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Sports Bill | Overton I gft Sports editor Hockey is more than just a fight on the ice When I'm watching the Winter Olympics, I try to put things into perspective when the United States' medal count is revealed. A world power, we are. A winter world power, we are not. And that's fine. Look, only roughly a fourth of the U.S. is a winter "haven" where athletes can train and prepare for their sport. And I just don't see the cross country skiing being picked up as the latest spectator craze. No, we Americans are interested not in sport, but in controversy. That's evidenced by the ridiculous amount of coverage given to the Kerrigan-Harding deal. Pray that it will quiet down now that it is finally over. Not to dwell on the subject, but did you see some of the headlines in Thursday's papers: "Tonya Tanglefoot," "Beauty Crushes the Beast" Brutal. Anyway, I know that the United States is not going to win the Olympics (at least by a medal count). But that doesn't mean I don't expect us to compete against the world's finest After all, some of my money from the charges on my VISA card are going toward that ski jumper. Funny thing I didn't see him on the leader board during last week's large hill ski jump. Oh, well. I didn’t expect some guy who spent "30 minutes in a wind tunnel" to challenge the Flying Fins. Or Norway. Or Japan. Or Budapest, for that matter. But there are some more traditional sports that concern me. One of them is hockey. Hockey. United States. Automatically, I think of ABC's A 1 Michaels doing that great call of "do you believe in miracles? Yes!" I get goose bumps every time 1 think about it. But after that improbable gold medal in 'BO, the United States hockey team has slowly deteriorated. It finished seventh in 1984 and 1988. The team surprised some people with a fourth place finish in '92. But, with a loss yesterday (if they lost), the U.S. will finish worse than any other American team in Olympic history. Why does the U.S. fail most of the time? Because the Americans don't play intelligent hockey they play NHL hockey. More often, they play minor league hockey. Rough and tumble. The harder we hit 'em, the more we'll intimidate them. Except in international hockey, the harder we hit 'em, the more time we spend in the penalty box, hockey's version of jail. All you have to do is look at the U.S.'s penalty record during the Olympic competition. It's absurd. Finland knocked the almighty Americans out with three power play goals Wednesday. This comes from a nation which thinks it knows hockey. But we hardly know how to compete against the world. Somehow, hockey in America has got to change. It needs to get a new face. It needs to be cleaned up. People need to learn to appreciate the beauty of the game rather than the blood. Hockey is big, even in the south. The East Coast Hockey League is thriving with franchises all over North Carolina. You need to look no farther than the fact that the Greensboro Monarchs are averaging about 10,000 fans a night. However, these fans don’t come to see a hockey game. They come to see a brawl. That's what they think hockey is. They've been taught that by the mother league the NHL. And believe me, you see a lot of fights in the ECHL. You see, we are a country of controversy. We like it We thrive on it. A fight is what we’re all about! The more fighting, the more the 'S’ on our chest sticks out. That's a joke. Until we learn how to play hockey with the rest of the world, we're going to be a third rate hockey country. And I don’t foresee any more miracles on ice. All I see is a massacre on ice. And every time, the Americans keep taking the beatings. Panthers Eliminated From Tournament Perry Ends Season With Third Straight Defeat By BILL OVERTON Sports Editor Perry girls basketball coach Max Vickers wished that he could start the whole night over again. With each new experience, the youthful Panthers seemed to be improving...leaming. Maybe the wins and losses didn't echo that thought, but the improvement appeared to spell consistency. Each small step was a nudge in the right direction. But Perry took a few too many leaps backward Wednesday night and found itself on the losing end of a 53-40 decision to Jones County in the opening round of the GHSA Region 2-AAA Tournament. The loss abruptly ended the Panthers' season at 9-16. For Perry, it was a frustrating end to a season that showed much promise. But despite the end, Vickers will take pride in not only the past, but the future. "I'm disappointed with the way we played,* Vickers said. "We didn't want to end it like this. "But we're not going to end the season on a negative note, whether we lost or not." Perry's nemesis appeared to once TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES TONIGHT 7 p.m. (girls) Wayne County/Jones County winner vs. Dodge County/Ware County winner 8:30 p.m. (boys) Perry/Jones County winner vs. Wayne County/Dodge County winner All games at Perry High School V 111 - 11 Rowland Receives Medal Parry senior John Rowland la presented his first pises msdal during ths Class AAA stats wrsstllng tournsmsnt In Gainesville. Rowland won four mstehss In two days to claim ths 171-pound division's blggsst prlza. Numerous reports of dying fish during cold winter weather stretches Biologists with the Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division have received numerous reports of dying fish in area reservoirs and lakes since the extreme cold weather during the week of January 18. The fish most affected are threadfin shad, a "semi-tropical" species which cannot tolerate cold water temperatures. The die-off is a natural phenomenon that has not been widespread in the last few years due to mild winters. When Girls Jones County 53 Perry - 46 again be the almighty free throw. The Panthers were only able to convert 6-21 charity tosses for a miserable 29 percent clip. Jones County didn't shoot that much better, but in this case it was the quantity, not the quality. The Greyhounds connected on 21-41 free throws (51 percent), giving them 15 more points than the Panthers just from the line. The Panthers also suffered from an off-shooting night. Leading scorer Angela Legged (18 ppg) only scored six points. The rest of Perry's limited offense had success at times, but all too often couldn't attain continuity. For example, Perry trailed by as many as seven early in the second quarter after a sluggish start. But the Panthers went on a 16-4 run to end the first half to take a 24-19 lead into the break. Jada Releford came off the bench to provide four of the points during air temperatures plummet to five degrees and below, water temperatures drop below the threshold temperature of 45 degrees and these small forage fish begin to die in noticeable numbers. The Wildlife Resources Division is monitoring these kills. The public is encouraged to report these or any fish kills to the Department of Natural Resources by contacting a local fisheries office or by calling (404) 918-6418. Houston Times-Journot the run, while Shenetia Gilbert sparked the Panthers with two consecutive three-pointers to end the half. However, things proceeded to get ugly for Perry early in the second half. The tables were reversed on the Panthers, and Jones County outscored Perry 16-4 in the third to take a five-point lead of its own. "When we slow down and get our game together instead of rushing things, we're as good as any team that we play," said Jones County coach Carl Dixon. Leading the second half rally were a pair of forces one old and one new. When the teams split the first two games of the season, Jones senior Heather Hauser scored 23 points in each game. Wednesday nighL she had 21. But the biggest boost may have been freshman forward Jennifer Trimmell. Trimmell scored 16 points, including 12 in the second half. She and Leitra Young helped keep Perry off the boards all night long. Perry tried to respond in the fourth, but just couldn't get out of first gear. After Jones pushed the lead to 13, the closest the Panthers would get was 10 points after an Amber Fendley bank shot for three points. Jones converted three out of its last four free throws to seal the win. Fendley led all Perry scorers with 12 points. No one else scored in double figures. Perry ends its season but not its hopes. Even Dixon could see the measures the Panthers had taken since Vickers took over an 0-2 team in early December. "I've got to give a lot of credit to Coach Vickers," said Jones County coach Carl Dixon. "This team has improved, probably as much as any team in the region, since he took over." Spring Sports Registration On The Horizon The Perry Recreation Department has announced that softball registration will be held Monday, Feb. 28-Friday, Mar. 11 at the recreation office on Keith Drive. There will be three leagues open for play, including men's open, church and ladies' open. The fee is $350 per team. Also, Perry Recreation baseball and softball registration will be coming up Mar. 7-18 or until full. The sign-ups are available for boys and girls ages 5-18. The age cut-off for baseball is August 1,1994 and the age cut-off for softball is September 1, 1994. Once again, registration will take place at the office on Keith Drive. The cost is sl6 for one or $32 for two or more living in the same city. For county residents, that fee goes up to $24 and S4B, respectively. For out of county residents, the fee goes up to $32 and $64. Practices are scheduled to begin in middle to late April. For more information on softball or baseball registration, call the recreation office at 988-8075 or 988-8131. Also, Ochlahatchee is holding its softball and baseball registration today in the Ochlahatchee clubhouse. Registration is open to boys 5-15 and girls 6-15. For more information, call David Knowles at 987-2820. Eddie Wiggins Tournament At Houston Lake The Houston Lake Country Club will hold the sixth-annual Eddie Wiggins Invitational this weekend. Forty teams have signed up for the three-man scramble event, with five currently on the waiting list. The two-day, 36-hole event had over $2,300 in prize money last year. Buz Wooten, Chico Hobbs and Bobby Lane are the defending champions, after shooting a two day score of 120 a year ago. The threesome won S3OO each as top prize. Saturday, February 26,1994 ■I , WBLM M ¥ Bk I M - 'l i mutt Mfr Parry's Arles Askew lilts a shot over Jones County's Heather Hauser In Wednesday night's loss. Westfield Cruises Past Brookwood By BILL OVERTON Sports Editor During the regular season, sooner or later, a team runs into a mismatch. Westfield was fortunate to have its mismatch in the first round of the state tournament. The Hornets blitzed Brookwood Academy 74-38 at the GISA tournament Thursday afternoon in Macon. The win moves Westfield into the eight team quarterfinal field, and the Hornets will face Stratford today at 4 p.m. at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon. How bad was it for Brookwood? Try a 16-2 hole at the end of one quarter of play. Or how about a 3-18 performance from the free throw line? It gave new meaning to the word "mismatch.” "You could pretty safely say that we came in expecting to win and they came in expecting to have a real tough time," I f| '. * : m \ Jy/ ‘ jigr J&tf* jgL 'BHr i Ah M ® Todd Rlgdon cuts off Brookwood's Brian Braun. page 7A Boys Westfield 74 Brookwood *sß| Westfield coach Jim Massey said. "We jumped out real quickly on them, and they really weren't ready for us." After Westfield took a 32-13 advantage at the half, the Hornets really opened the game up in the third quarter, outscoring Brookwood 27-10. Massey kept his starters on the floor for the entire quarter and they responded, especially senior Lon Talton. Talton found a comfortable spot on the right baseline and proceeded to launch three three-pointers in the quarter which probably didn't even touch metal. Talton added another putback hoop to give him 11 points in the period. Meanwhile, the rest of Please see HORNETS, page 9A