The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 4, 1994 - C1 . SECTION c MALCOLM BAXTER 638- 7283 SKEENA ANGLER ~- ROB BROWN Rough rafting II NE ASSUMES TIME passes at a constant rate. The machines we build to measure it reflect that notion with mechanical precision. Wrist watches notwithstanding, anyone who has been in the midst of a disaster will tell you time takes on a new tempo, As Ed and I hung lenaciously from the boughs of a fallen cedar, fighting to get.a grip on the polentially tragic fix into which we had been so abruptly thrust, fighting the relentless pull of the river, seconds seemed like minutes. © “Let everything go, Ed,’’ I said in a voice so clear and calm the sound of it shocked me. Tonce heard a program on the famous novelist George Orwell in which a friend of Orwell’s recalled an incident when he and Orwell were , caught in the clutches of an angry sea. As vicious waves tossed their dinghy about like a bit of flotsam, and drowning seemed inevitable, Orwell sat calmly at the bow, pointed, and, in-a serene voice, made a remark about some: puffins winging over the turbulent sea in the distance. “Strange behaviour,” said Orwell’s friend to the host of the show. ‘I’ve never forgotten it”? It - was just that kind of objective detachment I felt in the midst of our mishap. The rafl was now. past the trap, There was no way (o go but with the current. Fortunately there was no log jam below: us. ‘Let go of everything, Ed,’’ U said, doing So 10 set the cxample.” The real peril in a situation like this is the pos- sibility of snagging a foot-on some underwater smire and being faced with the problem of quickly - shedding one’s waders underwater or drowning. That thought sped through my mind. as I went down then babbed up and: floated for a few feet, ~ Relief: my left toe touched bottom, then my right. . _ Time righted ilself and scrambled {o’ shore, ‘The raft, I thought, then ran back into the river to my ‘|... chest, grabbed it and rushed back to shore. “Bd! I looked upstream. He was still clutching the branch and holding onto the rods. ‘‘Gel rid of the rods!’ I yelled: “Get rid of the rads. Let go!’? The branch broke. “T can’t swim!’ Ed yelled as all but his hat dis- appeared under the water. It wouidn’t have mat- ted if he could, His unbelted waders were filled with water. I pushed the raft into the steam as Ed bobbed to the surface coughing and sputtering. I yelled, to him to grab on, but fortunately the cur- ‘rent was kind. In moments he was struggling ashore. , He stood up, totally soaked, waders ballooned ridiculously around his ankles, the remains of two expensive trout rods still elutched in his right hand. T looked downstream in time to see my bag, brimming with precious gear, two Tilley hats and the oars floaling off toward the next bend. “There's a tale to tell your grandchildren,’’ I ‘said, suppressing a laugh. Ed pecied off his waders and dropped the rods on the beach. A _ package of drowned cigarettes spilled out and hit .. the gravel with a splat. I picked them up offered one to Ed, who was now sitting on a log shaking his head. “Have a smoke, it’l] calm your nerves.” I laughed, then quickly changed the subject when I heard.a hiss of air escaping from the back valve * of the inflatable. We were a good mile from the takeout. Webb was somewhere downstream, probably attributing our delay to good fishing, We were on the wrong side of the river, and I doubted that Ed was up to the macho wade required to gain the other side. I . threw away the shards of my rod tip, recled in .Hd’s line, thankful that we still had the butt sec- tions and reels, then scrounged up two long, stout oles. A rubber boat without oars is an unwieldy thing. We spun down river toward another jam. Ed spolted one oar. With some difficulty we retrieved it and gained a little steerage, We limped downstream, bumping from side to side like a bumper car at a carnival. In front of us lay -the mother of all log jams, Webb perched alop it niolioning us to take the far channel. I'd been ~ here before and knew the way Webb was offering ' didn’t go. We dumped. ‘‘We’ve got to take this channel,” I indicated a small stream leading into . a series of logs. ‘You wanna walk around this ~ ane??! Ed nodded, I wrestled the raft over wo more logs, getting pinned, though not as seriously, against one in the ' process. From then on it was crooked bul clear sailing. We passed through the canyon and pulled the boat out on the far side, Ed was bordering on hypothermia and one of his legs had gone numb, “T can’t remember the drive home,’” he told me later. ‘‘I-drank five beer when I gol there, and -. didn’t even feel high. My: brother phoned that - -night. "It’s-a strange thing," he told. me.."For — some reason I slaried thinking about-you this aftemoon and had -an urge'-to. phone." I hadin’ t : heard from iim in years,” Ed said. KIDS START kicking the ball around the Terrace Youth Soccer association (TYSA) leagues at the age of seven years. -For the next dozen years they can continue .playing, but their 19th birthday signals the end of their TYSA playing career — toa Tt If they want to keep playing, the Terrace Men's League is the only option. And thal’s one of the reasons Ricky Fagan can’t understand why TYSA is trying to keep the Men’s League off. Christy Park fields. ‘“*Perrace Youth Soccer is doing nothing for the kids who’ve gone (hrough their system. There’s no effort to give them. anything else,’* he says, ronically, Fagan and a number of other Men’s League members coach and referec in TYSA. " Rgmember who’s teaching the .” he says, emphasizing his kid Boys will league is simply a natural prog- ression for those who have gone through the youth system. The city last month signed a contract with the league allowing it to use one of the Christy Park fields. most Sundays for jhe rest of the season. That decision has been attacked by TYSA spokesman Don Highe who says the fields should be that translaies to one and a half hours use every three wecks, hardly a threat. And even in the unlikely event such a problem arose, his organi- zation would be prepared to ad- just. “TE there’s any heavy wear and tear, then Men’s Soccer should be the first io go,’’ Fagan agrees. ‘*We want it there for the kids.’’ Fagan pointed out the simple fact is the Christy Park fields are owned and maintained by the city. reserved solely for youth soccer and extra games could threaten the condition of those fields. Fagan rejects the idea the fields are in danger. Noting the contract calls for the Men’s League to rotate from field to field each week, he pointed out But he repeats that’s not likely. Men’s league players wear regulation gear and, as recrea- tional players, are no more likely to damage the turf than the older TYSA players. Nor are they likely to subject Christy Park to any more punish- be men ment than the designed to lake. And, Fagan also pointed. out, the simple fact is the Christy Park fields are owned and maintained by the city. Meanwhile, TYSA has launch- ed an offensive designed to per- suade the city to tear up the Men’s soccer contract. © In a letter to parents of its 647 registered players, ihe organiza- fields ~ were tion is asking them to phone the mayer and councillors to voice their dissatisfaction. Attached is a list of those seven individuals complete with home and work phone numbers, Last week the city’s recreation commitiee considered ihe TYSA protest and recommended the . Tecreation department re-examine the matter and take what action, if any, it considered appropriate. That recommendation will come before council next Mon- day, June 13. Northmen merciless in rout raRone Coe HERE’S DOUGIE! closing minutes of | the Northmen-Prince | Rupert game turned into the Doug Wilson show as he strolled in for a try (at right) then moments later handed off (above) to allow Terrace to add another five points. And converting both tries left him with a 15 point tal- ly for the day, nearly one third of the team’s total in its rout of Rupert. Five more wins and the Northmen can finish with a perfect record, The IT WAS CRUEL, but not unusual punishment the . Terrace Northmen dished out in their latest meeting with the Prince Rupert. But the host club did try to ease the coasters’ pain. With the rainbow warriors short of players, the Northmen handed over a half dozen of their own in- cluding the inimitable Willie McCleary, But even that was not enough. From the opening whistle, the Northmen ran amok,. building a 29-0 lead by the half. The second stanza was more of ' the same, although Rupert kept the Northmen under more control until late in the game. However, an unlucky bounce having having left the Rupert fuliback stranded, Doug Wilson snatched the opportunity to lope in for an easy try. Moments later, Wilson was on ihe scene again, this time handing off to Rob Saarich for another major, Rupert came close to getting on the board in injury me and even got a helping hand from the ‘referee who delayed blowing the final whistle in hopes a shut out ‘could be avoided. It was not to be, however, as the ~ Northmen held their ground for a ~ 50-0 final. Saarich, Graham Bayles and George DaCosta each crossed the line twice, Ben Soucie picked up ‘one try and Wilson added five converts to lis try for a 15 point performance, The margin of the defeat was the greatest Prince Rupert has suffered in four unsuccessful meetings with the Northmen. But they still have two more chances at repeating last season’s . Surprise win over Terrace, The first comes this Saturday, game one of a Seafest double header for Rupert, the second being against Smithers Camels ‘Sunday. With the North Coast league championship all but assured, the Northmen are now trying to keep the winning streak alive and record their first unbeaten season since 1992, Cal steady on tough course ‘CALEDONIA GOLFERS - fin- ished 19 of 22 teams at the provincial championship, but coach Clayton Lloyd-Jones was well salisfied with the resull. “It’s where I expected ‘us to be,”’ he said following the May 31-June 1 tourney. With three of the. five players being substitutes, the team had realized it faced an uphill haul. However, that hadn’t changed their determination to give it their best shot and. lhat’s Just what they’d done, he added. And - those substitutes, Kevin Cage, Terry. Smith- and © Craig Johanson, performed better . than expected on a tough course. ; Moyd-Jones sald the Monday practice round gave the team an idea of just what they were up against — target greens that were far quicker than they were used to in the northwest, They quickly found they had to pull back on the force of their putts and it was. best to try to hit the green downhill of the cup. - Day. one of the championship saw warm, blustery conditions and a round that took seven hours to complete... -. -Lloyd-Jones sald the slow play - was a result of a’ number of the golfers faking too many chances, On the par'5 fourth, for exam- ple, there. was a choice: between- trying to clear the ‘water or going - to the left and accepting a couple. of extra strokes. Too many challenged the water and lost, with scores as high as 20 being recorded on that hole alone. Caledonia came out of the round with a 360 total, marginally belier than Lloyd-Jones had anticipated, ‘Mike Vandermuellen: led. ‘the | way with an cight-over 81. while: Shane. DeJong found adjusting to the fast greens a problem 2 and had to settle fora 91, ° Meanwhile, Smith. helped the Cal cause with a solid 92, ; Hitting into the wind most of the time, the players had to hit long and lost some accuracy as a result, That in turn meant-having © ta: chip. or. ‘putt from less. than " zones,”” Lloyd-Jones added ideal positions. And getting above the pin often ~~ translated into a four putt. =: * Day two proved windier but © where many teams faltered, Cal proved a model of consistency, firing a 361 total. Crediting all five golfers . on their ‘performance, Lioyd-Jones ‘noted “Everybody had Scores that counted,’” _ They also picked up valuable - experience for next year when the _ championship. will be held at Castlegar. . That’s @ wide open course with more trees, one that will suit the wit Cal golfers better, ve “But first we'll have to win the’