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Maybe it was the axe of the Jan. 10 cutdown date poised over their heads. Or maybe it was...never mind. Trying to figure out the the Oakville Blades this season is like being in a crapshoot. After a noâ€"effort loss to Milton Merchants at home earlier last week, the Central Ontario Jr. A Hockey League outfit had a return date on foreign turf Friday. And when the Blades fell behind 4â€"0 with 6:23 gone in the second periâ€" od, it appeared they were in for another lone evenine. Instead, the Blades proceeded to score eight unanswered goals â€" six of them on the power playâ€"â€"for an 8â€"4 win. Snapping a twoâ€"game losâ€" ing skid, the win improved Oakville‘s record to 15â€"17â€"0, still 10 points behind fourthâ€"place Caledon in the West Division. Blade coach Greg Ireland said the key was his team didn‘t panic when it fell behind. "We played well from the beginâ€" ning," he said. "Their goalie made some good saves and we got a few bad bounces. I told the guys to keep plugging away. We scored two goals and I thought we picked it up a few notches." The selection was based on Hogarth‘s performance at the NBL Grand Championships, last month in Atlantic City, N.J. Hogarth, a partâ€"time instructor at Loyola High School, won the masters (overâ€"35) in traditional forms and weapons. Hogarth, who was also in a threeâ€"way tie for topâ€"point getter in NBL will receive a plaque and appear in Sport Karate International magazine published in Lakewood, N.Y. Blades escape axe with comeback win Local karate instructor Scott Hogartt has been named the National (U.S. Blackbelt League‘s rookie of the yea! for 1992. He qualified for the Grand Nationals by finishing in the top five in NBL circuit events (he was first in forms and second in weapons). instructor gets the nod Local karate Like the fact that she still has an outside shot at landing one of the final two berths in the Scott Tournament of Hearts provincial championship, opening Feb. 23 in Thunder Bav. And like the fact that her Oakville Curling Club foursome of Cindy Ryan, Carol Davisâ€" Kiborn and Shawna Phillips did put in, as Snow said, its "best team performance" of the Like the fact she did knock off the eventual champion, Anne Merklinger, at the Ontario Ladies Curling Association finals in Galt on the weekend. In a loss as disappointing as the one she had just suffered, Mary Susan Snow was looking for a few morsels of consolation. Snow aims for the Heart after tough loss r their extraâ€"man prowess "I‘ve only been here a month and we‘re going into our October while everyone else is going into their January. We‘re going to have to go quickly from here on." Dan Delmonte led the way with three goals â€" all on the powerâ€"play. Matt Interbartolo and Anthony Aversa added two each and Kent Williams the other. Ireland said the keys were shooting the puck and keeping in motion. al Jan. 10 was date on which junior clubs had to file their protected list. Blades elected to keep 19 players, leaving the team two blank cards which they have until Feb. 10 to utilize. Blades would like to use one of those cards on veteran defenceman Brad Hilton, a student at the University of Waterloo, and the other on a forward. Let go was forward Jamie Legros, while Matt Langen, who is suffering from leukentia, was placed on the club‘s reserved injury list. When healthy, he can return to the team if he wishes. Defenceman Brian Reid was released and has signed with Burlineton. Oakville plays in Brampton tomorrow (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.) and hosts Georgetown Raiders Friday at Oakville Arena (8 p.m ) season. Put them together, though, and you‘re not going to erase Snow‘s agony after going 5â€"3 at the OLCAsâ€"the third loss coming 6â€"5 to liderton‘s Joâ€"Ann Rizzo in the final game, the winner landing third place and automatic entry into the Scott. Rizzo and Snow entered the match each at 5â€"2, Snow‘s only losses coming in extra ends to Alison Goring of Bayview and Maureen Mitchell of Navy. Snow (nee Bell) was up by two coming home. All she needed was a draw to the four foot for the winâ€"except her stone ended up on the edge of the back eight. "A combined team effort." said Snow. manâ€" â€"_SPORTS At the height of the hobby, coll tors and speculators were buying everything on the market â€" hockey baseball, football and basketball cards, all offered by a plethora of companies: O0â€"Peeâ€"Chee, Proâ€"Set, Score, Donruss, Topps, Fleer. To answer the demand, the vari ous companies naturally increased production, most often in the form subsets and higshâ€"end sets. Only comic book sales, says Fawcett, have kept his business afloat. For example, Score, during its | W M "¢Kk. > â€"_ ‘:U early years, put out just one set a season for baseball, football and Tracy Del Corvo shows off some of the sports cards in her family‘s hockey. Last year, in addition to the _ Store. Not long ago, people couldn‘t get enough of them. regular sets, they came out with their higher quality and more expensive card less in demand over the long rur Pinnacle Series. This vear they‘ve introduced Score Select baseball "Thines that were first sellino at $ l ike the frisbee, painter pants and bungee jumping, sports card collecting is showing all the signs of a fad. Local dealers claim the hobby was a goldmine two years ago. But overâ€"production and a lagging econâ€" omy have dampened things to the point where it has become passe for the trendies And with sales down and bills t pay, many dealers who tmed to cas in on the craze have been forced t« fold their tents. "Business is not bad but it‘s a Ic slower than before," said Cameron Peck of Peck‘s Pinups, which opened at Hopedale Mall just over vear ago. year ago. ‘"Business is down 50 per cent from two years ago," claims Barry Fawcett, of Gorilla Comic and Cards in Burlington. *"The consumer can be overwhelmed with the number of cards out there," said Peck, The thinking was the crazed collector would try to pursue everything on the market. Instead, collectors are asking when will it all end. The marâ€" ket has become flooded. Supply has exceeded demand, driving down the value of individual cards. "The companies are starting to kill it," says Tracy Del Corvo of Sports Cards Plus in Oakville. That has chased out the Johnnyâ€"comeâ€"lately Wall St. types looking to make a quick buck and left the hardâ€"core collectors who still enjoy the honest challenge of filling sets and appreciating the beauty of the cards themselves. "It‘s more the true collector buying now," said Peck. *"The speculators are gone and just the collecters are in it," Fawcett added Oakville Beaver staff By TOM MICHIBATA Sportscard feeding frenzy leaves buyers, dealers confused â€" and poor WRONML BOUONMI | pyiioh 0) Snow has to beat eight other teams to make it to the Scott. "We have a good chance," she said, before quickly adding, "If we can recover from this blow." aging a laugh. Merklinger, Goring and Rizzo will be joined at the Scott by the top three finishers at the Eastern regionals. The other entriesâ€"one from each sideâ€"will be added through the backdoor, this weekend‘s Challenge Round at Boulevard Club in Toronto. Meanwhile, Oakville‘s John Base continâ€" ues his hunt for a berth in the Tankard men‘s provincial championships this weekend at the recionals in Wallacebure. AKVILLE BEAVER | h of Tomahawks get their man Mississauga Tomahawks admit they don‘t know much about Dan Bottrellâ€"â€"but they did know enough to pick him in the third round of Ontario Lacrosse Association Jr. A draft, Sunday. Bottrell, a forward who played minor lacrosse in Burlington last seaâ€" son, was selected 27th overall in the threeâ€"round draft for overâ€"age midgets (17 years of age). No other Halton players were chosen. Tomahawks general manager Jack Wilson said the team didn‘t picks in the first two rounds â€"â€"they had been traded to other teamsâ€"â€" so when it came time to choose in the third round, names off their short list of card less in demand over the long run. "Things that were first selling at $30â€"35 a box you can get now for $5 a box," Fawcett explained. "That turns a lot of people off...The market is just flooded with the stuff. For example, he said, there only supposed to be 12,000 cases of Parkhurst hockey last year. "Suddenly they‘re all around, for $10 a box," said Fawcett. "It‘s hard to say that companies are producing more than what they tell you," Peck said. "You don‘t have any proof but it seems there is a lot out there. When there‘s a lot of it, the value of it goes right down." Dealers and retailers either must sit on these undesirables or sell them well below cost. Like others, Del Corvo wishes it could go back to the days when peoâ€" ple collected cards because they liked toâ€"not for investment. : "A true collector has fun with it. When we (family) collected (before the store opened) we never bought a price guide. You get people coming See SPORTSCARDS, Page 16 CHEQUE ENCLOSED Cheque payable to: OAKVILLE BEAVER Yeary $45.00 Expity date MASTERCARD #: PCSTAL CODE MA# _ Special Offer Preé)oy by VISA, MASTERCARD, or CHEQUE an save 25°/°($ 1500 per year) Yourr subscription is only $45.00 per year, Regular $60.00 Offer expires Mar. 19th, 1993 on Prepaid Subscriptions The Oabkville Beaver publishes 3 times weekly, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday. To enjoy home delivery please call our Circulation department at 845â€"9742 or 8459743 Save 25% Expiry date WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1993 PAGE 15 about 16 taken. he "Dan was on our extra list of playâ€" ers close to home," Wilson said Tuesday morning. "We‘ll be talking to him in the next week or so." Tomahawks finished tied for eighth in the league last season with an 8â€"11â€"1 mark. They defeated Peterborough in a oneâ€"game playoff to decide eighth spot before bowing out in the first round to firstâ€"place St. Catharines. + Jamie Wright of Elmira was the first player chosen, by Burlington, followed by Sean Steinwald of Gloucester, who was taken by Whitby. Compounding that is being at the whim of the manufacturers who often tout limited production numbers, meaning higher prices. Later, it‘s discovered production is not that limited, which makes the But the experts claim insert cards â€"â€"limited edition specialty cards found in assorted packsâ€"â€"will reach a saturation point. "The companies are overdoing it," Del Corvo said. "I don‘t think people will go too far with it. You just can‘t buy one box and get all of them. Now you have to buy packs, jumbos, cellos â€" it‘s getting ridiculous." While the consumer has the luxâ€" ury of buying lowâ€"end cards for nextâ€"toâ€"nothing, it means the retailâ€" ers and dealers take a beating. With so many cards and only so much money, dealers are discoverâ€" ing the consumer is more selective "People are just buying a couple of packs to see who they get," Del Corvo said. "They are focusing on certain players and picking one or two sets rather than buying everyâ€" thing." Dealers claim the higher quality cards, worth as much as $3 a pack, are the more sought after. The losers in this survival of the fittest are the cheaper cards, which can be purchased at the corner store for 50 cents to $1. â€" a far cry from the boom time when they were buying everything "People are more picky and choosey," Peck explained. "They are looking for specialty and insert cards. They are not after sets like before." residence business players had already been aid.