GOLD GOING FOR IT West Vancouver U-13 Gold is a win away from soccer's Pioneer Cup. The team planked Dunbar 4-0 Sunday ina semi-final. West Van meets Cliff Avenue United March 11 in the distret cup final at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex. West Yan counted goals by Mark Giustra. Vichael Brown and Owen Parsonage. Dunbar was charged with an own goal. THE ROT CORNER University of B.C. Thunderoirds debuted in National Assoriaton of intercollegiats Athletics baseball Feb. 18 iacied 14-6 to Avusa Pacitic in California. The game was bed 6-6 in the seventh nmng The T- Birds fost twice to Masters College m Santa Clarita heture a 7-1 Firday win. UBC's roster includes North Varicouver’s Shawn Anderson. Spencer Barnard. Tim Findiay and Anay Maci ean wr all about gree “PERHAPS the greatest social ser- vice that can be rendered by any- body both to our country and to mankind is that of bringing up a family”. The above observa- Gon comes courtesy of Anglo-[sish dramatist and social ist George Bernard Shaw and most people f think, would probably agree with his comment. As parents we set standards of behaviour that attempt to teach lessons designed to help our Kids grow into healthy, emotionally connected adults with an appropri- ate sense of right and wrong. Too many adults, some of whom are parents, bitterly complain about how kids don’t show respect and are generally lazy. These same people carp and whine how violent today's society has become and that things were different in their day -~- what a load of bollocks! Who, for God's sake, set up this environment of greed and selfishness, where depth of character is about as deep as piss on a plate? Who was it that decided on the standards our children should adhere to if it wasir't the decision-makers that control our social and economic welfare [that means us by the wav}? We expect the best from our youngsters while demonstrating the worst qualities amongst ourselves, and a place where this has become more and more apparent is at “wonderful” arena of North American pro team sports generally, and nore specifically the NHL. I keep hearing how pro hockey is part of the “fabric” of our culture and it really does make me want to puke. Any so-called (abric that is offered by big time pro sports is at best of the synthetic variety and what in God’s name is so inspiring about polyester? Since when did the Canadian culture ever want to foster excessive greed? When did we decide it was more important to subsidize ego-crazed multi-millionaires who own hockey teams than give a rat’s ass about the physical well-being of the average Canadian on the street? How can it ever be more useful giving tax money to help already overpaid athletes (they call themselves busi- ngssmen these days), than to help a few of the one in five children in our tand that don’t get enough food in their bellies? The owners tell us that having teams helps to gener- ate tax dollars but that doesn’t necessarily ring true. When Winnipeg lost the Jets there was an expectation of significant lost revenues, but what the city found was that the people who spent money watching pro hockey just started spending those same dollars on other forms of entertainment. Even forgetting the financial side for a moment, how can we allow such squandering of our money (let’s nor so» forget it is ours) when we have people in real life and death situations waiting for necessary medical proce- dures? There are aver 100,000 peaple on waiting fists across Canada at any one time, desperately needing MRI exam- inations. These advanced pieces of machinery can and do detect all manner of life threatening diseases and the iact is that all too often people die waiting in line. Not all people though. Pro athletes get to jump to the front of the queue if they incur an injury while com- peting, either by getting preferential treatment in our own Medicare system, or by trotting off to a private clin- ic. Same day service, satisfaction guaranteed! If we ever expect the generation coming up behind us to have strong values and sound character then we better start setting more eppropriate examples of how we priontize our own standards. ‘There is no question that hockev is indeed a wonder- ful sport and should continue as an integral part of our culture. But our hockey is about flooding outdoor public tennis courts in Montreal neighbourhoods se kids can play from the moment they have finished their horve- oF work until their parents drag them in the house at night because they can’t see the puck anymore. See Hockey page 34 se | I ARGYLE PIPERS and West Vancouver Highlanders meet Thursday in the Lower Mainiand senior gir!s basketball! semi-final. Tip-off is 8:15 p.m. at Magee secondary in Vancouver. CAPILANO RFC's Martin Woodward feaps for the bal! against Rugby Canada’s Pacific Pride team Saturday in a Premier league match at Kiahanie Park. Capilano beat the Victoria-based national squad for the first time, 29-25. Handsworth = Royals — meet Richmond's McRoberts in the other semi at 6:30 p.m. Argyle beat Richmond's Burnett 84-40 Monday. In other quarter-finals, West) Van beat Lord Byng 70-55 and Handsworth handily defeated New Westinitester 70-46, The final for the Crehan NEWS photo Paul McGrath Cup, and the top regional seed in the B.C. championships, is Saturday night. Beth Graham led the Pipers in an 87-67 win Feb. 16 for the ter. scored 26 points, including 11 in the third quarter against the Argyle Bob Mackin Sports Reporter bmackin@nsnews.com CAPILANO Rugby Football Club’s Premier league team notched its first win over Rugby Canada’s Pacific Pride Saturday. The win capped a super Saturday in which Capilano’s senior teams had four wins in five matches at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver. The locals defeated the Victoria- based visitors 29-25 in the feacured match of the weekend. Morris DeCotiis, Dave Saklofsky and Jeff Lim scored tries for Capilano. Mel Browning kicked for 14 points. Capilano was down 20-15 at half- time and then fell behind another five points early in the secoud half. The team scored 14 unanswered points for the win — especially pleas- ing because Pacific Pride is coached by national team coach Dave Clark. Pat Parfrey, who helmed the team at the Rugby World Cup last fall, was also in attendance. The 4-10-! Caps are now three points behind the UBC Old Boys’ Ravens and four below the. Vancouver Rowing Club. The Ravens were embarrassed 76-3 by the first place Casraway-Wanderers and VRC tost 27-19 to second place Bayside. Capilano beat the Brit-Lions 27- 20 in first division play, while the second Division side avenged its loss the previous week to the Brit-Lions with a 27-17 victory. The Brit-Lions third division side forfeited a game due to a lack of players, giving Capilano a 5-0 detault. The Capilano women’s team was edged 20-18 by Velox from Vancouver Island for the only loss of the day. In over-40 play, the Capilano- attiliated Snoweaps RFC travelled to Victoria. Sunday to play the EbbTide, but were sent home after a 4-3 loss. In under-14 action, Capilano’s A squad blanked the Brit-Lions 50-0. The Bo team outscored the Meralomas 35-10. Capilano teams are on the road in Burnaby Saturday. The main event is 2:30 p.m at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex. The women’s team is on hiatus for the weekend, but the Snowcaps will be kicking off ac 1 p.m. at Mahanie against the Valley Vintage from Fraser Valley. Pipers, Highlanders in semi-final advantage by halftime. Argyle coasted to victory although the Royals outscored them 17-1] in the fourth quar- Royal Annie Jekyll had 19 points. The B.C. tourney is March 8-L1 at Capilano College’s SportsPlex, : Shore title. Graham gained a 55-36