women’s basketball player Anna
Rowinska were presented with

the Male and Female Athlete of —
the Year award, while women’s —

 

 

 

 

 

Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

ith Reggie Miller announcing

his retirement this year and

Lance Armstrong announcing
his retirement following the next Tour de
France, the world of sports will definitely
be missing two great athletes by this time
next year. And while growing old and
weak is really a down side of life, it is also
a down side of sports.

One of the things I hate most about
sports is the inevitability that the players
whom I idolize, who blow my mind with
their amazing athleticism and skill, must

May 11/2005

one day retire from the sporting world.
Just as I will never see Wayne Gretzky win
an Olympic gold medal, I will also never
see Michael Jordan score 100 points in a
single game. Just as Donovan Bailey will
never again be the world’s fastest man, so
too will the world never again see a man
named Gaylord win a Cy Young, because
these athletes are all retired and too old to
compete in the sports that they once
dominated. And every time a new season
rolls around, I lament the loss of another
great.

With each new season, it’s hard for me
to not think about the great players now
who will one day retire. In five years, will
Shaq still be playing? In five years, will
Ronaldihno be playing his last World
Cup? How much longer will Roger
Clemens dominate baseball? It’s sad but
true that all of these athletes will one day
be gone from the sporting world.

But what’s worse is what happens
when players don’t retire. There was only
one Gordie Howe, but there are many
imposters. And one of the saddest things
to see is when an over-age athlete with
diminishing — skills—attention Mike
Tyson—tries to hold on to a career that is

Jamie Oei as the new Head Coach

Jamie has obtained in his past

DC Basketball: Jamie Oei Gets the Nod.

Brian McLennon, OP Contributor

ouglas College Athletics
was pleased to announce
the appointment of

of the men’s basketball team last
month.

Jamie brings youthful enthusi-
asm to the Royals’ program, along
with professional coaching experi-
ence in Uppsala, Sweden, as well as
Langara College, where he was
named as BCCAA (British
Columbia Colleges _—_ Athletic
Association) and CCAA (Canadian
Colleges Athletic Association)
Coach of the Year. Oei is the
youngest coach to ever win this
award.

Oei is an NCCP Level II Coach
who had been an assistant with the
previous two Head Coaches at
Douglas College.

Athletic
Director Lou Rene Legge observed

Douglas College
that, “[Oei] knows the league and
the players very well,’ before going
on to say, “We are excited to have
him on board and look forward to
the success with our program that

coaching positions.”

 

 

clearly dead for him.

It’s sad when a player has to hang ’em
up and call it a career, and it’s even more
sad when a once great player holds on for
too long, but it is a fact of life that a

human body will weaken with age, causing
athletes to lose their skill. And that is a
fact that represents, to me, the down side
of sports.

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