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‘‘The 12 days of losing‘‘. In the past week and 5/7, I have watched the following teams go down the tubes in this fair city of ours, either because of inability to make the playoffs or inability to sucâ€" ceed once they got there. & WCI Vikings basketball, Bluevale Knights basketball, Waâ€" ‘:o Siskins, UW Warriors hockey, UWâ€"Athenas basketâ€" , WLU hockey, basketball and women‘s basketball Some teams, like the WCI Vikings and WLU women‘s basketball were very young and inexperienced. Others, like the Knights and Hockey Hawks, were extremely talented and should have gone much farther. No sense crying over spilled milk, they‘re all on the disâ€" card heap now, whether it came through an unfortunate one game upset or a longer series. But the other day, a coach of one of the teams that did not make the playoffs came up with anâ€"interesting proposal which might increase motivation in the lowerâ€"ranked tean'ls make the game more exciting for the fans, and give all teams a chance of taking it all at season‘s end. _ _ Presently the OUAA basketball season is 12 games long, with the top four of seven in each division playing off for the right to vie for that division title and a shot at the nationals. But Laurier basketball coach Don Smith would rather see a tournament format with all seven teams coming to the site of the firstâ€"place winner to decide a champion. That may sound like sour grapes from a man whose team hed sixth with a 3â€"9 record this year, but it must be ted out that Hawks have shared the division title two of last four years. So Smith is not asking for sympathy. ‘*Who says you have to play a season schedule to eliminate two or three teams," he said. "I never heard of it before I came here (WLU) and I‘m not so sure it‘s right, just beâ€" cause someone way back said it is." I guess you could put it to Christmas music and call it Xcéordihg to Smith‘s plan the seven téams would gather Rick Campbell on a Thursday after the season. The firstâ€"place club would g:t a bye as reward with the six others playing a game that y. Then the three winners plus team one would play Friday with the championship and third place games on Saturday. "It would be a spectacle for the fans," said Smith. ‘"With a tournament concept, a team thatâ€" maybe loses its first four or five would know it still has a chance. That would provide Uflms motivation the second half of the season.‘"‘ I , especially in sports like major league baseball where most of the teams are just playing out the schedule from midâ€"July on. &> But why should a team like Brock (0â€"12) be given an opâ€" portunity in a oneâ€"game shot to upset the Windsor Lancers (10â€"2). Wouldn‘t that be unfair to the Lancers who have shown their superiority twice in the regular season? "If a team is the best (Windsor) it will beat teams anyway. And even if Brock should upset the topmt:%hsaid Smith, "they‘d still have to win two more to win the title. If they can do that maybe they are the â€"best."‘ Smith cited the perfect example of that when Guelph won the national title a few years back after finishing fourth in league play. . "We finished fifth and out of the playoffs that year but there wasn‘t a froghair of difference between Guelph and us. They beat us by one point in the last game of the season to make the playoffs." Smith feels that university sports have reached a plateau or flat spot because of repetition and/or standard playoff format. | "We‘ve shared first with Waterloo two times in four years and have split crowds because of home playoffs the same night. That‘s cheating the crowds in town who would love to see both teams." | [] LIKE GREAT SPECIFICATIONS, |L__11l Â¥ D 22952507 | ___ FREQUENCY RESPONSE 40â€"16,000 N7 +3 DB; | SIGNALâ€"TOâ€"NOISE RATIO GC6DB ABOVE 5KHNz7, Oe WwWOW AND FLUTTER 0.06% WRMS AND THE FAMOUS FOR NOISE REDUCTION VÂ¥ MULTIâ€"LED INDICATOR â€" rermits you To VISUALLY MONITOR THE NIGHâ€"FREQUENCY PEAKS TMAT ARE LIKELY TO CAUSE DISTORTION YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY WARNED OF DISTORTION BEFORE iT OCCURS, a AND CAN TAKE APPROPRIATE LEVEL ADJUSTMENTS TO PREVENT IT. | THE EXCLUSIVE JVC & (senâ€"ALLOY) NEAD NAS MAKY BENEFITS j ‘ _ NO. 1) IMPROYVED SIGNALâ€"TOâ€"NO!ISE, NO. 2) BETTER NIGHâ€"FREQUENCY RESPONSE NO. 3) MARDNESS â€" (LONG LIFE) NO. 4) LOWER DISTORTION [") AND A GREAT PRICE TO BOOT MSL ‘380 MUCH MORE! our BEsT PRIcE WUUWW INCLUDES 3 YEAR < ' WESSELING GUARANTEE AT WESSELING‘S, WE LIKE TO BACK A WINNER; WE THINK YOU SHOULD TOO! KITCHENER,. ONT 742â€"6951 OR 742â€"6581 3 CHARLES ST. WEST WESsSsELIAG_ _Advanced auvdio $939° MON.. TUES., WED., SAT. 10â€"6 THURS., FRI 10â€"9 {[CAMBRIDGE CLOSED MONDAY) great with ‘the/student population much like the College Bow! has attracted them for a carnivalâ€"like celebration every fall. 200 ols â€" But the major consideration involved is expenses, and Smith feels that travel costs can be cut and greater gate receipts realized with a tournament schedule. "‘It‘s cheaper to stay overnight in Windsor than travel there twice, but it‘s likely two teams will have to go there this week,"" he said. ‘‘It‘s about $400 per bus but only $200 to stay over.""‘ _ According to Smith‘s theory, each team at the tournament would be awarded units for the number of games they played ‘in. If £,000 people paid for a $10 tournament ticket that would be $20,000. Take away $6,000 at most for expenses and each unit would be worth $1,000. Teams playing three games would earn $3,000 while those playing only one would still realize $1,000. *‘That‘s important for schools like Brock who haven‘t made any money and have no opportunity to make it for their program under the present system; they‘re the ones who need it the most. . Smith plans to take his proposal to the athletic directors in the OUAA and if they are receptive he will make a motion at the spring meeting to vote on it. e _Anything to reduce those 12 days of losing. If they‘re killers to a sportswriter, I can imagine they‘re bloody hell to the teams involved. s * Maybe it‘s a good proposal. Maybe it isn‘t. I think it has its drawbacks but more good points than bad. Anyways, I‘m for it and Smith should be applauded for his spadework. fil{%chheofiidenthistmtvqugomr eat with student population much like the College STEREO CASSETTE DECK GIVES YOU MORE! 33 MAIN ST. CAMBRIDGE 653â€"2835 1979 â€" Page 11