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| PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, March 1, 1988 -- 5 Viewpoint by John B. McClelland WHAT HAPPENED? | have just finished watching the Olympic hock- ey game between Canada and the United States, and like most Canadians who saw this game on the tube, | am dismayed at the ease by which the guys in the red shirts bull-dozed their way over the guys in the white shirts. The final score, for those who care, was 5-0 for the red shirts, but quite easily could have been double that figure. | kept asking myself as the game dragged on: are the Russians that good, or is Team Canada just that bad. It seems to me to be a combination of both factors. The Russians are indeed at the top of their game for the Olympics, while Team Canada looked very tired both physically and mentally. Why is that, | wondered. This team has been to- gether for the past two or three years, devoting all their time and efforts towards one thing: the Calgary Olympics. And what happens? The team barely squeaks into the medal round, and in the first game of that round against the number one contender, falls far short of even being competitive. As | write this Canada still have an outside chance of grabbing the bronze, but it's a long shot at best. By the time this appears in print, the Games will be history and we'll know if Canada was able to win its last two games ande take third place. In my opinion, Team Canada coach Dave King has done an admirable job in building a well condi- tioned, disciplined hockey team. But it became painfully obvious during the Russian game that the team lacks any kind of imagination. The players looked like robots trundling up and down the ice, staying right in their lanes, almost never deviating from their set course. It was as if they had been programmed to play a dertain style, and even when the score dictated that a change in tactics was necessary, it did not happen. Granted, coach King has long recognized that he has nobody on the roster with that "scoring touch" around the net, and the only chance Team . Canada had to win anything was to concentrate on defense, prevent the other guys from scoring and hope for a lucky goal. That just was not good enough, especially when the Russians, as they were last week, are in top form. It was fairly obvious even in the first period of the game, that the Russians were totally in con- trol and just a matter of time before they scored enough to win. That's when King should have done something out of the ordinary, a complete change in tactics, something that might have caused the Russians to sit back for a moment in bewilderment. But no, Team Canada stuck to the old game plan right to the bitter end, and it was not a pretty sight. As hockey goes, it was boring. The outcome was never in doubt. | read some interesting comments recently from a sports and fitness expert at a Canadian university who feels that Team Canada may be tired, that the team has played too much hockey, too many games in preparing for the Olympics. this expert suggested that the team should have cut back on the number of pre-Olympic games, and the players should have been rested since winning the Moscow tournament late in December. Maybe he is right. Maybe the team peaked too early, or maybe the players had just had too much hockey in the weeks leading up to the Olympics. For my money, Team Canada has looked men- tally tired in every Olympic match I've seenon TV. Physical conditioning is one thing, but any ath- lete can fall victim to.mental fatigue. This was a team totally lacking in zip and pop, totally predictatie , like robots on skates. It was a big disappointment. After all, the team had been given a better than even chance at a medal, maybe even the gold. N But there has been a lot of disappointment for Canadians at the Calgary Games in skiing, speed skating and especially figure skating when Brian Or- ser made one tiny mistake and finished second. As | write this, Canada has a grand total of four medals, while there has been an endless stream of Russian cross country skiers, East German biatha- letes and speed skaters, Russian sledders, and Finnish jumpers making their way to the podium to collect their gold medals. Why is 'Canada always second, third, tenth or 39th fiddle when it comes to medals at the Olympics (Gaetan Boucher in 84 be- ing one notable exception] While | am disappointed for the Canadian ath- letes, the Olympics have been a joy to watch on tel- evision. The Games really are the pinnacle of sport, even if the whole thing has become a highly com- mercialized extravaganza where gold means green' (as in dollars) But frankly, | will never be able to figure out why a wealthy nation like Canada, locked-in winter half the year, with a very generous federal government { Yesterday's Letters Memories 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 28, 1918 The W.P.A. was astonished at the response for donations of money to buy wool. The total amount collected was $441.30 more than double the sum expected. The wool is needed to knit socks for the men on the front. A brief news item reports: "A Bowmanville farmer has been charged with arson. Who can blame him in times like these. What greater luxury than a fire!" 45 YEARS AGO 'February 25, 1943 Ted Jackson will be auctioneer at the Victoria Shorthorn Association sale in Lindsay. This is the 23rd consecutive annual sale sponsored by the Association at which Ted has been auctioneer. In the hockey game between the G.M. Payroll and the Port Perry Boys, the Port Perry Boys won 11-10. Some of the players on the two teams were Bob Carnegie, Arnold Roach, John Jef- frey, Don Carnegie and Gordon MacMaster. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 26, 1953 Simpson-Sears of Toronto will soon be opening an order of- fice in Port Perry. It will be located in the Carnegie Block. Port Perry United Church Choir bettered their marks of last year and won the shield and $75.00. Last year's in.arks of 80 and 81 were bettered by marks of 81 and 84. Two occupants of a car, Bill Baker of Port Perry and Don Smith of Oshawa, were startled when driving across the ice on Lake Scugog. The car hit a soft spot and broke through but hoth occupants escaped. Later it was found that there was only 10 inches of ice at this spot. 30 YEARS AGO February 27, 1958 Scout Commissioner Jack Atkinson presented the Scout Medal of Merit to the District Cub Master Stanley Ploughman. This award'is made on behalf of the Chief Scout of Canada, the Honourable Vincent Massey. In the election of officers for the Port Perry Yacht Club, Port Perry, resident W. Baker was elected fleet captain and P. Orde a trustee. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 29, 1968 19 head of cattle perished when a barn owned by Mr. Donald Taylor, Saintfield, burned to the ground early Friday morning. (Turn to page 8) 911 service needed here To The Editor: On February 19, I and three other members of the Scugog Township Fire Dept. Station No. 2 attended the monthly meeting of the Durham Region Mutual Aid Association. For anyone who doesn't know who we are, we are all members of Durham Region fire depts. who assemble once Tasteless cartoon To The Editor: Re the cartoon of the 23rd February issue. The Editorial Board of a newspaper is responsible for the standards of that publication. When the standards of the Port Perry Star are allowed to fall so tastelessly below acceptable com- munity levels. the Board of the Star must be held responsible, and this judgement, competency and editorial discretion must be open to question. Leslie Carter, R.R.2, Blackstock. Use of Union dues To The Editor: The plan by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to use $2 million in workers' forced dues to campaign against 49 MPs in the next federal election is an outrageous affront to democracy in Canada. An overwhelming majority of Canadians-including members of unionized households - oppose the use of forced union dues for political. purposes, "polls have repeatedly shown. On July 4, 1986 Justice White of the Supreme Court of Ontario rul- ed in my favour when he decided that *'the use of compulsory dues for purposes other than collective bargaining and collective agree- ment administration cannot be justified in a free and democratic society, where the individual ob- jects to such use." I've urged federal Labour Minister Pierre Cadieux to live up to the spirit of Justice White's CEERI BE decision by amending labour law without delay. 1 ask your readers, tf they agree with me, to urge him likewise . Sincerely. Merv Lavigne, Haileybury, Ont. each month to discuss concerns of mutual aid and to listen to a predetermined speaker who gives a presentation on material rele- vant to the fire service. This months speaker was the chief of the Whitby Fire Dept. who spoke about the 911 emergency telephone service. It seems that there is some political opposition to this service being provided for the residents of Scugog Township in regards to the fire service. There i> also some opposition coming from the Newcastle politi- cians. All other areas of this region seem to be endorsing this very important service. The police and ambulance 911 service is being implemented at the pre- sent time and will be in service in the near future. This will only serve to confuse the public who will be calling the 911 number for fire assistance only to be told to call vour local fire dept. This will make our response. times longer and put public lives in danger. (Turn to page 6) to the editor. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. pp al GI gl CAB 8