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editonal@waterloochronicle.ca | _ sports@waterloochronicle.ca sales@waterloochronicle.ca | composing@waterloochronicle.ca Uhe Waterioo t fraructe is published evens Wedriesday Oy the ht wits cemup. ow ned hy 4 hy Media Group Inv . a subsidian of forstat Curp The vontent ol this paper is protected by copyright and may be used onds fur personal nonâ€"commercial pulposes All other rights are reserved and commercial use is prohibited. To make use of this material vou must first obrain the permussion ol the owner of the copyright WATERLOO CHRONICLE 279 Weber St.. 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Sports Editor, Ext. 229 published Submissions may be edited for length so please be hnef www waterloochronicle.ca Letters Policy Vnit 20 Waterioo. N2J 3H8 manmina. Mandard Serial Number 1SSN 0832â€"3410 40850478 Decanve Werderitoct Associate Publisher tudired rreulation 4(1 6 Normaixea Advertising ales. Ext. 22 WHI here I am. halfway through week two of my twoâ€" week vacation. Actually, to be honest, I‘m just halfway through the first week. But by the time you read this, I‘ll be close to wrapping up my fun in the sun â€"â€" or fun in the overcast, considering the summer we‘ve had. And bay, what a vacation it‘s been. I bet I have enough ammunition from the events of this week alone to write a column every week until Christmas 2006. I‘ll be frank, I‘m not a baseball fan. Oh, 1 used to be. There was a time when 1 could tell you the stats of not only every Blue Jay. but almost every player in the Amenriâ€" can lLeague. I knew Randy Johnson‘s winâ€"loss record durâ€" ing his first season with the Seattle Mariners. I tracked Rickey Henderson‘s recordâ€"setting number of stolen bases when he was an Oakland A. Heck, I could have probably told you what Detroit Tiger Cecil Fielder had for breakfast on any given day. Let‘s see, where should ! begin? How about Day One attending a Toronto Blue Jays game. _ s Puring the Jays‘ glory days of 1992 and 1993. 1 considâ€" ered myself their biggest fan. Oh, and 1 also liked to think of myself as the future Mrs. Robbie Alomar. But like many other faithâ€" tul fans. my interest in the boys of summer waned durâ€" ing the baseball strike of Enter Jason, my loving boyfriend who loves nothing more than to spend a Saturâ€" day afternoon sprawled out on the couch watching the Blow, I mean Blue Jays lase something like their 37th game in a row. I‘d rather spend my tuime cleaning the bugs out of every light fixture in the house, but that‘s another story So. to prove I am Girlfnend of the Year, I bought us tickâ€" ets to a Blue Jays game against the Baltimore Orioles last I was the first in our section to spot him. In my shocked state, all I could manage were three words. ‘Naked! Naked! Naked!" while pointing to the notâ€"soâ€"sexvy streaker. He got in about three somersaults before his show was abruptly cancelled. Guess what? It was likely the best freakin game I‘ve ever seen. The highlight of the day came in the sixth inning, when a slightly plump fellow jumped into right field from the stands â€" wearing nothing more than a grin.Yes. he was buck naked. That was definitely one for the books. My only regret was I didn‘t have my glasses. Being nearâ€"sighted can real Iy have its drawhacks. But the fun didn‘t stop there. The next day a fnend and [ retued to T( for some good old wrasstin action. The Aur Canada Gentre hosted this vear‘s WWT Summerslam extravaganza. The show was great, once we found it. Yes, leave it to me to look right at the ACC, but walk in the opposite direction. At first glance, all T saw was a large grey building at the base of the CN Tower. Having just been there. I took it for granted it was SkyDome [ was lucky. my fnend onty called me stupid twice. And [ felt better when three potâ€"smoking teenagers who were crazy enough to follow us also had to turn around in We hiked all the way up Lakeshore Boulevard, near Jarvis Street. before | tumed around in horror. At the top of that grey building, in big bold letters, were the words "Ai (Canada Gentre® Take those two days, and add another night of wrestling Monday in London, where 1 nearly died every time the guy behind me lifted his arms to wave a sign that read "I have to poop", and you‘ve got one heck of a holi L alreadty forget who won the Rlue Jays game, but one thing‘s for sure, that fat naked streaker and the smelly wrestling fan with the bowel problem are bumned into my brain forever. They‘re what real memories are made of Sporting events hard on the five senses ANDREA BAILEY Another fine mess at City Hall 0. OK, which will come first Labor Day or Slhe first day of freezing? Yup. the other day it was so chilly J saw freezeâ€"dried coffee hitchâ€" ing a ride back t0 Brazil. Into It Again! Well. Waterioo Council has got itself into a selfâ€"generated mess. But, Golâ€" lykins, (as L‘il Orphan Annie used to say! youd think council couldn‘t go amiss in hiring just one person to be the top dog. Ho! Ho! Arising from the previous fiasco. nothing could go wrong. Not a thing. A chap is interviewed. He gets the OK and the next thing you know "whoops‘" there are phantoms in his So here we ago again. Just two days after naming Bob Robertson to its top post, Waterloo officials learned that he was in charge in Maple Ridge. B.C., when a downtown deal went kerâ€" plunk. _ That deal was approved in 1999, but then went sour. An independent estimate said the deal involved a 25â€"year lease for an office tower, library. and arts and leisure centre. Tis said it cost the District of Maple Ridge up to h $11.4 million too much. It should cancel the appointâ€" ment and press the consulting firm to give back the $40,000 fee The headâ€"hunters (as we peoâ€" ple hipâ€"deep in business know} should have had a line on the applicant including the B.C. town problem The point is that if Robertson were to come to Waterioo now his reputation would carry the smear of the B.C. question. We definitely don‘t need that in view of what‘s gone before Council is now sitting on the subject. but it need not. CGouneil should chalk that appointment up as a temporary aberration, and mave on to hiring a new administrative arde. That‘s taking into account any cost Council will have to take the lumps as they come. It has to get a fresh start â€" yes, vet another and go on from there Anyhow, we won‘t have to teach Waterloo counailiors humility They should take note that humility is a lot like underwear We should wear it. but not let it _ One More Time: Just when it looked as if such things has been over. along comes the threat of a teacher strike. Somehow we hoped all the sweet talk from the Liberals would have an effect. Not so. The Without going into detail, it sounds like way too much for the teachers to cite such big demands as "prep time." Of course, the teachers don‘t care what we say. or what anyone says. They just put the demnand out there, and it lasts forever, and forevâ€" er and forever. teachers are talking like they always did. The teachers. of course, have arguments to advance for their position. For example, you can argue that school teachers are not appreciated until it rains all day Saturday. _ Musce Bound: From the muted mumâ€" bling you hear, the Otympics has caused almost no stir in this fair Dominion. To show that Canadians care (somewhat] you have to listen to the occasional complaints. Some say bluntly that we don‘t spend enough on our athletes. Or that we don‘t spend enough on our caachâ€" _ _ es which accounts for the number of doughheads we have on hand. At the time of writing, two ladies have teamed up to win one medal. We still have a good chance to win for baseball. but that‘s about all. curers! The Big Boom: There How do I know? Well, I found out when I got a copy of The Record from the day I was bom. It The Big Boom: There was a big anniver sary 75 years ago plus last Friday. There was an earthquake that day The item as I read it years later realty didn‘t say much. Although I can always say the 1 arrived with a bang. NU “ Maybe we should challenge samebady somewhere to race us in a race of ice sleds across the top of the contt nent Wed make the Kenya mile runners faint from sore feet, if not from excess perspiration Maybe we‘ll fare better when the winter Olympics come around again. Bring on the told of an earthquake that shook Toronto and this area that day. The feeling is we‘d do better with some thinking coaches. The United States wins medals by dozen although it gets a black eve or so. _ The idea of a pro US. team los ing to Puerto Rico has basketball fans talking to themselves. The language on some talk shows verged on noâ€"no language as fans let the basketball pros have it. It‘s almost as if our pro hockey stars had lost to a Malay pickup squad