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The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 26, 2003 - D3 Vanderjagt's opening field goal lifted him to 26-26 for the season (Continued Irom page D1) NFL, m aking my first eight field goals, and I realized I could do this for a living," the 33-year-old said after helping Indianapolis to a com e back 17-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon, in front o f m ore than 73,000 fans that included 60-plus fam ily m em bers and friends. "You get accustom ed to m aking field goals and get to the point w here it's not unrealistic for you to m ake them, get settled in and feel com fort able w here y ou're at." To say V anderjagt is com fortable in his role now w ould be an understate ment. A 24-yard field goal to open the scoring Sunday m ade V anderjagt 26for-26 on the season and extended his streak o f successful boots to 30, only 10 short o f G ary A nderson's all-tim e record. Vanderjagt, who has resided in K ilbride for the past three years, has now m ade 163 o f his 187 career attem pts, good for an N FL record 87.2 percentage. In addition, he has m issed only one convert in 219 attem pts. T he W hite O aks H igh School grad uate is quite cognizant o f his consecu tive field goal streak and. unlike many superstitious athletes, is not reluctant to talk about it. "I'd like to get a couple m ore and get the second (all-tim e record o f 32, held by ex-M innesota V iking Fuad Reveiz)," V anderjagt said. "T hat would be a good place to be. I'm alm ost expecting to m iss now because Ron Kuzyk · O a kville B ea ver M ike V an d e rjag t h a d plenty o f reaso n to sm ile on S u n d ay as he w as good on his 30th s tra ig h t field goal a n d his In d ian a p o lis C olts ca m e b a c k 17-14 a g a in st th e B uffalo Bills. it has ju st been so long since I have, but I certainly pay attention to the streak and focus on it. " M issing field goals is part o f the gam e and to be 100 per cent is unreal istic," he added. "Thirty in a row is an unbelievable feat, it's cool, but it's not som ething I live and die by." V anderjagt's w illingness to talk about the streak and his personal suc cess has led to a w ide-spread percep tion that he is cocky and self obsessed, som ething that offends the 6-foot-5, 211-lb. kicker. "C ocky is a negative term . I w ould hope that all 32 o f us (kickers in the N FL), w hen asked if w e're going to m ake every kick, w ould say yes," he said. "If not, you d o n 't have a lot o f confidence in yourself. I have to talk the talk or I w on't be able to w alk the walk. "I'm very confident in w hat I do, but I'm not outw ardly cocky... I'm telling you only because you asked and I think that's the difference. "It's self-confidence I feel I need to have at such an individualized posi tion." V anderjagt's confidence might have been shaken after a rough start to his professional career. Initially drafted into the C FL by the Saskatchew an Roughriders, V anderjagt w as released tw 9 gam es later, and w as also cut by the H am ilton Tiger-C ats and A rgonauts (tw ice). H ow ever, V anderjagt rejoined the A rgos in 1996 and w as an integral part o f the team 's back-to-back G rey C up cham pionships. A lthough he describes the tw o G rey C up rings as his m ost-prized possessions, a snow y night in D enver last year provided the stage for the highlight o f his athletic career. V anderjagt ham m ered a 54-yard field goal to tie the gam e w ith four seconds rem aining in regulation, then hit a 51-yarder in overtim e to lift Indianapolis o v er the Broncos 23-20. It m arked the only tim e in N FL histo ry a player has forced and then decid ed an overtim e gam e w ith tw o field goals o f m ore than 50 yards. "T here are probably 200 o r 300 kickers in the U nited States that can m ake field goals from 45 yards out, but can you do it w hen the gam e is on the line o r in a situation w hen your team needs to score three points?" V anderjagt said w hen asked o f the psychological aspect o f his position. "(K icking is) obviously very mental. T here are a lot o f guys that can kick the ball through the uprights, it's ju st w hether you can do it w hen the chips are dow n." T he C olts, w ho rallied Sunday from a 14-3 fourth-quarter deficit, have enjoyed a 9-2 start this season, good for a first-place tie in the AFC South w ith the Tennessee Titans. R egular-season success is nothing new to Indianapolis, w hich has made the playoffs the past four seasons. H ow ever, the club has failed to win a single p layoff gam e over that tim e span. "W e'd like to w in our division, get a bye and hom e-field advantage," V anderjagt said. "B ut ju st getting into the playoffs is not the answer. We need to get there and be successful." Indianapolis' post-season struggles w ere no m ore evident than last year, w hen the Colts suffered a hum iliating 41-0 loss to the N ew York Jets in the opening round. T hat inspired V anderjagt's infam ous com m ents on Canadian sports netw ork T he Score, criticizing C olts quarterback Peyton M anning and head coach Tony D ungy for a lack o f em otion. T he public backlash that resulted, including M anning's 'liquored-up k ick er' com m ents on national televi sion at the Pro Bowl earlier this year, has left V anderjagt m uch m ore wary o f w hat he says to the media. "T he C anadian m edia really disap pointed me. I m ight have said som e things that w ere out o f line, but that liquored-up thing is som ething they should have defended m e on," V anderjagt said, standing w ithin six feet o f M anning in the Colts locker room . "For six years I have been in the N FL and been very successful, and have alw ays taken pride in that people like me. I w ould have appreci ated it if they stuck up for m e instead o f bashing m e." V anderjagt praised the Indianapolis pivot for his "poised and confident" play this season, one o f several indi cations that all parties involved in the controversy have since m oved on. "T h ere's not a b etter kicker in the N FL ," said Colts punter H unter Sm ith, one o f V anderjagt's closest friends on the team . "T h ere's not a person w ho scores m ore .points and h e's a great locker-room guy. He gives you 100 per cent m ore than you (usually) get in a kicker." Blades fit to be tied over weekend By Norm Nelson B E A V E R SP O R TS E D ITO R O .H .A. JUNIOR " A " HOCKIY CLUB It's not often you'll go to a provin cial junior A hockey gam e and find both teams not only pleased with the out come, but even tossing com pliments to the other bench. Especially a gam e betw een the Oakville Blades and Burlington Cougars, o f late. The last tim e these two sometimes un-neighbourly rivals met in early October, it ended W W F-style with some o f the coaching staff even threat ening to get into the act. And this w as follow ing some linger ing bad blood from last season. In Sunday night's 4-4 overtime draw, however, the bad blood got turned into good hockey. Perhaps with the Blades having to hosi the gam e at W estwood Arena in Firfibi'cofce. the teams may have forgot ten they were Halton rivals. O r maybe they all watched Hockey Night in Canada from the outdoor rink in Com monwealth Stadium in Edmonton on Saturday night and had under gone som e sort o f spiritual reawakening. But the penalty box was used so infrequently -- ju st four minors for Oakville and three for the Cougars -- they could have turned it into a press box. O f course, m aybe it had nothing to do with the above and everything to do with the fact that it was a close, exciting hgckey game, with Burlington building up a series o f four one-goal leads and the Blades doggedly com ing back to tie it up four times. There w as no margin for foolish penalties in this game. The Blades got the goal o f the game to tie it up with six m inutes left in the third period on a tic-tac-toe passing play, finished off by M ike Swinton from Rico A m aldo and Ryan Ellis. O ther Blades goals were scored by Tyler Kelloway, Steven Pinizzotto and Jason D opaco. Rounding out the assists, A m aldo had a second one with single helpers to N ick D odge and Pinizzotto. M ark Stockdale made his bid to become the gam e hero with the final pair for the Cougars after goals by Noah H am ilton and Dan Powers. Assists w ent to Jerry Holden (3), Spencer Churchill (2), Mickey Ellsworth and Hamilton. "From a spectator view, I thought it was a pretty exciting gam e," agreed Cougars coach Wes Wiseman. "Both goaltenders (Dan Giffin for the Blades and Brent Cescon for the Cougars) played exceptionally well. "It was a fun gam e to coach. There was no b u ll... Both o f us played hock ey. There was a lot nice plays from both ends. Either team could have won the game, so m aybe it was fitting that it ended in a tie." T he Cougars, he acknowledged, "needed the point badly." "Vve've been struggling o f late. We haven't been getting any breaks -- sickness, injuries on a team that w e're not very deep to start with. We're pleased. W e'll take the point and run." Blades head coach Frank Camevale w as like minded, although for slightly different reasons. The Blades are on a tear, in fact so much so that the pair o f ties they achieved on the weekend -- including Saturday night's 4-4 tie with the Streetsville Derbys -- slowed down their momentum, sullying their unbeat en string to tw o ties and six wins over the past eight gam es. And that string includes handing first place Georgetown Raiders their first loss o f the season as well as two straight victo ries over their nearest rival, the -1 Hamilton Red Wings. O n the other hand, there are worse things in the world then gaining a point each from two gam es in which they never once held the lead. Following a stint in which they played four gam es in five nights -- and won them all -- coach Cam evale noted that "w e had five days off before we played this week end so we expected a little bit o f a down-Iapse. "But overall they had a good effort. They played real well and we were kind of just on our toes the whole game. We couldn't get over our heads, it seemed. We were always behind a goal. Give them (Burlington) credit." S T R E E T S V IL L E The Blades had to pull off an even bigger com eback Saturday night at Ice Sports Oakville, overcoming deficits o f 3-0 after one peri od and 4-3 midway through the third period to salvage a 4-4 draw with Streetsville. Oakville goals were scored by Jason Dopaco. N ick Dodge, Kory Helowka and Brad McKenzie. Assists went to Darrell Simich (2), D odge, Dopaco, Steve Pinizzotto. Ryan Ellis and M ike Swinton. U P C O M IN G The Blades have a pair on the weekend, hosting Brampton on Saturday night. 6:45 p.m. at Ice Sports Oakville and visiting Burlington Sunday, 7:30 p.m. G E O R G ETO W N O A K V IL LE HAM ILTON MILTON M ISSISSA U G A B U R LIN G TO N BRA M ALEA BRA M PTO N STR EETSV ILLE BUFFA LO GP 28 27 27 28 24 27 29 29 26 29 P R O V IN C IA L J U N IO R A - w est co n fe re n ce W T OTL GF L 186 25 1 2 0 20 5 2 0 114 141 19 6 1 1 16 11 0 1 127 9 0 2 122 13 14 10 2 1 82 8 17 80 2 2 8 20 1 0 88 5 15 5 1 75 6 19 1 3 78 GA 77 68 85 99 114 121 130 152 107 136 PTS 52 42 40 33 28 23 20 17 16 16 GAA 2.75 2.52 3.15 3.54 4.75 4.48 4.48 5.24 4.12 4.69 Does not include Tuesday night game. Mississauga at Streetsville Have Soccer Smarts? Prove it! 7 0 ,^ Correctly answer our trivia question each week in the Wednesday Oakville Beaver. Submit all 5 correct answers for your chance to WIN a National y team p/ayer V / wore a,FULL 90 \ headgear in W.C 2003,- GIFT CERTIFICATE $150 All entries m ust be received by Dec. 20, 2003 M .fJ - D E L S A G o lf 1029 Speers Rd. U n it #8 comer irf4th ir Sfteen Besid Tim Hortims (9 0 5 ) 337-1774 . 1 1 END O F SEASON LIQUIDATION & CHRISTMAS BLOW OUT SPECIALS MEN'S & LADIES' GOLF SHIRTS MEN'S & LADIES' GOLF SHOES 1 S O C C E R 187 C r o s s L L IO R L D (Across from Oakville GO) 50% off ALL PUTTERS 50% off TIGER GOLF BALLS (905)815-8939 www.soccerworldcentral.com Mon. 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Adults $5.00 Kids $2.00 Winner must be present at time of draw to win. Toronto M a p le L e a f T ic k e t D raw is a t 1 0:00 p.m . Toronto R aptors T ic k e t D raw is a t 1 1:00 p.m . |!N> TORONTO MAPLE LEAF/RAPTORS tic k e t s g iv e -a w a y Jr j . Return this Ballot to ^ T " " " " ." " " " * Conodian Tire, for Toronto Maple Leaf/Raptors i your chance to win 1 Ticket Give-Away 1,1 tickets. J N a m e : .............................................. | ^ A d d r e s s : ----------------------· Ofiernolvalid * ...........................................................................' * for Canadian Tire | | . employees & ibeir I P h o n e N o . : -------------------------------------- immediate families. No _ mail*in entries allowed. mm mm mm m m am FR EE admission for all kids wearing an Oakville Hornets/ Rangers jersey! w w w .o a k v ille ice .n e t w w w .n w h lh ockey.com Winner m ust be present at tim e o f draw to win. ft aa* a m DUNDAS & TRAFALGAR ROAD 4 0 0 D u n d a s S t. E a s t 2 5 7 -T IR E STORE HOURS: Mon. -Fri. 8:00am-9pm · Sat. 8:00am-6:00pm · Sun. 10am-6pm O AKTO W N SHOPPING P LA ZA 5 5 0 K e rr S tre e t 8 4 4 -0 2 0 2 STORE HOURS: Mon. -Fri. 8:00am-9pm · Sat. 8:00am-6:00pm · Sun. 10am-6pm