Owner of the Year

Ottawa Renegades owner Lonie Glieberman might go down as the greatest sports owner in history. Forget the Disco Demolition, or $.05 beer night... Glieberman may have topped them all. The embattled CFL owner has gone way over the top--or topless--with his latest promotion which is a bold move in an era when sports teams have catered to the families a little too much, with arcades and playgrounds now required at every new ballpark.

Glieberman, pro football's answer to Joe Francis, has started Mardi Gras days at the Renegades' games, where men in the cheap seats are given beads to dispense to the local women at their own discretion. The woman with the most beads ends up with a $1,000 prize. And you don't have to watch endless hours of Girls Gone Wild to figure out what most of the women were going to do for the beads.

One competitor, Anna Nauss (pictured above), was warned by security after getting a bit overenthusiastic. Witnesses said Nauss was issued the warning after she flashed an entire section -- in hopes of gaining beads -- and someone complained.

"I really wanna win!" Nauss told the Ottawa Sun, while sporting an impressive 50-plus necklaces.

Who is going to complain about something like this? Obviously there are spoilsports in every crowd, eh?

"It could be very distracting to the true fans of the game, with women constantly in their face asking for beads," said Liz Sterling (who is obviously too ugly to compete in such a contest).

True fans of the game? Here we thought only Cosmo Kramer the only true fan of the CFL. The true fans and the families can segregate themselves to the other parts of the stadium. There is a segment of the population that would like to have a little bit of fun and enjoy themselves. There isn't a single-draw back to this promotion, other than the fact that both the women and the style of football are Canadian.

And seriously, isn't it a nice break to read about such a story instead of the latest stabbing by Raiders fans?

It's about time a pro-sports owner recognized that not everybody is into the "family experience." Fans with children like to complain about alcohol and demand family sections. What's wrong with a section that is dedicated to adults?

You know, the ones that actually buy the tickets?

There are countless instances where a football or baseball game has been ruined because of kids that were screaming, running around the aisles, or throwing objects. It should be up to the ticket-buying public to decide if they want to be distracted by a young woman barring her breasts or a 4-year-old with cotton candy stuck to his hands ruining your throw-back jersey during one of his 12 trips to the concession stands and rest room.

One owner seems to agree.

"It's only in the upper deck," Glieberman said. "You know families have never been in the upper deck. It's really not a place ... The target for families is [the] north side, and there's nothing going on in the north side like that. It's relatively quiet on the north side--quite and simple."

And you thought Arte Moreno was popular when he lowered the beer prices. It also should be noted that attendance was increased in the upper deck, thanks to the promotion, showing that not all of the sports public are prudish.

Let's just hope the Spanos family is paying attention to this report.