European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 01, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 38 the stars and stripes sports saturday. October 1,1994 nil owners have plenty to answer for the hockey players made one of the better statesmanlike gestures in the history of sports labor on thursday by agreeing to play the entire 1994-95 season and the playoffs without striking even if no agreement is reached with the owners. For reasons i cannot fathom the owners did not accept almost certainly delaying today s opening of the National hockey league season. More to the Point the owners refusal will surely make the players As embittered about their owners As the baseball players Are about theirs and look what that has gotten us an october with no world series. The hockey players acknowledged the great gains hockey has made and said they wanted to help push the sport Forward and what they did t say but what was Clear was that they also wanted to make some Money this year right now. But the players were also gambling about giving up their leverage for a full George Vecsey the risk that hard times or even greater resolve by. The owners in the next year could Cut into the players potential gains. The players also took the Chance of looking weak. Gary Bettman the commissioner of hockey has openly said he did not Wail to give the players a Chance to strike in the Middle of a season or just before the Stanley cup playoffs the Way they did two years ago. He does t want to have another base Ball on his  personally led the owners toward a Point where they were talking issues months too late but that s the Way it works in labor All labor. Then with the clock running the hockey players made a major Concession. We have taken at face value the league s concern about the disparity Between Large and Small markets said Bob Goodenow the executive director of the play ers association. In language More moderate than the strident tone of baseball s players association Goode now mentioned All their legitimate  _ Goodenow continued after much discussion the players decided to make a serious proposal. The play ers Are prepared to pledge there will  walkout no strike in 1994, provided there is no lockout by the own ers and provided All take backs Are  How hard would that be the two sides could have talked rationally until coming to an agreement but the owners still seem willing to jeopardize their entire season when they could have cashed in oilman exciting 1993-94 season � v is there some kind of virus going around Why do the owners in both baseball and hockey suddenly express the need to Shore up the smaller Market franchises and Why do they put the responsibility on the players the hockey owners like All other owners Are infatuated with the idea of a salary Cap which allows every club owner to plead not poverty and not fiscal responsibility but Blind obedience to a Rule. The hockey owners seem particularly incensed at the Money being paid Young players. It did t used to be that Way Back when most of these current owners would have stuck up their noses at the very concept of  then Young players were told by the old skin flints who ran a six team league you sign with us -.son,.or you la be pumping Gas in Chico Stirni. The owners Are said to be particularly horrified bythe approximately $7 million being paid to one Chris longer of the Hartford whalers a weak team Likely to be moved to a major Market in the near future. The owners act As if Chris longer had stuck up the Hart Ford franchise like a thug with a Shotgun sticking up 7 eleven stores. The owners ought to be mad at the owner of the Hartford franchise. You can t afford it Don t spend it. With time running out the hockey players pledged pledged to work All year just for the Promise of no lockout and . Don t the owners recognize a pledge when they hear one or is that foreign Lan Guage to their ears if theorems no Start of the season these hockey owners will have alot of explaining to do. _ the me York timer. Take your ballgame amp 5hove it Oak i player and owners foiled gift cute 1 Kcal a we re i Cyffic i it of their Vining Twrgreediruss-1erne a 09 time Sriwil games. � Fehr to Brief latin players on tour through Caribbean by Denne h. Freeman Grapevine Texas a next Stop for baseball Union chief Donald Fehr latin America. Fehr who has met with 360 striking players in a Cross country tour to seven destinations said he will be in the Caribbean within  week or 10 Days to carry his Unity message to latin players who could t come to the United states. Fehr met with 50 players in the last of his regional meetings thursday. Previously he had travelled to at Lanta Tampa new York Chicago los Angeles and Phoenix. The players came away from Fehr s four hour Brief ing encouraged about their strike and the action of a congressional committee to curtail owners antitrust exemption. I think it s great news but we still Hae a Long Way to go said Houston Astro slugger Jeff Bagwell. We re the Union As Strong As Ever and it s unfortunate that we Aren t getting ready to play a world series. 1 just Hope we re playing in Spring training next year. I Hope we can get the owners to the bargaining table.". Congress is a big key said Texas Ranger perfect game Star Kenny Rogers there should t be a monopoly in  he added it s embarrassing that baseball is in this situation. It s a sad  a congressional committee on thursday approved a Bill to partially remove baseball s antitrust exemption. The exemption prevents players from suing owners leading the Union to strike in order to prevent manage ment from imposing a salary Cap. Ranger Pitcher Brian Bohanan said maybe the action by Congress will make something happen starting next year the players Are United. We Are sticking to Gether through  Fehr called the House judiciary committee decision from Washington a significant step Forward. Momen Tum is building and it s building quickly. Any Bill that puts the owners under antitrust scrutiny has to  Fehr said it might Spur the owners to move a Coji Sid Erable distance from where they Are. Maybe they would prefer to negotiate without an imposed outside Force. Right now we Are in no Man s land and that s where the owners want it to  asked year would Hope owners would t be that irresponsible. They say there Are prepared for a Long  Charles mans different hot Corner Sas sue Harper Miracle meted Charles  writer Heidelberg Germany the first time de Charles whose Miracle new York mets won the world series when he was the third baseman in 1969, came to Germany was when the army required him to. To that was in 1953. He was drafted before the end of the baseball season and played football and baseball in his year and a half with the 127th transportation co. In Germany where he was voted kxm1954 Weste conference Emp. Wednesday the army s 26th support up asked Charles who works in the new York City Juve Nile Justice system to talk the Hei Delberg school children about Vio Lence in schools stateside and How to keep violence out of schools i Europe. Military schools Are much More disciplined and less violent because of the protected Environ ment Charles  of that kids who have been removed from the states for quite a while do not know what to expect. It has changed. In some areas people Are living in fear. What we Are doing is raising their can iou Ness. We Don t want these kids to be victims when they return to the United states Charles said. Charles whose major league Ca reer began in 1962 and covered six seasons with the athletics and three with the Metaj is Quick to say that violence in military schools is not any where near the same level As Compa stably sized schools in the states. He thinks that preventive measures the school takes is part of the reason. One of those precautions is having him speak at the  addition to Heidelberg Charles who retired from baseball after his glorious 69 season spoke at schools in Karlsruhe Pir Masens Lan Stuhl and Kaiserslautern before returning to new York on Friday