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Hartley Miller's Slap Shots - August 19th Edition

By Hartley Miller

The Prince George Canfor Knights Baseball Team’s last two losses stick out in one’s mind like a naked picture of Paris Hilton. How can a team compile an 8-0 record, outscoring the opposition 61-23, and then lose its final two games by a 37-5 count? 

The Knights had a successful season winning the BC Championship, and earning bronze at nationals, yet an outsider may wonder what happened at the end? 

The city's 15-16-year-old all-star baseball team easily won the Provincials on the Lower Mainland, posting a 4-0 record outscoring the opposition 25-3, including 6-2 in the final over Coquitlam. 

Next, it was on to the Canadian Nationals in Ontario. The BC champions started the tournament with a 4-0 record, knocking off host East Nepean 9-5, Quebec 6-3, the Prairies 12-9 and Atlantic 9-3.
 
Then, the trouble began. 

It started with a game against Thunder Bay, Ontario. Both teams were 4-0 at the time, and had semi-final spots locked up. However, each team took a different approach to the game. Ontario wanted to win and PG played it like an exhibition, not using one of its top four pitchers, and switching players around defensively. Well, the Knights “took it on the chin” losing 24-2. PG then played East Nepean in the semi-finals and the effects from the previous game showed with the hosts breezing to a 13-3 slaughtering. (Thunder Bay went on to crush East Nepean 8-0 in the final).
 
What is the moral of the story? 

Never let down, especially with teenagers, even if you think there's nothing on the line. Manager Randy Young, and his coaching staff of Derek Knight and Jake Kral, learned the hard way. At the conclusion of the tournament Young said, “Did we make the right decision? Well, that's something we talked about and maybe we didn't, but at the time that's what we thought was the best decision to save our best 3 guys”. It's always easy to second guess and that's part of the fun of sports. Yes, there is no substitute for experience.

PG Canfor should be delighted with its positive results this season. They have learned a valuable lesson this year, and maybe this will help the Knights strike gold and be in shining armour next year.
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The recent appointment of Mike Hawes as the Prince George Spruce Kings Assistant Coach is yet another example of who you know and not what you know. Head Coach Ed Dempsey appointed his buddy, instead of other more experienced, and dare I say, more qualified candidates, including Trevor Sprague. The team didn't even have the decency to inform Sprague of the decision before Hawes' appointment became public. Hawes has limited coaching experience (bantams), but Hawes and Dempsey are known to get along well, especially on the social scene. Sprague, on the other hand, did a remarkable job last season of turning around the Cariboo Canucks Major Midget Team.
Why weren’t they both hired? Well, two's company and three's a crowd.
It's not the first time Sprague has been shafted by the Spruce Kings. As the saying goes, good guys do finish last.

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A wise move on the part of promoters to have local content on the Battle of Hockey Enforcers card August 27th at the CN Centre.
Former PG Spruce King Trent Potskin will be among 16 Tough Guys to participate. The 31-year-old should have quite a cheering section with plenty of friends and family expected to attend. At 245 pounds, Potskin is not taking this opportunity  "lightly. "

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Clean up time? From the management of the Grand Rapids Rampage, which went 1-15 in the Arena Football League. Its season-ticket renewal packages included rolls of toilet paper that had 1-15 on each sheet. And the rolls were wrapped in this message:
"It's time to put last season behind us."


And, how is 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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