Saturday, December 5, 1992 ™@

This planet Earth we live on is a
strange place.

Depending in which part of the
world you grew up, you may have been
raised in a house full of baseball fans,
or jai alai or even polo.

Sure, there’s nothing strange about
what kind of sports we were intro-
duced to at a young age, but what’s
strange is just where we learned
them.

Follow Me?

What I mean is with so many recre-
ational activities to choose from, how
do we know what to do and where to
do it.

For most of us, the introduction to
sports came in elementary school,
where really worthwhile games like
dodgeball and scooter soccer were
thrust upon us whether we were in-
terested in them or not.

Being a person who discovered the
benefits of capitalism at a young age,
I couldn’t fathom why someone would
get so worked up for a game like
dodgeball, especially when player
salaries and television contracts on
the pro circuit are nowhere near what
they used to be.

Other games, like tee-ball and floor
hockey, opened our eyes enough so
that we would eventually join orga-
nized baseball or softball and ice hock-
ey leagues when the opportunities
preserited themselves.

And for those of us who were good
enough, big money awaited in the big
leagues.

This, of course, is how things looked
to someone who grew up in the Cana-

Egypt, Kenya become curling powers?

dian school system on the Prairies.

For a child growing up across the
Atlantic in somewhere like Scotland,
the scenario would probably be a little
different.

Little Angus or Paddy might be out
on the playing field after school giving
the old caber a toss, kilt and all, or
maybe trundling up to famed St. An-
drews to tangle with both the gorse
and the history.

When the weather became a little
less friendly, the Scots headed indoors,
brought out the brooms and hit the ice
for a few ends of curling.

Like the Scots, curling is pretty big

JonathanGREEN

with us in Canada, which brings me
to the point of this whole effort.

It was a chilly December Wednes-
day when word reached me in my of-
fice about something brewing at the
local curling club.

Well, it’s not really an office with
walls and a door like you would imag-
ine but, thanks to my fellow editorial
staff, it’s a little closer to the one
WKRP news director Les Nessman
fashioned for himself on TV.

Anyway, what I found out was

things just weren’t going the way they
should have been going and that there
might have been a column that need-
ed writing.

Realizing that today’s column pos-
sibilities just weren't piling up on the
sports desk, I thought it wise to pur-
sue it.

Apparently, the granite used in pro-
duction of curling rocks has a nasty
habit of pitting, so the local club is ex-

perimenting with a new-fangled stone

from the major Canadian manufac-
turer in Manitoba.

For a sizeable fee, the manufactur-
er would replace the section of the
stone that touches the ice with a high-
er grade of granite, thereby giving it
a truer run and eliminating the pit.

Hearing that, thoughts of sabotage
and foul play raced through my mind
as to what kind of effect this could
have on the curling world.

In a world where athletes are al-
ways looking for an edge, whether it
be psychological or physical, this kind
of thing could scar the curling world
as much as the 1918 Black Sox scan-
dal wounded baseball.

It was all becoming quite clear.

Realizing that an unfair advantage
would be needed to compete with the
likes of Canada and Norway in world
curling, lesser-known winter sports
countries like Egypt and Kenya would
invest some big money in these revo-
lutionary rocks in order to steal some
thunder.

See, they could bring their own
rocks in and switch them when no one
was looking. How hard can it be to
walk in with a 320-pound box of curl-
ing rocks without drawing any atten-
tion to yourself?

But, before I flew off any proverbial
handles in a panic, curling club presi-
dent Bill Van Yzerloo Jr. laid my fears
to rest about a potential Watergate on
ice.

“That would never happen,” he
laughed. “Even if it did, they’d be
years behind us.”

Stay tuned.

@ Saturday, December 5, 1992

1728

Free guard rule a topic of discussion gnorts Centre rallies

@ Former Bantam Rep learning how
to lose with RMJHL expansion team

Jonathan Green
SPORTS REPORTER

A player accustomed to winning last year,
Vince Antignani Jr. is seeing more losses
these days than the average broker on the
Honk Kong Stock Exchange

A standout with the dominant Castlegar
Bantam Reps last season, Antignani is learn-
ing the ropes of the Rocky Mountain Junior
Hockey League with the expansion Creston
Valley Thunder this season, a team that is
_— ng about as often as the Ottawa Sena-

rs.

Heading into action against the Fort St.
John Huskies last night, the Thunder had
just two wins in their first 27 games, leaving
them 28 points behind nearest division rival
Kimberley.

Reached in Creston Wednesday, the 16-
year-old Antignani said wins are a precious
commodity in the Valley of the Swans.

“You learn to appreciate them more this
year because you don’t have as many,” he
said.

At an age where most players are either
playing at the Midget level or in the Koote-
nay International Junior Hockey League,
Antignani is an exception to the rule.

One of only four 16-year-olds on the team,
the Castlegar native is seeing himself differ-
ently than when the season started two-and-
a-half months ago.

“I don’t look at myself as being a 16-year-
old any more,” he said. “I just look at myself
pompared to the other guys and do the best

can.
Playing for an expansion team, Antignani
realizes there will be some growing pains.
He said that with only two returnees from
the former Fernie Ghost Riders, there isn’t
an awful lot of experience or leadership in the
dressing room.

As well, he said that losing is to be expect-
ed, but too many losses have resulted in a
coaching change.

General manager Carl Maloney has re-
placed Mark Bowles behind the bench, some-
thing Antignani was sorry to see.

“(Mark) sure knew a lot about the game,”
he said,“ we just didn’t play for him.”

Antignani said with Maloney at the helm
things will be different.

He said the attitude of other players will
now change, or else.

“Some guys are just
happy to be here,” he
said. “If you think like
that, you'll be out of
here.”

Although the coach-
ing uncertainty and a
short supply of victories
might have fans staying

: away when the Thunder
a | are at home, Antignani
Vince Antignani Jr. — it’s just the oppo-

Playing in an arena
dubbed The Thunderdome, he wala the noise
level of the fans not only gets the home team
into the games, but the visitors as well.

“The other teams love coming here be-
cause of our fans,” he said. “The support is
Just great.

‘ae never seen support like this in my
ife.

With just under three months left in the
regular season, Antignani said it gives the
Thunder lots of time to gel for the post-sea-
son.

Between now and then, he said they can
work on coming out 100 per cent each night.

That done, he said their RMJHL oppo-
nents could be in for a surprise when the sec-
ond season begins in March.

“You never know what can happen in the
playoffs.”

@ Area men’s volleyball
league set to crown its
inaugural champion

NEWS STAFF

Seeing as they were the top
two teams in regular season
play, it’s only fitting that Nel-
son and the Kootenay Volley-
ball Club meet in the Region-
al Super-Volley Challenge fi-
nal Monday.

The top team in the RSVC
this year, Nelson reached the
final with a 3-0 win over the
Selkirk Volleyball Club last
Monday.

KVC, meanwhile, held off
the stubborn Brew Shop Bor-
der Bros. 3-0 Tuesday to earn
their place in the big game,
but league president Mike
Perra said it was anything
but a blowout.

“The game scores don’t re-
ally indicate a lot,” he said.
“The games were taking any-
where from 20 minutes to
half-an-hour.

“Each game was won by no
more than three points.
That’s not very much.”

Sizing up both teams, Per-
ra said either of them could

‘Antignani feels the Thunder, 8SVC finalists determined

walk away with the inaugur-
al RSVC title.

He said that KVC is the
more skilled of the two, while
Nelson’s strength lies with its
bigger players.

But rather than go out ona
limb and predict the champi-
on, Perra said it’s anybody’s
ball game.

“I’m not going to pick a
winner because I don’t really
know, to tell you the truth,” he
said.

Reaching a game with such
magnitude, Perra said each
team’s physical abilities will
probably take a back seat to
their mental ones when game
time rolls around.

He said that the club who
can block the winner-take-all
thinking out of its mind looks
to be the favorite.

“It’s a mental game right
now,” he said. “Whoever’s pre-
pared to come out and not
worry about things is going to
win.”

Game time Monday is 8
p.m. at the college.

Over in the ladies league,
Castlegar captured the first-
ever title with a 2-1 victory
over Nelson Wednesday.

i Olympic acceptance has

curlers thinking of change
Linda Moore
CURLING COUNCIL OF B.C.

Now that curling has at-
tained full medal status in the
Olympics, the major discus-
sion at curling clubs in Cana-
da is whether or not to change
the rules.

In Canada, minor rule re-
visions have occured over the
past few years, mostly involv-
ing equipment modifications.
However, at the World Cham-
pionships and in the Olympic
Winter Games, curling uses
the “Free Guard Zone Rule”.

This rule prevents lead
players on both teams from
removing opponents “guards”
(stones in front of the house)
from play. It still means that
the stones can be bumped,
split or moved in a variety of
ways - but not hit out of play.

This year, the Ontario
men’s curling championship
will use a slightly modified

“Free Guard Zone Rule” in
their event.

It’s a bold move, because it
will mean that the Ontario
winner S cdieiel meeront
rules at the incial and na-
tional level, and if they win,
even the international level.

But many top players in
Ontario pushed for — the
change, as they feel that the
rule is the way of the future,
and want the Canadian Curl-
ing Association to decide in fa-
vor of the rule at their meet-
ings next June.

So why not make the
change?

One problem with the cur-
rent rule is that it takes away
the advantage of having “last
rock”, the opposition controls
the end by placing the first
stone either in the house, or in
front, and dictates the style of
play (takeout or draw). The
opposition is also the first one
(with the fifth stone of the
end) permitted to play a take-
out on front stones.

Also, many of those con-
cerned with the rule think
that the club curler, not com-
petitive curlers, will be most
affected.

Leads on teams that play
in recreational leagues are of-
ten the least experienced
player on the team, and the
“Free Guard Zone Rule” can
increase the complexity of
lead’s shots.

One solution that has been
mentioned is to have different
rules for competitive curlers
than for club play - others say

that this would be too confus-
ing.

Although some curlers
don’t object to the concept,
they do say that the final ver-
sion of the rule has yet to be
determined. The best idea is
for curlers to try it, and let
their Provincial Curling Asso-
ciation know what they think.

Want to try it? Here are
some notes on the Free Guard
Zone Rules:

1. Leads cannot remove op-
ponents guards from play.
This means the stone in ques-
tion can be moved, but cannot
be pushed over the backline,
or touch the side boards.

2. The penalty - the origi-
nal guard is replaced, and the
opponents rock is removed
from play.

3. Rocks in the house (even
“biters”) can be removed at
any time.

4. The rule only applies to
the lead player. Seconds can
remove any stone at any time.

5. You can remove your
own guard stone if you wish.

6. On leads’ stones only,
you can measure a stone to
see if it is a guard, or if it is in
the house and thus can be re-
moved.

Be sure to pass on your
opinion about the rule!

NEWS STAFF

A nasty habit of procrasti-
nators, Castlegar Sports Cen-
tre literally saved things until
the last minute in Castlegar
Recreational Hockey League
action Tuesday.

Getting goals with 49 and
17 seconds left in the third pe-
riod, Sports Centre staged a
late rally to defeat Castlegar
Pressure Wash, 10-9.

With the win, Sports Cen-
tre moved into a second-place
tie with Pressure Wash in the
CRHL, both with 13 points.

Things were close early on,
as the two teams were tied at
three after 25 minutes of play.

Dean MacKinnon scored
two of his three and Wayne
Kinakin tallied his first of two
in the opening period to stake
Sports Centre to an early 3-0
lead before Pressure Wash
tied it on goals by Chief Mer-
cer, Mike Nevakshonoff and
Gordie Walker.

Ross Berkey restored
Sports Centre’s lead at 19:10
of the second, but that was all
they would do for some time,
as Pressure Wash turned up
the pace to put four straight
behind Sports Centre goalie
Dan Wallace to make 7-4.

Dave Terhune got things

CASTLEGAR RECREATIONAL
HOCKEY LEAGUE
{As of Dec. 2}

we
Shell E 3
Sports Centre 6
Press. Wash 5
Computers 4
Banjo's 3

There’ hi
for everyone! 360-7266

going at 15:47, then saw Mer-
cer, Nevakshonoff and Roger
Junker increase the lead to
three.

Sports Centre replied with
a couple to another from
Junker and Pressure Wash
led 8-6 after two.

Coming out for the third,
Sports Centre needed a pair
to tie and got them from Ki-
nakin and Frank Costa to
make it 8-8 at 11:46.

Walker put Pressure Wash
back in front at 6:50, a lead
that looked like it would hold
before Dave Mackinnon’s goal
with an extra attacker with
49 seconds left.

Not content with a tie, Gar-
ry Sauer scored the winner 32
seconds later to complete the
Sports Centre comeback.

Thursday's score between
Banjo’s Pub and Shell was
unavailable at press time.

Bob Proctor
Neal McKenna
Bill Ayisworth

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or with:a designated driver. Because we're
out to stop drinking drivers. And we will.

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