SPORTS Wednesday, June 29/1994 - North Shore News - 15 ek i SERENE i rowers “vy The problem of sex and the single athiete Jim Kearney SEX AND the single athlete — and the married one, too, for that matter —. have raised their profiles once more in the current World Cup soccer competition, __ where the players are sweat- ing it out in the hot and humid American summer. If the profiles aren’t apparent on TV, that’s understandable, for this story has its genesis in Israel and involves two chaps named Mordechai Halperin and Alexander Olshanietsky. If they play soccer, it’s only for their own amusement, for they are employed by the Israeli Impotence and Fertility Research Centre. They are dactors and they have conduct- eda study on sex and the athlete, specifically the soccer player. Nothing much new about this, There have been more studies and theories on this subject than there aire teams (24) in the World Cup. When all is said and done — and usually there’s much more said than done — { believe old Casey Stengel had it right when he said it wasn’t so much sex getting in the way of players’ on-field pertor- mances, but staying up all night chasing after it. However, because the Israeli doctors’ findings came from a study of 36 of their country's better soc- cer players, and were designed as a guide for coaches trying to get their countries to the World Cup, they deserve noting. Who knows, there may be ambi- tious coaches on the North Shore who would like to place the doc- tors’ advice into a local context. While soccer and sex aren't exactly incompatible, they have never made as much news in this regard as the big North American sports — baseball, football, hockey and basketball. Indeed, in all the World Cup competitions ever staged — the current one is the 15th — it has made the news only once, In the 1958 tournament in Sweden, an army of patriotic groupies decided to take out the opposition ahead of time and get their country through to the final. Tribe’s roster grows THE NORTH Shore Tribe’s record of 8-12, although far from first place, is gradually improving as their roster grows. Recent arrival Sam Fleming from Victoria helped the Tribe take the season series from last year’s league champions, the Surrey Giants. Fleming, who last year had five wins and ore loss for the now defunct Victoria team, threw a one- hitter in his first start for the Tribe leading them to a 2-] victory in the opener of last week’s doubleheader. Jason Andersen’s stand-up double Motorola i epee SPIRIT Numeric Paget NORTH SHORE CELLULAR LTD 1234 MARINE DRIVE NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. PHONE (604) 984-7017 ended the game and improved his team-leading RBI total to 12. In the nightcap, the Giants scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh inning to steal the 4-3 win. Jason Odegard threw a gem of a game but came up just short in the loss. The Tribe now have 3 wins and one loss against Surrey. Tribe manager Norm Duplissie is optimistic about the remainder of the season as play- ers are returning to the Tribe after completing college abroad. Next game is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, at Minoru Park in Richmond. They enjoyed immense success. Unrated Sweden did get to the final, only to be beaten, 5-2, by Brazil aad a then unknown, budding 17- year-old superstar named Pele. He, of course, was much too young to be corrupted by this sort of dal- lianee. Or something. In uny event. the Brazilian min- ders kept their team safe and chaste, while unminded Argentina went home in disgrace. One of the pre-tournament favorites, the Argentines, didn’t survive the qualifying round and their off-field exploits made head- lines at home. The returning players were quite surprised to see such a huge crowd greet them at Buenos Aires airport. Only when they heard the sound of rocks and bricks bouncing off the airplane fuselage did they realize this wasn’t a crowd. It was a lynch mob. It took an army escort to get them to their homes in one piece. Depending, if you are a soccer player, on what position you play, the findings in Israel tell a much happier story. For openers, the doctors con- cluded that playeis achieve opti- mum results if occasional, regulated sex is allowed. Their report says this maintains “the subtle mix of aggressivity and concentration” required to win games. But here’s the rub for the strik- ers, the guys up front who de all that running: the doctors say they should have only half as much sex as goalkeepers, meaning they should abstain for six days before a game “or risk losing concentra- tion.” For midfielders, the period of celibacy is only four days before a game, while goalies and defenders can get away with three. Having been so enlightened, ! wonder how many forwards are going to get themselves a pair of gloves and take up goaltending? There are two problems inherent in these findings. : First, how can coaches police their players? Didn't Trudeau say Second, if these Israeli doctors have their quotients right, then how come Israel didn’t make it to the World Cup final? something about the state having no business in the bedrooms of the nation? 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