Hartley Miller's Slap-Shots December 4th, 2009

Friday, December 04, 2009 03:45 AM

The BCCAA basketball schedule certainly is not fan friendly. This is a complaint that surfaces every year, but always falls on “deaf ears”.

The league has reached its break with four of the 10 weekends complete. The problem lies with home games, in particular in the manner in which the league schedules home games throughout the season.

UNBC provided hundreds of fans a taste of what promises to be an excellent season when they swept Quest in a doubleheader last weekend. There was a buzz in the air at the Northern Sport Centre

and the atmosphere was electric, particularly on opening night, as the Timberwolves improved to 6-1 in both the men and women’s divisions. The results leave both teams in a tie for second place.

However, this is where enthusiasm drops like a parachute. The Timberwolves will not play another home game until January 22. That date will start a string of three consecutive home weekends and four out of five.

I understand that because of exams and the Christmas break that the league will not schedule games in December, but the large gap in home dates needs further examination.

The problem is attendance for games on the Lower Mainland is miniscule, so because of this apathy on the coast, the rest of the province will not have their needs met.

A solution to this problem is to schedule UNBC four home dates in November (instead of two), and five spread out over January and February.

The other issue is that the Timberwolves only play half the teams in the league at home with the other half on the road. This change to doubleheaders against the same team was implemented a

couple of years ago to reduce travel costs.

Let's examine the UNBC home schedule:

· Two dates against Quest, a relatively new University. The Quest women are 4-4 and the men are 3-5. The games really were not that competitive with the UNBC men winning 86-64 and 109-87.

It was a bit closer in women’s play, but certainly non-dramatic with scores of 76-62 and 72-60.

· Next, is Kwantlen January 22 and 23rd. Kwantlen is 2-5 with the men and 4-3 with the women. I doubt there will be a last second buzzer beater in the featured men’s games.

· Yes, UBCO will be in PG January 30 but its only one game. The Kelowna based team is 6-1 for the men and 7-0 for the women. Now, that is one weekend where a double header would be welcome.

· Then, Douglas arrives on February 6th and 7th. Do not get too excited as the Douglas men are 1-6 and the women are 0-7. Let's face it, a wasted weekend.

· Vancouver Island will conclude the regular season February 19 and 20th. Now that weekend should be a dandy as VI is 7-0 (men) and 6-1 (women) with playoff positions and byes on the line.

So, what is my point? UNBC plays nine home games, seven of them crammed into five weekends. During this span, only three home games are really worth getting inspired about, the two against VIU

and the match vs UBCO.

One aspect of this dilemma is the huge competitive gap between top and bottom teams. The CBC, Douglas, and Langara women remain winless with no realistic chance at securing one of the six-playoff berths.

Meanwhile, on the men’s side, six of the 10 teams have losing records and based on overall results are not competitive with the top four. Depending on the year, some teams rise and others fall, so any future

change will be long term.

Ah, the heck with it! This year, the Timberwolves competitiveness raises and reiterates the issue that UNBC has progressed to a point where it needs to leave the BCCAA and join the CIS. Let's hope not all

the extensive work former Athletics and Recreation Director, Len McNamara, and his committee did last season is wasted, and that those that are remaining in the current athletic department again make a

strong push in 2010 to get acceptance into Canada West come the spring. UNBC and its loyal supporters deserve nothing less.

From the quote rack:

Loblaws, Ryerson University and the Canadian Government have announced plans to turn Maple Leaf Gardens into a combination student athlete facility and supermarket.

Well, it has been about 40 years since the historic arena housed a professional hockey team.

Ndamukong Suh, a DT (Defensive Tackle) from Nebraska, is next year’s probable number one NFL draft pick. He is nonetheless considered a long shot even to make it to

New York for the Heisman ceremony. To the chagrin of many fans of great defensive players, and to the relief of many sportscasters and copy editors.

Drew Brees threw for five touchdowns Monday against New England to five different players. To put that in perspective, the Oakland Raiders have five passing touchdowns

to three different players. For the SEASON.

On three separate occasions after his accident, Tiger Woods cancelled a meeting with police. Which is odd, usually it doesn't take Tiger that long to figure out how to play a bad lie.

Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California (www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com)

Tiger Woods smashed a fire hydrant outside his neighbor’s house early Friday morning and suffered a cut lip in the crash. His Cadillac Escalade has $5000 to $8000 in damage.
It is the worst injury he’s suffered since accidentally stepping on a sand trap rake when in college.

Comedy writer Jerry Perishohttp://monologuewriter.blogspot.com/

A report says that Tiger Woods was unconscious for six minutes after his traffic accident last week. Upon hearing this, John Daly was pleased to say his PGA Tour record of forty two minutes blacked out in a Hooter's parking lot is still intact.
Comedy writer Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va (http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.com/)

It's taken awhile, but this morning I finally outdrove Tiger Woods.

Bret Bearup (Denver Kid)

So Keith Ballard's one handed stick whacking of his own goalie is the most watched clip on YouTube with over 1,000,000 hits. Leading the viewership: Elin Woods.
Comedy writer Marc Ragovin of New York

Cincinnati WR Chad Ochocinco now has his own brand of condoms. Guess stick em is making a comeback.

A judge in Nova Scotia has ruled that the Happy Gilmore golf shot is now illegal there, citing that it 'breaches the standard of care owed to other players on the course'.

Bob Barker's lawyer called it a great victory.
Serena Williams, who was just fined $82,500 for her wild tirade in the U.S. Open, is a Jehovah's Witness. So that's who tried to break down my front door.

Ron Artest is being investigated for welfare fraud after a report surfaced that he was giving money to his sister while she received welfare payments. I don't think that's

what Kobe meant when he said the Lakers needed more assists.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

A Canadian stamp sold for $260,000 US at a New York auction, the highest price ever paid for a single Canadian stamp. According to the Canadian Press,

the 1851 black 12 pence pre-Confederation stamp bears images of Queen Victoria and Don Cherry.

Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix

And in case you missed it:

Top 5 signs you have too many men on the field
# 5 The down lineman has a Pilsner hat on
# 4 You have to take off both shoes to count them all
# 3 One players is wearing number .08
# 2 There is a fight to see who will snap the ball
# 1 You manage to disappoint both the Rider Nation and your elementary school math teacher
Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgary (http://smacksport.blogspot.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.

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