| Summary: | Page 8 THE CONCORDIAN March 23, 1973 Cobbers find camping challenging Though the winter sports season is over, an issue which was discussed by many during the winter months is still a topic of in-terest; that is the need for an ice facility at Concordia. First, there is absolutely no question that an ice arena would help Concordia's hockey program immensely. Because such an on-campus facility would be more accessible to the student body, and to the faculty and administration, fan support is bound to increase. Further, the MIAC is in a perfect position to advance hockey in their league. Minnesota is producing an over-abundance of good quality hockey players who are overfilling the ranks of the WCHA. There is a perfect outlet for these players in the MIAC if the league would ever decide to take the necessary steps. But, the MIAC must take these steps soon or many prospective players will pass by the MIAC and join Junior A teams such as the one now coming into Fargo. The first step in the right direction is to have adequate indoor facilities. True, the Fargo Coliseum is a fine facility. Yet, the demand for ice time is over-exceeding their limits. This demand will also increase with a Junior A team coming to Fargo. Ask any player on this year's hockey squad what it is like to practice at 10:30 at night. With our own facility the hockey team could practice at prime times, for perhaps two hours in the afternoon. This not only helps the team academic-wise but it also affects their attitudes by per-haps making them more enthusiastic and certainly more alert than at some late hour. Besides, there can be no question that having a facility like this would help to draw fine talent coming out of the high-schools and junior colleges. This would be a large plus in our favor in terms of recruiting this talent. Take for example Bemidji State College who for years had an average hockey program. In 1964 the college built a large Phy-ed complex which included an ice arena. Since then BSC has continually drawn fine talent as can be wit-nessed by the fact that since that time they've won a national championship, several conference championships, and produced ten Ail-Americans in hockey. Immediately, many will ask, "What are we trying to do, pro-duce nothing but hockey players here at Concordia?" No. Besides the hockey program there are several benefits which the student body, the Concordia community, and the Fargo-Moorhead com-munity can derive from such a facility. Let us consider how the students could benefit. First, courses in recreational skating, curling, figure skating and hockey could be offered through the phy. ed department. Second, such a facility could be used for student and/or public skating during certain established hours. Another use affecting students is the ever-growing intramurals program. Though intramural hockey exists, it has not been officially recognized, nor is it strictly organized, for too often the intramural hockey activities had to occur at one or two o'clock in the morning due to competition for ice time at the Coliseum. There can be no arguing that Concordia intramurals are becoming an increasingly more important student activity on this campus. So, why not include within its scope the intramural hockey program. This could be accomplished with an on-campus, indoor arena. Further consider that many people would be needed to help run such an arena. This is a perfect outlet for the ever-growing demand by students for part-time, on-campus work. This, in some way, could affect most anyone in the student body. Also consider that during the off-season after the ice is re-moved, specialized groups such as the football, baseball, or track teams could use the arena to facilitate their practices. As far as its affects on both the student body and the Con-cordia community, such a facility could be used for large gather-ings including civic events, commencement exercises, or any func-tion that required a facility with a large seating capacity. Now, let us consider how such a facib'ty could affect the com-munity of Fargo-Moorhead. In terms of college communities there is an abundance of hockey talent at both MSC and NDSU. Such an arena could promote both schools to take an interest in the hockey program. Also, the program at Moorhead high school is getting momentum. Moorhead is in a perfect position to sky-rocket the interest and the quality of their program. There is no denying that hockey is the fastest growing sport at this time, with no fore-seeable retardation of that growth. But for these programs to grow in order to compete with other teams in this region there must be adequate facilities for practice. Though the Moorhead Arena can serve this purpose, there is no getting around the fact that a shelled sheet of natural ice is de-pendent upon weather in its use. The results of which we've seen this past winter. Another growing program in this community is the Pee Wee hockey league. The visible support of this organization is very evident as seen in the size of the Blue Line Club. Many parents throughout this community are taking a strong interest in their children's participation in this league. But adequate facilities, and I stress adequate, are needed for these programs too. Not only is an indoor arena, which is temperature-controlled and has seating for the spectators, more reliable, but more com-fortable to watch and play in. As another consideration, such an arena could be used during the summer months to operate hockey clinics and skating clinics as do many of the arenas in the Twin Cities. Is such a plan economically feasible and what's in it for Con-cordia as an institution? First of all, yes it is economically feasible. Though the initial costs of such a project would have to be borne by individuals in the community, the operation of such a facility is perfectly within the limits of Concordia's budget. For starters one has to consider that Concordia spends $40.00 for each practice (four and sometimes five times a week for five months) and $175.00 for each game they host at the Coliseum; that's a lot of money! What's in all this for CC? First a good sports program, which (continued on page 9) - By JIM SPENCER As warmer weather brings on Spring days do you get a feeling of untamed energy that challenges you to something new, something dif-ferent? If this be the case, may I suggest taking a weekend off and go camping. There are a num-ber of excellent parks within a hundred mile radius of Moorhead and the best part is there aren't any flys, mosquitoes, or people to bother you. Last weekend, my buddy, Dave Angell and I took off hitch-hiking on West Highway 10 with a destination of Itasca State Park. Three rides and two hours later we found ourselves on the out-skirts of the park with a seven mile hike lying between us and the headwaters of the Missis-sippi River where we intended to camp. It was a cold, crisp night as the sun lowered itself in the western sky tarnishing the tops of giant pines. As we walked Dave mentioned how quiet the forest was toward evening when all of a sudden a loud growl pierced the air. It was getting dark so we couldn't see anything, but we figured it was a hungry bear looking for food after hibernating all winter. Hiking with the heavy packs was becoming cumbersome so we decided to set up camp in some picnic grounds just a few feet from the frozen lake. A full moon provided light as we unloaded our packs and pitched the three man nylon tent. The next thing we did was gather wood and build a blazing fire so we could fry some venison sausage to eat along with a couple of hard boiled eggs and sandwiches acquired from the food service. The first night was terrible as we tried every position to keep warm, while we slept but it was just too cold. We ended up starting another fire and spent the night huddled around the dancing flames. The temperature was 10 degrees and in the morning all of our food was frozen solid. As the sun rose, starting a new day, Dave and I hiked up to the headwaters of the Mississippi. The water was unbelievably clear as it rushed continuously from the lake. It is ironic that this little stream starting out in sub-freezing temper-atures would gradually wind 1500 miles to the warm Gulf of Mexico. Saturday was a day of hiking as our sun-burned faces prove it. In the morning we hiked along the shore of the lake and then walked over the ice to a secluded island. In the afternoon we came upon the park buffalo. He didn't have much to say so we hiked over to the lookout tower and climbed up to a panoramic view of the entire Lake Itasca region. From their we hiked over to the Indian mounds. I wonder how those people ever made it through the long harsh winters. Saturday was also a day of good food. For lunch, the menu read baked potato, tip of sir-loin fried in butter, choice of milk or orange juice. Not bad, and food always tastes better outside. For supper we ate spaghetti and meatballs with bread and butter. In the evening we were both exhausted and as soon as the sun set it was time to hit the sack. This night, we were prepared for the cold. Rum-maging around in an old torn down house, Dave discovered a rusty, old pot-bellied stove and some pipe. He brought it back to camp and placed it in the tent, arranged the piping and sure enough we had a furnace to keep warm by. It was a comical but I bet it was 75 degrees in the tent. We slept like babies. Morning came and it was time to pack up and take off back to the grind of school. It was seven miles to the highway and we walked another eight before getting a ride, but by 2 p.m. we were back at East Complex. CHI Stanlie Cup finals to begin The CHL culminated its sea-son last night with more fast 'and furious action, and when the four teams that made the play-offs were exulting and the two teams that didn't were heart-broken and sulking. The seemingly invincible Er-skine Fighting Comets, led by the Fern, Fred and Harly Farkle line, repeated as league cham-pion for an unprecedented sec-ond time in a row and thereby became the odds-on favorite to also win their second Stanlie Cup in a row in the playoffs. Goalie M. T. Net should be able to lead them to this title. The Comets' biggest compe-tition, however, would seem to come from the high-scoring Ant-arctica Coolies, led by the league's all-time leading scorer, Daryle Chicken Delight, TNT Fishinsky and Hans Hornet. The Coolies set a record in scoring goals this year, but there is some question about their depth and their back-up goalie, and these are weaknesses. Still, the Coolies would have to be con-sidered the favorite to oust the defending champion, Comets. The third place team, the Finkleton Flyers, is a steady, veteran team that also has the poise and the talent to run away with the Cup. Led by the dull but effective F i n k 1 e line (George, Harry and Henry), who went nuts scoring goals this year, the Flyers could take it all if they could get a few early victories and establish a little momentum. The fourth and final team to make the playoffs, the Artesian Wells, (who, by the way, made it by the skin of their teeth) are something of an unknown quantity. They do have a strong defense led by goalie Sammy Stop, and a productive first line but the rest of the team is not strong. If the Wells get hot, anything can happen, but they do have to play the Comets the first round. The two teams that didn't make the playoffs, the Sauk Centre Swampducks and the Liberian Libbies, had bad luck all season. The Ducks had good goaltending all year (a 1.85 goals against average), but be-sides their second team All-Pro Left Wing Terry Tip-in and Phil Skate doing the job, their offen-sive punch was missing. Next year could be the year for the Ducks, however, as many of the high-flying Jr. Swampducklings will be called up to see if they can boost the Ducks low scor-ing. The Libbies made a miracu-lous comeback on the last night of the season and were able to tie the Swampducks for fifth place. This was the highlight of the season for them, however. The Libbies were led by no one as they were shut out from the first three All-Pro teams, but their mascot did receive Honorable Mention honors. The future for the Libbies does not look bright, either, unless they can obtain some up-and-coming stars to fill the gaping holes in their line-up. Their brightest prospects at the time appear to be Arlo Flash and Rex (Superstar) Rink, two fairly slow front-liners, but it's going to be hard to build a champion franchise around the likes of these as of right now, the Libbies are lack-ing. Final Standings Erskine F. Comets Antarctica Coolies Finkleton Flyers Artesian Wells S. C. Swampducks Liberian Libbies W 20 16 16 15 9 12 L 7 10 15 17 18 21 T 13 14 9 8 13 7 Pis. 53 46 41 38 31 31 OUTDOOR TRACK MEETS April 7, Saturday-SDSU Invi-tational at Brookings, 12 p.m. April 14, Saturday-Manitou Re-lays at St. Olaf, 10 a.m.; April 21, Saturday-Cougar Relays at Morris (OPTIONAL), 12 p.m.; April 24, Tuesday-NDSSS Quad-rangular at Wahpeton, 4 p.m.; April 28, Saturday-Bethel Relays at Macalester, 12 p.m.; May 2, Wednesday - Northern Triangu-lar at Aberdeen, 4 p.m.; May 5, Saturday-Mac Invitational at Macalester, 12 p.m.; May 11-12, Friday-Saturday - MIAC Cham-pionship Meet at Macalester; May 23-24-25, Wed., Thurs., Fri-day- NAIA Championship Meet at Arkedelphia, Arkansas. Wrestling team awards given The Concordia wrestling team recently named the winners of the team awards. The Most Val-uable Wrestler: Terry Bishop, who won the conference title at 126 for the third year in a row. Most Improved Wrestler: Steve Simonson, who placed fourth in the conference meet at 177. The team's "Oil Can" Award, which goes to the wrestler who did the most to inspire the team was voted to Fred Hashley, a senior from Big Sandy, Montana, who also took the conference laurels for the third consecutive year. Also announced were next son Monday night with more fast season's captains: Denny Olsen, who took the conference title at 158 as a freshman, Ray Hendrikson, who placed second at this year's con-ference meet in the 134 pound bracket, and Joel Haugen, a fourth-place finisher in confer-ence at 150. All three will be juniors next year.
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