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

And, eschewing the disciplined twoâ€"way sysâ€" tem that had paved the way during their current $hot string, they adopted the lackadaisical tendenâ€" cies that characterized their sordid beginnings under departed coach Paul Beckner. _: Coming off a sterling 4â€"2 win over Caledon Canadians Friday at home, the Blades walked into Streetsville Sunday night thinking the lowly Mississauga Derbys would be an easy conquest. _ _Derbys took full advantage in a 7â€"3 win. The weekend split leaves the Blades® record at 22â€"20â€" 0. They‘re still the division‘s hottest team since midâ€"January, winning eight of their last 10 outâ€" inos. _ Mississauga led 1â€"0 after one period and 5â€"1 after two frames. A sign that the ball was starting to unravel came when Blade goalie Martin Ethier got a fiveâ€" minute slashing major with Streetsville leading 3â€"0. He was replaced by Dave Dolecki at the start of the third period bui Dolecki wasn‘t exactly sharp rither. The Oakville Blades got a little too big for their britches, Sunday. Blades win firstâ€"round playoff preview... It was pretty academic that Higgins and Rice, fourth after the short program, would be battling for either silâ€" ver and bronze by Friday‘s freeskate portion. Twoâ€"time defending champions Isabelle Brasseur of St. Jeanâ€"surâ€" Richelieu, Que. and Lloyd Eisler of Seaforth, Ont., built a huge lead after the technical program Thursday with .5 placement points and went on to take the gold by also finishing first in the long. Silver medals went to Michelle Menzies of Cambridge, Ont. and Jeanâ€"Michael Bombardier of Laval, Que. "I don‘t know what to say right now," said a stunned Rice before a huge media throng. "Our goal was to just make national team. We trained really hard and we decided we just wanted to be consistent. "This is a dream come true. I can always remember watching this on TV when I was a novice and junior and wanting to be there one day. Right now it‘s happenâ€" ing." But for Higgins and Rice, finishing third was more than they could asked. Only a year earlier that they had finished third in the junior division of the nationals. Third after Thursday‘s short proâ€" Lâ€"__ _ _ _ _ _ C gram, Sargeant fell twice during the long program sending the pair all the way to fifth. Higgins and Rice had to wait to see how the final pair of the evening Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz, fared before learning their fate. The duo turned in a crisp, albeit deliberate, long program to capture the bronze medal and earn a ticket to the World Championships next month in Prague of the Czech Republic. And much to the delight of the heavy hometown contingent amongst the sellout crowd, Higgins, 18, of Stratford, Ont. and Rice, 20, of Oakville, didn‘t disapâ€" point. omm«= On Friday evening, they were on the other side of the camera in their firstâ€"ever senior pairs long program of the Royal Bank Canadian Figure Skating Championships. Growing up, Jodeyne Higgins and Sean Rice watched the Elizabeth Manleys and Brian Orsers on television with thoughts of someday being like them. Beaver staff writer By TOM MICHIBATA "The proof is in the pud RUSS FIELDHOUSE Figure skaters advance to world championships The son of longâ€"time Oakville residents Vic and Danica Mandarich was in hospital since Jan. 20, when tests diagnosed the canâ€" cer. It was in October of 1991 that a growth Services will be held at Croatian Catholic Mission of Holy Trinity, at 2110 Trafalgar Rd. at 10 a.m. Friday. But those huge intangibles couldn‘t overâ€" come the battle the former Canadian Football League star had waged with cancer for the past 15 months. Supreme confidence and dedication always allowed John Mandarich to beat the odds. JOHN MANDARICH: Cancer claims life of Oakville‘s ‘Juice‘ 1 wanting to be there one day. RKight now it‘s happenâ€" Meanwhile, Laurena Clark of Toronto and Toby * MacLeod of Oakwville finished ninth in novice dance. Outside of a twoâ€"footed landing by Higgins on a They were eighth in compulsories and 10th in freestyle. Mandarich died of liver cancer Monday at his Burlington home. He was 31. Sports trivia...Box No. 5239 Sports picks...Box No. 5240 Sheridan College... .To come OQakville Blades...... To come Oakville Little League... To come "It‘s one of the best games I‘ve been involved in," the Queen Elizabeth Park coach said after the Eagles needed doubleâ€"overtime to defeat St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders §7â€"84. Trailing by 10 points with three minutes to play in regulation time , It‘s purely subjective, mind you, but Kerreigh Ermnst figures high school basketball games don‘t get much better than the one Monday. What a game, as Eagles win a thriller Assault charges are being considered after a puckâ€"throwing incident during the third period of Friday‘s Central Ontario Jr. A Hockey League game between Oakville Blades and Caledon Canadians. A player threw the puck into the stands at Oakville arena, hitting at least one fan. Caledon‘s Sean Grogan was issued a gross misconduct following the incident. According to Ontario Hockey Association president Brent Ladds, Grogan will get at least a twoâ€"game suspension with no buyâ€"back option. « ¢ & and the game gets ugly This is a dream come true. I can remember watching this on TV. Now it‘s happening‘ â€" SEAN RICE Friday, though, the Blades were extremely focused during what they viewed as intimidation tactics. Blades made the visitors pay for their libâ€" erties during the game, scoring twice on the powerâ€"play. "The guys stuck together and made sure they were not going to run us out of our arena." "You see it all the time in junior hockey. These kids have a lot going on their lives and they get cocky." While the effort was disappointing, Ireland says any team is bound to have an offâ€"night. Making sure they‘re held to a minimum that is key. ding," said Blades coach Greg Ireland. "We play better when we play the system. His size â€" 6â€"footâ€"4 and 275 poundsâ€"â€" and openness garnered him plenty of attention from media, teammates and foes. Nicknamed He was known as fiery, emotional and, at times, cocky and outspokenâ€"â€"both on the playing field and in the locker room during his six seasons as a defensive tackle with Edmonton Eskimos and one with Ottawa Roush Riders. below the first knuckle in his left hand was "The Juice," Mandarich did F discovered. The finger was eventually ampuâ€" _ shticks for Rough Rider plugs tated. This past July, the cancer spread to Mandarich‘s left elbow and, later, up his arm He underwent surgery and seemed to be recovering but became ill again in January. "I‘d go home and listen to them (tapes) everyday," Rice said. "I also kept a journal and I‘d write what I did everyday." Leitch said Rice‘s ability to handle the emotionallyâ€" charged atmosphere was critical. In the past year, Rice was having difficulty staying cool but working with tapes of Canadian Figure Skating Association sports psychologist Dr. Peter Jensen obviously paid off. "It felt good to see faces you know," said Rice, a forâ€" mer Oakville Trafalgar High School student who still hails from the local Oakville Skating Club. "It gave me a boost to keep going." ""It helps you get through it," added Higgins. Prior to their long routine, Higgins and Rice could be seen talking to each other. We were saying we were there for each other," Rice explained. "Stepâ€"byâ€"step, we‘d get through it and talk to each other. Both said the gap between the junior and senior diviâ€" sions is huge, but, said Higgins, "Each time we go out we feel a little more confident. pressure "It hasn‘t sunk in yet...1 thought this (Friday) would be the last time we had to train for this vear." "We didn‘t worry about the judges â€" we just wanted to go out and do our best," said Higgins, who has been with Rice for just over a yearâ€"andâ€"aâ€"half. Rice said the pair would take two days off and then start training again for the worlds. throw triple salchow, they were just about perfect in interpreting the music of Prokofiev‘s Romeo and Juliet and Tchaikovsky‘s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture. They were solid on a triple twist and back outside death spiral. Higgins got a nice position in the air on an overâ€" head. Two timeouts later, the Eagles‘ set up a play that would throw a wall around threeâ€"point ace Steve Kay. The ball was inbounded and Kay Then, in the first overtime period, the Raiders led by three points when Rob Baddley drained a foul shot with five seconds to play. the Eagles rallied to tie the game 75â€" 75 when Craig Mellon hit a pair of freeâ€"throws with three seconds to play. SPORTS Rice and Higgins felt the hometown presence created more motivation than But coach Kerry Leitch said he wasn‘t surprised by the outcome. "They have the talent to do the job," said Leitch, who guides a stable of skaters at the Preston Skating Club in Cambrnidge. ‘"They trained really well. I‘m very, very pleased but not surâ€" prised. They did exactly what they could." | THE O, apparently After five seasons at White Oaks Secondary School, he managed to procure a scholarship at Kent State University as an offensive lineman. He was a letterman in his two seasons there in 1982 and 1983 He became the first player in KSU history to be a firstâ€"round draft pick in a professional But those characteristics were more of a facade â€" manifestations of Mandarich‘s interâ€" nal state, according to those who knew him best. He was driven to succeed and being loud and demonstrative were merely tools to help motivate himself to achieve his goals. ‘The Juice," Mandarich did Friday the 13th "We figure it‘s (Caledon) who we‘ll play," Ireland said. "We‘ve played well against them all year. Home ice is a definite advantage but we were so far behind in the early going that we‘ve had to play well in the other team‘s rink." Justin Ball, Matt Interbartolo and Anthony Aversa â€" all on the powerâ€"playâ€"scored against â€"â€"1 Mississauca. With eight games to go in the regular season, the Blades will likely draw Caledon, or perhaps Burlington, in the first round of playoffs. They would like to obtain homeâ€"ice advantage but improving from fifth to fourth in the West Division is next to impossible. Ireland said. "Teams are going to have to realize that if they play that way, we‘ll put the puck in the net." Interbartolo, with two, Dan Delmonte and Mike Roberts scored Friday. Jeff Harper and Ben Davis replied for Caledon. Blades outshot Caledon 42â€"36. Blades visit the Brampton tomorrow (Thursday) before returning home Friday to host Royal York Rangers (8 p.m.). Chris Kostopoulos scored two goals, Andy Rennie, Scott Davidson (shorthandâ€" ed), Mark Potvin, Mike Woolridge and Jamie Spizziri the others for Mississauga. VAUIADN :Y Fieldbouse finished with 22 pointsâ€"plus 11 reboundsâ€"â€"while Kay 21 and Andrew Turnbull 20. Baddley had 33 points for Aquinas. In the second overtime, the Eagles led by one when Alex Wolder was fouled. He missed the frontâ€"end of a oneâ€"andâ€"one but Russ Fieldhouse was there to put in the rebound. nailed it from outside the line. "It wasn‘t a fluke. It went in clean," said Coliseum. _ (Photo by Peter McCusker Oakville‘s Sean Rice and partner Jodeyne Higgins teamed up to win the bronze medal at the Canadian â€" Figure Skating Championships at Copps AVER | "It was a facade," said Harv Singleton, Mandarich‘s senior coach at WOSS. "He did that to build himself up emotionally to play. Some of that rubbed off on Tony (John‘s See MANDARICH. Page 36 "He wasn‘t the way he became in the CFL, when you see all the sacrifices he made to get there," said Bob Wignall his junior coach at White Oaks Secondary School. He was converted to nosetackle in his rookie season and became a pillar there. His teams made two appearances in the Grey Cup, winning in 1987 over Toronto and losâ€" ing to Hamilton in 1986. league when he selected in the opening rounc by the Eskimos in 1984. The former White Oaks Secondary School student is still seeking to meet the National Collegiate Athletic Association indoor championship qualifying standard of 4:43.0 (provisional standard is 4:50.5.). Velsen, a member of the Oakville Athletiques Track and Field Club and the University of Florida Gators, posted a time of four minutes 47.63 secondsâ€"â€"just .43 seconds off her personalâ€"best timg of 4:47.21, set on the same Gainesville track last vear. Oakville‘s Coralena Velsen finished second in the Gator Classic indoor mile event in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday. Meanwhile, the Milton Red team hosted at Glen Eden and defeated Hockley Valley 104â€"88. Leslie Grell placed fourth among women while Ivan Stefanovic was fourth amone men. Oakville skiers helped the Milton Heights team to a pair of victories in three recent meets. ‘ Milton‘s Mackenzie Gold team won 104â€"84 over Kimberly, thanks in part to a fifthâ€"place finish by Oakville‘s Jonathan Stopleton. I Cindy Davis was seventh as the Milton Hershey Alpine White team _ lost 116â€"78 to Devil‘s Elbow. Also taking part are Nicole Fogarty and Claire Gillies of Burlington, and Mark Reid, Shannon Rennie, Caitlin Plunkett and Sean Tellis of Mississauga. Coach of the team is Jim Bertin. They are in Merida, Mexico, competing against riders from Mexico and the U.S. in a Jumper Horse Show. Among the riders taking part are Oakville‘s Julie Van Wieren, Mike Smith and Jennifer Adams. One team that will be going to Trenton is the same one Oakville beat in the final in Port Elgin. Base, with Tom McLeod replacing Bobbie, defeated Ron Turcotte 9â€"7 for the grand prize. Nine riders from Oakville‘s Bertin Stables aren‘t worried about cold weather this week. "Obviously we‘d rather be going to Trenton (and the Tankard) but this will definitely be a highlight," said Snow, who curls lead. The Tour consists of 48 events with $1.442 million in prize money. The Port Elgin ‘spiel was one of those and the win moved Base‘s rink to the midâ€"20‘s overall (they were No. 34). Base and his rink of Larry Snow, Brian Bobbie and Ross Scarrow fly to Calgary Tuesday where they‘ll join the country‘s top teams in the championship event of the newlyâ€"formed World Curling Tour. John Base‘s Oakville rink missed out on its chance of going to the Tankard provincial curling championships. Instead they settled for $5,000 by winning the Port Elgin Cashpiel on the weekendâ€"and could take home another $40,000 at the V.O. Cup in Calgary next weekend. As consolation prizes go, they won‘t come much better. Base is Calgaryâ€"bound WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1993 PAGE 29 4 a%s ats a%s a* ols ate ols ate ate ’Q ) JOHN MANDARICH