We would like to start off the year by welcoming those who are returning, after what we hope was a pleasant sumrer, as well as those who come here for the first time. From now on, ad infinitum, we trust you will be loyal Panther rooters. The way may be hard at times..... Marshall McLuhan has said that we look at the present through a rear view mirror into the past and, therefore, we march backward into the future. Translated into Place language, that means that, to know in which direction you are going, it is necessary to know where you have been. For V this reason we'll take a brief look at last year's athletic story. In football we had a really unique record which, ' we hope, will not be duplicated as it seemed to give the ultimate in frustration. Unbelievable as it may seem, finishing 5th in a six team league, we actually outscored our opponents although we ended up with a 1—6 record! We lost 5 games by. less than a touchde and led every opponent at one time during each ' contest although only once did we lead when the final gun sounded. vaiously,with either a bit of luck or a little more strength. . . .perhaps a bit of each. . . .we would have been strong contenders. basketball George Birger, starting late, had an exciting team and did well to finish fourth, just making a playoff berth. We bowed out to Acadia in the semi—finals of the playoffs. , In hockey we finished. fast after a‘slow start, ending up in 3rd place with an 11—7-2 league record. loss, by injury, late in the season, of our then—leading—scorer David Cameron hurt us a lot in the playoffs and we lost to St. F.X. in straight games. Qur Louis Lortie was the league leader in scoring andwas closely followed by Mickey Place .PRWWHSES by David Cameron, who finished second in spite of missing the last three games. ' In soccer Vince Mulligan's charges had their best season to date and ended up with a 2-7-1 record. Ch the distaff side, Barb Mullaly had a hard task with both Field Hockey and Basketball as both squads had to rely largely on rookies. In horse racing Vincie's entry, Sharon McLure, ran into interference in the national finals and did not finish. Now for this year. Saint Mary's Huskies certainly started off as though they were going to drive our boys out of the field on Saturday, scoring'the first three times they had possession and opened up a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and 20—1 at the half. It looked like an awful long afternoon at this point and it appeared that we'd have to enlist a couple of Clyde Bell‘s Dobermans to stop them._fl:(,g\ctually Bruce DeBarros” sheep dog did try to run a bit of interference later on but we considered him ineffective.) However our Panthers put on a real gutsy performance in the second half as they outscored S.M.U. 17-3.‘ Actually, we seemed to have them on the run until a couple of penalties , at crucial moments, took away a lot of our steam. It may well be that the success of S.M.U. in the first quarter may be attributed to the fact that this was our first game while they had a couple of practise games before the season started. ’Jhe Santamerians gained 214 yards through ‘ the air while we had but 5'9. on the ground, however, we had the better record as they gained but 66 yards while we ground out 129. Our toudldovms were made by quarterback . Rick Kiraly, who played very well in spite of an , injury that kept him out for part of the game and from "Pope" McIntyre. (We are impressed that John Paul's feats on the gridiron were recognized as far away as Venice.... suppose they read "Jock Talk" over there?) ..v....“. a; 4.0000 Newcomer Frank Costa was our leading rusher with 50 yards on 15' carries, followed by Jim "Don't pitch quarters with him" McInnis who had 25 yards on 5 tries. After the opening disaster stanza all played well and we do not think it easy to pick out any individual players except to remark that Ozzie D'Ippoloto's kicking gave us a big improve- ment over last year. We regret to report that tight end Rick McCabe tore his right leg ligaments and joins previously injured Dave Connaughton on the sidelines. Hope- fully, Dave may be back before the"'season's end but we fear Rick will be only an interested spectator until next year. ' Our boys go to _--F«,—x. this weekend and U.N.B. the following so they will not be at home again until 7 October when they will face strong Acadia. We hrpe they'll have a 2-1 record at that time! In Soccer, goals by Kevin Burdett and David Eward left us still one marker short in Antigmish as St. F.X. nosed us out 3-2 and Harold Hay scored the only goal on Sunday as we lost to the strong Dalhousie team 4—1. Mincton will play the Soccer Panthers here on Saturday. The lady Panthers also came close as they dropped a 2—1 decision to! the Morial University w girls in a game played here on Sunday. Our ‘ Nancy Nbrrison scored the only goal of the first half but we were unable to add to it. Or Monday, in a repeat performance, the Pantherettes again lost 2—1 to meorial with our Andre Campbell scoring our only point. SEASWI. The girls play at St. F.X. and Dalhousie this week— end. ' We do not have any news of the basketball situation, complicated by George Birger's leaving for a new job as Athletic Director at Brandon University (Good luck, George. We enjoyed knowmgyou.) and recent appoint— ment of'Ke'vin Eeighrey as basketball coach. While we hated to see George go, we are really pleased to welcome Kevin for whom we have the highest regard. There used to be an old expression that fits Kevin. . ."a I gentleman and a scholar". Kevin left’us only a little over a year ago so that even though he hails from the Bronx he showed such good judgment as to marry an Island girl. He left here with the award as "Athlete of the Year" as well as with a high ' I academic scholarship to Queen's, where he received his M.A. in History. We have heard some fear expressed that . he is too young for the job and we'd like to point out to any students harbouring these fears that they will quite probably be very resent- ful a year or two from now. when, applying for ‘positions, they too may encounter the same \ criticism. We might ' remrk that time takes -. care-of sud: problems and think it rather a paradox that one of "Jock Talk's'” years de— fends youth while the young are often very critical of it! 1!!! Good lud< Kevin, you have to start from - ‘ scratch. . . .we know you‘ll give it everything you have..... _ BEAT X - BEAT‘X - BEATAX.