February 6, 1996 Jock Talker by Lance Bradley Rah, Rah, Ciss, Boom-bah. Douglas College sports fans where the @!#& are ya? I recently attended both the men’s and the ladies basketball games. I arrived fifteen minutes prior to the game timé just to ensure I’d get a seat. Call me naive, but this is my first semester here at Douglas. I walked into the gym and to my surprise I had my choice of seats. The gym was entirely empty, the only noise coming from the scorekeepers booth as they ruffled through the Vancouver Sun. There was also the two nice ladies who greeted me at the door, gave me a program and let me know that they were serving coffee. As I sat down I noticed a few select people starting to filter in from the concourse. Some were parents, actually all were parents. With the addition of the these three faithful followers the gym almost had a Ghost Town feel to it. Talk about lousy spirit. The only ones showing up for the games were parents? Have we know pride? Oh, wait a minute here comes six or seven other guys walking in. These guys picked their seats in the front row and they sat down with headphones on. That’s better I thought, maybe everybody is stuck in traffic? Oh, wait a minute, those guys are awfully tall. I soon realized that these guys were, well, the guys basketball team, they were just waiting for somebody to open the changeroom door. I watched the woman ’ game (just to let you know, it was very entertaining.) and guessed that the men’s game would bring in a few more people. It did, some homeless guy came in to get away from the cold. Hey, don't laugh he was cheering for Douglas-you werent. Ican say that because by the half-time of the men’s game, I was the only one in attendance, other than the ladies teams who stuck around to cheer for their respective squads. I immediately began to recall my high school days. Every night, regardless of who we were playing, the place was packed. Some were there to see our team kick the snot out of a rival, while some were there for the side show. His name was Sam Bani, and this guy was a legend. The day after a big game everyone would talk about what Sam did, the score was pointless-we hardly ever won by less than thirty points. During the hunt for the Vancouver Grizzlies official mascot, they came to our school to show off a few of the contestants. The guys trying out were good, actually the current mascot was 15 one that auditioned at our school, but Sam was better. Too bad he didn’t meet the age requirement. Sam kept everybody one their toes, and even when our school was winning by fifty or sixty points Sam was still into it, Sam was still hyped up. Too bad Sam doesn’t go to Douglas, maybe then he’d show us some school spirit. Oh, hey, who’s that walking through the concourse. Why, it’s Sam. My goodness, he does go to Douglas. Funny, [haven't seen him at the games. Wonder why? Maybe he’s lost it. But I don’t think so. I think he’s too caught up his in his “coolness” to be seen ata basketball game. Too bad. The guy was amazing. I don’t want people interpreting this wrong. I’m not challenging Sam, I’m challenging everybody else on campus-you’ve paid your tuition, you’ve bought your books, you’re wearing the DC sweatshirt. So why aren’t you supporting the Douglas teams. Maybe if you show up, your buddy will come, and his/her buddy will join you! Imagine, the attendance figures hitting double digits. Maybe then, just maybe, the legend will make an appearance. Let’s hope so. Men and women try to conquer New Caledonia by ChadCopeland The Douglas college women’s basketball team took another step towards qualifying for the provincial championships with a pair of victories Jan.26-27. On Friday tough defense,strong rebounding,and and a solid performance from Sarah Wright spearheaded the Royal’s attack.Coach Carrie Carlson credits the inpenetrable zone defense for the 87-42 trouncing of New Caledonia.If not for the 3 point shooting of Arminder Chatta the Kodiaks would have been embarassed further.Solid play in the paint from Anrea Dufva(16 pts.),and Sheri Zimmerman(12 pts.), tamed the visitors from Prince George.A balanced attack from starters and subs sent the cubs whimpering back to the Carl Lewis running the show for the Royals interior.Speed down the middle,perfection from the foul line,and 14 points gave Wright player of the game honours. Saturday the women coasted to an easy 62-42 win and raised their record to 8-4.Hard work under the basket won Kerry Williams M.V.P.while Janice McIntosh had a game high 12 pts.and lead the team from her point guard position.Coach Carlson was all smiles after the game and confident of a birth in the provincial tourney(Feb.29- Mar.2 T.B.A.). On Friday The Royal’s mens basketball team had a chance to sweep a weekend series with the Kodiaks, but lost a close decision typifying their season to date. The Douglas men grabbed the early lead and outpaced New Caledonia,narrowly winning a sloppy contest. Ben Mayan had 23 pts. and Alex Zabori threw in a strong defensive effort to share player of the game honours.Steve Bennet contributed off the bench with hustle,and aggressive Kevin Sallows photo STRONG TO THE HOOP rebounding while Karl Lewis had a key 3 point play to seal the victory.Lewis drove to the hoop with ‘1:28 left,scored the basket,and drew the foul.He calmly drained the free throw to frustrate the visitors and guarantee the win. On Saturday missed shots at crunch time killed the Royal’s hopes of back to back wins.#21 Don Marchuk of the Kodiaks was unstoppable from 3-point land and had a game high 31 pts.Ben Mayan was M.V.P. with 29 pts. He had a chance to tie the game with .05 seconds left but with the opposition draped all over AN UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE HOOPSTER GOIN’ Eric Milner photo F743 E-COLUMBIA ot. VEWWEST- him,missed a 12 foot jump shot.The loss dropped their record to 3-9 and showed the inexperience of the young team.The narrow defeat was another disappointment in a rebuilding year.