Upset or upsetting?

> Up and down week for men’s basketball

Davie Wong Sports Editor

week for the men, no matter

how it was looked at. Coming into the week fresh off a hard loss to VIU, the men looked to bounce back on Friday against the third best team, the Langara Falcons.

With near mirror-like

scoring, the first quarter was filled with action as no one side could seem to find an edge. But while the scoring was similar, the method wasn’t, as both teams played their own styles of offence. The Falcons preferred to drive, causing the Royals to either take a foul, or give them a clean shot, while the Royals preferred to shoot from the outside. With shooting stars Grant Campbell and Ethan McKean sinking shots left and right, the Royals soon found themselves with a slight lead going

| was always going to bea hard

into the second quarter.

It would be a buffer that they would need as the Falcons came out strong in the second. Douglas had trouble dealing with the constant driving and gave away free throws the entire quarter. They would also give away their lead, falling behind by two points going into halftime.

The second half was very similar to the first, as the Falcons could not for the life of them stop Campbell. Every time the Falcons scored, it was Campbell back down the court to get it right back.

It was tooth and nail until the end, but at the finish it was the Royals who were ahead, 72- 68. Campbell ended the game with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Another player who had a noteworthy night was rookie Sheldon Derton, who finished with 14 points in 13 minutes of game time.

With that game out of the way, the team could now focus on the next challenger: the Quest Kermodes. Whether the preparation for the Kermodes was insufficient or the team underestimated them, the results of Saturday’s game was not pretty.

To put it simply, the Royals got rolled. The Kermodes came out to play, and there was little the Royals could do to stop them. The away team stamped their game all over the home team’s court and the Royals were powerless to stop them. The first half saw the Royals struggle to put up points as turnover after turnover cost them dearly.

The second half consisted of the Kermodes simply outscoring the Royals. There were no dirty tricks, no trick plays, or secret strategies, the Royals just got outplayed. The final score was go- 55 Quest.

Photo by Davie Wong

i

pinecone cle

cy

Photo by Davie Wong

> Women’s volleyball finishes middle-of-

the-pack

Davie Wong Sports Editor

his weekend brought plenty

of things to the world of Douglas sports. Unfortunately, not everything in life is posi- tive, and for the members of the women’s team, it was bit of rough end to the season.

The weekend started early for the team as they faced the Capilano Blues on Thursday as part of a back-to-back. The women needed to win both games to move ahead of the Blues in the standings. With that in mind, the Royals kicked off their series with an exciting start.

Having the home court advantage can be influential for some teams, and it was no different for the Royals. The host Royals found themselves crushing their opponents in the opening set, going up early in the game. This allowed the Roy- als to really relax and just play their game. They had no trouble winning the first set, taking it convincingly 25-15.

The second was a direct contrast. This time it was the Blues who got the early lead. The Royals managed to fight back to within eight points but the lead they gave was just too much and they ended up getting closed out before they could fin- ish their comeback.

That ended up being the

story of the night as the home team continually gave large leads to the Blues and could never catch up. They would end up falling to Capilano in three straight sets after the first win.

The ladies hoped to reset things on Friday. Losing the night before meant that they had no chance moving up in standings, but it didn’t make the coming match any less import- ant. It just made it a statement match.

But for whom the state- ment was made in favour of is arguable. The first set of Friday’s game set the mood for the entire game. Both teams came in with something to prove and they finished the set hard. However, like the previous night, it was the Royals’ tendency to give their opponents a sizeable lead that led to their downfall.

Their gift leads gave the first and second set to the Blues, despite the Royals being right behind them on the scoreboard. They did take a set in the third when down two, so that speaks to their mental strength, which is going to be so important in the team hopes to do well at Provincials.

In the end, the team was blown out in the fourth set, and Capilano took the game, 3-1. It wasn't the end to the regular season that they wanted, but all they can and should do now, is look towards the playoffs.

What distinction 1s made between a game and a sport?

> The technique of a 1500 year old competition

Cazzy Lewchuk Staff Writer

I was first played in India during the 6th century, spreading across the Middle East and eventually worldwide by the 1600s. By the igth century, entire clubs, journals, teams, and even inter-city competitions were abundant in its practice. Today, the competition is still thoroughly analyzed, studied, and battled by millions of people around the world every day. Many educational institutions—from elementary to postsecondary— have teams that compete will

even compete internationally. A couple thousand people are even

skilled enough to be full-time professionals.

Its mechanics, strategy, and skill require combinations of prowess, agility, and intellectual analysis. The game of chess is a competition that takes perhaps 15 minutes to learn and a lifetime to fully master. Debate about whether it can be really considered a “sport” continues amongst the media and even its own professionals to this day. Is this mentally (and often physically) straining activity really sporting, or merely a game? Can Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, and Bobby Fischer— each repeat professionals and World Champions in chess—be

considered great athletes, or simply geniuses in a popular activity?

The world’s largest organization of sports, SportAccord, which encompasses virtually all of the world representatives of popular sports, defines “sport” as “having an element of competition, not relying on luck, not be harmful to any living creature, and not reliant on equipment by a single supplier.” By this definition, chess is absolutely a sport. In fact, the World Chess Federation is a fully recognized as a member of SportAccord. Chess is also recognized as a sport

by other international athletics organizations such as the Asian Games and even the International Olympic Committee.

While being physically fit and skilled is not a requirement to play the game well, it absolutely helps. Virtually all chess tournaments are timed, and many matches between skilled players can last several hours. Energy is quickly drained, tiring a player not only mentally but physically as well. As with any “sport” or strenuous activity, proper nutrition and good health can make a drastic difference in skill and gameplay.

However, physical effort can be avoided altogether in chess. It is

a game that can be played entirely inside the mind. Its allows some players to play without the need for a board and pieces, provided they keep track of the positions. Computer/artificial intelligence chess occurs at every level of play, including instances of defeating a reigning World Champion. The mental taxation in chess in inevitable, but its physical limitations can be worked around. Ultimately, the consensus of whether chess is a sport will never be fully settled. It’s a competition between (mostly) human players that relies on skill, strategy, and continuous practice. Perhaps its ultimate definition is irrelevant.