Sport Shorts Volleyball Both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams opened their seasons by splitting a pair of matches over the weekend. On Friday, the men’s team took on the UCC Sun Demons in Kamloops, and crushed their opponents 3—0. Darryl McCrady had 26 kills and Ryan Henley added 21 as the Royals cruised past UCC. Saturday was not as good for the men's team as they fell to the OUC Lakers 3-0. Darren Gross and Ryan Henley added II and 10 kills respectively forthe Royals, who now sit in Sth place in the BCCAA. The women’s team also had an easy time on Friday, smashing UCC IS-6, IS-O, IS—I3. Coralie Hiemstra and Christine Bonish con- tributed 10 and 5 kills each for the Royals. Saturday brought the women's team face to face with the OUC Lakers, the same team that cost them the BCCAA championship last March. Once again the Royals took the match to the wire, but fell 3-2. Harninder Reel and Christine Bonish had 12 kills each for Douglas, which currently sits in Sth place in the BCCAA. | Douglas College ROYALS. RAINIER. Basketball The men’s team finished up their exhibition season last weekend with an easy win and a tough loss. Wednesday, the Royals took on Columbia Bible College, cruising to a IOI-65 win. Rob McClelland and Jason Kobayashi dropped 14 points each for the victors. On Friday, the Royals wrapped up exhibition play with a hard fought 92-87 loss to Skagit Valley from Washington. Scott Hill had 20 points and Jason Kobayashi had 14 points. The Royals open the regular season against UNBC on Saturday afternoon. The women’s team also ended their exhibition season by thumping Langara 7I—S6. Carrie Rogers had 20 points and Kim Neiszner dropped 13 for the Royals, who are gaining momentum heading into the new season. Support your Royals Artificial turf may be environmentally friendly, but it’s killing athletes’ bodies When you look at an artifical field, all you see is the perfect green color devoid of brown spots or rough patches of grass. What you dont’ see is the terrible impact the fake green takes on the athletes who play on it. Artificial turf originally began as simple nylon yarn, woven into mats and secured to a base surface to form a playing field. Now, complicated polymers, rubber and syn- thetic fillers make up a surface that once was hailed as the “wave of the future,’ but now is seen as a cheap alternative to natural grass, used only by those who don't want to spend the money on a real surface. For those looking for a very cheap, and environmentally friendly playing surface, artificial turf is it. If the field is to be laid outdoors, all that is needed is an annual paint job to brighten the lines on the playing field. If grass were used for a similar playing surface, the fertilizers used to keep the field looking presentable could leak into the ground water and poison local ecosystems. Fortunately, the need for harsh fertilizers has diminished in recent years, allowing more teams to use natural grass fields. In fact, the six new stadiums that have opened in the last four years—Ravens, in Baltimore; Alltel, in Jacksonville; Ericsson, in Charlotte; Jack Kent Cooke, in Washington; the Bank One Ballpark, in Phoenix; and Turner Field, in Atlanta— all have natural grass surfaces. Although this shows that the current trend in professional stadium con- struction is away from artificial surfaces, many pro sports teams still use the plastic rug. Of the professional leagues surveyed —CFL, NFL, MLB and MLS—the CFL had the most turf fields, as seven of its eight teams use artificial grass. The only stadium that doesn't use fake green is Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, showing the northern Albertans’ fanatical love for the game of football and willingness to spend any amount of money on this sport. The opposite end of the spectrum is the MLS, who only has two of its seventeen teams playing on the rug. This is because of all the diving and sliding that soccer players do in the course of a match—they wouldn't have any skin left if they constantly played on fake grass. The number of professional sports teams using artificial Dave Tam Photo ae d the cleats. Playing in the CFL is tough because of the turf an turf has diminished in recent years, because of the incredi- ble toll that it takes on athletes’ bodies. As Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers says, “It’s not easy to play on your back patio. If you wonder what [playing on artificial turf] is like, just go out there and. fall down a couple of times. Don't do what we do—run and scrape across [the turf].” Because of the stickiness of the artifical turf, any bare skin that comes in contact with the rug is literally burnt off, leaving the athlete with a painful “turf burn.” Another common injury caused by turf is “turf toe,’ which simply means that the cartilage in the athlete's big toe becomes inflamed, or in some cases torn, leaving the competitor in great pain, and sometimes unable to walk. This injury can be very debilitating in sports like football and soccer, where athletes are constantly required to change direction quickly and push off on their toes. However, the most serious effect of artificial turf is the damage it can do to an ath- lete’s knees. Unlike grass, which is comparatively soft and has a lot of give in it, turf is very sticky and has almost no give at all. To understand how an athlete feels when trying to change direction quickly on the artificial surface, run as fast as you can, plant your foot on a rubber bath mat and try to turn really quickly. That is how any athlete feels while playing on artificial turf—turn wrong and your knee is blown. In the name of being environmentally-friendly, car emis- sions have been reduced, pesticides are heavily regulated and recycling has taken off, but someone's health shouldn't be sacrificed to save a few pounds of fertilizer. Women's Volleyball Home & Away Division Matches Played Matches Won — Matches Lost Games Won Games Lost — Points Malaspina Mariners 4 a 0 12 0 8 TWU Spartans 2 2 0 6 2 4 Langara College Falcons 3 2 I 6 5 4 Okanagan (OUC) Lakers 4 2 2 Z 10 4 | Douglas College Royals 2 I I 5 3 ee Capilano College Blues 2 I I 3 5 2 Cariboo (UCC) Sun Demons 4 I 3 4 10 Z CNC Kodiaks I 0 I 0 3 0 Camosun College Chargers 4 0 4 a 12 0 Men's Volleyball Home & Away Division Matches Played Matches Won — Matches Lost Games Won Games Lost — Points Camosun College Chargers + 4 0 12 I 8 TWU Spartans 2 Z 0 6 0 4 Malaspina Mariners 4 2 2 10 7 4 Okanagan (OUC) Lakers 4 2 2 rs 8 4 | Douglas College Royals 2 I I 3 3 Boc4 Langara College Falcons 3 I 2 4 6 2 Cariboo (UCC) Sun Demons 4 I 3 3 II 2 CNC Kodiaks I 0 I 0. 3 0 Capilano College Blues zs 0 g 0. 6 0 The Other Press Novernber 4 1998 Page 13