© Sports the other press e fFlashGordon e dcsportseditor@yahoo.ca January 14, 2003 Where Are the Fans? BCCAA Leaders Flash Gordon Sports Editor Attending a game at the Lion’s Den in New Westminster can be a lonely event on a Friday or Saturday evening. The opposition’s fans follow their team to New West and it’s not uncommon for them to Douglas Women’s Basketball Points outnumber the Douglas students or parents of the players sitting in Player Institution Games Points Avg. | Hometown the bleachers. They are rowdier, louder, and more supportive of the 1. Krystal Hawksworth — Malasapina 7 140 20 Port Alberni teams that have come to take on the Royals. Why is that? There's an 2. Lauren Labrosse Langara 5 78 15.6 Vancouver enthusiasm-deficiency in our college. Maybe it’s because our school 3. Sasha Staden Kwantlen 7 106 15.1 Aldergrove resembles a bus station or maybe it’s something unrelated to archi- 4. Alissa Flynn Langara 7 101 14.4°~ Port Coquitlam tecture. A DSU pub night is about as lame as you can get on a 9. Anna Rowinska Douglas 7 86 12.3 Port Coquitlam Thursday night. People come for the free subway and a cheap beer or oa : ae Rebounds two then leave without socializing. There are sports fans at Douglas : b h h igs oh th °s basketball 1. Anna Rowinska Douglas fs 19 11.3. Port Coquitlam - Way: sng? AP ares oe game night and the men’s basket 2. Lisa Peterson UCE 8 82 10.3 Courtenay team is wiping the floor with the first-place UCC Sun Demons? 3 Tisha Fassel UCC 8 68 8.5 Nise It occurs to me that many Douglas students aren't aware of the 4 Sarah Herbert Kewantlen 7 59 8.4 Mantcouver sports teams at our beloved college. The student body just might be 4, Maria Kirkbride Malasapina 8 65 8.4 Nanaimo too busy trying to get into SFU that they haven't bothered to take a peek into the Lion’s Den on a Friday or Saturday night. The Assists Coquitlam soccer fields are non-existent or simply unimportant in 1. Angela Tsang Kwantlen 7 41 5.9 Kamloops the theatre and marketing social circles and I don’t blame anyone for 2. Brianna Scarr Langara : 38 5.4 Richmond . eo 3. Ginny Evans Malasapina i 36 5.1 Richmond not knowing where the baseball team competes because I don’t even : : : oe 3 3. Krystal Hawksworth = Malasapina 7 36 Syl Port Alberni know. There is a distinct lack of interest. When my co-workers have 5. Gchuylah Merick Ceanegat 7 28 40 Seiding admitted to not even realizing Douglas had basketball teams, I attrib- : ute it to ignorance and that’s okay since sports are a less significant Douglas Men's Basketball part of college life. Here's a suggestion, why don’t we blame our teams? Forget whether Points they are successful in competition or *cough* not. If you aren't a var- 1. Christopher Veale Okanagan 7 188 26.9 Prince Rupert sity athlete or in the sports science program, name one or two college 2. Prince Carino Kwantlen Z 144 20.6 Burnaby players you socialize with on a consistent basis in or out of class. Can 3. Luke Robinson Malasapina 7 142 20.3. Ahousat you do it? Here are our athletes as representatives of Douglas College 4. oc . — inne: es ee coe and is there even a connection to the school aside from taking class- 5. Alex Nadrazsky . 55 9. Sate es. I would go as far as saying some athletes are cliquey and cocky (soctcough*cer). The majority of ffered at Douglas only | $*ceur’s and cough*cer). e€ majority o Pee oO cre at Douglas only 1. Cody Berg Douglas 5 61 12.2 Burnaby being two-year diplomas, players can't take time to promote the ‘2. Jordan Kinakin Malasapina 7 78 11.1 | Campbell River events or even unreasonably force themselves to make friends with 3. Nolan Holmes Caren 6 66 Eto: ONictoria their arch-enemies in the science club or theatre troupe. Aside from 4. Jeff Friesen UCC 8 70 8.8 Duncan the occasional spoiled child, athletes have full course loads and some 5. Ryan Lenaduzzi Capilano 7. 59 8.4 North Vancouver intention to graduate some time down the road. No, that’s not a joke. ; Ultimately promoting our school falls on the institution called the Assists : Centre for Sport. I know Director Lou will hate me for this but 1. Greg aa raping 7 44 6.3 ses aa where's the promotion? People walk by our exquisite gymnasium 2, Jove eso ee - 2 = ee ; ‘ ne x 3. Dave Sambol Kwantlen 7 34 4.9 Maple Ridge everyday without even knowing it’s there because the only thing : : eh eee 4. Prince Carino Kwantlen 7 33 4.7 Burnaby marking it is a little rectangle plaque that gives the room number and état Cesechs Okanagan 7 33 47 Welicertis says “gymnasium” in boring block letters. Beyond those doors, the A Ciuke Robinson Malasapina 7 33 47 Alouette Lion’s Den received a very professional makeover with a new coat of paint to brighten the whole facility and cover up some shockingly tacky designs leftover from the 70s. It really adds to the atmosphere of an event if the location has the team colours and logos bannered Douglas College Wrestling around the place. Maybe the idea behind the paint-job was “paint it 2 ; . i oe aiid: they a ae oe ee EE a s ; £ loyal Nt gles (Douglas College competes in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association) College fans that have something better to do on game day. Jazz up _Golden Bear Invitational 90kg Pacific University @ SFU the entrance with the image of our vicious and unknown mascot of January 10 Inderjit Kooner Burnaby, BC a lion, then maybe a few more people will take notice. Edmonton, AB February 6 Douglas spent thousands of dollars organizing the national college Wrestling Schedule soccer tournament in November. Aside from parents and maybe the Overall Standings Central Washington @ SFU odd soccer groupie, who watched it? Even Canadian universities are 4th—Douglas 38 pts Clackamus Open Burnaby, BC able to draw in fans from the community. Wrangle the bums hang- Portland, Oregon February 7 ing around the SkyTrain station and put them in the bleachers. The Individuals Results January 17 incoherent mumbles and rants could be mistaken for cheers of sup- ' NCWA Regionals @ Douglas port as the women’s volleyball team makes a great play. It could work. 57kg Guelph Open New Westminster or How about a sign in the Royal City Mall promoting games at the 2nd Frank Mensah Guelph, Ontario Coquitlam, BC local college? There are normal people who live in New Westminster January 17 February 24 who just might like to see college basketball and show support for 6lkg (Check college for details) developing athletes. Yes a sign! A sign has the answer! But signs cost Ist Jesse Arnett Pacific University @ SFU money and the Centre for Sport can’t afford that. 2nd Josh Pineda Burnaby, BC NCWA Nationals Finally why the Hell doesn’t our bookstore sell Douglas apparel in 6th Adam Harada January 31 Dallas, Texas the school colours? Teal and Blue or is it Green?...with an accent of March 12-13 Black. At the moment, the bookstore stock is all “winter” hues to 72kg Manitoba Open match the season. That’s great if I want a powder blue hoody for a Ist Dean Dehamel Winnipeg, Manitoba Junior Nationals cold winter day in Vancouver. Christmas is over kids. Where's the January 31 Calgary, Alberta pride in our college? There should be some kind of product available 76kg March 19-20 in the bookstore that supports Douglas sports. Proceeds could go 5th Matt Dick Yakima Valley CC @ SFU back into the Centre for Sport and then we could afford that sign in Burnaby, BC the mall. Care enough to at least heckle your own teams! 82kg February 1 Ryan Mattingly aa Page 22 hittp://www.otherpress.ca