DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR Pound for pound, mile for mile, you cannot buy a better car than 2 VOLVO — the car with the 100,000 mile reputation. MATTHON MOTORS LTD. TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1971 Paget 49 - 68 574 Erin St. at Portage Ave. PORTS NEWS Reyn 1946: Mickey Owen, Joe Louis Made News; Davis 1971: And Gordie Howe Is Still Making It By BRUCE LEVBTT For all that time he has pa- into the toes of the boots and Today he says he'll proba- shares in a ranch; is sports the artliirilic condition iu his Hope Springs Elenuil Canadian Press Sports editor trolled the right wing for De- mail-order catalogues down bly go into life insurance on a adviser for a Canadian de- left wrist. Gordie Howe, -13 tomorrow, troit Red Wings. Other his trousers as shin pads, and full-time basis when he quits- partment store chain; docs And he has been aboard one WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Staff) — If you're a base- lias been in the National players — his centres, his op- never looked back. hockey but "I'll play as long promotion work for a Detroit of the most unhappy clubs in as my legs hold out." car company; co-owns a fran- the NHL, a team torn with ball nut, this is springtime in Mecca. Hockey League for 25 years posite wingmen and the de- Ilis greatest thrill in hockey — longer than any other [cnccmcn and goalies who came on Oct 16, 1946, against "I think it's a good way to c h i s e d string of hockey front-office strife which has Florida is the generating station where 12 Major player. *• back him up — came and Toronto Maple Leafs in the make a living." schools, and sells insurance filtered down to the players. League teams and all of their affiliates tribe religiously went. Coaches changed and Detroit Olympia. Then 18, he But it has cost him, in pain for Olympia Insurance Co., Nevertheless, he says: every spring to re-chargn their batteries. so did general managers. fired a shot past Turk Brpda and in education. owned by Red Wings pres- "I'll play next year if my ident Bruce Norris. Baseball, training camp style, Is symbolically the There was one hali-heartcd at 13:39 of the second'period. "Gordie worries about his hand is better. Regardless, It was his first NHL goal. lack of education," his wife, A quiet, almost shy man in I'll be in training camp." fresh start everyone has craved at one time or another. attempt to try him out on defence, but it didn't last and More than 20 years later he Colleen, says. public, Howe can be a silent Past records mean nothing. This is where it all begins he reclaimed the rigllt wing.. was to say: "You start get- "But I keep telling him peo- avenger on the ice — deadly and old men in broad-brimmed hats seem to sense it His sticks, with which he ting up for a game the day of ple will accept him because in the corners with fist or because the ball parks are full of them. set records, are enshrined in the game. of the kind of guy he is." slick. "I still get nervous. 1 sup- Gordie says: "I finished He has taken more than 300 "I'm so worried about where I'm going I can feel grey the Hockey Hall of Fame. pose I always will." Grade 8, then quit after a hair sprouting out of my head," said a young San Antonio There were injuries and stitches in his face, but you During his 23rd year in the month of my first year in have to peer closely to see boy, who dreams of playing in Quebec City this summer. honors and Gordie Howe con- league he mused: high school. Gee, I often wish tinued to skate on past them. their delicate tracery. He has He asks one of the Whips to hit him ground balls for "I plan to try for 25 years. that somebody had made me suffered damaged knees, bro- Just how long is 25 years? Twenty-five ... a quarter of stay in school. an hour after practice. He would give his eye teeth to be ken ribs, a broken wrist, Time to marry and raise • a century. It really sounds • "But I came east to play in one of them, but right now, he'would gladly settle tor broken toes, a shoulder dislo- four children, two of whom are something when you say it Gait, Ont., and as soon as I cation, scalp wounds and Quebec City and the No. 3 team in the Expos organization. approaching the stage where like that, eh? But 25 is a nice, got there I went out and got a other cuts. round figure." job with Gait Metal Indus- Last year, he was with West Palm Beach . and they will be ready to step into Right now he suffers from Did he expect to last 25 tries." that's No. 4, only a peg ahead of the No. 5 team at Water- the NHL in a couple of years. arthritis in his left wrist But it was a different world years back when he started Gordie Howe has done well town, S.D. — the old Goldeye franchise. out? without formal schooling. He which, he says, is cu'ting when the kid from Saskatoon, down his efficiency. Managers are as starry-eyed as (he kids. They talk of moved up to the big club "I was hoping I'd last one owns his own hockey arena in winning pennants that could be out of reach by August. from Omaha of the United year — so I could brag about suburban Detroit; a herd of A reporter who was there the night long ago Howe had Talk is cheap, but hope is even cheaper. States Hockey League in 1946. it." 150 Hereford brood cows; Rationing, a holdover from a stick rammed into his eye Everyone seems to be hoping in Florida. West Palm CORDIE HOWE the Second World War which tells this story: Beach is hoping for rain; the Cubans are hoping that . vintage 1946 had ended a year earlitr, was "They rushed him to hospi- Fidel Castro croaks; Miami is hoping for a racially quiet still in effect and a count of tal. I went too, and other im- summer; and the older people are just hoping, period.. ration books showed that Can- porters and team officials. ada, had a population of We waited in the hallway. He CORDIE HOWE The latest Florida census is that 14 per cent of its citi- had a brain hemorrhage and Toronto 12.120,044. vintage 1971 zens are GO years or older — making the state the oldest When sons Mark and Marty doctors operated to relieve of all 50. It's the Victoria of the South. are ready for the big league the pressure. For 10 months of the year, Florida is the warm, tem- the population should be "I thought he was going to die. I had the story all writ- perent place everybody says it is. For the other two Rolls Out about twice the size it was when their father broke in. ten .'. But he came out of it 'The Book' months — August and September — you feel like the loser In sport at that time catch- and was back playing a in the final seconds of the 15th round . tired, irrevocably er Mickey Owen,^ goat of the month later." beat and burned beyond recognition. The Carpet 1951 World Series with Brook- Howe seldom drinks and The long-hair fad has either passed or never reached lyn Dodgers, was suspended never smokes and his only On Gordie TORONTO (CP) — Mayor from baseball for five years concession to passing years is Florida. Maybe it's a state law, but those who have hair Willian Dennison has made it for playing in the outlawed to keep a stricter diet than he By THE CANADIAN PRESS keep it short. official—Wednesday will be Mexican League. did as a carefree bachelor. Except for an usher in Miami Memorial Stadium, who Gordie Howe Day here in honor And Joe Louis, world hea- He has been likened to Gordie Howe's National of the National Hockey League Hockey League records at wears his hair in a pony tail, the fad is rarely seen. vyweight boxing champion, actor Gary Cooper, is a favor- veteran who celebrates his 43rd defended his title for the 23rd ite with kids and his two nick- . of March 23, 1971: West Palm Beach is the Expos headquarters. It's a birthday that day. time by knocking out) Tami names — Blinky and The Big Seasons — 25. big bustling city, fronting the Atlantic. Miami is about SO The mayor Issued an official JIauriello in the first round. Guy. Games — 1,680. miles south, and, in between, is that famous, haunt of proclamation noting that Howe Howe's introduction to the "Blinky" comes from his Goals — 785. every college kid in America — Fort Lauderdale. is in his 25th NHL season with game he came to dominate habit of blinking rapidly when Detroit Red WinKs. It said: reads like an excerpt from he's tired. Assists —1,021. South of Miami, about 35 miles, is Homestead where "In these days of shifting Jack and the Beanstalk. "The Big Guy" is what his Points — 1,806. every player in the Montreal organization who won't make loyalties and shallow beliefs, One December night in team-mates call one of the Games, including playoffs the Expos is staying.