Could Baseball Ever Return to the City of Saints?Written by Terry Mitchell
It became official on September 29, 2004 - Major League Baseball's run in Montreal was coming to an end after 36 seasons. On that day, announcement was made that Montreal Expos were moving to Washington, D.C., beginning with 2005 season. This came as no surprise to anyone who follows baseball, as this inevitable move had been in making for at least 10 years. Let's take a look back at history of baseball's fall from grace in Montreal. The decline began after 1994 season. That was season in which Montreal had best record in baseball and was headed for only their second postseason appearance in club's history. Then, in early August, disaster struck. It came in form of a season-ending players' strike. The hopes of fans in Montreal for Expos' first World Series title were dashed. The Expos deserved better. Their accomplishments during 1994 season had gone for naught. Following that 1994 debacle, The Expos' ownership group began to trade away and sell off franchise's star players. As result, Expos began to drop in standings and never regained their 1994 level of glory. In response, disappointed fans in Montreal began to stay away from Olympic Stadium in droves. Attendance at Expos games dropped precipitously. By 1998, things had really started on go south (no pun intended). That season, vultures had begun to circle Expos. Correlating with drop in attendance since 1994 strike, team was bleeding red ink, according to its owners. Its ownership group, led by Canadian businessman Claude Brochu, wanted out of Olympic Stadium and had given Montreal and province of Quebec one last chance to agree to build Expos a new, publicly financed downtown stadium. Brochu said team would have to be sold and possibly moved if he couldn’t get new stadium. It was even rumored that that one of potential owners from Washington, D.C. or Northern Virginia has entered into informal negotiations with Brochu. As 1998 season was winding down, all of Expos’ requests for stadium financing deals were rejected. It looked like jig was up for Expos in Montreal and that they would be leaving for either D.C. or Northern Virginia in time for 1999 season. However, enter New York art dealer Jeffrey Loria to save day in Montreal. Loria made an offer to become majority owner of Expos, keep them in Montreal, and be proactive in acquiring necessary land, seeking sponsors, and getting a stadium deal done. MLB owners, eager to keep team in Montreal, urged Brochu and company to sell majority of their interest in Expos to Loria, instead of selling out to interests in D.C. or Northern Virginia. Loria's bid succeeded and he became majority owner of Expos, prior to 1999 season. For a couple of years, all seemed well in Montreal. Loria eventually bought out interests of other owners. However, once he did this, things quickly turned sour again. When he agreed to buy team, he had taken out an option to buy some choice (and rare) unoccupied land in downtown Montreal for site of new stadium. In late 2000, however, that option expired without Loria ever having exercised it. By 2001, that land had been snatched up by someone else for some other type of development. The Expos were left with no place to build a stadium and soon it appeared that Loria never really intended to build one. The man who had been seen as Expos’ savior just two years earlier had now become demonized in Montreal. The perception in Montreal was that Loria had just wanted to buy team in order to eventually resell it at a hefty profit and that this art dealer with no connections to Montreal cared nothing about city or Expos' fans. During 2001 season, MLB owners began to seriously discuss idea of contracting, i.e., buying out and disbanding, two teams. Montreal and Minnesota, which had also failed to get public financing for a new stadium, were obvious choices. When Commissioner Bud Selig and owners attempted to contract these two teams at end of 2001 season, city of Minneapolis sued MLB to force them to honor one remaining year on Twins’ contract with Metrodome. The suit eventually went to arbitration but could not be settled prior to 2002 season, so Twins had to stay around at least one more season. Unable to contract just one team, MLB was forced to keep Expos intact for another season as well. Before 2002 season started, MLB played a little game of musical owners: Florida Marlins’ owner John Henry become majority owner of Boston Red Sox, which had been up for sale; Loria, who had been wanting out of Montreal (for obvious reasons), bought Marlins; and remaining 29 owners bought Expos, thinking that they would only have to keep them for one season before contracting them.
| | Snowboarding at nightWritten by Jakob Jelling
Nighttime snowboarding is another aspect of snowboarding that is unlike any other that you may have tried so far. Many people find snowboarding at night to be very relaxing, exciting and offer a new perspective on hills that they are constantly riding.On of most important aspects of nighttime snowboarding is being very familiar with run you are about to ride. Ideally you should know your path so well that you can visualize each corner, time it takes to get from one turn to next and what obstacles are where on trail when you close your eyes. This familiarity will help to offset your lack of vision. Regardless of how well you know run you are about to attempt, you will be in for a surprise first time you try it at night. In dark everything looks different and feels different. You may not have realized how much you're relied on visual cues for when and where to turn slow down or speed up. You will not longer be able to see stump that marks start of moguls or other trail details and shadows will make things seem to appear or disappear. When it comes to night riding you have three options to improve your sight. You can use your eyes and no light, ride a mildly lighted trail or use a headlamp to light your way. You will have to try each option to determine which method is best suited for you. Regardless of which method you wish to use, you must work to improve your night vision. The first step is to allow your eyes to adjust to dark. Your eyes will under go a chemical change to allow you to see better in dark and this process takes time, usually about 30 minutes. During this time it is best to sit and wait for it to happen. While waiting, and afterwards, be very careful not to look at any man made light source. Doing so will kill your night vision and you will have to wait another 30 minutes to get it back. If you find you must look at a light, close and cover one eye so that it doesn't loose its night vision ability.
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