ap

Bird watching makes a fine counter-
point to angling.

Harly and Jate in the season this is
especially so. Last week, for example,
while hunting cutthroat with Finlay in
a Skeena slough, I spotted a pair of
hocded mergansers, a mallard couple,
varied thrushes, an ow] and an eagle.

Though we didn’t see any, there was
also plenty of evidence that the slough
had been visited by that elusive bird,
the common dork -- scissorbillus her-
ribitis.

Beer cans littered the path and a bait
can lay atop the reeds next to the
plastic shucks of two lure packages
and instructions for their use.

Unlike most species, the male dork
is a drab creature often distinguished
by a cotton breast bearing a brand
name or clever saying, Denim legs, a
protuberant belly and ever-present

. baseball bill, are other sure signs.

The female is even less dis-
tinguished, usually sporting the same
garb and sharing an appetite for chew-

" ing gum and cigarettes.

The dork likes to find fun out of
doors, One finds evidence of them
along all but the remotest spots, and
some times even there. ;

i recali pulling ashore before a run
on a wilderness river I was sure few
eyes had seen.

Seated on the gunwale of the raft
fastening a fly, I noticed a couple of
empty beer cans, yellow with Beer in

’ generic blue, and an empty. cigarelte

package lying near my Feet.
My heart sank.
Sure enough, on day two of our trip

_ We came upon.two.dorks preparing to...
burn’ a” “large” pile ‘of ‘plastic shects

they’d used to construct the camp.

Beer bottles and leflovers were
strewn about the area, They said they
were fishing guides, but we knew by
their beaks and- behaviour we were in
thé presence of Scissorbillus Hor-
ribillus.

We declined an invitation to camp
there as well. Time spent with dorks i is
depressing, ,

Those birds were not typical. Get--

" ting to that place had to have: taken

them considerable effort and. your
average dork is inherently lazy.
Apparently common dorks are al-

“ways cold,‘ for places where dorks

have been are invariably stained with
the remains of crudely constructed fire
pits containing partially burnt cartons
and bottles -- dorks, itseems, have. nol
yet discovered that glass will not burn
in a campfire’s low heat.

Dorks are clever enovgh to know

| that wood bums’ though, but since.
- they will not exert themselves they in-,

discriminately hack away at the.

‘stream side vegelation rather than ex-.

pend a little effort to locate dead bran-
ches and other dry wood in the forest.
. In one particularly distressing in-
stance, a flock of dorks recreating
near the mouth of Herman Creek was
casting about for fuel nearby and
found a carefully carved sign erected
as a memorial to a well-known local
angler who died tragically and young.

With callous disrespect they
smashed the sign i in two and burnt half
of it.

There is some evidence that dorks
can read, :but little. evidence, they do,

- Some: ornithologists suspect the Hunt-

ing. and Fishing. Regulations are

‘beyond the reading ability of the com-
‘mon. dork; a more likely explanation

- is they simply do not want to make

~ the effort to obtain and read the rules.

“T'm ‘told by expert dork watchers

- that the dork is ¢ither born with, or in
- fis infancy, ‘develops an exaggerated

sense of its rights, but almost no sense

. of obligation:

. For adork, regulations apply only to
others and are made by bad men who

* geek. to citcumscribe. his fun. This

revulsion for regulation is written in

~ pullet holes on every slop sign’ and

Wildlife notice along woodland roads,
I've seen dorks throw dry wall into
the Copper, River. I've liad thé mis.

: fortune of stepping in dork dung on
trails beside: the river, I’m -always

amazed and vexed by their behavior.
I.wish:L could say the dork was an

endangers species, ‘but bird watchers -.
. say indicate Scéssorbillus. Horribittus. :

populations have «more in common

“with: the! Buepcan staring than the
: spotted ow OW.

The Prince George Gnals saw red in
their. April 17 rugby exhibition match
here.

Red as in the Terrace Northmen’s

shirts.

~ And it left hem green with envy as the

hosts squashed the Gnats 27-12.

BACK IN ACTION. The Terrace No
their season the way they intend to

North Coast Rugby Union League...winning, But
Prince Rupert made the Northmen work hard for the

Help!

Minor soccer needs you!

More accurately, there are a bunch of
young soccer players that do, ©

Their problem is they can’t start play-

’ ing until they’ve got a coach.

Terrace . Youth Soccer . Association
(TYSA) president ‘Bev Butjas said the
new season is scheduled to get underway
Saturday, May 8. ;

But at the moment, only the younger
players -- 7-10 year olds -- are certain
they'll be kicking off that day, she

added.

In the older divisions, five coaches for
certain and possibly lx a are still necded,
she explained,

The gaps are for teams in the under-19
boys; under-19 girls, under-15 boys,

_ under-13 girls and under-12 boys divi-

sions,

Butjas said TYSA registration this year
fell just three short of the 600 mark.

That’s a record sign-up and has led toa
planned three team expansion for the °93
campaign.

However, unless, coaches come. for-
ward, the shine: will be taken off this te-
markable season’ and there could be
some ~ very: disappointed Players out
there,

‘Anyone determined to make sure that
doesn’t happen can phone Butjas at 635-

"And don't worry if you lack experi-

~encet TYSA lays on ‘free coaching
: clinics.

“The leagues could also use some more

» volunteers for refereeing.
Butjas sald a number of last year’s of-
-ficials had. since moved away and the -

newcomers hadn’ t yet covered the. short-

- fal.
Referees - are, also ‘something Minor
Soccer can never have too many of, she’
“added,
_ We always rieed referees, capecilly_
for the older ones’, games :
‘. To get your-name, on: that list, phone.
~ “Mal Belina at 638-0116. .
Who knows, afew ‘years, down ihe road:
a kid you coached: or refereed ‘could be.
th World

wearing. € Canad, s colo

For the Northmen, this season opening
match-up has become a tradition. So has
winning it.

The tonc was set just four minutes in
when Terrace’s Willie McCleary launch-
ed a mile high up-and-under, Doug Wil-
son gathering in the ball and breezing by

rthmen opened
carry on in the

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, fer 28, 1993 - Page C1

orthmen squash Gnats

PG’s last line of defence for the try.

Wilson then sent the conver! through
{he uprights for a 7-0 Northmen lead.

(Rule changes introduced at the end of
last season mean a try is now worth five
points, one more than previously. Con-

victory, holding the Terrace team pointless in the first
half. However, the Northmen breached the coastal
team’s defensive wall in the second, racking up four
tries on the way ta a 22-7 victory.

verts still count for two.)

Stung by that early score, the ‘Gnats
drew in their defensive horns, holding
the home team at bay unlil 10. minutes
from the half. ;

With Terrace knocking ‘at the door,
veteran Northman and playing. captain
Ernie Dusdal scooped up the ball from
the back of the scrum and bulled:his way
over. 7 a

Wilson again made good. on the con-
vert to double the Bap to 14, the’ margin

"al the break.

The Northmen kept up the momentum
in ihe second half when two new faces
combined for the team’s third major.

Having picked up a loose ball at mid-
field, playing coach John Turpin bobbed
and weaved his way around four hapless
Gnats before shapping off a crisp pass lo
winger Rob Sarich.

Sarich's years of high level. rugby
showed as he evaded the Jast two de-
fenders to go over: 19-0 Northmen.

Sarich has recently transferred to Fin-
ning’s Terrace operation while Turpin’s
move north came with ICBC. Both are
experienced players who will doubtless
figure prominently in Northmen tri-
umphs this season.

Minutes later Terrace were awarded a
penalty kick in the shadow of the posts,
Wilson making up for his earlier convert
miss for a 22-0 lead,

The Norihmen’s fina] marker in the
rout came from George DaCosta with 10
minutes left in the game.

Capping a strong perfonnance at scrum
half, DaCosta broke the deadiock of
several goal line scrums by plunging
over the Linc.

Now up 27-0, Terrace backed off in the
closing minutes, allowing the Gnats to
swarm to a couple of tries, one. con-
verted, for the 27-12 final.

While the win was a convincing one
for the home squad, Prince George’s
challenge had been blunted early in the
game with some costly injuries.

The visitors also claimed to be:suffer- .

ing ibe effects of S! bus lag”, said. teferee
David Hull. "

With the numerous rule changes intro-
duced fast fall by International Rugby
Union and some players not” having
memorized the new ones, Hull said ‘the
game featured some confusion. and
spirited discussion.

However, he added, “In realily the
vast majorily never really knew the okl
rules elther,’’

AT-YOUR SERVIC

“son ‘Saturday with a fun mere. c ihe a chance to loosen up the muscles
“and: sb the skilig that will be needed to win the re major events to come.

‘ banned from the courts because ©

Anyone.
for
tennis?

The Terrace Tennis club offi- -
cially got its '93 season under
way over the weekend with a fun
tournament on Saturday.

And such is the enthusiasm of
its members, not even the oc-
casional shower could dampen
participants’ spirits.

However, the slippery condition
of the Skeenaview courts did re-
quire an unusually caulious ap-
proach when it came to chasing
shots.

Although the cours are open to
the general public, those wishing
to use the them should note there
are some restrictions.

The Skeenaview facility is.
reserved for tennis club members
only every Tuesday, Thursday
and Sunday evening from 6 p.m.
to dusk,

There will also be occasional
weekend-long closures when the
club is holding a tournament.

The club also asks peaple to ob-
serve certain couriesics.

When other people are wailing
to use a court, those playing are
limited to half an hour’s tennis or
one sch

Also, rollerblades, skateboards,
hockey sticks and bicycles are all

they can damage the surface.

Other than that, the club’s mes-
sage is, ‘Have fun and enjoy the
game of tennis.’’

And anyone who finds they’re
enjoying it so much they'd like to
join the club simply has to drop
down to the courts any club night
and introduce themselves, «