THE CITIZEN, Prince George —Wednesday, March 12, 1980 —13 SAME AS VODKA SPONSOR Runner changes name LONDON (AP) - Nick Akers, British-born distance runner, announced Tuesday he has changed his name to Nick Vladivar and is being sponsored by the Vladivar vodka company to compete in the Moscow Olympics. vladivar, 24, who lives in Edmonton, said he plans to compete for the Cayman Islands because he once lived there for seven months and is qualified for the islands’ team. This kind of sponsorship breaks new ground. No athlete has been known to adopt a commercial name before. A spokesman of Vladivar - a British firm that adopted a Russian name but has no connection with the Soviet Union - said the sponsorship money will be paid to the Cayman Islands National Olympic Committee, and the company therefore will stay inside Olympic rules. At a news conference, he displayed a legal document drawn up by an Edmonton lawyer in which he renounced his former name and adopted the name of Nicholas Vladivar. "A change of name means nothing to me,” he said. "It gives me a chance I would not have had otherwise. “Some people may now question my amateur status, but I am getting no money out of this. Everything is going through the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee, which will pay for all my travel.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) relaxed its eligibility rules in 1975 and allowed commercial sponsorship. But it insisted that sponsors pay their money to the athlete’s sports federation or national Olympic committee, not to the athlete. The Vladivar case could present a problem for the IOC and the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which is responsible for deciding who is eligible in the Olympic track and field events. The Olympic Charter says: “A competitor must not have allowed his person, name, picture or sports performance to be used for advertising, except when his or her international federation, national Olympic committee or national federation enters into a contract for sponsorship of equipment.” The rules say nothing about athletes changing their name legally to the name of their sponsor. "I discussed this with the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee and they had no objection,” Vladivar said. Vladivar’s best time for the 10,000 metres is 29:36.0 - two minutes 14 seconds outside the world record of Kenya’s Henrv Rono. Vladivar never has made Olympic qualifying time, but if he is the only entrant from the Cayman Islands in the 10,000 metres or the marathon he will be allowed to compete anyway. Nick with new n Socceruproar; dispute raging by MARK ALLAN Citizen Sports Reporter The great North Cariboo Soccer Association dispute rages on, in spite of a possibility there won’t be any league games this season. Two groups claiming to be the rightful NCSA executive have split the league and civic properties and recreation has responded by demanding a settlement be reached internally, or no fields will be allocated for the coming season. One side of the dispute was bared in a meeting Tuesday night at the Prince George Secondary School. About 70 people listened as a recently formed eight-member executive explained its side of the unusual affair. The group at the meeting made three key moves in the past two months toestablish its position. With four members who left the 10-member executive elected after last season, the new body affiliated with the B.C. Soccer Association, registered itself in Victoria under the Societies Act and drew up a constitution. The first two steps hadn’t been implemented by previous executives. The eight new directors say they’ve approached the BCSA for advice regarding the situation. Director Al Auld, who’s registered as president with the BCSA, says ‘‘they’re taking it to the B.C. Soccer Commission and we’re expecting an answer soon.” Auld’s group cites a number of irregularities in league procedure as cause for breaking away and feels one group was determined to gain dictatorial power in the league. The new league features defending NCSA champion Labatt’s-Tripke, Woodland Sash United. Croatia Soccer Club and Rheingold Kickers from last year, as well as new* comers Acme Electric and Mackenzie. Teams still supporting president Ray Kandola and what remains of the original executive are P.G. Croatia, City Furniture and the PCO Raiders from last year’s seven-team league, plus Chile as a possible addition. About 60 people strongly supported Kandola and his group at a meeting March 2... just as strongly as the audience backed the eight new directors at Tuesday’s meeting. Auld believes players on teams in Kandola’s group aren’t sufficiently informed about what is going on to make a proper decision. "Every move we’ve made, we’ve approached our players and informed them of what's happening.” Former NCSA president Jim Briggs, now with Auld’s group, believes just as strongly as the others that they're right and adds the referees support them. “The referees’ association is refereeing only our games... they won’t have anything to do with the other group.” Both sides claim they've ap* proached the other for negotiations, but both say the other hasn’t responded. Meanwhile, the threat of at least a year’s layoff hangs over the league and the two groups don’t appear to be much closer to resolving it. Kandola’s group decided two weekends ago to distribute a petition to the players, asking for guidance and the other group passed a unanimous motion Tuesday, calling for the same thing. Auld explains, “I want to find out what the players want to do." At the moment, neither side has announced any more meetings. STRIKE STILL LIKELY Ball players getting plan SEASON APPROACHING Expos win, Jays split By Associated Press Montreal Expos defeated Detroit Tigers 9-6 in an exhibition game and Toronto Blue Jays split their players for an intrasquad game as Canada’s two major league baseball clubs continued preparations Tuesday for the 1980 season. Playing at Daytona Beach, Fla., the Expos’ Rodney Scott and Andre Dawson had run-scoring singles and Larry Parrish lofted a sacrifice fly for three first-inning runs. Montreal increased the lead to 6-0 with three more runs in the second inning. In other exhibition games, Cleveland Indians edged Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 at Tucson, Ariz., Baltimore Orioles defeated Texas Rangers 5-4 at Pompano Beach, Fla., Seattle Mariners defeated Hanshin of Japan 4-1 at Tempe, Ariz., Chicago White Sox downed Kansas City Royals 10-4 at Sarasota, Fla., and Minnesota Twins beat Rollins College 6-4. By Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Baseball’s Players Association may strike, but the chances appear slim it will be opening day - April 9. The association’s executive board appears to be planning a power play if it fails to make progress toward a new agreement with the owners. The executive board’s announcement last week of a possible strike didn’t say when such action would be taken. It said “on or after April 1,” which could mean, for example, Memorial Day. The players, if they strike, want to protect themselves and, at the same time, hit the owners where it hurts the most - in the wallet. Striking in April and much of May would be damaging, but not crippling. SPRUCE KINGS PLAY Hockey fans get chance Tonight is probably the last chance Prince George fans have to see the Spruce Kings play for at least a month. The Kings, guaranteed a berth in the Peace Cariboo Junior Hockey League final, meet the Quesnel Millionaires in an exhibition game at 8:80 in the Coliseum. Prince George would otherwise miss game conditions until beginning a best-of-three B.C. championship opening round series in Kitimat March 21. If the Kings defeat Kitimat, they’ll advance against the Kootenay champion the following weekend. If the Kings take that series, the B.C. junior B championship will be held in Prince George. Meanwhile, long-time rivals Fort St. John Golden Hawks and Dawson Creek Kodiaks needed double overtime in the opening game of their best-of-seven PCJHL quarter-final Tuesday. The Golden Hawks finally won 4-3 in Fort St. John. They play tonight in Dawson Creek, then return to Fort St. John Saturday. The other quarter-final between the Millionaires and Grande Prairie North Stars opens Friday in Quesnel. The Spruce Kings have an automatic berth in the PCJHL final because they finished first in the regular season. The league also decided to send its regular season winners on the B.C. playoff trail. In April and May many games are postponed by rain, snow and cold weather. There also are a number of off days. The crowds are smaller in the early months and the effect of a strike at its lowest ebb. Also, if the players open the season and carry on negotiations until late May or early June, they will have earned three paycheques, in many cases enough money to carry them through the season. The players also have an insurance fund to help the low-erpaid guys. Each has contributed $1,800 from bubble gum endorsement money, the total approaching $1 million. The owners also have a strike fund and may use it in their battle to regain some semblance of control of the game’s salary structure and reduce the impact of the reentry draft. The players appear to feel they have all to lose and little or nothing to gain by giving in to management. There is agreement on both sides that the bottom line in these complex negotiations is the free-agent compensation issue. The owners say it must be changed to give them a player of major-league calibre or a potential star from the minors rather than the amateur draft pick they now get after losing a free agent. The association, however, hasn’t budged a milimeter in this area. An example of the owners’ dilemma in the free agent area was presented Monday when outfielder Garry Maddox, one of the game’s best defensive centre fielders, reached an impasse in salary negotiations with Philadelphia Phillies. Maddox is playing out his option. He will test the re-entry draft waters to see if some other club will give him the $1 million a year he is reported to be asking over a five-year period. The Phillies now want to trade Maddox, rather than let him walk away and receive an amateur draft pick. But other clubs will offer a broken bat, since they can sit back and wait for Maddox to declare free agency, sign him and not lose a player. The only way the Phillies can trade Maddox is if they find another club with a similiar problem and each team is willing to take a chance on signing the other club’s guy to a longterm contract. Unless they’re both centre fielders, however, the playing structure on each side is weakened._ The Citizen Sports RON ALLERTON SPORTS EDITOR 562-2441 Condors not best says Coast experts by DAVE PAULSON Citizen Sports Reporter VANCOUVER - They have been ranked number one in five-of-seven top 10 polls this season, but still, pundits here don’t believe in the Duchess Park Condors. Local media pollsters have made the second ranked Nanaimo Islanders and third ranked Steveston Packers favorites to meet in the title game Saturday at the B.C. boys’ AA basketball championship, which started here today. The Condors, ranked number one in the final four polls from the B.C. High School Boys’ Basketball Association, played their first game at 2:15 ¥.m. against Courtenay owhees. Duchess Park coach Bill Gook isn’t disappointed in being lowered, however. “They (Nanaimo and Steveston) are playing well down here now and those people have seen them play quite a bit this year.” The Condors have defeated the Islanders in both meetings between the teams this season, but haven’t played Steveston or fourth ranked Richmond Colts, also considered a threat to take first. "We’ll just go out and play our game. “It doesn’t matter to me (who we play).” “We’ve played Nanaimo, we’ve seen Richmond and we haven't seen Steveston, but it doesn’t matter who we play.” One criticism of the Condors here is a supposedly weak bench, but Gook says he’ll use his four reserves "as much as possible.” The non-starters are Grade 12 guard Wade Beallie, Grade 11 guard Danny Foucher and Grade 10 forwards Rob Carpenter and Brad Frenkel. The starting five, thought to be the best group in B.C., includes centre Mike Suderman, forwards Brian Frenkel and Pat West, as well as guards Kent Stanley and Karl Bush. All are in Grade 12 and were key elements in the Condors’ suprising fifth place finish here last year. If the Condors beat Courtenay today, they play the winner of Abbotsford Panthers and Handsworth Royals at 9:15 p.m. Thursday. If they lose their first game, Duchess Park plays next at 9 a.m. Thursday. The Condors, if they win their first two games, will play a semi-final contest Friday at 7:15 p.m. probably against Richmond. All games are at the Pacific Coliseum. * * * VANCOUVER (CP) -Three teams from the nearby municipality of Richmond will be the crowd favorites today when the annual B.C. high school boys ’AA’ basketball championships begin. Richmond Colts, Steveston Packers and McNair Marlins will all have vocal rooting sections in their comers as eight games kick off the tournament at Pacific Coliseum. Pre-tournament favorites include Steveston, Duchess Park Condors of Prince George, North Surrey Spar- tans and Nanaimo Islanders. Duchess Park enters championship play rated by most as the No. 1 team in the province. The Packers are making their first appearance in the tournament and some followers claim Steveston plays the best defence in B.C., a facit of the game which allowed them to win the Lower Mainland title. The Colts have been rated near the top most of the seasor. and have a leader in guard Alan Tait, a 30-point player who unfortunately has been hit by the flu bug this week. He was a tournament all-star last year. North Surrey has been a hot and cold team this winter and has scoring power in Jon DeAnna and John Randa. The Marlins have a tough first-round assignment against Nanaimo and the Islanders could quickly put McNair on the losers’ side of the draw. Opening-round matchups are: Vernon Panthers-Gladstone Gladiators; Centennial Centaurs-Trail Hawks; Handsworth Royals- Abbotsford Panthers; Courtenay Towhees-Duchess Park Condors; North Surrey Spartans-Prince Rupert Rainmakers; Steveston Packer-sCowichan Thunderbirds; Nanaimo Islanders-McNair Marlins; Richmond Colts-Penticton Lakers. The Coliseum will use a horse-shoe seating effect for the first time, with the basketball floor placed at one end of the building to allow for seating of about 10,000 spectators. SHOULD HAVE LOST Even bad, Flyers good The newest style in Pittsburgh involves a matching c. a# . 0 birthday cake-world Series ring outfit. The latest in Pi-srylisnr rates’ fashion is worn by slugger Willie Stargell, hit with the cake by some teammates on his 39th birthday. By Canadian Press Even on their bad nights, Philadelphia Flyers seem to win. “We probably should have lost,” Flyers’ centre Bobby Clarke said after his team came from behind Tuesday night to beat Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a National Hockey League game in Pittsburgh. “They had better scoring opportunities than we did.” Bob Dailey's long slapshot at 12:49 of the third period was the winning goal. “That’s the way it goes, I guess,” Clarke said. “Everything’s been going flood for us, and they’re slugging a little bit.” In the only other game, New York Islanders’ Bryan Trot-tier had four assists, including one on Mike Bossy's 48th goal of the season, as the Islanders downed Colorado Rockies 4-1. The game marked the New York debut of centre Butch Goring. The St. Boniface, Man., native was obtained by the Islanders the previous night from Los Angeles Kings in exchange for right winger Billy Harris and defenceman Dave Lewis. It was one of several trades made as the league’s trading deadline closed in at noon Tuesday. Pittsburgh coach Johnny Wilson lamented his club’s sloppy play in its own zone. ‘ “We made some mistakes defensively and they probably cost U3 the game." After taking a 1-0 lead early in the first period on a goal by former Flyer Orest Kin-drachuk, the Penguins failed to score while surrendering three goals. Rookie Brian Propp tied the score late in the first period and the Flyers went ahead on second-period goals by Reggie Leach and Al Hill. It was Leach's 44th of the season and the 300th goal of his NHL career. The Penguins cut the lead to one when George Ferguson scored in the third period. After Dailey’s goal, Ferguson scored again but Flyers’ goal-tender Pete Peeters turned back a last-minute flurry of shots. The Penguins, who have been having problems with their goaltending lately, started rookie Nick Ricci, 20, for the second game in a row since being summoned from the minors. “It’s going to take me a few games to get on the right track,” said Ricci, a native of Niagara Falls, Ont. “I still have a lot to learn.” In Uniondale, N.Y., Anders Kallur, Bob Bourne and Bob Lorimer also scored for the Islanders. Bobby Schmautz’s goal with little more than four minutes remaining spoiled Glenn Resch’s shutout bid. Goring, who’d spent 10 seasons on the West Coast, found out he’d been traded late Monday in Montreal after the Kings had taken a 6-3 beating from the Canadiens. Goring has 20 goals and 49 assists and coach Al Arbour said he’s hoping the scrappy veteran can take some of tne POWER SPORTS VAN & AUTO UPHOLSTERY Specioliting in. H Tarp Repairs I 541 1st AVf 563 1588 pressure off centre Trottier’s productive line. Meanwhile, Edmontoii Oilers acquired right winger Don Murdoch from New York Rangers for right winger Cam Connor and got goaltender Ron Low from Quebec Nordiques- Today's game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and St Louis Blues will be televised at 5 p.m. on BCTV (channel 12, cable 11). 4x4 BUY 1978 I.H. Scout Traveller 345 auto., pt., pb. *8950 Evas: Call Jack Earl* 563-5745 INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER CANADA LTD. MOTOR TRUCK SALES & SERVICE CENTRE 1951-lit Ave. 563-04 76 DL. 00691C In Vancouver B.C. THEGREATGETAWAY Hotel Georgia $99." holiday for two Here’s what “The Great Getaway" gives you for just $99.99, any two days of the week: * Superior/deluxe room accommodation for 2 nights. * Full Club breakfasts each morning. * Free parking during your stay. * A lovely surprise package in your room, upon arrival. HOTEL(H3)GEORGIA For reservations call toll free: In Canada 1-800-661-1061 or ZENITH 6420 (Calgaiy Edmonton, Victoria). 801 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C. (604) 682-5566. EXHIBITION HOCKEY . Jr. Spruce Kings (1st Place) vs Quesnel Millionaires (2nd Place) TONIGHT 8:30 P.M. COLISEUM Joe Bodnar and hit daughter Joanne of Dawson Creek stand beside the I960 Blazer he won in the Spruce King's Raffle. His ticket 3027 was drawn ot the Spruce Kings game March 5 at the Coliseum.