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Ve Harold Ballard's got it all wrong. The man refuses to let any Soviet hockey player in his rink-Maple Leaf Gardens. He's opposed to any Soviet in the Gardens at all and won't even allow the Moscow circus or Soviet choirs. It's all because of Russian politics, which Ballard can't condone. But Ballard's taking the wrong approach. i : Hockey could save the world. \ Forget Star Wars and invading armies. Hockey, with teams from every pocket on the egr , could unite the world. Look what happens every time there's a tourna- ment with the Russians. A lot of handshaking and hugging between foreign dignitaries and team members. A lot of North American prizes heading to . Russia-art prints, stereo systems. Cultures blending, creating understanding; visits to foreign countries, creating even more me ine -taking away the fear of the unknown peoples. But all that aside, what better place to settle hostilities than the Eighties ice rink? If a man wants to fight, forget the army. Let him join the hockey league. You don't even have tobe a hockey fan to see that . hockey and fighting are one and the same. All you need in the house is a remote control channel changer and a flipper-someone who flips through the stations every time a commercial comes on. If it's hockey night and the flipper gets going, say switching from a movie, odds are he'll hit a fight every time. It's almost magic. Every time a commer- cial starts on another station, a fight breaks out on the ice. If you didn't know ahead of time it was a hockey game and all you saw of the boys in skates with sticks was during a commercial on another sta- tion, you'd swear the rink was a giant gladiator arena with twelve participants dressed in pads and sweaters and armed with sticks. So for the guys who like to fight, the hockey rink - is the ideal career move. Instead of attacks in moun- tain passes in Afghanistan, soldiers could do frontal assaults and strafes on the ice. Hockey could truly become the war so many players seem to want it to be. Terrorists welcome. - Forget jungle guerrillas. Hockey playing guer- } One Woman's View by Chris Carlisle HOCKEY and FIGHTING rillas could invade the ice when teams from oppos- ing nations are in confrontation. Forget innocent hostages and store bombs. Instead of declaring war, you challenge to a hockey game the team who offends you ideological- ly. Winner take all: spectator proceeds, equipment, nets and--why not?--the losing team members' cars. Give em real incentive to win. : What the heck, if it's war the hockey players want, why not place a few mines in the ice--just to keep things exciting. Why not play with exploding pucks--time bombs? You could have communists against capitalists; blacks against whites; starving nations against the well-fed. All the hatred and hostility could be directed against the reps on ice. Seeing as that seems to be what hockey's all about anyway these days, no one should mind. And besides, the players in the hockey wars would all be volunteers anyway--paid mercenaries fighting for their causes. No more penalties. No more dirty plays. Everything's legal, from slashing to hooking to highsticking and shaving some guy's face with a skate. Ram a player up against the boards and you score a point. Score a goal and blow up the goal crease. For soldiers who really get off on the danger and threat of death, goalie would be the only position to play. He'd not only have to keep the puck out, but if it got in, he'd have to know when to jump clear of the blast. The odd thing about hockey is that although peo- ple say they hate violence on the ice, watch how peo- ple pick up when a fight starts and the gloves come off. Some people say the fights are the only exciting part of hockey since expansion. : For all the parents who try to teach the kids not to fight, there are just as many secretly telling them not to take any roughhousing--get out there and fight. And the professional players sure seem to like - violence. So let's solve the world problems with hockey. Forget the missiles. Forget the guns. And with real hockey wars, you not only win or lose, you even make money for the cause. Icy condition caused Ghost Rd. accident Icy road conditions are being charges were laid. blamed for a single car accident on Interestingly enough, the scene of Scugog Island Concession 10, thein- the collision is the same as that of famous Ghost Road, January 17. the legendary, but not necessarily + Durham Regional Police report a factual, motorcycle crash, where a vehicle driven by Claudia Casteels, young rider was killed, and now his 47, was headed southbound when it '"'ghost" rides the stretch of road at lost control at the intersection and nights. collided with a tree. But that's another story. No injuries were reported and no Editorial Comments (From page 4) and his wife planned the pregnancies. Of course the wife and the four kids are living on welfare, presumably waiting for-his release on parole. : So here we have a man who commits a rather serious crime of beating an elderly woman to death in her own home and goes to prison for his actions. Yet he's allowed to have cosy visits with his wife and father two kids in four years. It's costing a bundle to keep this guy behind bars, not to mention the welfare costs for his wife and four children. How many more kids does he plan to father before his release from prison? Will he be able to support a family of six when he gets out and starts looking for a job, or will the public purse be his source of family income? : In a caring and humane society such as exists in Canada, nobody expects convicted murderers to be clapped away in irons and fed bread and water. Though some may disagree a good case can be made for conjugal visits whereby married prisoners can spend time alone with their spouses and families. But surely society has a right to demand that convicted prisoners not be allowed to bring children into this world until they have paid their debt to society. What kind of futures are the four children of that: particular prisoner facing? Commenting on this case, a spokesman for the Canadian Cor- rectional Services said meekly that condoms are provided by prison staff for conjugal visits, but the staff has no way of ensuring that they are used. No, indeed. .o Ea This case suggests very strongly that there is something wrong with the way we deal with convicted murderers in this country. Random Jottings Co by J. Peter Hvidsten 2) and pay for it over the next 10 or 15 years, are very THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM? How would you like to see a multi-million dollar sports-complex in Scugog Township? The complex might include things like a second ice pad, a large banquet hall facility, an indoor swim- ming pool, raquet ball courts, tennis courts, etc. Sound all like a dream? Well it is a dream, but there is a gfoup of men 'and women in Scugog Township who feel the dream is not impossible, and they are doing every- thing within their power to see that this kind of a fa- cility becomes a reality in the next five years. This Recreation group, as | will call them, was formed a few months ago, and since then they have had a number of meetings, trying to decide what kind of facility the township can afford, what types of recreational facilities should be available, and an overall design and target date for a recrea- tion complex in Scugog. Last Thursday night, | attended one of their meetings, and listened as they planned tours to sports facilities in other municipalities who already have complexes in operation, in hopes that they can come-up with a plan for Scugog Township. One of the figures for a sports complex (which would include a swimming pool, ice.pad, recreation centre, courts etc.) bantered about that evening was $5 million. Now that's a lot of money, and in order to raise | ~ those kinds of dollars you are going to need some 'very dedicated men and women. My personal feeling is that unless this group can get the local municipal government 100% be- hind the project, there is little chance this type of a sports complex will become a reality. It will be near impossible to raise $2 - 3 million dollars by public subscription and fund raising events in a community the size of Scugog Town- ship. : Granted there will be some grants available for the project, but it is highly unlikely that more than half could be raised by this means. If this project is to become a reality in the not too distant future, the Recreational Group had better start petitioning council for their support, and get the residents of the community to start voicing strong support for the project. The old saying "the squeeky wheel gets the oil", is probably quite correct in this case, because if local councillors do not start to get input from the residents, demanding a sports complex in this com- munity, there is little doubt in my mind that they will give the project much consideration. The only way to raise the multi-bucks we are. talking about for this size of a project is through tax- ation of the residents of the community. But, if the track-record of past councils in Scugog Township is unlikely. : Over the years, most councils in Scugog Town- ship have adopted a "pay as you go" attitude to- ward capital projects, and it is doubtful, unless there is an enormous outcry from the public, they will change that policy now. But | certainly endorse the concept of a sports- recreation complex in Scugog Township, and | wish the members of this Recreation Group success in their endeavours to put the wheels in motion which will ultimately lead to the completion of the major project they envision. : There are some good organizers on the com- mittee, and there is little doubt there is plenty of en- thusiasm. Hopefully, Scugog Council will look on the pro- ject with just as much enthusiasm, and will "bite the Rullet", if the demands are not too unrealistic, and . put their full support behind them. VERY HONOURED | felt very honoured last Tuesday evening at the annual meeting of the Scugog Chamber of Com- merce to have been presented a plaque recogniz- ing my contributions to the organization over years. But you know, | have always felt that the experi- ence and friendships that | received through my as- any indication of what might happen today, don't 'Sociation with the Chamber were reward enough, hold your breath. Chances of this council agreeing to take out a debenture to build the complex now, as you can not put a value on these things. Never-the-less, | was honoured, and | thank the members of the C of C for this gesture. Fi -- a -- A ee ots eT AT odd AEB CPL IS ia oA ir Hg EIR AS