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Show Park City Mewspaper by Jim Murray Can Oakland recapture its roving Raiders? A MOTS Page CI Thursday, December 30, 1982 I .. ...i. ,.-.?..; -? Z ... .mlM.. ::..,. tvW,...-- J . V - " . . .,.;; A W&wJZTIwofl.. . a. i:1:: Tori Pillinger flashes through the course during downhill training in Aspen. The long climb up the ski racing ladder takes more than talent by David Hampshire So you say it was a little chilly on the chairlift yesterday yester-day afternoon. This might take your thoughts off your own miseries for a second. Imagine you're on the lift first thing in the morning, during a .cold snap like the one that's hitting Park City this week. The sun is struggling to show itself from behind the mountains. And, with the exception of a pair of longjohns, all you have to protect yourself from the elements is a paper-thin downhill suit, like the ones worn by World Cup competitors. Cold? You bet! But that, according to Tori Pillinger, is the price you pay. Tori, 16, was one of a dozen young women from around the country who attended a three-week development camp in Aspen sponsored by the U.S. Ski Team. The skiers, ranging in age from 15 to 18, are among America's brightest young prospects. But that didn't mean that they were treated like royalty. Tori described a training regimen which began at 6 a.m. with stretching and conditioning exercises, continued con-tinued with training on the hill from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and ended with the tired racers turning in long before the nightly news hit the television screen. "We were going to bed at 8:30," Tori recalled. "We skied our buns off, skied our brains out ... You had to keep on your toes, that's for sure." The coaching staff for the three-week clinic included Bob Harkins, assistant alpine director for the U.S. Ski Team, as well as Dave Ojala, director of the Stratum Strat-um Mountain Academy in Vermont and Mike Porter, coach of Ski Team Vail. "Mainly, the older girls were there to qualify for the Europa Cup," Tori said. "My goal was to get as much out of it as I could." The Europa Cup circuit serves as a training ground for potential World Cup skiers. The Aspen clinic featured 24 weeks of intensive training in giant slalom and downhill, culminating with four Elbert Series slalom races at Vail and Winter Park. In those races, which attracted at-tracted some of the toughest competition in the area, she finished as high as 15th. "Out of about 60 girls I was starting 44th. It was really bad because of all the ruts ... I think I did rather respectably.' Tori ivropc n ilc competing as a member of the Park City Ski Team reached an estimated $4,000 last year. This year, fortunately, for-tunately, she has a sponsor, John McMillian of Northwest North-west Energy and Marker U.S.A. McMillian is a well-known well-known supporter of the U.S. Ski Team. Tori also gives credit to Dave Peets of Marker. "If it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't have been skiing this year." The Aspen trip lasted from Dec. 3 to Dec. 22, during which time Tori celebrated her 16th birthday. But she really hasn't had time to celebrate. After returning to Park City, she could hardly catch her breath before the Park City Ski Team began its downhill camp Dec. 27. Which meant showing up at the Park City Ski Area at 6:45a.m. Tori, a sophomore at Park City High School, describes herself as a "B" student. But making the grade can be tough during ski season. "I got a 3.5 first term. But so far this term I've missed about eight tests ... My teachers have been really good about it. They've been giving me my homework before I leave. I've been doing it when I can." By some standards, Tori was a ripe old age before she started taking skiing seriously. She took a beginning begin-ning class at age eight, then entered the learn-to-race program the following year. After that came the Park City Ski Team. "The reason I got into it, a friend of mine was on it, and it was the in thing to be on the ski team." In her first race, as a peewee, she finished second. "I didn't know they handed han-ded out trophies ... I was so excited about it, I wanted to keep doing it ... Then I got to be an expert, and things started getting serious." By last season, Tori had become one of the top female JII (14- and 15-year-old) racers in the western states. Last March in Colorado she was awarded the Junior Olympic combined trophy emblematic of the best JII skier in the Western Region, which includes the Pacific Northwest, California, Alaska, Colorado and the In-termountain In-termountain states. But it hasn't come without effort. For nine months out of the year Tori trains three to five times a week with the Park City Ski Team. "Strength is very important," impor-tant," she said. "You don't really realize that. If you're really strong, you can maneuver any way you want to, and get through the cour se faster ... It's not just your legs. You need your whole upper body for skating out of the gate." During May, June and July she works out on her own. "I have a hard time training," she confessed. "I have no discipline." Tori's ultimate dream is to compete as a member of the U.S. Ski Team. But she sees a long road ahead. "The women's team is like the best in the world right now ... The standards are really high." But she keeps in her mind an answer that downhill specialist Holly Flanders once gave when asked how she had reached the top echelon among world skiers. "Persistence and determination," deter-mination," Flanders said. g 'I' v. i' I ' ' ' $ ' I I" " '' 1 I ? v ; fi , TV illtl4lvis.:':v-l S tail it'l s 4 Tori, the sometimes student. rospector. 9 ATUI CTir 1 IID at (prospector gquare 649 6670 Park City 's Most Complete Fitness Center Racquetball Swimming Weight Room Gymnasium Jacuzzi bteam Saunas Massage & Physical Therapy Daily & Weekly Rates Available .mmmmmimmgL tmAMMmmmmmmmmmmnaMmmjmm, lA Price Special On racquetball court fees from 7 a.m. -2 p.m.!! The subject for today is "eminent domain," or, "Who asked the New York Yankees?" Or "Come back. Frankford Yellow Jackets, wherever you are." If you've been paying attention to the fortunes of that permanent, established floating crap game known as the Oakland-Los Oakland-Los Angeles Raiders, you know that the city of Oakland is hoping to invoke the principle of eminent domain to call its wayward wandering troupe home. Now, eminent domain is the power of the government to take private property for public use without the owner's consent. It is not confiscation exactly, although it amounts to the same thing, but the state must pay the owner "just compensation." Now, when most of us think of the implementation of this power, we think of some little old lady living in a shack near where a freeway is to go through, or a Mom & Pop candystore in the way of a skyscraper, or slum clearance. But "property" can be intangibles like air space, water rights, ocean use, or even radio waves. The Constitution does recognize the government's govern-ment's right of condemnation in the Fifth Amendment, but it recognizes that payment must be made It has never been applied to halfbacks before. No one ever thought of Jim Plunkett as being a public use. And Ted Hendricks is not exactly needed as a landing strip. People can't live in John Matuszak. Is Calvin Muhammad an historical landmark? Professional sports, of course, is aghast. For a very good reason. Municipalities heretofor were something to be exploited, not consulted. And certainly not to be taken in as partners, never mind being taken over by. But, there's a neat point of law involved. You see, these freebooters of sports have never consulted the municipalities and commonwealths before they moved in and set up business. They just arbitrarily reached out and took the name "Oakland" (or New York or Chicago or Los Angeles) and stretched it across their uniform shirts. The only recorded case in history where this was put to a vote of the citizens was in the referendum in Los Angeles in 1958. Even then, it was not exactly did Los Angeles want the Dodgers? It was, did the city want to fork over 400 acres of downtown real estate to keep them? The vote, I believe, was something like 26,000 to 25,000. Hardly a mandate. But, the franchise owners of professional sports have never considered the citizenry before honoring them with the presence of their privately held entourages. In some cases, the suspicion lingers that, if someone were to ask, "How would you like the Pottsville Maroons for your very own home team?" the answer might be, "Thanks, but I'd rather have two aspirins." Oh, the sports barons did sometimes consult with the mayors of the municipalities involved, or some legislative liaison, or the hoteliers or the downtown businessmen's associations, but they are very pained when the tabloid shows subsequent pictures of tenants being evicted in a hand-carry along with their goats and butane burners to make room for the athletes who will thenceforth earn up to a million dollars a year in their pepper patches. It's interesting to note Los Angeles condemned land for its athletic team, the land having previously been confiscated for public housing. But, in the early years of baseball, warring factions within the various leagues moved franchises at will. When the American Baseball League was formed (out of the old Western League), Charlie Comiskey moved his St. Paul club to Chicago without so much as a by-your-leave from the resident Richard Daley. Grand Rapids moved to Cleveland, and Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis and Buffalo moved to Baltimore, Washington, Washing-ton, Philadelphia and Boston. The next year, Baltimore was moved to New York where it subsequently became the "Yankees." There was no evidence of a groundswell or public clamor for their presence. Football was even more cavalier. The Canton Bulldogs, Columbus Panhandles, Dayton Triangles, the Rock Island and Hammond, Ind., and Frankford, Ky., teams moved where and when they wished. Communities have never insisted on the wedding rings. Their wandering Romeos came and went as they pleased. The city fathers were content with short-term stadium leases, handshakes, free lunches, free tickets, or an autographed photo of the starting quarterback. Are communities owed more of a commitment from these gigolos with the roving eyes? Or, can nothing be done when love has flown and the once-eager swain is rushing to other embraces? Oakland at least intends to make the divorce painful. Who knows? It may even get custody of the kid. 1982 Los Angeles Times MOUNTAIN FLORA lI!.KIOK)IAU',RI: TKIiSl III.OWliKs VfDDIXGS X'dsrQill: 8(ii 649 bqo fvJ)Kk W1MII: SFusfi seafood nightly, Continental cuisine. Beakfast 8 a.rn. jCunch 1 1 '3o a.m. Dinne 5:00 p.n. 649-7778 Jit the Slesolt Blaza State liquo'i stoe opens at n::oo p.rr. Restaurant |