38 - North Shore News — Sunday, October 29, 2000 THE guy on the other side of the coffee cups Was suggesting to the lady that given the preblems the Greek organizers are having in trying to put together the next Olympics, maybe it was time to bring in the carving - knife. . “The carving, knife?” she asked. Yes, the carving knife. Those Sydney Olympics may have been the biggest and best ever, but have they become so big and expensive "and maybe unmanageable, it’s time to carve them up and “spread them around to two or three different places dur- ing the Olympic summer? “Oh, no,” she replied — she being Charmaine Crooks, North Vancouver's gift to the International Olympic Committee. “Nor at all.” The main Olympic idea remains the same, she said. Bringing the youth of the world together in one place every four years. The peripatetic Ms. Crooks is lately returned from Oz, where she was re-clected -” beverage containers to Charges Recycling Centre. penny : ‘stated an “your cash receipt. . This offer only 2 available at. _“Changes Recycling ¢ ‘Centre! ; “Please ask us s about the | _ Gharitable Donations Program _ Located next to your. jocal | Park & Tiiford Save-On-Foods store.” Park & Tiiford ~ 333 Brocksbank. Avenue Call 983-6526 3 to the IOC and will soon leave, if she hasn’t already, for IOC business in Monaco. You'll note the LOC seldom schedules business affairs for such mundane watering holes as Winnipeg, Detroit, Leeds, Palermo or, come to think of it, North Van. That's one of the perks of membership. Charmaine has certainly earned her way, now that athletes and recently- retired athletes are represent-" ed — what a novel idea — as voting members of that august body. She competed for Canada as a 400 and 800 m runner at four Olympics through Adanta. Your agent, who, in his regular work- ing life in the past century, attended seven of these gigantic clambakes, has long been con- vinced that the Summer Games should be sawed into two halves — the Land Olympics and che Water Olympics. : Everything that happens on terra firma should go to | one city in one sum- mer month. And . everything that happens in, on or near the water (beach volleyball, anyone?) should go -— a month or so iater or car- fier — to some other city in another country. They then could toss to see who gets the triathlon. Theoretically, the two-part Olympics would cut the cost in half for both host cities, thus making the Games avail- ‘able to smaller countries and population centres. Inasmuch as the IOC claims it is dedi- cated to having the big show play South America and Africa, nwo continents where moncy for sport is in short supply, this might be the best way to do it. This did not overly impress Ms. Crooks, despite his clinching argument: the . way the Greek officials are fumbling around these days in their efforts to equal the ‘- «. NEWS photo Mike Wakefield LOCAL toc member Charmaine Crooks. Australian production, they might be quite content to settle for half an Olympics and send the ether half to the Cypress Water Gardens. So, on to other matters. But first you must understand that Charmaine is big in both “fooks and intellect. Not to mention fitness and her: “absolute beliefin the vaiue of sports participation as just about the best means there is « ro Canada’s largest one of 2 kind “git falr since 1972 - Circle Craft Christmas Market |. .November 8 - 12, 2000 ai the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre Wed-Fri 10.9 Sat 10-7 Sun 10-5. ~~ - Dally Admission: 58/56 Show Pass: $10 Chitdren ender 12 fee me wonwcirclecraftnet to keep people healthy and health costs down. And she is especially inter- ested in seeing girls and women getting ever more involved in sports participa- tion at all levels, including the Olympic one, where she has noted a considerable increase from Los Angeles, in 1984 — her first Games start — until last month in Oz. With pride, she told the guy taking notes that for the first time in Olympic history, 40% of the athletes taking part were women. What’s more, only six of the 200 nations competing there had no women on their teams. The goal is to hit 50% at the 2002-Winter Games and see women included on every team. . Women are hardly _ On the verge of tak- ing over the IOC,’ She is one of the 14 out of 135, But - that’s the biggest. number yet. And where will her vote be in Moscow. next summer when the IOC chooses from'among |. Toronto, Beijing and .Paris as site of the 2008 = Games? It won't be any- where, it turns out, Because LOC reps from the contend- ing countries aren't allowed to vote. But, were she a betting woman? The Games will go, she replied, to the place that is best for sport and the ath- letes. And all the time this old cynic was ready to bet they'd go to wherever NBC, Kodak, Visa and McDonalds ‘wanted. Cap’s soccer elite named to provincial ali- star squads THE B.C. Colleges’ Athletics Association has named eight Capilano College soc- cer players to its first and second all-star teams. Representing the North Van. school on the women’s first team is Julia Chan — also named Cap College’s - female athlete of the month for October — and Cara. Valli. Another pair of Blues. players — Alisha McPhee - and Zocy Stimpson —- were | also named to the women’s second team. _ On the men’s side’ of : things, Cap’s October ath- lete. of the’ month: Bevan. Footman was named to the: first team, while his fellow - Blues » Tim | Perry, Steve Rayson and Mike Tempesta © were given second. team slots. . In an additional honour,” ; ’ Perry was also, named® the BCCAA’s 2000 rookie of the year ‘Both the men's and women’s teams headed. into BCCAA playoff:‘action. this weekend: in. Burnaby. :'The women battled the-TWU. - Spartans. while the. men sparred | with: Cariboo. ‘on Friday © ‘afternoon. * : Both ’ games were to played at the _ Burnaby Sports Complex. The’ men’s and: wome: gold and. bronze” medal games were set for yesterday afternoon and evening at the ~ Burnaby: Sports: Complex — Jan-Christian Sorensen openrods every Friday in the Hews Check the Classifieds latest directory for _ those Specialty Services & Products