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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.
Ray Allen was the hero of the Seattle Supersonics'
Game 4 victory over the Sacramento Kings, scoring a playoff career-high
45 points. What moments of post-season heroics do you remember, in
any sport?
Because of my job I've had the privilege of witnessing a fair number
of heroic moments. In no particular order I recall:
Dave Ellett's double overtime winner to give the Jets a 3-1 lead in
their 1990 playoff series with the Oilers. I remember it because I
thought the reaction of Jets fans, who were fully into the white-out,
would blow the top off the Winnipeg Arena. Unfortunately, the Jets
went on to lose the series 4-3.
Kerrin Lee Gartner's gold medal win in the 1992 Olympic women's downhill
stands out. It was then and probably remains the toughest downhill
women have ever skied and Kerrin whipped it into submission. Currie
Chapman and I called the race and I remember I had a very bad cold…
so bad that when Kerrin crossed the finish line in the lead I sounded
like I was yodelling.
I was in the Olympic Stadium in Seoul in 1988 when Ben Johnson ran
the 100 metres. He was a hero when he crossed the finish line. I have
a vivid recollection of that day in part because I was able to do
a quick on camera interview with Johnson on his way to drug testing
where everything would unravel for him.
Dave Ridgway's late field goal to win the Grey Cup for Saskatchewan
over Hamilton at SkyDome in 1989. The kick was the capper to what
was probably the most exciting CFL playoff game I've ever been around.
Team Canada's men's Olympic hockey gold in Salt Lake in 2002. There
wasn't one particular hero in the win but I'll never forget being
there to see it.
Bud Selig has suddenly joined the rest of the world and decided
that steroids are a big problem in Major League Baseball, asking the
players union to approve of harsh suspensions for those found to be
using performance-enhancing drugs. What do you think of his new attitude
towards steroids?
Bud Selig has no choice but to advocate harsher punishment for steroid
use. His sport took a beating before Congress and in the court of
public opinion. The current steroid policy - a 10 game suspension
for the first offence - is not enough to get most drug cheats to change
their thinking. His new proposal of 50 games - a loss of almost a
third of the season - would give them reason for second thought. One
hundred games for a second offence and a lifetime ban for a third
are the kinds of punishment that suggest those who run the sport are
serious about cleaning it up. It will be a tough sell to the players'
union but Donald Fehr will at least have to entertain Selig's proposal,
lest the head of the union looks like he condones steroid use. In
the end, the new policy may not be what Selig wants but it should
be a lot tougher than the one currently in place.
In the past few weeks, Boston Red Sox fans confronted Gary
Sheffield, and a Detroit Pistons fan threw a coin at Allen Iverson.
What can be done to stop fans from throwing things at, or otherwise
attacking players, and prevent a recurrence of the brawl in Detroit?
Buying a ticket to a sporting event does not give a fan the right
to throw beer in the face of Ron Artest or to hit Gary Sheffield when
he's trying to field a grounder or to jump over the fence with his
son to attack the first base coach. Unfortunately we seem to be seeing
more of this regrettable stuff. But, I don't know how it can be curtailed
short of banning beer sales and ringing the field of play with security
people. And as we've seen in European soccer not even that works all
the time.
Lightning-round questions:
Superman, Batman, or Spiderman?
Superman.
What young player is ready to breakthrough the world hockey championship?
Rick Nash.
Martin Brodeur or Patrick Roy?
Marty Brodeur.
Steve Nash or Shaquille O'Neal for MVP?
Steve Nash.
Best team in the CHL not called the London Knights?
Kelowna Rockets.
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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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