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WO LP RU Rk ra ah ATR EE ~~ § : Coat = a SA NA T SS 2 : 2? SRST Ly PADDED >, a TR , i 'editoriol [ 1 i | 1 : i hE AUR 0S RA TER NR UE EA TR PR a AT NOOSE SO SOR SAREE A RE STE SHC SE A FORTE Sant Dt -t L } BA RAAT LORS pO IN A CER A RF a Rr UC RS LR ASA A NRE LY BAG SHR Lag FARE HE REASE IE TREE LW TAT RES Ha 8 2 1 0) ad ANE X RES) Re NAR SA RT ERR SU RR American Gold The Lake Placid Winter Olympics are now history, but hockey fans across North America will long remember the spectacular gold medal victory by the youthful team from the United States. There is little doubt that the U.S. hockey team fashioned the Cinderella story of the Winter Olym- pics, overshadowing even the heroic feats of speed skater Eric Heiden, who flashed to an unprecedented five gold medals. But Heiden was expected to dominate in his sports, while few observers, if any, thought the U.S. hockey team would de-throne the overpowering Soviets, who have collected gold medals in past Olympics in almost routine fashion. The American victory is significant for several reasons. The team, playing in front of a frenzied - home-town crowd, overcame almost impossible odds. The will to win obviously came from the heart of each player on the team, but any hockey observer who watched closely the games against the Soviets and later the Finns, saw that there was more than sheer desire involved. - The Americans displayed an excellent command of the fundamentals of hockey: skating, shooting, checking and passing. They played a tough brand of hockey: hard- hitting when necessary, but there was no evidence on "goon-style" tactics of intimidation. The two final games were an absolute pleasure to watch, and the fact that the sentimental favourite happened to win - the gold was an added bonus. The American victory should mean definite resurgence in interest in hockey at the amateur level throughout North America. Let us not forget that the Canadian Olympic team, although winding up a disappointing sixth and out of the medals, also played some good hockey during the series, pushing the powerful Soviet squad to the limit before going down to defeat. For years, the hockey emphasis in this country and to some extent south of the border, has been centred around the professional leagues. Competing in the Olympics and other amateur tournaments at the world level has been the poor sister as far as hockey emphasis is concerned. But the Americans have proven that there can be a trememdous amount of merit in amateur competi- tion. They have proven that a group of young players with raw talent can be coached and molded into a team capable of providing first-rate hockey enter- tainment. They have proven that there are players than the fat professional contract. | OPPOSITION | LEADER # "WE'RE MOVING oUR EMBASSY --- 3070 SPEAK |" with talent who can be motivated by something other The word ""patriotism" is suddenly back in fashion. In short, the games played at the Olympic Games this winter provided a welcome relief, a breath of fresh air from the deteriorating brand of hockey fans have been getting from the professional ranks in recent years. Let us hope, for the sake of the sport in general, that the lessons learned at the Olympics, have not been over-looked by hockey organizations at all levels in this country and the United States. While many youngsters who lace on a pair of skates still dream of someday playing for their favourite professional team, the American and Canadian Olympic squads have given us ample proof that a young player can spend a year or two in the RE a ¥ A 'E PTA & AL ke & FINRA nA Poe service of his national team before:turning pro. The emotion-drenched victory by the American hockey team may also turn out td have a deeper, more significant meaning. : The United States is presently in a position of officially boycotting the Summer Games later this year in Moscow, because of the international tension in Afghanistan. : It is doubtful, however, that one could find many supporters of the boycott in the Lake Placid Arena Sunday afternoon when the Americans clinched the gold medal. T=, Hopefully, the politicians can negotiate their way out of the Afghanistan mess before the Summer Games, and let the athletes get on with their competitions, without the added yoke of interna- tional politics hanging around their necks. bill THINKING OF SELLING Comes a time in life of every couple when they start thinking, and then talking, about selling the house. After all, they solemnly nod in agree- ment, it's a bloody white elephant. Who needs four bedrooms for two people? Who needs a tax bill that goes up every year? Who needs to heat a white elephant, or any other colour, at today's oil prices? Each of the aging pair thinks his or her own selfish thoughts. And don't tell me otherwise. The Old Man says to himself: "No more beefing about the lawn being shaggy, the walk not shovelled, the basement not swept, the garage falling down, ice on the roof, my utter incompetence when it comes to repair- ing anything." And the Old Lady thinks: '""Why should I run up and down stairs, ordinary, cellar, and attic, eight times a day? Why should I have to call and fight with the plumbers, the electricians, the TV repair man, because He's never here when something breaks down? Why should I scrub hardwood floors that are immediately scratched, and clean rugs that are immediately soiled by Him 1Y747% A smiley and his two dam' grandboys?"' At about this point they get together and agree that they should sell the beast and move into an apartment. No snow shovel- ling. No grass cutting. Laundry room in the basement. Wall-to-wall rugs. No decora- ting, No tax bill. No fuel bill. No bill for cleaning the driveway. At this point they're almost euphoric. Wow! No more problems. A nice little two bedroom apartment on the tenth floor, overlooking the lake. And so cheap. They bought the old house for a song, spent only about fifty thousand dollars on it, and could probably get sixty for it. That would leave them a handsome profit of about $422.79, which they could invest, and drag in all that extra income. People approach them with a gleam in their eye. 'If you're gunna sell, I want first chance." A colleague of mine, with six kids to sleep, and us with four bedrooms and an attic that could be made into two more, lights up like a green light every time she sees me, and urges the sale. And this is about the point where the couple commences to shoot sidelong looks at each other, have second thoughts, and begin to query the wisdom of the whole deal. The husband thinks, 'Jeez, she drives me nuts in a big house where I can go to the bathroom when she starts playing the vacuum. In an apartment she'd have it going all day, and I'd wind up like one of those old guys, squatted over the daily paper in the public library." And the wife thinks, 'Wouldn't he like to stick me in an apartment where he'd be underfoot every hour of the twenty-four? I can scarcely stand it now when he's on a weekend or holidays. I like to get him OUT of the house, so I can get something done." And they both think of the kids, and the grandkids. Sure, we have to live our own lives, but what about Christmas? They can't afford a motel, and that's silly, any- way. And the wife thinks, '"The little devils can do enough damage to the house to keep us happily miserable for three weeks after they leave. What would they do to an apartment? We'd be kicked out." And the husband thinks, "How can I teach them not to climb the woodpile in an apartment? How can I teach them not to squirt me with the hose in an apartment? How can I teach them how to fish in a rotten apartment? How can I teach them to stickhandle a puck in an apartment? And the wife thinks, '"We'd never get the grand piano into an apartment. And the Indian rug. It's old, and it's shabby, but it's beautiful, and it would never fit into one of those dumb little boxes." And the husband thinks, "Where would I put my fishing tackle? Where would I store all those pictures of me as a half-back, that are now in the attic, sorhewhere?"' And they both think, "What would we do without the fireplace, a constant bone of contention, because nobody wants to clean out the ashes? But we do love those late winter afternoons, with our own oak and maple sending out heat and hues, and the grandboys sprawled before it, asking crazy questions about life?" - And the wife thinks, "Some days, when I stand at the sink doing dishes, and look out at the green and the suh and the flowers, I have a piercing sense of joy, and I don't think I could ever get: that looking out a tenth-floor window." And the husband thinks, "What would I have to worry about: if there were no fifteen-foot icicles, hanging like so many swords of Damocles, right over the back door, where the Old Lady's music pupils come in?" --_ And he goes on thinking, 'What would I do in summer, if I couldn't listen to the birds, and watch the cheeky squirrels, and gaze up through the filter of my massive oak into the gold-blue sky?"' And she thinks, "I can cut down the phone bill, and make my own clothes, and shop tighter, and stop buying expensive presents for the kids." And he thinks, "I can stop smoking, and buying booze, hang onto the old car for another year, give up one of my two daily papers." And by some peculiar osmosis, they agree, despite the figures, which are con- clusive and multitudinous, that it is a lot cheaper, healthier, and generally more beneficial to hang onto the old house for another year or two. ©