SPOrGS

 

What a game!

Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

 

 

 

Photo by Jerald Wallise

hat a game! In case you
missed it, Douglas hosted a
real basketball team to beat up
on our Royals and it rocked! The October
30 game against the University of Georgia
Bulldogs was a great show of entertain-
ment from beginning to end, and in case

W

you missed it, or if you just want to remi-
nisce with me, here’s how it all went
down.

The game started off with the
Bulldogs breaking out to a 19-0 lead to
get things rolling, and they never really
relinquished that lead. However, as our
coach Steve McGilligan pointed out,
“Once we stopped playing scared, we did
well.” He said this in reference to the fact
that the Royals, for the most part, man-
aged to stop the bleeding after a weak
start—a sentiment that was echoed by
UBC’s head coach, whose team had
defeated the Bulldogs 82-63 earlier in the
week. However, the game was never real-
ly in contest, and although coach

McGilligan stated that their goal was
“always to win,” our boys never really had
a chance against the dominant size and
skill of the Georgians.

But that’s all beside the point. The
point is, is that the game had it all.
Everything from a packed gym to a guy
who thinks he’s cool enough to wear #00.
It also had the Royals’ dance team—five
hot girls whose dance would’ve been
worth the price of admission alone. (Why
does it always seem like they're dancing
just for you, like something out of
American Beauty?) And then there was my
favourite attraction: The Bulldogs #54,
Joey Waldrop. Also known as, the big,
lanky, awkward white guy. This guy was
perfect. Everything from the bad acting
on a foul, to the stupid-looking goggles,
to his cherry picking, to the fact that he
fouled out of the game. He was a walking
cliché, and I loved it!

But in the end, this game wasn’t really
about the score or the goofy white guy. It

 

was all about experience. And not just the
wicked experience for the fans.
McGilligan said that the main thing he
wanted to do (besides win) was learn how
to compete, and he feels that the Royals
will be a “much more competitive team
next game.” This goal was shared by the
Bulldogs, whose assistant coach answered
the obvious question, “Why come up
north to beat on our team,” with the same
reference to experience. “We’re a young
and inexperienced team,” he said, “and we
want to get in games for practice that
won't count against our record.” And I
believe I speak for everyone who was at
the game when I say that I’m damned glad
that the University of Georgia Bulldogs
found that reason to pay us a visit. Oh,
and FYI, when you're speaking to an
American Basketball coach, don’t refer to
an official as a ref. You'll get a really weitd
look.

 

 

ikes! A lot can happen in one
week—no, the NHL lockout
hasn’t ended, and, despite what

oe

the guy with the crazy beard yelled at you,
the end does not look near. However,
there has been quite the dissension goin’
on in the NHLPA, and their union is
looking shaky. It seems that a lot of play-

ers ate actually quite willing to accept a
salary cap if that’s what it takes to get
playing. This stance has been taken by
many minor-league players as well as
third- and fourth-liners; all of whom
make much less money than the million-
aires who are running the NHLPA.
Thankfully for the Players Association,
they had their little November 2 powwow
and got everybody back on the same page
of unflappable greed.

From the league’s side, the picture’s
not much prettier, as they have recently

 

Lockout Corner

Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

been going to teams around the league
and having Q&As with the fans. Fans in
Dallas recently grilled Bill Daly, the NHL’s
top negotiator, on topics ranging from the
lack of arbitrators to the ineptitude of
Gary Bettman and Daly himself. The gen-
eral feeling of the fans has obviously been
to get a deal done, whatever it takes. But
since the league has been unable to do so,
they have cancelled this year’s all-star
game in Atlanta. The decision is based on
the possibility of a shortened season,
whereby those four days would be needed
to shoehorn in the extra games necessary.

In the Europe scene, Russia’s AK Bars
Kazan has signed Vincent Lecavalier and
is rumoured to be on the verge of signing
his friend and NHL teammate Brad
Richards along with Alexei Kovalev, who
is an unrestricted free agent. This would
add to a team that is already rich with

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 

NHL talent, led by one of my
Ilya Kovalchuk.
The team is trying to win a
championship in order to sup-
plement the celebration of the
1,000-year anniversary of the
Tartarstan Republic, of which
Kazan is the capital city. Huh,
1,000-year anniversary, eh?

favourites,

How long has Canada been
around again?

And finally, a tragic
note from the world

Caan
me

of hockey; Veteran NHLer
Sergei Zholtok died at the age of 31 after
collapsing following a hockey game in his

native
Latvia.
Zholtok
played 588
NHL games
and scored 111
goals and 147
assists. He was diag-
nosed with arrhythmia
last year after missing games
due to dizziness and fatigue. He
was a key member of the
Minnesota Wild during their improbable
playoff run in 2003, and did a great
amount of charity work for his home
country.

hovember § 10/Andu