It’s my Parting Shot for a couple of Weekend not so Short Shots…..

The staggered transition from winter sports into spring and summer activities continues, but one thing that came across was very strange to me! The Saskatoon Mamba of the Canadian Elite Basketball League will open their re-branded season next Thursday. The Mamba will be at home at SaskTel Centre to take on the Vancouver Bandits – starting at 10:30 a.m.! That’s a.m. as in the morning!! Incredibly, the Mamba have decided that their home opener will also be their “Be Well” School Day Game, focused on well-being. Don’t get me wrong, the idea of exposing the product to thousands of Grade 5 to 12 students with the underlying message of promoting well-being is wonderful! In today’s day and age of mental health awareness, bullying, etcetera – this type of game day promotion is great. But, shouldn’t the Mamba show off their product for the first time at a time when more potential adult ticket-buyers would consider attending, rather than being stuck at work?! Very unorthodox thinking in my humble opinion!!

Good on the Ontario Hockey League for fining the Barrie Colts 15-thousand dollars for “conduct detrimental to the public perception of the league” after their post-game remarks following a Game 7 playoff win over Brantford on Monday that advanced Barrie into the O-H-L final. Following the victory, head coach Dylan Smoskowitz and co-captain Kashawn Aitcheson met the media and responded to every question with the team’s motto, “No one cares, work harder.” As someone who has been conducting post-game interviews and being a part of post-game media scrums for the nearly 47 years that I have been in the main-stream media – these required sessions can be tedious and frustrating, especially after losses or when some of the questions are downright dumb! But, that doesn’t mean you can sluff the Q & A times off and just be a jerk – be you the the person asking the questions or the person answering. The media have jobs to do and are the conduit for the interested public! It’s called professionalism – for both sides!!

I’m taking some time off to recharge the old batteries and get ready for the transition from Blades hockey to Berries baseball. This feature will return on Tuesday, May 19th.

That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!