TIM BELFORD

Please, not another evening of Shot-in-Buffalo-Hump-Saskatchewan movies

The NHL lock-out has to end. It's as simple as that.

Lets sum up what's happened So far.

A whole bunch of foolish men with more money than Midas find themselves paying a bunch of former rink rats about a gazillion dollars to play a kids game.

Let me make this clear. It's a great game to play and a super one to watch but it's still nothing more than organized shinny.

Meanwhile, the only people who can actually afford to go to a game are either on the Fortune Five Hundred list or are one of their employees who get a pair of freebees to the corporate box.

The problem, in a nut shell, Is that after paying out a gazillion dollars to the players, the owners have to charge $3000 dollars a ticket and run a ten-month season that lasts until the only ice in the country should be reasonably found in a cocktail glass.

So there it is. A bunch of Jocks getting Demi Moore's salary and a bunch of owners paying $200 million for a franchise and trying to get it all back in one fiscal year.

And if that doesn't convince you, here's ten good reasons the strike has to end.

• we're all sick to death of hearing about it.
  
• Nobody can stand another Red Fisher article on the top ten Montreal Canadiens, the top ten Montreal Canadien teams, or the top ten team doctors.
  
• Sports hacks, desperate for a story, are starting to talk bout putting Tiger Williams in the Hall of Fame.
  
• We need to put our energy elsewhere. Namely into efforts to end the liquor strike.
  
• We don't need any more features on another In-your-face, trash-talking, basketball player.
  
• we've seen too many pictures of owners' rep Gary Bettman, whose only contribution to the NHL is bringing hockey to places like Nashville with its four hard-core fans.
  
• Something has to lift the shares of Cage aux Sports franchises.
  
• We need to put beer back ahead of Evian water as the national beverage of choice.
  
• Nobody wants to spend another Saturday night watching another bad "b" movie filmed entirely in Buffalo Hump, Saskatchewan on CBC.
  
• And last but not least, so the rest of the world won't confirm its opinion that Canadians are a bunch of hosers who have turned over one of the things that really counts to the Americans.

  So, to Gary Gettman, Bob Goodenow et al, get it done!