a” Sports http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca the other press War and Sports Jordan Cripps Sports Editor I really debated whether to write this article or not. Obviously, the war in Iraq is in the minds of everyone around the world. I’m certainly no exception. The effect that the war is having on sports is, without question, of pretty minimal importance in the big picture. I think that when a situation such as this occurs, it makes us reflect on just what is impor- tant in our lives. How many goals Markus Naslund scored last night just doesn’t matter that much when there is a war going on. Really, how much does it ever truly matter? At the same time, I do believe that sports can provide some relief or refuge from these realities. After watching cov- erage of the war, I turned to a hockey game and was able to put aside the images I had been seeing. This doesn’t mean that I forgot about them, I was given the opportunity to take a break from the overwhelming amount of media cover- age being devoted to the war. Unfortunately, this opportunity isn’t available for those most closely affected by the war, the people of Iraq, and the soldiers fighting there. The fans at the Montreal Canadiens game that chose to boo during the “Star Spangled Banner” disappointed me. Hockey has nothing to do with the war. Unfortunately, Vancouverites can claim precedence in this activity. During the playoffs two years ago, fans at GM Place roundly booed the US National Anthem, seemingly for no apparent reason. When you go to a sporting event, youre going for the game, not to illustrate a political point. This doesn’t mean that Canadians can’t voice their opinions about the US's involvement in the war in Iraq; I think we have every right to have opinions about the war. I just have a problem with using the medium of a sporting event as a means to get across a polit- ical belief when there is no connection between the two. Now, there have been reports of sports fans booing “O Canada” at hockey games. Hopefully this trend comes to an end soon. Already, in the early days of the war, there have been a number of sporting events cancelled overseas and some in North America. The Japanese soccer team was planning on doing a tour of the US, but that has been eliminated because of the war. As well, the Mariners and As were scheduled to open their baseball season in Tokyo, but will now stay in North America. The Washington Marathon was cancelled due to security concerns. Events that have elected to contin- ue include the NCAA Basketball tournament, which has reportedly stepped up its security significantly. As well, the Canadian figure skating team has decided to attend the World Championships, despite the security risks. Even NASCAR is keeping an eye on the situation in Iraq. Every public event—sports or otherwise—needs to be on height- ened alert because of the war. Sporting events such as the Olympics have, as one of their goals, reduced some of the tensions between nations through sports competitions. Whether this is successful or not is obviously up for debate. When one considers the 1972 Olympics in Munich and the terrorism that took place there, it seems that, in fact, the Olympics provide terrorist organ- izations with an opportunity to make a political point on a worldwide stage. Certainly the connections between the war in Iraq and sports are small. However, the importance of sports in our society is greatly diminished when a situation such as this takes place. During troubled times like these, it is important to re-evaluate the things that we consider important in our lives. March 26, 2003 Women’s Rugby 2nd Division Team Extends Season. Dave Pearcy CSRW 2nd Division: Douglas 15 Abbotsford 19 The Douglas women’s 2nd Division team ended their league season with a big morale booster, as they came close to handing league leader Abbotsford their first loss of the season. Douglas opened the scoring midway through the first half, as flyhalf Rikkilee Jones set up out- side centre Agnes Stefek for a 40-metre run. The convert attempt by Kylie Dunn hit the crossbar and bounced back, as Douglas continued to have problems converting tries. Abbotsford scored prior to the half to knot the score at 5-5. Douglas fell behind 5—12 in the 2nd half before the ball was kicked forward into the Abbotsford end zone and Rebecca Joberg outraced two defenders to touch it down for the score. Again, the conversion was missed. Within a minute from the restart, flanker Meghan Dobbs scooped up a loose ball at the side of a scrum and ran 50-metres to put Douglas up 15-12. The New West team continued to put pressure on and had some good opportunities to score. Lindsey Heer had the best chance, but chose to cut back inside when it looked like she had a clear run to the corner flag. Abbotsford held and soon began to move back upfield after Douglas took two careless penalties. With five minutes to go, Abbotsford fielded a poor clearing kick and scored under the posts. The convert ended the scoring at 15-19. Douglas now has a bye next week and will host the league semi-final on Sunday, March 30th at Queens Park at 2:00p.m.. The Douglas Premier team hosts their quarter- final match against Nanaimo next Saturday, March 22nd at 11:30a.m.. 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