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Hartley Miller's Slap-Shots March 10th Edition

By Hartley Miller

Dan Foster turns 57 next week. You'll have to excuse the Duchess Park Senior Boys Basketball Coach for the early celebration of his birthday. 

Last weekend, Dan’s team won the Double A provincials, and his son, Matt, earned a first all-star. This was accomplished six years after his daughter, Laura, was named MVP of the B.C. Girls Double-A Basketball Championship, which Duchess Park also won. 

How much better does it get than that?

 “Well, that's incredible. I mean to have both of your kids reach the pinnacle of their sport, and be such a strong part of the teams that they won with, and me being the basketball coach, and fanatic for a parent it's just unbelievable”, said Foster, who now considers himself retired from coaching. Needless to say, after 30 years on the job, this was Dan’s most satisfying season. 

The Duchess Senior Boys captured the B.C. Title in Kamloops with a relentless attack that was capped with a 79-73 triumph over top ranked Ladysmith. In addition, the Condors took the Team “Spirit” Award, and were named the tournament’s Most Sportsmanlike Team. Very seldom do you see the champions grab these awards because they are generally awarded to lower placed teams. Foster attributes these accolades to the closeness of the team. He says this group is friends, on, and off, the court, and many have been buddies and teammates for several years. 

Duchess Park stood out from the rest of the field because of its depth. Grade 11 guard Nathan Yu may have been MVP at the provincials, but the Condors have been anything but a one man team. Their entire starting five (Yu, Foster, Kyum Shogren, Cam Wharram and Paul Burkholder) were all named to the City League all-star team, and their bench (Charlie Gook, Samuel Raphael, Alex Coulombe, Simon Loewen, Quinn Checkley and Cole Bosmann) also contributed significantly. “The comment I got from most people that came up to me (at provincials) was that we were the deepest team in the tournament and it was a huge advantage” said Foster, who was assisted this season by former UNBC player Todd Jordan.

Duchess finished the season 44-1. This one loss was controversial because they dropped an overtime decision to host M-E-I at a Christmas tournament in Abbotsford. The Condors felt a scorekeeping error prevented them from having an additional two points in regulation time. Foster admits it would have been nice to go 45-0, but says the one loss helped reduce the pressure. Nevertheless, this is a slight blemish, on a remarkable season, an accomplishment very few teams achieve.

Now the comparisons begin. How does this team measure up with the Duchess squad that won the large school Provincials 26 years ago? “Right from the beginning, I told the boys about the team from 1980 and what made them so special was the chemistry, the single minded determination to win the Provincials, and the unselfishness of the players, and I said those are the three qualities that we want to have on our team” stated Foster, who figures his team would finish anywhere from 4th to 6th at this year's Triple-A provincials in Vancouver.

In 1980, Foster was a passenger on the fan bus that traveled to Vancouver to watch Duchess win the B.C. Championship. This year, he was in the driver's seat, and the scenery could not have been better.

Although the candles have already burned out, bring on that birthday cake! 

From the quote rack: 

• "I actually talked to my wife about that, because I thought maybe she had some input."
Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox, on being ranked number four on GQ's list of the 10 most hated athletes.

• "The news wasn't all bad, however. He also has the Cubs pegged to win the World Series in 2013."
Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times, after former Phillies catcher Darren Daulton predicted the world will come to an end on Dec. 21, 2012.

• "PETA supporter Pamela Anderson says she is thinking of boycotting the Kentucky Derby due its affiliation with KFC. We'll keep you abreast of the situation.”
Jeff Funnekotter of Calgary

• "It's a good thing I didn't die. They would have gotten two more free throws and possession."
University of Houston basketball coach Tom Penders, after he was assessed a technical foul for laying down in the coaching box, which occurred due to the fact he was having a heart attack. 

• Only In Green Bay…….There was a Packers fan with a really crappy seat at Lambeau. Looking with his binoculars, he spotted an empty seat on the 50-yard line. Thinking to himself "what a waste" he made his way down to the empty seat. When he arrived at the seat, he asked the man sitting next to it, "Is this seat taken?" The man replied, "This was my wife's seat. She passed away. She was a big Packers fan." The other man replied, "I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. May I ask why you didn't give the ticket to a friend or a relative?" The man replied, "They're all at the funeral."

--And how was your week ?

--Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94x and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the PG Free Press

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