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Show Page 8 5 Thursday, Februarys, 1979 n w HJ AithP.rain AH-qoHi il V III I -J II lAl I was intrigued with the wire service story coming out of the vast empire of Vermont's Green Mountains known as Killington. Ski thievery has never been a real problem for me, largely because my skis always look so scrungy after I have spent countless runs crossing them, but I do appreciate the thought behind Killington's new move to protect the equipment of their customers. The story in case you never caught the headline said the resort had installed "taps" inside expensive skis and then put them in racks near the lifts or against buildings. As the thieves come along and put the "bugged" skis on their cars, the skis could be traced by radio. This, they figured, would deter ski thieves. I was impressed with the concept. As you know from reading this column, I am indeed an intrepid, thorough investigative reporter, and I, like all good reporters, have developed my informers over the 10 years I have produced this epic column for you. Naturally, my list of sources include a few members of the ski underworld. I called my informer, Bugsy, at his hideout in Rutland, a few miles from Killington. "Bugsy," I whispered, "Can we talk? Are you alone?" "Shaddup, you rotten ski writer," Bugsy said. "This phone might be bugged." "That's sort of what I wanted to talk about.... when can we meet?" I asked. "Look, we're pulling a job at Killington this afternoon," he said. "I'll meet you in the bar after skiing. You'll recognize me. I'll be wearing my skier disguise.... overalls with black and white pinstripes." I figured this was my chance to get the real story behind the headlines. I'd have a real story to tell my readers. Quickly, I drove to Killington, getting there just in time to see Bugsy's Rolls Royce pull into the parking lot. He and his henchman, the Weasel, creeped out of their cars. They walked casually to the ski rack at Snowshed. I hid behind a pile of snow. Killington, you see, always has a pile of snow. ...even when no others do. I watched every move. They looked quickly about.... shifty -eyed and menacing just like burglars should look. In the silence, two security guards crept up behind the snow pile next to mine. I heard the whole thing. They had walkie-talkies. "C'mon back." "This is base, Kneissl, go ahead" one of the security guards whispered. "What's their 10-20?" 10-20?" "There's a dude in pin-striped overalls giving me the eye right now. Give me instructions in case he attacks me." "OK, Kneissl. Here's the word. Please listen in, Rossignol, it also applies to you over there against the wall." "Roger, base, Rossi is ready and listening. Go ahead." "When the thieves come close, look innocent. Remember, you are a decoy. We must catch them red-handed. Don't put up a fight. Make sure your lock releases without a hitch. When you are on top of their car, report back to base." "Gotcha, base. Here comes the thieves now." I couldn't believe how well it was working. Bugsy flipped the lock once, realizing once again how easy it was to pick off a new pair of skis. He lifted them over his shoulder and carried them toward the car. The Weasel hoisted the Rossis in place next to the Kneissls in the rack. Another shifty look around and they hopped inside and started the engine. "Kneissl and Rossi to base," I heard through the static. "They got us. What do we do now?" "OK, skis," the security guards said. "Play dumb. We have to wait until they are on Route 4 off the premises before we can nab them. There's three trooper cars waiting at the end of the access road. Don't worry, they won't lay a hand on your sleeky bodies." "Whew," said Rossi, "I'm wearing my very best cosmetics today." "Me too," said Kneissl, "I even put on my Burt's this morning." I jumped into my car, right behind the security men and we all raced down the hill after af-ter the Rolls and the stolen skis. A roadblock was set up on both directions at Route 4. They stopped the car cold. "OK, you two," the big burly officer said. "Outa the car with your hands up. Those are stolen skis on top of your car. They called us and told us you took them." "Bugsy looked worried. He didn't know skis could talk. He should hear mine chatter. i t jr They slipped on the handcuffs and carted both Bugsy and the Weasel off to jail. The skis hopped hop-ped off the roof and returned to base. Feeling good about Killington's new security system, I was sitting back reading one of my columns when the phone rang. I hate to be interrupted when reading humor. "Hey SKI TIPS," the guy whispered. "They allowed me one call in here. I wanted to warn your readers about something." "Yeah, Bugsy, what's the deal?" I asked. "Tell them to stay away from resorts that care enough to be innovative about how they keep us ski thieves away. Or, when I get outa dis pen, I could be outa business, too." "Right, Bugsy," I said. "I'll tell them. And... keep your SKI TIPS up." Mahre Second At Garmisch J He plays, ijmPm a rugged TtT W brand of (, W basketball. 1 "f j 1 III Mf - m M- -Tureens : fml j N.B.A.CBQWN. Playercoach of tub boston celtics is -WHO SUCCEEDED "SATCH "SANDERS EARLIER THIS SEASON. DAVE, KNOWN FOR HIS AGGRESSIVE PLAY, LIKES TO EXECUTE THE v FAST BREAK. HE'S NOT EXACTLY PREDICTABLE, THO. LAST SEASON HE QUIT THE TEAM FOR A WHILE TO GO HOME AND COLLECT HIS THOUGHTS. HE CAME BACK STRONG PLAYED 3,215 MINUTES, LED THE CLUB IN SCORING WITH ANI8.6AVG. THE BIG REDHEAD ALSO HAD THE MOST REBOUNDS -14 PER GAME AVERAGE. HE MADE 102 STEALS, AND HIS ASSISTS TOTALED 351. COWENS ISA 6' 9", 25 POUND TALENTED CENTER.. Mam Mfesa KifccfeeR 430 Main 649-8277 Take Out Service PIZZA made in a pan Italian Dinners Great Sandwiches Salad Bar LUNCHTIME SPECIAL 12-4pm SOUP & SANDWICH $2.25 open Mon. 4-10 :30pm Tue-Sun 12-10: :30pm The U.S. Ski Team, paced by the superb racing of Phil Mahre, Yakima, Washington, made significant gains in the 1979 World Cup. Mahre took second place in the World Cup Slalom held at Gar-miseh-Partenkirchen. West Germany on January 28, 1979. This placing, combined with Phil's lBth in the Garmisch Gar-misch Downhill race held on January 27 gave him the additional accolade of second in the combined scoring for the prestgious Kandahar World Cup. Mahre's racing earned him 34 more World., Cup , points. He still holds fourth place in the 1979 Overall standings, but has significantly closed the gap on a top three finish. This World Cup result also assures him of a World Cup medal this year by finishing third for the Combined World Cup standings. Garmisch Gar-misch was the fourth and final World Cup race counting coun-ting toward combined scoring. The Slalom on Sunday was won by Switzerland's Peter Luscher in a time of KG. 11 for the two runs. Mahre's second was a mere .03 second behind Luscher and he lost the combined title to Luscher by only 910(1 second for both events. Luscher's win moves him ahead of Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark once again in the tight battle for the Overall 1979 Title. i Other U.S. racers also had "good results' at Garmisch. " Steve. Mahre, with an 11th in Sunday's Slalom (total time 88.76) took 6th in the Combined. U.S. B Team member. Dave Stapleton of Aspen. Colorado, scored his first World Cup points, taking 9th in the Combined. Biologists Nab Pheasants Ring-necked pheasants, Utah's most popular upland game bird, are being captured cap-tured at several locations in Utah County by Division of Wildlife Resources wildlife biologists. Over 100 birds have been trapped and tagged with brightly colored bibs, each numbered num-bered for future identification. iden-tification. Additionally, twenty pheasants will be equipped with radio irans-mitters irans-mitters during the next several weeks. Trapping is accomplished by using funnel traps baited with corn to lure the birds. Night trapping, using truck spotlights and hand nets, has been the most successful suc-cessful means of capturing the birds in the Provo Airport Air-port area. Miles Moretti, wildlife biologist in charge of the study, hopes to determine winter and spring concentration concen-tration areas, as well as movements and nesting habitat preferences. Information gained from the study will be used to help assess the overall impact im-pact of the proposed diking of Provo and Goshen bays on Utah Lake as part of the Central Utah Project. Presents w ' ytf m $T V. MUD FLAP Country Rock Featuring: Al and Justin Wed. Feb. 14-Sat. Feb.17 --Wi-. r ; ' and .-:v- Wed. Feb 21 -Sat. Feb. 24 9:00pm-l :00am $1.00 Cover Dancing At the Top of Main Street o o n o Q U O 0 0 o o House Plants o o o O" Cut Flowers "o o 0 o o o mean Love Flowering Plants for Valentine's Day 3 carnations & hearts in bud vase $3.98 doz Carnations in Box o o 0 0 Oj i .0 D 0 O 0 o $7.50 4 S. ara mm 0i 0, 0. 0, 0 0 51 1 Main Street 649-9192 a o 0 O 0 0. 0 |