Exciting Drillers worth supporting

Written by Letters to the Editor

Friday, 10 March 2000

I have been a long-term fan of the Edmonton Drillers soccer team and have attended nearly every home game. The players' enthusiasm and drive was and continues to be very strong. Their sportsmanship and skills are a refreshing change from the violence and goonery of hockey. The support of this town for the team continues to be weak. A quick look-around easily points to a few reasons. The support of this paper and most of the media is horrible. Articles about the team in The Journal are relegated to inner pages and only occur after home games. During road trips any news is at most a tiny afterthought. Now that the vultures are circling, up pop the stories. Mark Spector, where were your columns in the past? Hardly a word until now and mostly a negative one at that. John Short, thanks for your occasional insightful comments; they are nice to see. This is a great team and a great product. These guys work their hearts out most nights. To the local media, how about better coverage? To the owner, get off the past excuses and get down to promoting the team to re-build the fan base. And to the fans, get out to support them. It's reasonably priced and great entertainment. John Alexander, Sherwood Park