It's the North American Hockey League, a junior league version of the big time. Here in Fairbanks, we have the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, current holder of the Robertson Cup (the Stanley for minor leagues) and currently in the playoffs to defend that status.
Yesterday morning started off with a 5-K run, the annual symphony fundraiser called "Beat Beethoven." If you can get to the finish line before the famous 5th symphony ends (a time of 31 minutes), you get a free symphony ticket. After nearly two weeks of 40-50 degree weather, yesterday it snowed, slushed, and mucked the running course at the University.
But that didn't stop Collin, Luna and I (and 800 others) from running. Collin has been running a lot the past couple of years, so he and Luna handily crossed the line in time to claim his symphony ticket, despite three stops for various physiological needs by Luna. (Imagine Collin running much of the race with a dog leash in one hand, a full poop sack in the other!) I've only just started training to run, and my pace is molasses-slow. I missed the free ticket by a couple of minutes.
I digress.
To balance out the day of cultural and athletic activities, we went to the Ice Dogs playoff game last night. Here's what you need to know about junior league hockey:
1) things happen fast, so it's a confusing game to watch
2) there is high tolerance for physical brutality
3) the crowd is as rowdy and foul-mouthed as you can possibly imagine (a typical noisemaker may be a rubber mallet, frequently pounded on the surrounding bleachers and stairs)
Okay, full disclosure. Alcohol sales are allowed in half the stadium, and that's the side we sit on. Perhaps the beer drinkers' tempers flare a little hotter, but I couldn't say for sure. Like most sporting events, the interim music cranked through the speakers is generally good, hard rock, crowd-motivating tunes.
But I was sure I was in the Twilite Zone when, after one particularly brutal, fist fight which ended in penalties and a time out, Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline was the chosen music. But it reminds me that I see or hear something most every day in Alaska that leaves me scratching my head, just a little.
Yesterday morning started off with a 5-K run, the annual symphony fundraiser called "Beat Beethoven." If you can get to the finish line before the famous 5th symphony ends (a time of 31 minutes), you get a free symphony ticket. After nearly two weeks of 40-50 degree weather, yesterday it snowed, slushed, and mucked the running course at the University.
But that didn't stop Collin, Luna and I (and 800 others) from running. Collin has been running a lot the past couple of years, so he and Luna handily crossed the line in time to claim his symphony ticket, despite three stops for various physiological needs by Luna. (Imagine Collin running much of the race with a dog leash in one hand, a full poop sack in the other!) I've only just started training to run, and my pace is molasses-slow. I missed the free ticket by a couple of minutes.
I digress.
To balance out the day of cultural and athletic activities, we went to the Ice Dogs playoff game last night. Here's what you need to know about junior league hockey:
1) things happen fast, so it's a confusing game to watch
2) there is high tolerance for physical brutality
3) the crowd is as rowdy and foul-mouthed as you can possibly imagine (a typical noisemaker may be a rubber mallet, frequently pounded on the surrounding bleachers and stairs)
Okay, full disclosure. Alcohol sales are allowed in half the stadium, and that's the side we sit on. Perhaps the beer drinkers' tempers flare a little hotter, but I couldn't say for sure. Like most sporting events, the interim music cranked through the speakers is generally good, hard rock, crowd-motivating tunes.
But I was sure I was in the Twilite Zone when, after one particularly brutal, fist fight which ended in penalties and a time out, Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline was the chosen music. But it reminds me that I see or hear something most every day in Alaska that leaves me scratching my head, just a little.
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