Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 77

BgST CO AV.MLADLC Sro)(Q)ffte TONIGHT! CANADIAN nGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSmPS Men's rind 7:00 p.m. Stats PageHS-8 EDITOR: Peter Collum, 429-5303 CFRN7V (S(PS i ii i p- -wmacn i a 1 Cam Cole Skaters make same error Hamilton Kurt and Elvis both slipped. But Art stayed on its feet. Art is on a winning streak in figure skating. Art won for iktor Petrenko at the Albertville Olympics and again at the 1992 Oakland world championships, when the Ukrainian stumbled technically.

Art is the direction in which both Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko strenuously have pushed their programs this season. And hen the world's No. 1 and 2 ranked male skaters made identical errors on their triple-Axel combinations Friday at Copps Coliseum, Art decided who would take the lead into tonight's free skate at the Royal Bank Canadian figure skating championships. Art chose Browning. Browning's still got it All those things his new coach, Louis Stong, had been saying about the rhythm that beats inside the 26-year-old three-time world champion from Caroline were proven true Friday, when Browning's startlingly-different.

Led Zeppelin drum-driven short program blew aw ay the nine judges. One other thing Louis Stong predicted was borne out, too. Kurt's still got it. "I'm sure Elvis and I are both disappointed about stepping out (of the triple Axels), but it's done and it's good to be back," said Browning, who took the ice following Stojko to a chorus of screams befitting a teeny-bopper rock group, and departed with the crowd in a frenzy, after his high-energy performance left no doubt who had won the day. "This doesn't feel like Canadians," said Browning.

"Not the Canadians I remember. It's huge. The people are so incredible, the facility is so great, the level of skating is so high. It feels a lot like the (1990) Halifax worlds. So hard to concentrate, and yet you're having fun at the same time." "I was out there, looking up and thinking: 'God, it's not even full and listen to it." said Stojko.

"Imagine what it's going to be like (tonight)." Elvis wasn't too shabby, either. The 19-year-old challenger practically forced the judges to notice his artistic improvement over previous years by skating a slow, moody opening of about 45 se- Walia wins juniorsH2 conds. Which was fine, until he messed up the triple Axel, triple toe combination. He skated clean the rest of the way, and finished strongly, with a series of spins at terrific speed, and his coach, Doug Leigh claimed a moral victory. "No question, he gained ground.

We got 5.8s and 5.9s for artistic, and we got them before Kurt skated;" said Leigh, "so they weren't just throwing those marks out as a gift" But even he admitted Browning's program was an eye-opener. Seven of the nine judges ranked Browning first, and artistically, he earned seven 5.9s and a perfect 6.0. "Well, it's very stark, very black and white, much different from Elvis's," said Leigh. Even Elvis liked it "The whole concept is cool," Stojko said. "It's the New Age thing, I think they call it and it's totally different from what I'm doing.

I think it's really neat." "A six at Canadians is great," said Browning. "It sends a message over the water and downstairs (in the U.S.), and I'm tickled Stong was a little more restrained. "It was OK Certainly, it was the biggest pressure situation this year. Technically, it was virtually a tie. As far as the intensity level of the program, I was very happy with it," he said.

"I think some of the spins could have been a little better. We've got stuff to do still. That combination is supposed to be a triple-triple, it's not a triple-double. "But psychologically, when you have an out, sometimes you take it." "I heard the crowd (during Stojko's skate)," Browning acknowledged. "You can pretend that you don't know what they did, but you do.

That kind of crowd. CP Laserphoto Elvis Stojko, right, reacts as Kurt Browning nearly collides with him during the warmups prior to their senior men's program competition at the Canadian figure skating championships Friday in Hamilton same mistake and then the strength of the program came through for me. "At this level, (artistry) is a bonus, not your ace in the hole. If you don't do the jumps now, hasta la vista. You really have to keep up the technical side.

If everything else is equal, then you can draw on your ace. But if you don't have the jumps, the artistic side won't help you." It helped Friday, though. Kurt Browning is one-for-one with Led Zeppelin. Art won. you can do it.

And even when you have the confidence, and everything's right, things happen." That's why they call it a sport. If Elvis had made the triple-triple, what would the story have been today? "It's not every day Elvis misses a jump." Browning admitted. "That's very strange. I know my own skating, and when I'm hot, I don't miss. But on a normal day, I miss jumps.

Elvis doesn't. He's a machine. So I got a little bit lucky we chose the same time to make exactly the if he had hit triple Axel clean, I wouldn't have been able to hear myself think." "It's a tough thing to go out and do it under pressure," said Stojko, who's facing the heat of being virtually an even-money choice to beat Browning for the first time ever. "Every day, every day, every day you have run-throughs and run-throughs and run-throughs, and then when it comes right down to that day, it's pretty tough. "You've got to trust yourself and know airdrie skip aims foir top Daly's commitment begs some questions Kleibrink has paid her dues on the Hearts road JEFF RUDE Dallas Morning News 4 A y.

kS" JrS that (an afler-care program) should be 90 meetings in 90 days; that's pretty standard operating procedure when you get out," Steven Chatoff, a psychiatric nurse and director of marketing at The Meadows treatment facility, 1 12 kilometres north of Phoenix, told The Washington Post. "We treat athletes, actors, rock stars, and we tell them all the same thing. First they should take time off when they complete their rehab. At least a month or two, maybe longer. "And attending these meetings has to be a priority in their fives.

If you don't go to meetings, you're heading for a relapse. It's especially difficult to do on the road." Daly and friends were proud he quit drinking hard liquor in 1990 after going into a coma in Maine after a binge at' a Ben Hogan Tour event. Daly's performance improved remarkably after that. His career took off, and he won the 1991 PGA. He continued to drink beer, saying, he could handle that but not booze.

Good scores reinforced his thinking. A year ago, the tour wanted him to give up beer, but he didn't like. to hear it. "If they want to take that away from me," he said then, "they can take the damn (PGA) trophy away, too." Now, Daly says his slogan is. "I don't drink when I'm sober." That can be interpreted in different ways.

Daly says he wants to break a pattern of dysfunctional behavior in his family. His father, Jim, who worked construction for years, has admitted to friends that he didn't set a good example for John in regard to drinking. Going to the corner tavern after knocking off work was a ay of life for many in Jim Daly's line of work. The popular golfer says he will be able to handle situations betier now. His family, friends, fans and tour officials hope so.

As do others who have faced the ordeal. Dallas John Daly is back. His moustache has been shaved off. His flowing blond hair has been trimmed to collar level. His weight is down.

And, most important, his attitude about drinking has changed. The question is, has it changed enough? There were concerns before Daly went into an alcohol rehabilitation centre. Was he checking in because PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman and others wanted him to or because Daly felt he had hit bottom and desired treatment? Beman pushed Daly toward rehab after a party at Daly's home in Castle Rock, Dec. 19. Daly was charged with assaulting his wife, Bettye, at the party, and did considerable damage to the house.

The 1991 PGA champion spent about three weeks in a rehabilitation centre near Tucson. Last week in Phoenix, before shooting 69-74 at the Phoenix Open and missing the cut by two shots in his first tournament back, Daly called his treatment "the greatest experience of my life." He said he was glad he did something about his problem. He said his golf game should be better. But he said things that made one wonder how committed he is. There was something troubling about his comments about his "slow" after-care program.

"I'm not too particular about hitting five or six AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings a week," Daly said. "But I will try' to hit one every two weeks. I'll take it slow." That raised questions about his commitment. There also are concerns about whether he has returned to the tour too soon. Daly.

26, said he wants to "do it right." but is he? "Our feeling and most people's feeling is 1 Stories by BAY TURCHANSKY Journal Staff Writer Edmonton After years of learning how to lose. Shannon Kleibrink seems poised to learn how to win. The 24-year-old skip from Airdrie who reached the A Event final of the Alberta Scott Tournament of Hearts at the Balmoral on Friday is on a path that seems sure to lead her to the Alberta title eventually. The question is whether she's ready now. As Shannon Getty in 1987, she lost both the Alberta junior title and Alberta spot in the Canada Winter Games to LaDawn Funk of Spruce Grove.

As Shannon Kleibrink two years ago, she dropped the Alberta women's A Event final to Deb Sher-mack-Santos as well as the playoff final. "We just needed to play at that level," said Kleibrink. "It got me relaxed for the next time; I was a little too anxious. "You look at the people going to Canadians and they're in their mid-20s or la-te-20s. You have to lose to win.

"Three years ago when we came here we'd say, 'Gee, we're playing in a final. Now I just play each game. Playing for $10,000 or in this doesn't make any difference." While Kleibrink's more outgoing off the ice. she's still the strong, silent type on it. "I don't think my personality has changed, but my approach to the game has.

Now I don't get excited when we've missed a shot. I try to keep my expression on an even keeL" That's partly the work of their coach, sports psychologist Scott Hill. She insists she has brine in her veins when she's on the ice. "I'm not one bit (nervous). I wasn't even nervous when we had to draw to the button.

It's not worth it" After losing the 1991 final. Kleibrink revamped her team. Sally Shigehiro was moved from third to second. Joanne Wright was added as lead, and Sandra Jenkins a veteran of six provincials by ase 31 became the stabilizing force at third. "Last year we didn't expect to make it Sandra had a baby, and Sally had gone to Grande Prairie for a year.

We didn't play-many curling games. We almost lost in zones against a team that slid out on their knees." Now Kleibrink and Jenkins are three-and six-months pregnant respectively, but they've already done a lot of emotional bonding with their teammates. Thev won the $10,000 top prize in the Sun Life Ladies Classic in Saskatoon, beating Sher-mack-Santos in the qualifying playoffs. Brian Gavnloff The Journal Marilyn Meschishnick, lead for Calgary's Glenys Bakker rink, watches her shot 1 0th-end heroics do the trick Journal Staff BASKETBALL NBA Boston 105 Philadelphia 93 Kleibrink, of Airdrie, trailed 6-4 after seven ends but counted two on the eighth, gave up a point on the ninth, then performed her heroics for the winning deuce on the last end. In the fours of Event, Kleibrink faces Sandy Turner of Calgary while Bakker of Calgary plays Deb Shermack-Santos of the Avonair.

Edmonton Shannon Kleibrink executed a tap-back raise-and-roll in the top eight-foot circle to count two on the 10th end to win Friday's A final of the Alberta Scott Tournament of Hearts 8-7 over Glenys Bakker. U.S. college hoop has Duke at Notre Dame at 11 a.m. on NBC; Florida State at Connecticut at noon on CBS: and UCLA at Washington State, 4 p.m., NBC. Washington 138 Golden State 111 Charlotte 118 Milwaukee 111 V.

I 1 V.V. Cleveland 109 Detroit 89 New York 108 Miami 105 Dallas 105 Indiana 104 Minnesota 112 Houston 105 She was vindicated when she beat defending Alberta champ Cheryl Bernard of Calgary in the A Event final of the Southern Alberta district playdowns. Kleibrink knows it takes at least seven wins to capture the Hearts of Alberta and she's got some work to do yet But it's just a matter of time. Kleibrink has a physical education degree, and is working for a food brokerage firm before starting her education degree. She lives in Calgary but the team chose to pass on the tough Calgary zone play-downs and qualify instead out of Airdrie, playing a mere two games.

"We played in so many cashspiels," she explained. 1 p.m.. NBC. TSN It's the National Hockey League all-star game from the Montreal Forum. Denver 116 Sacramento 104 Phoenix 132 L.A.

Lakers 104 Orlando 114 Portland 106.