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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 16. 1985, PAGE5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson w ~I3LH~~ ~nd 1 rrî&Én , THE CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell Randomthoughts Well, folks, yours truly seems to have developed another severe case of writer's block again this week. So, what follows are some random notes from all over. MOVING ON This is the last time l'Il be writing The Crow's Nest as editor of the Whitby Free Press. After almost a six-year association, it's time to move on. However, this doesn't mearwthat you won't be taking in my pearls of wisdom every week - l'Il still be writing this column until either you or my publisher gets tired of me. I've loved working in this town. Over the last six year's I've gained a fondness for Whitby and plan to continue living here despite the fact that as of next Mon- day morning l'Il become one of the commuter set. Whitby has much to offer. It's a good place to be a family man. The crime rate is low. There are plenty of schools and other facilities and doesn't suffer the various banalities offered by the rest of Durham Region. So, don't go away - I still have scores of sacred cows left to kick. OKAY, BLUE JAYS Luv those Jays, Despite the sarcastic put-downs of the American press, the Toronto Blue Jays are proving that they're still the best team in professional baseball today. When it comes to the Jays and baseball in general, I have to disagree with my friend, teacher and fellow columnist Bill Swan. Baseball isn't boring. It's a game of skill, finesse, strategy and grace. I'd like to see Bill or any other non- baseball fan throw a fast ball 90 feet at 97 miles an hour. Dave Stieb and Doyle Alexander are murder on the mound. When they get going, they're a joy to wat- ch. When you take those two and then add the likes of Jesse Barfield, Lloyd Moseby, George Bell, Ernie Whitt, Domaso Garcia and the rest of the crew you've got a team that will bring the first World Series ever to Canada. And from the way the Cardinals and the Dodgers have been playing (let's be generous and describe it as bad at best) the Blue Jays have an excellent chance of winning that covette title. The one thing I like about baseball is that it takes a certain degree of in- telligence to play the game well. The gorillas who call themselves professional athletes and play either football or hockey generally have the t.Q. a shrimp would be proud of. I mean, have you ever heard Wayne Gretsky or Warren Moon give a particularly insightful interview? And football bas got to be the worst of all. The best way to describe that game, if you can call it that, is a modern version of the gladitorial games. Some 22 men move up and down a field attempting to move a spherical object while inflicting extreme physical damage to their opponents. Football has all the civility of a mugging. But, back to Exhibition Stadium and the Toronto Blue Jays. A team that can do it all. They have no superstars like George Brett but they have a team that works well together. They're gonna make us proud. JIM GARTSHORE I was happy to see that Jim Gartshore has finally decided to get out of retirement and re-enter municipal politics. He's a tough, no nonsense, up front kinda guy. He calls a spade, a spade and isn't afraid of who's listening. I'm not sure if Jim will win. It's been five years since he sat in the mayor's chair and many of the town's newer residents probably have never heard of him. He has a tough, uphill fight to wage. The two incumbents are well organized, well known and ready to bit the campaign trail. At the very least, it's nice to see a race for region this year. Being a regional councillor is not as easy a job as everyone makes it out. Durham Region is a large and complex area with divergent needs and problems. The rural north has problems that the urban south doesn't seem to be able to come to grips with. The urban south has the same problems. It's not a job for a political slouch or someone looking for an easy way to make $25,000 a year. It's a tough job and it's about time the voters started taking a serious look at the men who do it. THE MAYOR'S RACE There's one thing I'd like to know before I leave the editor's chair at the Free Press. When is the race for mayor going to get off the ground? So far, it's been pretty dull. You'd expect the challenger to be making all sorts of new policy proposals while telling us what the current administration has been doing wrong. Instead of that, we're hearing a lot of hooey about who won't debate who and getting letters announcing an exclusive, by invitation only, fun- draiser to be held for the challenger tomorrow night at the Whitby Corporate Centre. The incumbent has said that he'll run on his record, but my spies out there in the community tell me that his record is not being as well received as either he or I would have expected. It seems, people aren't all that impressed and would like to see him offer them something other than his past achievements. I've said it before and l'Il say it again. In any municipal election, it's the race for mayor that excites the voter. They are more interested in the people running for the starring role than those seeking a place in the supporting cast. If this keeps up, the voters of Whitby just might stay away from the polls and this elec- tion might turn out to be as boring as the one held in 1982. WITH OUR FEET UP By Bill Sivan Now that Toronto and environs is wrapped in the baseball fever, it's time for sanity. To wit: baseball is a boring game. Most of us found the Blue Jays in Toronto to be ignorable ail summer. Then came this winning kick, with pretensions of going to the World Series. Al perspective flew out the window. First of ail, as has been said by others more blessed with articulation than myself, the perfect game of baseball -- the mutual.no-hitter -- is nothing but a game of catch. Watching artificial turf fade could be more exciting. Don't take the word of a baseball non-fan, however. In the interests of journalistic integrity, the following experiment was performed. Looking around the household, we found two people besides this author qualified as non-baseball fans. But only one had never seen even one inning of a game. If she could then watch part of a game, and find it interesting, then I would eat the first paragraph of this column. That she is three months old should underscore her purity. So Sunday we did it. We propped Erin up in front of the television set to watch this amazing phenomenon: pre-world series playoffs. She fell asleep. So did a few thousand other fans, but none will likely admit it. The only people who don't fall asleep during bail games are the accountants. See, what started out as a sport has become a big business. It's the American way. And sport? Forget it. Aside from the old knuckle sandwich tossed after a stray knuckle bail on the bean, baseball is basically a sissy game. You don't see baseball players grinning toothless grins. Now hockey, there's a real sport. All you need for that is no teeth and a hockey puck for a brain. Some people have even had the nerve to call baseball players athletes. A real laugh, that. Athletes are strong, fit and dedicated. Basebali players are big, strong and blow bubble gum. Ever get a load of the bellies on those guys? Fit? Some need oxygen just from running around the bases. The best players have to hit home runs. Otherwise they'd never make it around the 120-yard circuit. One guy last weekend was so slow he couldn't even get out of the way of a 180-foot-long turf machine. Speed, or what? But the worst of baseball are the fans. The best that can be said of baseball are two things: sunshine and beer. Now, for home games, Toronto fans are left with only beer. Any football fans -- now there's a really dumb game -- know that beer will never take off the late-October chill. For that you need something that will reach the toes. But by now true baseball fans are tied up with slo- pitch playoffs. Those people you see in the stands in Blue Jays' home games are reasonable facsimiles. Most don't know the rules from first base. Most are looking for a national anthem to boo. Blue Jays: playing for Canada? Forget that, too. Tlf Blue Jays are as American as the Mann Act. If the Jays beat the Royals -- at this writing they lead 3-2 -- it will be one set of Americans against another. Don't the Jays get pay cheques in good old Yankee dollars? Come to think of it, the best thing the Jays have going for them is the fact that they ain't yet Canadian. Most haven't lived in Toronto long enough to think and believe and play. like the Toronto Maple Laughs. Or the Toronto Grunt Nuts. And now we've got all these Canadians believing, really believing, that the Jays can do it. Win the series, that is. And thus to forever change the impression Americans have of Toronto and Canada. You know: the Mounties and Igloos. And every sportscaster worth his (ber) salt has been trotting out statistics about how Toronto has the same average October temperatures as New York or Chicago. Fooey. Remember opening day, way back when this non- sense was first foisted upon us? Now we run the risk of the whole world watching as the snows of October bury Toronto under six in- ches of white ftuffy stuff. The sportscasters will be up to their statistics in explanations. And for ten years thereafter, American tourists will be crossing at Buffalo in July, skis strapped to car roofs, looking for snow. 57~44/~ ~7~#/c~6a/~V'og ,Moi'HO&TOU)// '7 J