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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1992-06-10, Page 17Strange, but true wise man once said that everything should be taken in moderation. Too much of a good thing can sometimes prove more of a hindrance than a help. Take pregame rituals in sport. Nearly every athlete follows some sort of pregame pattern. There are soccer players who milmmissmillimiliallmlom insist on putting shinpads, socks and shoes on their left foot before their right. Hockey players who tape their stick a cer- tain way before every game. Baseball fielders who make sure to tag second on their way to play the field. Goaltenders in any sport who talk to their goalposts. And then there is the most important unwritten rule in ath- etics. Never mess with a winning streak. White many are wt overly supersddous, myself included, this is one golden ale you never break, no matter how nerve racking it be - mines. After winning our first game while helping to coach South Iuron's junior boys' soccer team, 1 quickly adopted .a pre- tamc_pattem for our sectMd.101Me based on die on balm, 3on't change the luck. 12 p.m. - come home for lunch. 12:28 - go to same store, purchase oranges from same bin; go to same cashier. 12:50 - ake fifteen minute nap, change into 'lucky' shirt, cut oranges, ;et water and go to field. We went three games in a row without a loss and the ritual 3ecame an easy one to follow. Then came the first -place showdown with Listowel and you can imagine my panic when I came down to find my mother had done me a favour and cut the oranges. I had fits before the game but the boys played well and we won a nailbiter 3-1. PHEW! Narrow es- cape, don't let it happen again. With a record of 5-0 we played St. Mike's in Stratford. For the first time our game followed that of the seniors and I broke with tradition by sharing our oranges with a senior player. We lost the game 1-0, our only blemish on the way to the title—Sorry Sorry guys. Maybe it sounds ridiculous but many athletes will tell you different. A player on a streakhasto respect the streak, be- cause they don't happen very often. If you believe you're playing well because you're eating hotdogs or not eating hot- dogs, because you tape your stick_ a certain way or because you wear a certain cap, then you are. In 1986 as a senior at South Huron our soccer team had to play the Huron -Perth final in Goderich. For good luck I had always chewed sugarless, peppermint Dentyne; my ever faith- ful 'blue' gum. Being out ten mirmtes before the bus left, I sent my then girlfriend in a mad dash to find some. To :my horror she instead returned-with/ed. If you asked her today she would probably still argue, like she did then, that it was a sully superstition. But two facts re- main; I chewed red gum and we lost the game 5-3. But while it's wonderful winning, honouring the streak can sometimes become a real headache. Gavin Snell hates hotdogs. But following the junior soccer Panthers'` f first playoff win, a new streak began which became -painfu ly hard to follow. Prior to the game Snell and Darren Kints walked uptown for lunch. Snell decided to try a cheese Losdog.uui-.iwa.�....�1 d-itu td.after winilbaga4.114111C..,.. was compelled to honour the streak and returned with Kints before every game to force down. another dog. The duo followed exactly the same procedure again and again, ordering the same food in the same order, borrowing the same amount of money from the same people, and even managed to con certain people into driving -past -them and waving at exactly the same time as they had prior to the first win. It was painful, but the boys won the title. Some will never know the amount of work a player puts into the game before it even begins. So the next time you see an athlete talking to his bat, wearing 'a funny cap or making faces while eating a cheese dog, he hasn't gone squirrely, he's just honouring the streak. Strange, but true. Off tate head by Ray Lewis * * * * * * * * The Western Ontario Junior Baseball league will be hosting a LA Dodgers tryout clinic from 9 to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The event is open to all players 16 to 21 years of age and will be held at the Alvin Willett field in Exeter. Fleming family set for 24-hour relay By Ray Lewis TA - staff EXETER - Members of the Fleming family, representing Exet- er, Mount Carmel and the sur- rounding area will once again be taking to the roadway as they par- ticipate in the fifth annual Labatt's Blue Light 24 -Hour Relay. The event will take place June 13 and 14, beginning Saturday at 10 a.m. and running until 10 a.m. Sun- day at Harris Park in London, Each team must walk, jog or run around the 2.5 kilometre circuit in relay fashion. Four years ago, team captain Jim Fleming coaxed his relatives into entering the event which has since become a family tradition. The Flemings hold the distinction of -be- ing the only family team entered in the event, as most participating are corporate squads. Exeter Express get back on track TILSONBURG - The Exeter Ex- press were bounced from their tournament in Tilsonburg over the weekend, but managed to grab a pair of wins in their Great Lakes Senior Baseball. League. In Tilsonburg Sunday, the Ex- press dropped an 8-2 decision to a very strong Wheatley squad, the two .time defending Senior 'D' champions. Both Exeter runs came in the fourth inning when Brian Rivard reached base on a fielders' choice and then came home on a Darcy Martin double. Rob Dickey fol- lowed with a single to score Mar- tin. The single knock -out tournament saw—the—Express"saw-the-Expregeface Readsle in their opener, a team from' the 'AA' league. After giving up seven runs in the third inning, Exeter got roll- ing in the fourth racking up six of their own and held on for a 9-8 win. Right-hander Dave Anthill came on to relieve Paul Elston in the fifth inning retiring the side in order over the next two. Rexdale man- aged to put runners in scoring posi- tion in the seventh with two out, but stranded them both. In regular league play Tuesday cveling, the Express avenged an earlier 13-3 loss to Listowel by beating them 7-4. Five Exeter pitchers figured in the game. Last Saturday, the Express trav- elled to London where they knocked off the host Kings in a rainy affair by a score of 6-3. p111111111111111111111111111111111111101IIIIIIIII11111111111a mll11111111111111111111111tl111111IIIIIIl111111111111I111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 capon CCLCBMRCOPIER Last year, over 2,500 team mem- bers took part in the event raising some 5370,000 for the three teach- .,y►g hospitals in London. The mon- ey raised is used to purchase such equipment as an obstetrics fetal heart rate monitor, microscopes for neurosurgery and dialysis equip- ment. "It's an important charity and one which everyone in the community will benefit from," states Fleming. "If you want to see our poster child just look in the mirror, because pretty well everyone has needed one of those hospitals at one time or another." Bach team will run approximate- ly 100 laps, with a lap recorder passed between the runners for the full time period. Anyone interested in contributing can do so by contacting the Hensall Post Office, Clarke Self -Serve Shell Station or Greg and Jean Fleming. Anyone interested in run- ning in the event is welcome to come to Harris Park, where they would be gladly inserted into the rotation. Mark Hell of Hensall Public School breaks the tape ahead of the field in the 1979 Boys 80m at the annual elementary school track meet held at South Huron O.H.S. Thursday. 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