Nos Amours

The Montreal Expos are dead. Nonetheless, before I fully accept this I want a full investigation to finalize the time of death - even if they are as gone as the Brooklyn Dodgers. The demise of this franchise is incredibly surreal and sad. I am less interested in who is to blame than in how supposed fans and pundits from both the Canadians and Americans did not come and defend this franchise.

The blame game is all to easy. Lift your finger and point - though there's plenty of that to go around.

From a local ownership standpoint, we did not have a cohesive committed group dedicated to making baseball work. When an American came in to buy the team, they decided to play Patriote vs. Yankee games and lost.

From the fans standpoint, true, historically speaking our attendance numbers were always in the median for all Major League teams, but the fact remains that by the 90s the fan base began to dwindle. Contrary to popular belief, the legendary '94 club was not drawing 30-40 000 people that year. It was more like 21 000. The average began to rise when it became evident, to the bandwagoner, the Expos were for real. If anything, 1994 was ironically the beginning of the end for the franchise. The only problem is that the Expos were buried while they were still breathing, which gave the dying process a kinky 'Twilight Zone' creepiness .

When it became evident that the Expos were in dire need of fan support, despite the buffoonery of the owners, the fans chose to continue to ignore the club. We had a chance to make a difference and did not take it. Indeed, Montreal had on one side a parochial business community where civic duty, especially in sports, is absent and a new culture of must-be-seen type of Montrealer only interested in non-committal one time events.

It remains to be seen how long the new found lover affair with the Montreal Alouettes will last. Afterall, they can't play in Sir Percival (home to McGill University) stadium forever. It's 3rd rate for a professional football franchise. Finally, Major League Baseball, probably because they were fed up with the instability of the situation, also turned its back on Montreal baseball. This is not to abslove this group of Templar Knight-like owners, since I am not so sure they did everythng they could to save the franchise. Why?

I-gnorance, I say. Let me develop this thought further. For this, we turn to hockey. From long ago, it was always understood that the Montreal Canadiens were the standard by which all great hockey clubs were measured. Montreal, not Toronto, is the mecca of hockey. Yet, today we have allowed Torontians to lay claim to such a title (albeit based on marketing and sales not based on victory or championships) which is laughable. Why is Montreal so easily marginalized in popular thought? Surely, with 24 cups to its name, it should be among the 'chosen one' in any conversation that discusses the New York Yankees, Boston Celtics and Green Bay Packers. If the Habs have lost some of its mystique in the new dynamics of hockey, what hope was there for the Expos? Not much it turns out. That doesn't mean, however, that we do not have a proud baseball heritage and tradition in this city. We just have amnesia.

We have all heard various American sportscasters take their stabs at the Expos. Jim Rome, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and even our own networks like TSN all got their kicks in while the franchise struggled. I recall hearing an Atlanta Brave commentator insult the Expos and its fans this summer. This from a franchise that was itself once a laughing stock in the 80s. In fact, Cleveland, San Diego, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Detroit all had and still do have attendance problems. In the case of the Indians, Pirates and Tigers it's especially bizarre given their long rich baseball traditions. Yet, they were all given a chance to reinvent themselves or given the benefit of the doubt by fans and commentators. Why shouldn't Montreal have been accorded the same chance? Afterall, it was not that long ago that we used to fill the Olympic Stadium.

It would be easy to let the Expos go if baseball had no history here. The fact is that it does. While it dates further back than the Montreal Royals - winners of three Junior World Series in '46,'48 and '53. They also reached the finals in 41,'49,'51 and '58. It was home at different points for legendary players like Roy Campanella, Roberto Clemente, Don Drysdale, Walter Laston, Chuck Connors, Rocky Nelson, Jack Banta, Duke Snider and Tommy Lasorda. The Montreal Royals contribution to baseball folklore was forever written, despite Ken Burns subtle choice to overlook the Royals, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. This is as much a part of the Montreal baseball experience as well as MLBs in the United States. You would think that so called experts would respect this. Then again, respect is not our strongest character trait these days.

If Brooklyn had Ebbets Field, Montreal had the magnificent and enchanting charms of Jarry Park. While I was not born when the Expos played there I have heard, read and seen enough footage to get a sense of the moment that was Jarry Park. Mack Jones, Coco Laboy, Ken Singleton, Bill Stoneman, Gene Mauch and of course Le Gran Orange Rusty Staub. I defy anyone to deny and belittle this experience.

Later, the Expos moved to the Olympic Stadium and the love of this team transferred over to the Olympic Stadium. Al Oliver, Rodney Scott, Woody Fryman, Spaceman Bill Lee, Larry Parrish, Steve Rogers, Bill Gullickson, Ellis Valentine, Warren Cromartie, 'The Kid' Gary Carter, Andre 'The Hawk' Dawson, Tim Raines the 'Rock', 'Eli' Tim Wallach, Jeff Reardon, Pascual Perez, Dennis Martinez, Jose Vidro, Orlando Cabrera and future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero (to name a few off the top of my head) were all a part of what was Montreal Expos history. We should always remember these memories.

Furthermore, and just as important, Montreal was always blessed with great sports radio voices which included Dick Irvin and the late great Danny Gallivan n hockey. It was no different in baseball with Dave Van Horn, Duke Snider, Ken Singleton and Jacques Doucet.

Much like this country, the Expos' soap opera involved much talking and bickering and nothing constructive or dynamic. We will miss the romantic and special phenomena we once called Nos Amours. You won our hearts and souls at a time when Canada understood its place on the world stage. Then, in a wounded heartbeat, we all allowed you to slip away just as Canada has lost its way. Blame can be pointed in all directions, but like anything in life, looking in the mirror tells many truths.