We do not remember days; we remember moments. ~Cesare Pavese, The Burning Brand

 Prince George athletes and teams had many memorable moments in 2012. Here are some highlights as we travel down “memory lane”:

· Before joining CIS, The UNBC Timberwolves left the PACWEST basketball league as Provincial champions. The UNBC men and women each won their second provincial title as they earned top honors at Capilano defeating VIU in the final of both divisions. (69-61 on the men’s side and 62-53 in the women’s title game). MVP honors from UNBC went to Francis Rowe for the men and Mercedes VanKoughnett for the women.

·UNBC finished with a 1-and-2 record and tied for 5th in the men’s and women’s divisions at the CCAA National Basketball Championships. The men played in Truro, Nova Scotia while the women competed in Lethbridge.

·The UNBC soccer teams had their first taste of CIS play with the men going 1-13 in league
play and the women finishing 0-9-3.

·The Prince George Spruce Kings beat the Penticton Vees 5-2 on the final day of the BCHL regular season to end the Vees Canadian Junior record 42 game win streak. Penticton would go on to capture the Royal Bank Cup.

·Scoring champ Paul De Jersey of the Spruce Kings (98 points) was named the MVP of the BCHL Interior Division.

·The Spruce Kings finished the regular season 33-21-2-4 but they lost four straight to Merritt in the first round of the playoffs.

·Jujhar Khaira of the Spruce Kings and Troy Bourke of the P.G. Cougars were selected in the third round of the NHL Entry Draft. Khaira became the highest drafted Spruce King player ever when he was picked by the Edmonton Oilers 63rd overall and Bourke was chosen 72nd overall by the Colorado Avalanche.

·Before a crowd of 4,582, the Prince George Cougars won their final 2011-12 regular season game, 4-2 over Kamloops. The Cougars though finished last in the WHL Western Conference with a record of 24-46-0-2.

·PG’s Don Nachbaur of the Spokane Chiefs became just the 4^th man to coach 1,000 regular season WHL games.

·For the third straight year the Cariboo Cougars lost the BC Major Midget League final to the Vancouver NW Giants. The Giants won in two straight 4-1 and 2-1.

·A couple of Prince George minor hockey rep teams won gold at the Provincials. PG Coast Inn came first at the Midget Tier 1 in Kelowna and PG WIC took top honors at the Bantam Female in Victoria.

·The Langley Blaze whipped Kamloops 6-1 in the final of the Provincial Senior Men’s Baseball Championship at Citizen Field. Host Prince George Grays finished 2-2.

·The nucleus of the Langley Blaze team suited up for the Host Axemen that captured top honors at the Baseball Canada senior championship in Prince George. Brandon Hunter, one of four P.G. players on the team, went 3-for-3 with a grand slam in a 9-5 victory over Windsor (Ontario) in the final. Hunter was the top batter in the tourney with a .667 average.

·The host Prince George IDL Knights won the Provincial Midget AA Baseball Championship at Citizen Field, outscoring Tsawwassen 7-3 in the final. The Knights went on to finish 1-3 at the Western Nationals in Morden, Manitoba.

·Prince George fighters earned three medals at the Canadian Elite Boxing Championships in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Kenny Lally of Inner City took gold, Thomas Spiers of Spruce Capital captured silver and Jag Seera of Inner City got bronze. Later, Lally came up two wins shy of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics at the trails in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Meanwhile, Spiers won the main event at the “Tribute to Laurie Mann” amateur card at the Northern Sport Centre.

·The three judo clubs in Prince George combined to win two medals at the national championships in Toronto. Kristen Yawney of the PG Judo Club earned silver while Lavanna Laass of the Hart Judo Club captured bronze.

·Sarah Beaudry led six P.G. athletes with gold and two silver at the Canadian National Biathlon Championships in Valcartier, Quebec. In addition, Beaudry earned silver at the Cross Country Ski Nationals in Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec.

·Emma Balazs of Kelly Road won the U18 women’s 2,000 meter steeplechase at the Legion Canadian Youth Track and Field Championships in Charlottetown, PEI. Balazs also came first in the women’s 1,500 meter steeplechase at the BC High School Track Championships in Burnaby.

·Geoff Martinson of Prince George finished third in the 1,500 finals at the Canadian Track and Field Olympic Trials in Calgary.

·The College Heights Pub Assault took the Dale Rolufs Memorial Trophy in Prince George Senior Lacrosse with a 4-game sweep over the BX Pub Bandits.

·The Duchess Park Condors earned silver at the B.C. Boys AA Volleyball Championship in Kelowna, dropping the final 3-2 to Langley Christian.

·Cedars Christian took silver at the Provincial Girls A Basketball championship at the Northern Sport Centre, falling 80-63 to Houston Christian in the final.

·Carolina, Nicholas and Lucas Hiller of the P.G. Blizzard Speed Skating Club had overall gold medals at the Canadian Age Class Long Track Championships in Fort St John. Morgan Swan and Kadeja White captured silver.

·16 swimmers from the P.G. Barracudas combined to place 7^th in the team standings with 31 medals (15 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze) at the Swim BC Provincial Championships in Richmond. Danica Ludlow led the way with six gold while Haley Black earned four gold.

·The Dennis Graber rink of P.G. won the BC Sr men’s curling Championship in Kelowna and later wound end up 4^th with a 7-4 record at the Nationals in Abbotsford.    

·The Prince George Sports Hall of Fame inducted five new members: (In the Athlete category) Lyle Dickieson in Canoeing and Speed-skating and Sylvia Hausot in Judo; (In the Coach/Builder category) David Jenkins in Lacrosse and Dale McMann in Softball and (In the Builder/Administrator category) Niilo Itkonen in Cross Country Skiing.

Yes, 2012 provided many highs, but the time has come to say our goodbyes, May you and yours celebrate with a holiday cheer, and have a very happy healthy prosperous New Year!

From the Quote Rack:

Some think it’s unfair for the NBA to have scheduled games on Christmas Day. But on a brighter note it did save the players from the tough decision of spending the day with which mother of their children.

Tim Tebow is reportedly going to the Jacksonsville Jaguars in 2013. Could be a good fit. Tebow always did a great job when surrounded by top college-level talent.

Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, Californiawww.leftcoastsportsbabe.com

 Tim Tebow may be headed for the CFL next year. Wait until he finds out that it’s not The Christian Football League. 

Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg called Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and asked him why he wasn’t shutting down RGIII in order to save him for next year.

Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver (http://alwaysfunny.com/)

49ers QB Colin Kaepernick has, as a pet, a 115-pound tortoise. As opposed to former 49er QB Y.A. Tittle who had no hare. 

Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California 

It’s the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones and the last regular season the Toronto Maple Leafs finished first overall. The difference? Since then the Stones have gotten lots of satisfaction while Leafs fans have gone way past their 19th nervous breakdown.

Singer LeAnn Rimes is in the news after her husband’s ex-wife accused Rimes of a secret addiction to laxatives. Oh well, it was bound to come out in the end.
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com      

And in case you missed it:

So to recap, the last year in New York sports was highlighted by R.A. Dickey, Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin. In other words, going, going, gone."

Len Berman of ThatsSports.com 

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to hmiller@94xfm.com.

Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller