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VIEWPOINT: SCOTT OAKEQ
& A
Each week, Sports Online will turn the tables on Scott Oake,
who's used to peppering others with questions.
Should GM Steve Tambellini invite Todd Bertuzzi to play
for Team Canada at the upcoming world hockey championship?
It's a moot point until the NHL considers Bertuzzi's case for reinstatement.
But, let's suppose Bertuzzi is reinstated in time for the world championships.
In that case, I believe he should be invited to play for Team Canada.
Steve Tambellini's responsibility as general manager is to assemble
the best team he can. It's hard to argue that Bertuzzi, as one of
the game's premiere power forwards, doesn't at least merit an invitation
to training camp. The incident with Steve Moore was truly regrettable.
Bertuzzi has already paid a great price in missing the playoffs last
spring and the World Cup last fall.
As Moore's civil suit plays out he may also pay a steep financial
price. He hurt the game, may have ended Moore's career and severely
damaged his own. But, nowhere does it say Bertuzzi doesn't deserve
a second chance, an opportunity at rehabilitation. To be sure, it
wouldn't be an easy decision for Tambellini. But, if I were him I
would invite Bertuzzi.
What do you make of the NHL considering using bigger nets when
hockey eventually returns?
With all the talk over the last few days about making the nets bigger
you'd swear NHL players hadn't been locked out. Maybe that's one good
thing about the idea. I don't dismiss the idea altogether. Something
radical has to be done to restore the entertainment factor to the
game and a case can be made that bigger nets would force a different
style of play away from the crease area.
However, couldn't the scoring target be expanded if goaltenders didn't
look like Godzilla? A couple of nights ago I watched, for the 9th
or 10th time, a replay of the Montreal-LA Stanley Cup final. The equipment
Kelly Hrudey wore would leave him small by today's goalie standards.
He couldn't rely on the puck hitting him. He had to athletically challenge
the shooter. So I say regulate the size the goalies equipment, not
just the height and width of pads, but the mit, the shoulder pads,
the bat-cape sweaters, etc. See where that goes before making the
nets bigger.
Becky Scott joined the World Anti-Doping Agency athlete committee,
which is dedicated to addressing the concerns of athletes regarding
doping. What kind of a difference do you think she will make?
Nothing but good can come of WADA's establishment of an athlete committee.
And who is better suited as a member of that committee than someone
who's triumphed over drug cheats? It took a while but it was a huge
victory for clean athletes when Becky Scott finally got her cross
country skiing gold medal from Salt Lake City, the result of the two
Russians who finished ahead of her being disqualified. I recall, when
it looked like she had won the bronze, Scott dismissing Dick Pound's
claim that 99 per cent of the athletes in the 2002 games competed
drug free. The point is Scott, like the rest of the athletes appointed
to this committee, are at or have been at ground zero. They know what's
going on in their sports and WADA can only benefit from their input.
Lightning-round questions:
Will Jacques Villeneuve ever regain his old winning form on the
Formula One circuit?
No.
Which team has the nicest jerseys in pro sports? And the ugliest?
Nicest: The Toronto Maple Leafs. Ugliest: The Nashville Predators
Is poker a sport?
No…unless you consider excessive sweating while losing your house,
car and marriage to be a qualification.
'Alias' star Jennifer Garner: blonde or red wig?
Blonde.
Who's going to win on the Apprentice?
Don't know but I think Nadia's going to win American Idol.
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Scott began his career by volunteering at the university radio station during three years of pre-med. studies at Memorial University in St. John's, Nfld. After two summers working at CBC-St. John's in radio and television, he was hired full-time in 1974. Since then, Oake has covered the Olympic Winter and Summer Games and the Commonwealth Games as a commentator for wrestling, hockey, alpine skiing, swimming, rowing, diving, boxing and athletics.
FULL
BIO
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