| A hy a i ina errant Remain a lnaatieemcee ERT eee rremmireree March 19, 1996 VOLLEYBALL CONT... Coach Newman was forced to call a time out to try and stop the opposition’s momentum. Dan looked over at me and made an in depth observation, “They’re off to a bad start.” Douglas never managed to recover from this “Bad Start” loosing the set 15-6 behind the strong blocking of Reae Pellties. The second set went much the same as the first, with DC passing poorly and missing serves. Not to give the Sherbrooke team less credit then they deserve; they were, as Bainard described them as “Simply overpowering.” The Royals léoked like they were going to get things in check in the third set, as they started passing better and playing with a little more heart. Unfortunately, at 5-5 they missed another serve. Douglas fought hard but found that the hole they had dug was far to deep to climb back out of. They lost the set 16-14 and the match 3 sets to 0. There was nothing said in the van ride back to the hotel. All the players’ faces were hanging; it felt like we had just returned from a funeral. Even James Sneddon, the DC setter, couldn’t be brought out of his current state, despite the brand new bag he was sporting after being selected man of the match. The mood in the hotel was extremely somber, but the players seemed well aware of what they had to do the next day. If they didn’t win, they would be playing for fifth and sixth early Saturday morning . All were agreed this was not an option. Douglas would see early morning action against the Ontario college champions The Durham Lords. It was do or die. As the evening went on, the players moods seemed to lighten just a little bit. All but one. As I walked by the room next fo mine I said a quick hello to all-star power hitter Cam Secret. His long face twitched slightly, indicating that he had heard me, but his blank eyes didn’t even blink as he stared, lost in thought. DAY FOUR: DO OR DIE The Duhram Match started early on Friday afternoon. The team went through _ their regular routine of breakfast and meditation before they left for a match which could effectively end the championship dream which they had worked so hard to keep alive. As the players went through their warm up there was a noticable change in the team’s attitude. There was an air of seriousness that hadn’t been seen so far in the-tournament. Players were trying to fire one an other up by screaming when they hit a good ball in the practice, or yelling when they dug a ball in their three man drill. The Royals knew what had to be done, but, unlike in the earlier match they knew what it was going to take to get it done. From the opening kill it was apparent that this was a transformed team. The passing was perfect and when the opportunity presented itself, balls were pounded. Brian Boles, a 6’6” middle blocker (who, unlike most big men, has the Baie Press decided to stick with volleyball rather than basketball), made some key blocks in the first set, giving the Royals the lead. The early part of the second set saw much of the same thing, and once again the Royals took the set on a kill by power hitter Cam Secret. Despite going down 7-3 in the third set the team managed to rally and win the third set and beat the Duhram Lords 3-0. The Royals had dodged a bullet keeping their hopes alive. The next match slated for later that evening would match the Royals Against the winners of the opposite pool, the highly emotional College de Limoilou of Quebec. After the match I had the opportunity to ask both Brian Boles and Coach Brian Newman what they had done differently from the previous match. Boles felt that “the team was much more focused than in the match against the Sherbrooke team, and if they were to continue winning they would have to keep both focused and intense. Newman felt that - the close loss in the last set against Sherbrooke was what set the tone for the match. ”The intensity level was much higher, and you saw all of the players on the court celebrating when they did something well.” To beat Limoilou, the Royals. would have to “keep the emotional aspect of the Limoilou game down because that is what they thriv on. No matter what happened the DC team would be ready. They had worked hard and this was the chance that they had waited for all year: one win and the Royals would be in the National Championship final. The match was slated to go, late on Friday night. During the warm up both teams were quiet, but the faces of each player was locked deep in concentration. The tension was rising. As the match began, it was obvious that Douglas had come to play and had brought the intensity that they used in the previous match with them. They would need it if they were going to compete with Limoilou. In the first stanza the inability of DC to set up a block to shut down the powerful hitting of the Quebec side was a key flaw. Douglas was down early 12- 2 and eventually lost the first set. The Royals had dug themselves a hole and they would have to struggle to get out, as the Limoilou squad was extremely fired up and playing well. The second set saw Douglas work very hard and pass well to go up 5-4. The lead should have been greater, but Limoilou played a strong defensive game forcing Douglas to battle for every With the recent trade of Wayne Gretzky to St. Louis, and Mario Lemieux in the middle of another fine season, a common debate has again become popular. Who’s better, The Gretz is six years older, has being playing professional hockey since he was seventeen and won four Stanley Cups. Mario, has being playing pro since he was nineteen, won two Stanley Cups where the two superstars played their junior hockey. Gretzky played for the Soo Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League, a circuit famous for producing defenceman who Great One or Magnificent Mario. This debate turned into an argument for me recently outside GM Place. Gretzky’s debut for Budweiser’s Blues took place against Vancouver, and Mario and his powerful Penguins squad had played the Canucks only two nights earlier, so the three point J 0K TALKER by Lance Bradley punish opposing forwards. Mario played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, a league known for playing all offence, and a real lack of body contact and the physical stuff. Mario’s past three or four seasons have been fantastic, I don’t deny that, but Gretzky performance of Mario was fresh in mind. This gentleman stated that Gretzky was overrated and not worth the hype. I asked him who he felt was the “best of all time.” He told me Lemieux. This argument has been a favourite of mine for years now. Simply put Gretzky has achieved a level of talent, and ability higher than anybody has, or ever will. “Mario’s better, it’s no contest.” said the drunk, er, gentleman. I asked him why he.could possibly think this. “Who's got more points this year?” Well, Mario does, but he’s also got more points this year than Bobby Orr and Maurice Richard, but let’s compare apples to.apples here. ai and hasn’t come close to Gretzky’s record of 212 points in a season. “Well Lemieux would have done that if he wasn’t hurt all the time.” Yeah, well if I was 69”, and weighed 250 pounds, I’d be an NBA superstar. But it just didn’t happen. Gretzky’s played longer and suffered only one serious injury. Gretz has played through pain and has even dropped the gloves twice, once in 1983, and once this year against Sean Hill of Ottawa. Mario, to my knowledge, has never dropped the gloves. The physical part of the game is just that—part of the game. If you can’t take it, hell, by a Sega Genesis and play NHL ‘96 in the comfort of your living room. One thing people rarely talk about is dominated the 80’s like Magic did basketball and Joe Montana football. Gretzky has also done more for the game, internationally and in Canada. Wayne’s been a real ambassador while Mario has been nothing but a nuisance since he was drafted by the Pens’ and wouldn’t come to podium to wear the Pittsburgh jersey. Gretzky’s record speaks for itself, over 2000 points, four Stanley Cups, numerous scoring titles, and a good share of the NHL record book. Mario, he’s suffered through some injuries but if you can’t take the heat! Mario could have been the best of all- time but it didn’t happen. Mario’s magnificent, but Wayne, Wayne’s one of its points. Douglas continued to control the second set, with strong blocking by Ken Kilpaterick; but Limoilou kept the match close, reeling Douglas back in every time they managed to gain a lead. At 10-10 Limoilou made its move,. hitti y Royals seemed unable to defend. The final set in the set was 15-10 Limoilou. _ Douglas was one set away from being forced to play in the consolation final, despite how well they had played. They wouldn’t go down quietly. Douglas came back and played better then they had played all the tournament. The Passing of Brad Premack was perfect, James Sneddon set the ball much the way Joe Montana passed a football, Ken Kilpaterick and Brian Boles solved the riddle of the opposition’s hitting and Cam Secret and Ken Kliendienst were hitting down ballsevery opportunity they got. The team had hit its stride and looked unbeatable, winning the set 15- 10. Douglas looked poised and ready to stage an amazing comeback. This, however, was not the case. The forth set saw the Douglas side completely break down. All that they had done well in the third set was done poorly in the beginning of the forth set. Before the Royals got on the board Limoilou had scored seven points, most of them off of Douglas errors. Despite diggi ch a deep hole, the men d to pull things together later in the match, unfortunately when you go down 12-2 against teams as good as Limoilou comebacks are rare. Despite the valiant effort, Douglas eventually fell 15-9, losing the match 3-1. Both players and coaches seemed baffled as to why the team had such a major breakdown after playing so well just one set before. That night saw an end to a dream season for the Douglas College Royals. Although they had earned a birth in the consolation final against Sherbrooke, the wind had been taken out of the Royals’ sails. It was evident in both the players’ and the coaches’ attitudes later in the evening that the consolation final 11 was not what they came to win. That was more than evident the next day in the consalation match, despite the strong play of future superstar “Shotgun” Paul Tudor and defensive specialist Alan Goodal, who both came in off the bench to try and spark some kind of momentum. After a cross Canada Journey, a provincial championship, four hard fought matches (one not as hard fought as the others)at the national Championships, several hundred practices, and a full slate of regular season games, the Douglas College Royals men’s volleyball teams season had come to an end. The team fiished the season as the fourth best team in the country behind Sherbrooke (3rd), Limiolou (2nd) and the eventual National Champions, Red Deer. They could finally rest (although that’s not exactly what they had in mind). Despite the disappointment, the men made the best of the rest of their time in the lovely town of Truro. What they did...well that’s an entirely different story. “AAA” Senior Boys. Basketball: A tale of two teams By Paul Andrew Winning. That’s what it’s all about. Most of the teams that make it to the B.C. senior boys’ basketball championship are used to winning. A positive attitude is paramount when playing at a tournament like this one. Match a long-shot against a favorite and all the drama of an exciting game unfolds. But Prince Rupert Rainmakers coach, Mel Bishop, and his squad of high school boys were out worked and out played because they did not have the desire to repeat what their predecessors had done in ‘64 when Prince Rupert won the tournament against all odds. Listening to this coach talk about his team, and observing the uninspired appearance of the bench during the 87- 38 loss to Terry Fox in the first round, it became obvious this team was in over their heads this year. It was clear after the first quarter that Prince Rupert didn’t have the winning attitude required to be successful at this level of play. “T could tell in the first six or seven minutes of the game that my kids were too tight,” Bishop said. “They weren’t relaxed so they couldn’t see the floor well,” he added. That’s the moment a coach must encourage his team to play harder and think positively. Instead, Prince Rupert folded under the pressure and could never dig themselves out of the hole they dug by letting Terry Fox take control of the game. The animated pacing of a coach who is coaxing his team to battle back and win just wasn’t there. In the end the Rainmakers’ tournament result was one win and two losses. Not bad. But they lost the first game. The big game. Relegated to the consolation round, Bishop said they couldn’t do much offensively against Terry Fox. “There was a lot of mis-matches on the court, size wise,” Bishop said, referring to the height of his team compared to Terry Fox. “Even when they subbed people in there was mis- matches.” Terry Fox, who were knocked out in the first round last year, took their talent and winning attitude to the final against the Kitsilano Blue Demons. The low scoring, 57-42, final game win for the Demons’ squad was because neither team would give in to the other. Blue Demon’s head coach, Randy Coutts, motivated his team by asking them to win the game for Acron Eger, a Kits alumni who was lost in the Bermuda Triangle seven years ago. Bishop could have done the same thing. He could have kept reminding his team of the ‘64 Cinderella squad that won it all. It might have given them a winning attitude and much better results.