Over the Edge + January 18,2006 .

Sports a nd Clubs

11

Point/Counterpoint

Looking at the Merits of Overtime

Battle to the death or just accept a tie? Pick your side with Point/Counterpoint.

CHRIS O’LEARY/JAKE TROUGHTON
THE GATEWAY
(UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA)
EDMONTON (CUP) - Imagine
you and a friend have stepped into a
time machine, Instead of landing in a
situation that's both fun and seamlessly
flawless, like being Louis XIV, the two
of you find yourselves the focus of
thousands of Romans, ready to watch
the two of you fight to the death. After
your standard brutish brawl, you're
both bloodied and beaten, yet there the
both of you are still alive, At the conclu-
sion of these events, the Romans didnt

bellow out to the spectators that both
combatants fought valiantly, and since
they both made it this far, that they
were going to let them go to fight an-
other day. No, it was at this point that
things got interesting. And by interest-
ing, I mean they let the lions out.

With the lions on the battlefield; do
you think you and your friend would
join hands and walk to face your fate
together? Hell no. One of you would
probably push the other at the lions
and all the Romans would go home

happy.
While fighting to the death and be-

TUCOWS DEVELOPER

ing fed to the lions didnt quite make
it through the ages, the spirit of these
competitions lives on in overtime.

As you're growing up, parents and
coaches stress that sports are just for
fun, but once you get into the competi-
tive stuff the gloves come off. Everyone
involved has put in too much time and
money to step off the ice/field/pitch/
court and have nothing resolved—and
that’s not even considering the fan's
perspective.

Let's say, for whatever reason, you're
an Oilers fan. You save up all year and
bought the best seat in the house, and

before you can even pay too much for
your beer, in typical Oilers fashion, the
team gets down a goal or two quickly.
If you're a long-time fan though, you
know how these things go. The Oil
fight back, cutting the lead down to
one midway through the third. In
the game's dying: seconds, Edmonton
pulls their goalie, .and miracle of mir-
acles, they score with two seconds left.
Rexall’s going bananas, the Flames are
reeling, and this game is far from over.
Tt needs extra time.

So why does the game have to end?
Overtime is the most dramatic part of
the game, It's where legends are made
and legacies are formed. How could
you possibly be content with two teams
resolying nothing in regulation?

COUNTERPOINT

When our parents told us that sport
is all about having fun, they were, of
course, full of crap. But that doesnt
mean it’s all ‘about winning, either. It's
about sportsmanship—win, lose, or
even tie.

The juvenile North American no-
tion that a tie game “solves nothing” is,
quite frankly, contrary to that spirit.
It elevates base competitiveness above
all else, demanding that athletes and
fans refuse to accept the outcome of an
evenly contested match until one team
has been artificially subjected to an
undeserved defeat. A tie solves exactly
what any other result solves: the ques-
tion of how two teams match up on a
given day. When it happens that they're
even, people should have the grace to
accept that.

A hockey game, for example, is 60
minutes long, If the score is even at

the end of that time, then the game
has been tied, Putting the game in the
books as a tie is an accurate reflection
of what happened that particular day.
Sure, no one’s going to be ecstatic about
a tie, but evetyone hates losing, and it's
hardly fair to extend a game just.to en-
sure that someone experiences it.

Of course, overtime is needed in the
playoffs. Then, and only then, should it
be necessary. We can still respect that
two teams are even,. but since there's
only room for gne of them in the next
round, you have:to continue.

Our insistence on crowning a winner
above all else wreaks havoc. If we ab-
solutely must break a tie, the only rea-
sonable way to do so is by continuing to
play the sport that’s being played.

But it seems ‘that's quickly becoming
an anachronism. "Take a recent Oilers/
Flames game. The two teams came out
even after battling for 65 minutes, but
that wasn't the end of things; instead
of settling the draw, the teams. were
forced to take turns skating unopposed
at the net until. one team could score
more than the other. The “winner” was
essentially determined by a skills com-
petition. How is that in any way more
satisfying than just accepting the tie?

Evidently there are still those whose
interest in sports has the same motiva-
tions as the Romans who paid to see
slaves forced to battle to the death, but
some of us have a more subtle under-
standing of the spirit of sport. There's
more to competition than seeing some-
one bloodied up, and as people come to
recognize that, they'll learn to appreci-
ate and enjoy the good, old-fashioned

tie.

Choir Rocks My Socks All The Way Off

ELIZABETH FYLES
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Thinking back on my childhood
(which, surprisingly, gets to be more
and mote years ago), I always remem-
ber my parents singing my siblings and
me songs before bedtime. Now, I'm not
sure how everyone else grew up, but
singing was always a huge part of my
life when I was growing up. I joined
‘my school choir in elementary school
and loved to show off by singing loud
and proud, but, because of “small town
issues’ (ie. few people and less funding),
the high school did not offer a choir

and the community choir was basically
non-exisistant. I was taken by surprise,
however, when I came to UNBC and
found that the choir here was in almost
as bad a state. With only one, count
him, one male in the choir this past
semester, and only a handful of other
girls, I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to
bother. Sill, I have persevered and come
to really enjoy the nights I sing in the
UNBC choir.

I know that some people who like
to sing casually are scared off by small
numbers because they are more likely to

-actually be heard by the audience (and

believe it or not, the other members of
the choir), but the thing about getting
more people to be in a choir is that
more people have to join. Other people
might not join because the songs are

“« there is a wide var-
iety: from the Andrews
Sisters to Enya, from
gospes and hymes, to
children’s songs like“The
Cate Came Back...”

not their “type” of music, and, though I
cannot promise that everyone will like
every song, I can say there is a wide var-
iety: from the Andrews Sisters to Enya,
from gospels and hymns, to children’s
songs like “The Cat Came Back’, and all
sorts of in-betweens... if you are inter-
ested in music, there will be songs that
you will enjoy. If you are worried that
you wont be as accomplished a singer
as everyone else, all the more reason to
join up and practice. There is also no
reason to feel like you will be behind
everyone else, because, at the last prac-
tice there were eight new faces.

‘The choir holds a concert at the end
of the semester to showcase all the
songs we have practiced over the year.
Don't let this stop you from joining, be-
cause the concert will be fun, not scary,
Besides, we should all face our fears at
some point.

The UNBC choir meets on Tuesday
nights at 7:30 in the Senate chambers
of the Administration building. The
cost is $25 a semester, which pays for
music, our director's time, and other
odds and ends. Come, try something

new and sing in the choir.

Knowledge is power. Increase yours.

GRADUATE STUDIES at. Queen’s
_ Where the best get better

Continue your education with uu WWW.queensu.ca/sgsr

Bs