million for seven years. He played for Detroit last season, in case you didn’t know.

  Don MacLean is getting $12 million for four years and you almost feel like taking up a collection for him. Alonzo Mourning is to get $112 million for seven years. Gary Payton gets $85 million and nobody ever called him “Mr. Clutch” or “The Big G.”

  I’m always happy to see a kid move up in the world. But I can’t help but feel sorry for all those earlier-day giants who had to bend crowbars or tear telephone books or sit in the sideshow with the bearded lady or the tattooed man to earn a living. One sure thing: Dennis Rodman could handle it either way. And bite the heads off chickens if you wanted.

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.