I wish they would call me Richard. Drugs, Drugs, Drugs Stephanie Smith, OP Sports Editor World Anti-Doping Agency head Dick Pound has turned his attention away from the NHL and has now turned to the CEL, criticising the league on Wednesday for failing to test for performance enhancing drugs. “Tt’s just inconceivable that a professional football league in our day and age actually takes the view that there’s no prob- lem in the sport, and therefore, doesn’t even bother to test to confirm that hypothesis,” Pound said from London in an interview on CBC’s The National. Pound even joked that the CFL was “where you spend your jail time,” referring to Toronto Argonauts running back Ricky Williams, who is currently playing in the CFL while serving a year-long drug suspension from the NFL. The CFL, unlike the NFL, has never tested its players for drugs. CFL commissioner Tom Wright was quick to defend the league, saying that while Pound is entitled to his opinion, some of his comments were inaccurate and lacked a true under- standing of the facts. “The Canadian Football League and Players Association (CFLPA) have committed to work jointly to develop a meaningful and responsible anti-doping policy,” Wright said in a statement. “We are in the process of evaluat- ing the policies of other leagues while also considering pro- posals from outside third parties such as the Canadian Centre for Ethics in sports to help us develop our program.” “Any policy implemented would include educational and awareness programs, drug testing and results management. The policy would also include a commitment to ongoing tréat- ment and rehabilitation if required.” Pound’s anti-doping crusade has raised a few eyebrows across the sports world. He scolded the NHL last season for failing to impose more strict testing procedures. Pound has also recently suggested that China needs to increase testing on its own athletes ahead of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. Tough Weekend in Kamloops Douglas College Athletics United Rugby’s 1st division women played away at Kamloops this past weekend and suffered a disappointing 53-0 loss. Despite strong scrumming and a hard effort, United was held scoreless through 80 minutes of play. The women’s premiere division also faced a loss against Capilano on Saturday, with centre Tanya Leigh scoring the only try for United. Candace Barry added 2 points with the convert. The final score was 27-17. The Men’s 2nd and 1st division teams also traveled to Kamloops and the 2nd’s won 29-14 in a good team effort over what looked to be a good young Kamloops squad. United try scorers were Nigel Koit with a pair, Rory Fralick, Grant Miller, and Steve Pulford. Ken Prosser added 2 con- verts. Players of the match were forward Grant Miller and Mike Horntvedt for the backs, The 1st division battled through line-up changes due to injury etc., and turned an 8-5 deficit at halftime into a 29-15 second half lead. Unfortunately they had to settle for a 29- 29 tie in the end as Kamloops fought back in the last few minutes of the game. Try scorers for United was “man of the match” winger Brock Trimble with 2, Brian Myckatyn, Chris Fuller, and a rarely seen penalty try that was awarded after hard work from Chris Turpin and Trevor Felts. Felts was also awarded the “man of the match” for the forward pack. Canucks Corner Stephanie Smith, OP Sports Editor The Vancouver Canucks are off to a little bit of a shaky start. Fans are in the midst of panic and news broadcasters are claiming that they lack depth, lack goaltending, and lack confi- dence. And while it might look that way on the surface, there is always the opportunity to look deeper. First, let’s look at the goaltending situation. Always a con- tentious point, especially in Vancouver, we have the great Roberto Luongo. And while many have said that Luongo looks almost uncomfortable and is not in top-form in net, this is hardly the case. Think of it this way; almost every goal he has let in thus far has not come off the first shot. They have all been deflections, bad bounces, rebounds. The goals will come, more often than not, on the fourth or fifth shot. Luongo has a respectable 2.32 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. He’s let in 14 goals on 174 shots. It’s not really as bad as everyone says. In regards to lack of depth, I think that it’s a little early to tell on that. The first line of Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Markus Naslund sounds impressive, and yes-its working fine. However as a friend of mine said, it’s a little like putting all your eggs in one basket. Spread the talent apart. Maybe put Markus Naslund on the top line, and the Sedins on the sec- opsports@gmail.com ond. Try different wingers with the Sedins. Work it out that way, because when you have too much talent all on one line you will not get scoring on the other three, which is some- thing the Canucks will desperately need; unless the goal this season is to become the Calgary Flames. I hope not, because Flames hockey is boring hockey. As for the insinuation.that the Canucks lack confidence thus, well maybe they do, but it’s no more than any other team in the new NHL. The cap prevents any team from having too many star players, and as such you have to make due with what you have. There are a good number of young skilled players on the Canucks, and I think that it is only a matter of trial and error. They will find their confidence the more they play. Ryan Kesler for example, is someone who has huge expectations. With a new 1.9 million dollar salary, many peo- ple have stated that if he doesn’t live up to expectations he may as well pack up and leave. That’s a lot of pressure for a young guy. But he’s been looking sharp in the last few games, so perhaps the confidence issues will fly right out the window. The Vancouver Canucks are not off to a great start; that much is true. However only time will tell if they succeed despite the obstacles or if they crumble under the pressure.