Royals Preview

Brian McLennon, OP Contributor

 

ith the first semester out of
\ Y ) the way, lean back and get
ready for Part Il. Many of the

athletes have returned from their holiday
break and are preparing to make a
final towards a playoff berth
in February and March; however, for
badminton, baseball, and golf
athletes, the season is just getting started.

run

So here’s a little preview of what to
look for in the upcoming semester.

Ready To Fly: Badminton
The Badminton team will host the first
BCCAA tournament of the year at
Pinetree Community Centre on January
22, 2005. The team will look to regain its
national supremacy under the direction of
returning head coach Al Mawani, and the
former Douglas College Coach of the
Year seems confident with his new team.

“Tm confident that we will be able to
compete...[though] there’s still a few
pieces to put into place,” he said.

And with Tiffany Cheong and Davis

Siblings gone, the roster will be a fresh
new look with a few returnees.
Rookies No More: Baseball

The baseball team will enter their sopho-
mote season in the highly competitive
NWAACC league.

“T think we have all learned a lot from
last year...both as athletes and as a coach-
ing staff,’ said head coach Gehrig Merritt.

In their inaugural season, the boys of
spring made history as the first Canadian
college baseball team to compete in an
American conference.

“Tt was a special day for Douglas
College,” said athletic director Lou Rene
Legge.

The baseball home-opener weekend
will be March 5, 2005, versus Shoreline
C.C. at Mundy Park.

Birdies, Bogies, and a Long Shot: Golf
The men’s golf team is ready to go,

according to head coach Gert Van
Niekerk.

 

“Everyone is ready to go, both on the
green and in the classroom,” said Van
Niekerk.

Despite having all of his returnees aca-
demically eligible, his feelings were a little
bittersweet. “This will be our last year in
the NWAACC conference and I’m sad
because we [Douglas College’s golf team]
enjoyed our time in that league.”

Due to a new conference regulation,
Douglas, along with Malaspina, Selkirk
College, and UCFY, will no longer be able
to play in the NWAACC. Says Van
Niekerk, “I don’t think it’s a Canadian
issue, other institutions south of the bor-
der will be affected as well.”

Also affected will be the new women’s
golf team headed by CPGA Pro and
Douglas College sport science student
Lindsay Jackson. The women will play
their inaugural season in the NWAACC
and then hope to join the men’s team in a
possible BCCAA league that may be
restructured for September 2005.

 

 

h no, no, no. With no World
() Juniors to keep our minds off

it, it has suddenly become time
to realize that the NHL and NHLPA are
swiftly crushing all hopes of NHL hock-
ey.

You see, for a while there, there was a
glimmer of hope on the horizon. The
NHLPA had come up with a new propos-
al, one that was on the right track with its
24-percent salary rollbacks, and it seemed
possible that a deal could be worked out.
But sadly, the proposal was also a flawed
one that left room for salaries to climb
right back up in as little time as a year.

But the NHL bargained back...with a
completely ass-headed proposal, and the
dream of a shortened season died as
quickly and suddenly as it had come to
life. The NHL asked for even larger roll-
backs from star players and tried a little

}

Lockout Corner

Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

union-busting by giving smaller rollbacks
to the players with lower salaries that
comptise a majority of the union.
However, the union stood firm, talks were
broken off between the two groups, and
now nobody in either camp seems too
inclined to do anything at all.

So if you want a few predictions for
the NHL in 2005, here you go:

1. The NHL will not have a shortened
season this year and there’s a strong pos-
sibility that there won't be a 05/06 season
either. So buy your Giants tickets now.

2. Todd Bertuzzi will be reinstated and
allowed to play overseas.

3. Jeremy Roenick will trash-talk Gary
Bettman.

4. Everyone will blame everyone else, and,
as the already weak NHL dwindles, other
sports, like the NFL, will continue their
meteoric rise in the American market.

But hey, don’t be too worried because
now that I’ve predicted these things, most
of them are likely not to happen. But one

 

thing that looks certain is that the NHL
and NHLPA will never see things the
same, regardless of whether one of the
two backs down in this monetary dog-

fight.

JanvaPe 12/2005