Sports

 

 

Grizzlies face tough times

 

by Miguel Strother

ome loud blond kid in the

crowd pipes up, just before

the start of the Vancouver
Grizzlies-Detroit Pistons affair at
GM Place on Wednesday, January
15; “Roy, I paid damn good money
for this seat, Roy! Play good, Roy!”

Roy Rodgers will do just what
he’s been doing all year, blockin’
shots, playin’ tough D, while
providing Brian Winters with solid
support from the bench, something
the Grizzlies have lacked prior to
the big man’s emergence into the
NBA’‘s rookie elite. Rodgers, after
a bit of a rocky start, has managed
to crack the roster for next month’s
rookie game at the NBA’s all-star
gala averaging 6.6 points, 4.1 re-
bounds and 0.3 assists per game.
Without bench support, like that

of Roy’s, the team suffers down the
stretch, unable to keep up to other
well stocked teams, as was the case

when the Grizzlies lost to the Los
Angeles Lakers ina relatively
close game on the 13. The Grizzlies
were, in fact, much closer to a win
than the final score would indicate
in both January 5 and 14. The Boys
were leading the Lakers by 10, in
the latest contest they succumbed
toa Lakers team which boasts that
it has too much talent.

After a physically and mentally
fatiguing game the night before,
things didn’t look good for the
Bears. They returned to the Gar-
age, taking on Grant Hill and the
Detroit Pistons. Hill, one of the
NBA’s most exciting players, came
into Vancouver averaging 20.7
points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.5 assist.

On this sad night Hill would see
these numbers and more—just one
assist shy of a triple double. The
tired Grizzlies allowed the game
to turn into a good ol’ fashion
blowout, losing by 24 points.

Fans started to leave their seats

Orca Bay watch

 

rv ture Curmu: eon

ecently I went to my first
R NHL hockey game in over

six years, and shortly after,
I was comped and saw another
one. Those two games represented
my first ever visits to GM place.
Okay, so the Garage has been open
for 2 years now. So what if I’m
slow off the mark; tickets for a
decent game average around $50,
and are way, way out of my range.
They are also out of the range of
the panhandlers and homeless
who gather around the rink for
every game— the old man on
Pacific Boulevard clutching the
placard “Hungry and Homeless”
declined to comment on the price
of entertainment these days. I ain’t
poor, but close enough— I’ma
writer dammit. And a lucky one
too to get some free tickets from
Orca Bay.

Both games brought the Canucks

points: I saw the Canuck’s rake the
wilting Leafs 7-3 and tie-up Florida

Sport shorts

Women’s basketball

On January 10, the women’s
basketball team were island
bound and came away witha
split; at 65-51 loss to Malaspina on
Friday and a 81-28 victory over
Camosun on Saturday. The Royals
shot a dismal 34% in Nanaimo,
with Andrea
Dufva and
Darcy Pickard
being the only
two to score in
double figures
with 18 and 14
points respec-
tively.

In Victoria
the next day,
there was a
different story
as six players
were in double
figures and the
team shot a sizzling 57% from the
floor. Stacy Reykdal led the squad
with 19, Leanne Trotter added 13,
while Sarah Wright, Andrea Dufva
and Stacey Friar chipped in 10
each.

   

Men’s basketball

The Royals travelled to the
island on January 10 for a pair of
games. Friday saw the squad in
Nanaimo battle the #1 nationally
ranked Malaspina Mariners. The
Royals were looking for their first
road win of the season, while
Malaspina were
trying to keep
their undefeated
streak alive. The
Royals got off to
a good start,
leading early in
the first half, but
the Mariners
started to roll
and build a 14
point lead by
halftime. The
second half saw
the Royals close
the lead to nine
with just over 10 minutes left, but
that was as close as it would get as
they fell 82-55.

On Saturday, January 11, the
squad made the trip down to
Victoria for an aftetnoon tilt with

Jonathan D. Chapman

4-4. And, yes, they were both good
games; nice goals by the teams,
some good fights, a penalty shot
goal, and some bad calls by the
referee in the second game. Joining
thousands of fellow partisans in a
rousing cheer of “Fraser sucks!”, I
was elated. Heck, I even saw
(Florida’s goalie) Fitzpatrick get
kneed in the face, satiating my
dormant blood lust. As a whole,
the hockey wasn’t bad, but

y’ know, there were some slow
parts too. At points in both games,
with the clutch shaking down the
grab, my attention wandered and I
began to get bored. Maybe too
much expansion has diluted the
hockey pool. Maybe there’s too
many dumb rules that reward the
Odjick’s over the Bure’s. Maybe I
just like a fine glass of whine. And
this is when Orca Bay kicks in—
saving me and thousands.

Natalie Siemons, a member of
the Canucks booster club, recently
summed up the Orca Bay philoso-
phy: “You are not just there for the

the Camosun College Chargers. A
closely played first half put the
Chargers ahead 43-42. The game
continued to be close through the
second half with the led changing
hands a numerous amount of
times. Late in the half, the Royals
surged ona 8-0
run that ulti-
mately put the
game out of
reach. Clutch free
throw shooting
by the Royals
sealed the victory
at 84-70. Lee
Craven led the
way for Douglas
with 22 points and 8 rebounds,
while second year post Jon Fast
had a double-double with 12
points and 11 boards.
Women’s volleyball

It was number one versus
number two on January 11 as the
Royals (2) and the Malaspina
Mariners (1) did battle. The Mari-
ners defeated the Royals by a 3-1
(15-7, 15-2, 15-17, 15-7) score to
improve their record to 6-0, while

   

early and Brian Winters made
changes that would prove just how
deep he had to look in order to try
and find a player, any player, who
could provide the team with some
spark.

The bizarre combination which
finished up on the hardwood as
the clock laboriously ticked off it’s
last seconds included, Lawrence
Moten, Pete Chilcutt, Lee May-
berry, Chris Robinson, and Eric
Mobley.

Where, oh where are the Vancou-
ver Grizzlies?

Nobody seems to be able to find
the team that started off the season
with so much promise and fought
opponents as hard as they could
every night. The Grizzlies have
seen improvements—including
higher shooting percentages and
stronger play in the third quarter,
which they have laboured so hard
for—disappear into the empty
space of GM Place.

VooDoo, or for a hockey game or
for the basketball... you are there
for the entertainment.”

Hockey games begin in dark-
ness, and then a voice speaks—
maybe Charlton Heston’s—and we
are given Genesis. A mini-movie
plays on the house TV/scoreboard,
which takes the Canucks from Pat
Quinn to Tiger to Bure to the
Finals, (skipping Cam Neely, of
course), ending with the vague
slogo “Bring It on” implying
everything and promising nothing.
Then with acid house cranked, the
stadia is filled with dashing
spotlights, splaying the Canuck’s
logo over everything. The teams
skate out, and a game starts. But
Orca Bay never lets up. No matter
the tone or pace of the game, music
plays constantly, always 5 to 30
second bursts... there are trivia
questions, lotteries, a rap attack of
women descending from heaven,
doling out prizes. At one point, a
fiddler plays—he ain’t Ashley, but
everyone likes him anyway. A big

dropping Douglas’ record to 4-2.
The ladies at times showed that

they could definitely compete with _

the Mariners, but lacked the drive
to sustain the pressure on
Malaspina for the entire match. The
Royals came out strong in the first
game and with
the score tied
7-7, lost the
intensity that
had got them
to that point
and proceeded
to lose the
game 15-7,

i & fee §~=and the second
eee game by a 15-2
count.

The third game put the Royal’s
down by scores of 11-4 and 12-6, but
regained the drive they had in the
beginning and came back to win the
game 17-15. Unfornately, the squad
lost 15-7 in the fourth and final
game. Leading the way for Douglas
was Stacey Dupuis with eight kills,
while Coralie Hiemstra had seven.
Becki Kosinski and Vesna Rukavina
added six kills each.

January 17 vs. the Utah Jazz, the
Grizzlies would fade yet further
into the basement, losing by 38
points while allowing Karl Malone
and his supporting cast to score at
will as they shot a blistering 57.5 %
from the field.

A dejected Roy Rodgers had a
hard time turning his sad, tired
eyes to face reporters, he fumbled
with his tie and rambled in low
quiet speech about wanting to put
this game, and the current 1-10
losing streak behind himself and
the rest of the team. The recovery
from such monstrous defeats will
have to happen pretty quick if the
Grizz are going to get ready for
Sundays game vs. cross country
sibling, the Toronto Raptors, in a
game which will determine brag-
ging rights for one of the two
Canadian cities.

inflatable Orca whale dips over the
ice surface. And ads find homes in
every niche, segment and corner of
the building. Colour, lights,
spectacle, constant movement
intoxicates the senses (it ain’t the
$5 beer)...and it works. Orca Bay
are entertainment masterminds.
Bored, unhappy fans are dis-
tracted, and convinced to come
again and again and again. The
Canucks are consistently mediocre,
but they still are selling oodles of
tickets. People are happy with
sizzle. I don’t like b-ball, but I hear
the marketing mix is even more
up-front. The NBA is really MTV
Live y’know.

I’m not sure if Orca Bay should
go to jail for it, or whether they
should be elected to the highest
office in the land. Make every day a
Special Event Marketing Day! Orca
Bay is so good at what they do that
if I was Jesus, I would hire Orca Bay
to produce the Second Coming—
just in case people got bored and

stopped paying attention.

Men’s volleyball

On January 11, the number four
CCAA nationally ranked Douglas
College Royal's continued their
winning ways as they defeated the
visiting Malaspina Mariners by a
3-0 (15-6, 15-12, 15-12) score, led
by the power of last seasons All-
Canadian Ken Kliendienst with 18
kills and Darren Ettles with 15
kills.

The victory improved the team’s
league undefeated streak to 16
matches while improving this
season’s record to 6-0 and clinch-
ing a trip to the 1997 BCCAA
Championships on Febuary 21-22
in Nanaimo.

Badminton

~ Douglas won the BCCAA Tourna-
ment #3 at BCIT on January 11-12.
Leading the first place finish in
mixed doubles by Bobby Joe
Breitkreutz and Jennifer Wong. With
the first place finish the team moved
into second place in the overall
BCCAA standings with two tourna-
ments left, the team will travel back
to BCIT on January 25-26.

 

8 January 211997 The Other Press