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

The Third Joel Wakitsch Sports Editor when I was asked to respond to pressure situations. At times like that, I didn't even hear or see the fans...ana of course. I still missed the shot. r I do remember in grade school when not a word was heard when any free throw was • being attempted, whether in a do-or-die situation or not To me, that was expected. As years go by, I admit that fan participation has gotten worse, and the thrill of the Yankees winning the World Soles was marred by the invasion of fans onto the field. Earlier this season, Coach Ludwig was asked to keep his local harem from throwing rubbish onto the court, and on the pro scene, players have been known to go into L* stands with hockey sticks and baseball bats in quest of persistent fans. , To me, the actions of the McHenry fans do not fall into this category.Their actions may hinder the outcome of the game in some cases, but in no way is a player physically hurt or mentally destroyed. According to the rules of many sports, officials are permitted to "slap a tofchnical" on the fans of the home team or penalize the team witn the disgusting fans. Rarely is this tactic used by those in charge of the game's tempo, however, and maybe the remedy to the situation lies at their finger tips. We are witnessing a period in sports when fan participation is at its peak. If loyal spectators continue to become such a determining factor in sporting events, I guess they had better be prepared to take the blame in games such as the McHenry- Woodstock affair. When In Doubt, - Blame The Fans On Dec. 16, the McHenry Warriors won a hard fought overtime game against Woodstock in a conference battle at McHenry's Buckner Gym. Woodstock had a chance to win the game in regulation time, but Scott Ritzert missed two consecutive free throws with one second left in the game and forced the overtime period. With new life, McHenry took it to the Streaks and won 61-55. An article in the Woodstock Sentinel the following day displayed the headline, "MCHENRY FANS HARDLY PEACEFUL... HELP WARRIORS TIP STREAKS IN OT." , The article went on to hint at the fact that it is unusual for fans to veil when an opponent is attempting a free throw by saying, "As the Warrior faithful waved their hands and yelled theirloudest, Ritzert missed both free throws...." Later a local columnist for our paper singled out the McHenry fans for being unsportmanlike in the Woodstock and other recent games. Is waving your hands and yelling at the opposing team from the stands unsportsmanlike? ^ Frankly, I think it is unsportsmanlike...but as I have covered many a high school and college sporting event, I know that every team has its group of followers that do * the same thing. It seems that the McHenry fans have been singled out in this instance because it came at a crucial moment in the ball game. If Ritzert would have made the free throws, the headline in the Sentinel may have read "RITZERT MAKES CLUTCH FREE THROW...STREAKS WIN." There also would not have been any mention of the waving of hand and yelling in the story either because as any fan, reporter, coach or player knows, it is all part of the game. In fact, nobody thought to ask Ritzert in an interview if the noise or waving bothered him. Wouldn't the pressure of the situation still prevailed whether the fans were silent or not? As a one-time player myself (not the best mind you) I can remember those times McHenry fans weren't about to give Scott Ritzert an easy shot at s last-second free throw. STAFF PHOTO-JOEL WAKITSCH Glicks Take Holiday Tennis Tourney i Henry and Nancy Glick, brother and sister, added to their tennis laurels by winning the mixed doubles tournament at the Lakeland Tennis Club in Ingleside. The duo showed "their prowess by winning in two sets , 6-4, 6-4, over Bonnie Salata and Dennis Korjenik, both of Gurnee. Both are college players, attending DePaul and Augustine, respectively while both Glicks attend McHenry County College.1 The Men's Doubles event wa close match featuring youth and age. Tom Jilly of Lake Villa and Mike Kier- nan, of Wonder Lake, both 18, won over Carl Kieroan (Mike's father) and Mark Artner of McHenry, both over 35. Mike attends the University of Boulder, Colorado while Tom attends the University of Chicago. Out At Wheeling McHenry was eliminated from further participation in the Wheeling Christmas Tournament Monday, as they were trounced by Roberto Clemente of Chicago, 75-66. McHenry did put on a second-quarter spurt in which outscored Clemente 25-22 to close the deficit to one at half time, 39-38. The third quarter proved costly/ however, as the Warriors made only two of 18 from the field and faltered to a 57-48 margin going into the final period. A total of 62 of McHenry's Hurricanes Lose To Harvard Snowmobile Class Set For January The Harvard Hornets took a 53-48 lead into the final quarter against Marian Central on Monday, but the Hurricanes could only cut the deficit to one as Harvard squeezed past the Marian five , 70-71 hi a semifinal matchup at the Hampshire Holiday Tourney. \Don Roughan layup with 12 ^feconds left put the Hurricanes within one at 69- 68 but a Hornet free throw was all Harvard needed to negate a Marian basket at the buzzer and win by the slim margin. Harvard played John- sburg for the consolation championship en Tuesday night. After losing a 68-49 contest to Lake Zurich in the opening game of the Hampshire Holiday Tournament, Marian Central came back Saturday to beat Belvidere Own a 4-Wheal Drtvw Thick? oiar w' Own a 2-Wheel Drive Thick? Whether you're running a 4 x 4 or 2WD truck, Vtestern offers a dependable snowplow that s designed to handle the worst winters. For homeowner or light commercial use, count on the NEW SnowKing™ by Western. The SnowKing is the first lightweight snowplow designed specifically for 2WD trucks. To turn your 4 x 4 into a real money maker, there's the master in dependable performance... Western's 4-wheel drive snowplow. This winter...depend on Western. SEE: / ADAMS ENTERPRISES 3017 W. Rte. 120 - McHenry. JUinois 815-385-5970 62-61 and has moved into the semi-finals against Harvard on Monday. Down by 10 poyitS lite in the third quarter, Marian changed its press a bit and outscored Belvidere 12-0 in picking up its sixth victory of the year. ' Marian moved to a four oint lead when Kevin oonan hit two free throws with only 30 seconds left in the contest to put the contest at 61-57. Belvidere came back to cut the lead to two once again but Noonan sank another foul shot to give Marian a 62-59 *lead. Belvidere did score at the buzzer, hoping for a three- point play, but no foul was P< N committed and Marian won by a one-point margin. Carl Brown, coming back from an earlier injury, led the Marian crew with 18 points, while Don Roughan and Kevin Noonan each tallied ii. Brad Gregory added 10. Joel Wakitsch Some deep-sea creatures can live under great pressure because the pressure inside their bodies equals that outside. » Hie Greenwood Gremlins 4-H Club in cooperation with the McHenry County Conservation District and The Universtiy of 111. ^Cooperative Extension in McHenry County will hold a snowmobile certification class for students tweive or over. The class consists of two sessions which will be held Saturday, Jan. 10 and Saturday, Jan. f7. State law provides that anyone over the age of 12 must have a valid operator's license to drive a snowmobile. Successful completion of this course will*result in the issuance of a snowmobile safety certificate. The Jan. 10 session will begin at 8:30 am at the M c H e n r y C o u n t y Conservation District office at the Glacial Park Conservation Site in Ringwood. The session will last until 12:30 pm and will be classroom instruction. The Jan. l? session wiii begin at 8:30 am at the McHenry County Farm Bureau offices in Woodstock. Since this session will last into the afternoon, participants are asked to bring lunch, dress for the outdoors and be ready to operate a snowmobile. Those interested in the class must pre-register by calling the Extension office at 338-3737 or the Conservation office at 338- 1405. SuSSffjjgl •MKISSHEWNH fermnMl MR •SALT DELIVERY •SALT SALE Service All Makes 385*3993 Ml OUKL Mi MAB IL SEE HUEMAHN WATER CONDITIONING (ItV. OF HUEMAM WATER MCT^INC) A For an ENVIRONMENTAL BREAKTHROUGH!! 11 Minute Regeneration 9 Gallons of Water 1 Pound of Salt Hefe is tf>e first ot a new generation ot water conditioners built around a tech notogcai discovery m the ion-exchange process it combines super reaction speeds a pressure packea bed (patei it pending) and clean water regeneration to achieve remarkable process efficiency - Moreover it uses no gtectrcity the unit provides clean, soft wafer around -tf» clock and regenerates only on dernai.a This completely automate, total demand syslerti is our answer to the serious energy dr*J ecological problems we face toctty --•# can be yours too! ULTRA-KINETICO I® CADIUAC-PONTIAC DEALER IN THE "COUNTY" Plaindealer AT PRESS TIME...it was learned that the Johnsburg Skyhawks have defeated the Harvard Hornets fa) double- overtime, 68-86, to take the consolation crown of the Northern Illinois Classic Tuesday night. Rick Neiss was selected to the all-tournament team, scoring 26 points in the final game and M point! In four tourney contests. Tom Pieper scored 22 for the Skyhawks tost night. Full details of the victory will appear In the next Issue of the Plaindealer. • > mes of the t to Gen orthern Illinois Classic, the -Kingston 86-57 which forced In the first three Johnsburg Skyhawl them into the consolation bracket only to defeat Quigley North 69-57 and Walther Lutheran, 74-61 to reach th$ finals against Harvard. ^ In the Genoa-Kingston loss on Friday, J 66 total points were ac­ counted for by Bob Greve, 22 points, and Bob Zeller and John Costigan,each with 20. McHenry is now 6-4 and will host Crown on Friday, Jan. 9. Woodstock was also eliminated from the con­ solation bracket of the tourney, losing to Wheaton North, 71-55. J Amundsen and Glenbard West will compete for the Wheeling Championship on Tuesday night after winning Monday night semifinal games. tting on Je to get closer Frank Jakubicek hit 7 of 12 from the field in tallying 15, his high for the season. The big colter also pulled down 12 rebounds In the game, while Pieper had 9 and Chuck Novy had 7. "Neiss and Jakubicek turned in fine games, but the balance of the team flounderedall night," Kies said. "We made costly mistakes when the chanfee to gain momentum and cut into the lead prevailed." \ s The game was close until the 2:00 mark of the second quarter, as the Skyhawks were outscored 10^2 and saw a 24-26 deficit balloon into 26-36 deficit and were not ahlc than five points after halftime. Against Quigley North on Saturday, Johnsburg won by 12, but Coach Kies was still unpleased with his team's performance. "Had we played anyone else like this, we would have lost," Kies said of the Johnsburg play. "We caused Quigley North to turn the ball over 33 times, but we capitalized for only 22 points." " Hesaid that even though Neiss (24 points), Novy (10 p. . ,ts) and Beck (12 points) played fine games, that overall the Skyhawks were "sloppy in our fast break execution and ball handling." Tom Pieper, who has not been scoring in the tourney, only had 7 points against Quigley, but his seven assists helped the cause. Then on Monday, Rick Neiss again sewed 24 points while Pieper pumped in 15 and Jakubicek hit for 14 as the Skyhawks clobbered Wdlther Lutheran in the semifinal game, 74-61. The locals outrebounded the Walther Lutheran squad 33-18 as Jakubicek again led with eight along with Scott Valentin. Pieper added 14 assists to his 15 points and 7 rebounds asj" Skyhawks took command early. Johnsburg took a 20-19 lead into the second qua Lutheran f and Matt ;ed ahead to 31-26 on the effort of Carl Bi wan. "From that point on, we gained composure, changed our defense to a box and one ana outscored the Broncos 11-0 to take a 35-31 halftime lead." The locals went on to outscore the Broncos 17-12 in the third quarter and 22-18 in the last stanza to preserve the win. Valentin chipped in nine points otf the bench and Chuck Novy scored 10 in the winning effort. The Skyhawks now will rest until Jan 6 when they travel to Richmond for a non-conference game. Joel Wakitsch ~ » ME FOR 1 flOftl 1 70 1 PRICES! HILARY RODENKIRCH PONTIACSA^SMANAGER 1 70 1 PRICES! RICK NEISS--collected 99 points In four games and all- tournament honors for Johnsburg. American Legion Post 491 - RINGW000 ROAD. McHENRY - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FISH FRY EVERY FRIDAY (5:00 - 9:00 P.M.) •f ERCH-ALl YOU CAN EAT •OTHER MENU AVAILABLE SAT. NIGHT /X "OFF THE WALL" HALL FOR RENT