The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page THE Wednesday April Marie Sports Editor Its a strange strange world What a going on In the sports world these days The Montreal Canadiens not making he semifinals the Blue Jays in first place and women beating men In volleyball Have all Ihe established sports expectations been turned upside down this week Even the Olympics the definitive answer or so everyone was led to believe to armed combat Is threatened with this chaotic span in time Perhaps It is the daylight saving time that has something to do with it The year I was born 955 the Montreal hockey team won the first of what turned out to be five consecutive National Hockey League championships Sunday they wen going or their fifth again This lime It was in finals of Lord Stan- playdowns The high living boys from Blooming after astound the hockey world by winning the first two games of their series with at the famed Forum re- from a three game draught lo take the f two matches and the dramatic series in WHO D THINK Who would have ever thought Obviously not many The s place finishing team over the season weren t even expected to make it by the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs because Ballard and company are a playoff team They did convincingly But to defeat the perennial it seems champs from Quebec was Just too much to fathom Toe Blake Jean Beilveau and Henri Richard had led that team to 10 other lilies this past quarter century And what can you say about the American baseball League Blue Jays Another one of those who would have hough I filiations Being on top of the world or first In your own division for that matter is something new for fans But they had belter get used to It and savor In its joys because it going to last long The beauty of baseball is that any team can on a good day beat the best of them II just turns out that the Jays ore having those good days now As they say In most sports a win In Ihe early goings of he year is like two at the end The Jays started out the campaign like all the teams in Major League Baseball in first place It is just that Is taking ihem a litUe longer to slip Into heir rightful position near the bottom of the ladder On he amateur front scientific sports beliefs about me being faster and more agile and coordinal were shattered for my In a game of volleyball this week You know that simple little game here you try and keep a white sphlrlcal ball that is Just a Utile heavier than a helium filled balloon up in the air on your side of the net until it lands on the floor of the opponent side AND FRIENDS I was part of a husbands and boyfriends team that played a group of g rls from a Bramalea ladies league My girlfriend Arlene and her female friends proved again that there are Indeed some things the opposite sex can do as well or belter than some men They trounced us Oh well that the way the ball bounces Sometimes in court sometimes In the other However personally Iwouldpreferlttobouncethewayitissupposedto There should be no pebbles on the surface to mar an otherwise good competition proper teams should be assured no one should play above their head and everything would remain as it ought Not that I against change or like see the same predictable thing happen all the time but it Is hard on the nerves when no one seems to know what is going on or how to control It Then again as they say again a change is as good as a rest So when these particular Instances return to normal my faith In the normal way of life will be restored sufficiently enough not to give me ulcers A short personal note of congratulations to my niece Shannon Claimant who won Ihe uneven parallel ban competition at the provincial championships in Burlington Sunday I had seen her work her way from a mere tyke who reach the balance beam six years ago to one of the best little 12yearold gymnasts In Ontario Herworkandthatputinbythetnousandsof other young ladies and their coaches like the Jills organization herein town has to be seen to be believed Their efforts exemplify everything hat is good about developing athletic character and determination With Montreal Canadiens out Cup up for grabs by anyone With the Montreal Cana diens now out of the National Hockey League Stanley Cup playoff picture the new world champion of shinny is as hard to predict as Ihe demise of All that are left of the original 16 who started the post season play over a month ago are the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders and the phla Flyers and the Minne sota Stars The four cams started the semi final homestretch to the Cup last night Op nlons on who will be in he final and who will emerge as winners vary much as the people who are experts on the subject days Everyone seems to have an idea who is going take With the Canadiens out the- obvious cho Is no longer obvious Minnesota who up set the three time defending champions Sunday night are not given hope Fans around here were surprised they knocked off Maple Leafs Yet even though they put Ihe French team o ihe ultimate lest of seven games and won few offer much hope for them as the go gets tougher if It can get any tougher than the Frenchmen Only Wendy Stewart the president of the Georgetown District Minor Hockey As sociaiion thinks that the young earn from Blooming ton can do anything more Perhaps thai Is why She is obviously biased toward Ihe young player squads But she wonders whether all those skaters is all that you need ISLANDER FAN Mayor Pomeroy is an Islander fan He says that in the league this year That combined with the defeneeman Dennis should make them a legitimate contender Dave Kentncr well known sportsman about town says he is going alt the way with Bobby Clarke and the del Flyers I ve gone Mayor thinks Denis will help he New York Islanders win the Cup he other New York earn with them since Dec 12 and has to have a chance at the I m going to slick with big one just for knocking off them powerful Boston Bruins Tom is another They also had Ihe best finish fan He says they will pound Minnesota Into the ice The City of Brotherly Love goes on has a hockey learn that is healthy unlike Minnesota is a bushwacking team says Jamie Carter If the North Stars get by the only expansion league team to win Lord Stanleys Cup then they should become the second post team to do it Station House manager Glen Hillock is counting on the Ihree- year depth of the Big Apple s Islanders to doit He says the goaltending duo of Reach and Smith will make the difference in what will surely be a goal tender battle Gerry Wilson says Ihe On tario Hockey Association stays out of the professional ranks personally he says that you may not go wrong If you put a Tew bucks on Buffalo In Ottawa at the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association Hal Lewis says that the Cup Is up for grabs by any of the four Chances are he ex peels no one team Is a better bet than the rest Here at the Herald sports desk the Sabres get the nod with Minnesota runnerup So there you have it A small sample of nine people and here is still no clear winner The only sure thing you can say about new Stanley Cup winner Is that it won be a Canadian team Raiders would have faced tough battle for national Int title The Canadian Intermediate A championship that Ihe Georgetown Raiders were vicing for should be In the hands of the players from Burnaby today They were expected to wrap up ihe win with third straight game win over New Brunswick for the title They had already won the first two In close contests Frederic Ion won the Canadian champion ship by defeating a team from Ihe Ottawa Valley league Thai team bad defeated Timmlns of the Northern Ontario loop And had the Dundas Merchants the team the Raiders lost to So had the Raiders gone on to win the Georgian Bay League Ihe second year the battle would have been uphill all the way In the Junior B provincial playoffs that the Gemini hockey club were involved in won Central Ontario division They Ihen lost to Belleville of Metro league who then lost to Windsor who won all It look like the Ontario Senior A champ from Cambridge can pull oft an Allan Cup victory over the strong Spokane Washington team The Americans are winning that series 20 Athlete of year and Sports Builder wanted The 1979 Hills Athlete of the Year doean know but plans arc well afoot to make June IS his or her one lo remember for the rest of his or her life Dave Kentner chairman of the organizing commit tee said that in addition to the deserving recognition which will be paid to the Individual athlete the Sports Builder of the Year will also share the spotlight that night Both will be honored at a cocktail dinner party that will rival Ihe Hockey Heritage Dinner presentation particularly rewarding 12 months this past year are now being accepted by this newspaper and Kenlners Dairy Bar The person selected will live or have lived in the lis community and participate for or represent it at another level The Sporls Builder Award goes to someone who has contributed outstandingly to the area s developing athletes over the past year or one previous The Royal Bank Miracle Food Mart and The Herald will once again be back as major sponsors of the event arid have already begun preliminary plans that will lead up to the selections