OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER. NOVEMBER 22, 2006 Rin ANDREW BAILEY CONTRIBUTOR Relax your mind and allow your sub- conscious to float backwards in time. Towards an era of long hair, political unrest, psychedelic drugs and free-love for everyone. The year was 1963, Fred Penner was just turning seventeen years old, John Diefenbaker was heading out of office making room for Lester B. Pearsons reign as Canadian Prime Minister and the Canadian government was beginning a thorough investigation into the ever present threat of rabies in bats and racoons. It was truly a magical time for Canadians and therefore many found themselves far too distracted with all the excitement of the new era to ac- complish much of anything. However one Canadian was too busy coming up with a revolutionary new creation to notice the incredibly wonderful hap- penings around him, and his creation would inevitably shatter the status quo's relationship with leisure. In fact, it cre- ated a purple haze over any memories composed before 1963 causing them to be forgotten. thus the very existence of a time before 1963 became obsolete. This Canadian heros name was Sam Jacks, and the glory which he alone is credited, was achieved through his invention of the incomparable and uncompromis- ing sport of Ringette. It would become Captio a source of 1g pride for genera- tions to come. The late Sam Jacks held the highly esteemed position of Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of North Bay, Ontario, and therefore was the per- fect source for innovation in the budding Canadian sporting industry, Sammy Jack's creation was motivated by his “particular interests to develop an on-ice skating game for females’. Coincident- ally, Billy Joel, the only man to possibly be considered Sammy's peer, produced an equally inspiring sensational creation “Up Town Girl” was released exactly 20 years later in 1983, but that is of course a fact for the conspiracists and has no place for exploration in this article so do with it what you will. The Northern Ontario Directors Municipal Recrea- tion Association immediately chose their best man Red McCarthy who was currently serving as the Recreation Director for Espanola with such a bril- liantly flawless tact that he was obvious- ly the only man with a mind intellectual enough to experiment with a basic set of Ringette rules and put Sammy's magical concept into practice. McCarthy knew that the priceless po- _tential of greatness that this sport could bring meant that it needed to be born in an equally radiant location and it just so happened that he found, nestled in 4 ette the most beautiful part of north-east- ern Ontario, the dynamic community of Espanola. It was here that “the first Ringette game ever, [was] played by an Espanola high school women’s hockey team.” Since its birth in Espanola Ring- ette has taken off and claimed its place among The Sphinx, Stonehenge, and the Pyramids to become one of the worlds spectacular wonders. Ringette’s valued presence in today’s fast paced technological world of pop- culture is evident throughout the abun- dance of Ringette-mania which is put on display every year by the Canadian Ringette Championships sponsored by the once powerful Canadian chain turned sell-out conglomerate of the evil agenda perpetuating American co-operation Wendy's. Tim Horton himself however would be delighted to know that his name is affiliated with such an incredible awe-inspiring event. There is absolutely no excuse for miss- ing such a demonstration of human grit and determination and therefore if you failed to witness Quebec's domination in all three divisions of the 2006 event in April I strongly advise you leave the maxim magazine on the shelf next year and experience the sensation which is Ringette. n Contest of great fame in the field com- edy? Submit a ‘caption for this picture, tobe — printed in the next issue of Over the Edge. Then, all you have to do is. wait for those caption-group- ©. ies to maul you | with sexyness. pat ©: SPORTS 7 DANA BELLIS STAFF WRITER An eventful weekend took place in Vancouver, with the women's rugby team competing against UBC. A try was scored by our own star Natalie Nguyen in the first half. In the second half Jamie Davidson, an old UNBC player who now plays for SFU, scored the second try of the game. Converts for both try’s were kicked by Kim Roy. The final score of the game was 21-19 for UBC. Heading into the game, UNBC womens team was short one player. Nora King, an old time UNBC player, came to help out her old team by playing Scrum Half. During the game two play- ers were lost to injury. One of these play- Rugby in Vancouver ets was Kristine Bock who collided head on with one of her own team mates. With a large gash on her forehead she went off the field, but came back in for the last twenty minuets of the game for the Scrum Half. Michelle Pask tore her meniscus in her knee, and will be out for the rest of the season. With this semester's season wind- ing down to an end, the women’s team will be taking a break till January 2007. Keep a look out for the big Hawaii Luau Dance Party towards the end of January. If you enjoyed the Halloween dance, this dance will be for you. A tropical break form the cold winter months of Prince George will be a great retreat to energize you for second semester. Player of the Week Name: Natalie Nguyen Position: Standoff Natalie Nguyen is one of the high- lights of UNBC women's rugby team. On the field she can be found taking charge of even the most chaotic situa- tion, and has been playing rugby for five years, Named all star by UBC in her last game, Natalie shows how a standoff should be played. Off the field Natalie is a second year student, majoring in marketing, _ For those interested gentlemen she enjoys long walks, and can be found tear- ing it up on Dance Dance Revolution. British Man Becomes First Non-Canadian Rock Paper Scissors World Champ ERIN MILLAR CUP PRESIDENT TORONTO (CUP) -- Bob Cooper's fist trembled as he waited for the cue from the referee. His dark sunglasses shielded his eyes from his opponent's intense stare as he considered one of the most important decisions of his life: rock, paper or scissors? Weeks of extensive training, hundreds of qualifying rounds both in the UK and Canada, and at least half-a-dozen Steamwhistle beers culminated in this moment, the final round of the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships in Toronto. And with a final throw of his fist, Cooper became the 2006 RPS World Champ, winning the $7,000 first-place prize. The fifth-annual tournament attract- ed over 500 competitors to the Steam- whistle Brewery in Toronto on Nov. 11. Athletes vying for the coveted title came from the U.S., Norway, New Zealand, Australia, Wales, England and Ireland to compete, “I went through extensive training, read strategy guides, and studied the 27 possible RPS gambits before compet- ing,’ said Cooper, a 28-year-old sales manager from London. He declined to comment further on his strategy, as he intends to defend his title next year. Graham Walker, tournament organ- izer and co-author of the “Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide’, hopes that RPS's increasing popularity will make the world a better place. “RPS is not about major decisions like Iraq or something silly like that,’ he explained. “It is about those small un- resolved disputes in life, like front seat of the car or two kids and only one choc- olate bar. What we're trying to do with this society is make the world a slightly better place by promoting the use of RPS instead of bickering or fighting.’ The event was hosted by the World RPS Society, an organization that has evolved out of the governing body founded in England in the mid-1800s. The organization was moved to Canada in 1918 after its members found’ that post-First World War Britain had be- come “far too dangerous a place to make a suitable home country for a game of conflict resolution,’ says the groups website. The members chose Canada be- cause they fele it was a “safe, ‘hospitable, and utterly inoffensive nation.’ Doan: Lam, coach of the Norwegian team, explained that his-team analyzed international playing styles as well as their-own tendencies in preparation of the competition. “You have to know yourself to beat your opponent,’ he said. However, top Norwegian player Geir Arne Brevik stated that it was not strat- egy that got to him to the World Cham- pionships, “It was just a coincidence ... and here I am.’ The tournament was sternly refereed by “the cream of the crop” organizers announced as they swore in the referees - during the opening ceremony. The ref- etees pledged to “maintain the utmost respect for the game of RPS, control the player effectively with courtesy without sacrificing firmness, and live up to the credo of the ideal official who notices everything but is seldom noticed them- selves,’ among other things. Despite the strict refereeing guide- lines, at least one competitor felt that he was unfairly disqualified. Andre (Fran- kie Thirteen) Bennett of Philadelphia claimed that the ref who disqualified him favoured his Canadian opponent. Referee Ben Coli dismissed the criti- cism.“No RPS referee would ever allow personal preferences to affect his profes- sional standards, he said.“My colleagues here tonight are the best of the best and hold respect of the game far above petty patriotism. Bennett is obviously just un- happy with the outcome of his perform- ance.” If there was any Canadian bias, it didn't affect the outcome of the tourna- ment, In addition to Great Britain tak- ing first place, Bryan Bennett of Glen Ridge, N.J., took second place to win $1,500 and Tom Smith of Philadelphia, Pa., came in third to win $500.