28 February 2011

Monday Digest

Do You Believe in Magic? Dept: Lance Mackey, winner of the last four consecutive Iditarod races, looks like a sure bet to win this year, too. He is always quick to credit his dogs, but in fact, other racers say this about him:

"He could take your dogs and beat his team with your dogs. That's how good of a musher he is," said Hugh Neff, a Mackey friend who finished ninth. "It ain't just about the dogs -- it's about him. And the magic he has that nobody else seems to have."

Neff isn't alone in that opinion.

"He'll probably be the first to tell you (it's) his dogs ... (but) he doesn't have the best dog team," said Zack Steer of Sheep Mountain, who wound up 12th last year. "I ran with him in the middle of the race. My team was as fast or faster. He wins because of him and because of his passion."

Read more at the link.

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No News is Good News Dept: No recent updates on the "castle doctrine" bill currently making its way through the legislative process in Juneau. Stay tuned.

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You-Always-Hurt-the-Ones-You-Race Dept:
Defending champion Blayne Streeper was disqualified from Sunday's final heat of the Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race following an incident on Cordova Street hill Saturday. Video of the event shows Streeper appear to strike and curse at another musher while their teams pass.
Ellis giving final kick to reach the finish line.

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And All the Rest Dept: Gasoline prices continue to inch upward here, but perhaps not as quickly as elsewhere. The station nearest home was at $3.63 per gallon this morning.

Winds in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley (the borough to the north) hit near 50 and 75 mph, respectively, yesterday. The oil port of Valdez had gusts of 95 mph, with damage reported to many of its buildings. It remains windy there today, with gusts expected in the 65 mph range.


Thanks for stopping by.

7 comments:

DR said...

I read about the damage in Valdez. It sounded pretty severe, but I didn't read of any injuries. Let's hope it stays that way.

ajdshootist said...

Petrol price in the south of England between £1.30 and £1.32 a litre now thats what i call expensive.

joated said...

Met Mackey this summer up in Fairbanks. Guy's skinnier than a hickory rail and twice as tough. I congratulated him on his defeating cancer and winning the last four Iditarods and he just sorta bowed his head in an "aw-shucks" kinda way. Then I mentioned I particularly liked how he used skill and strategy the last two years to pull out his victories and his smile just grew and grew as he said something like, "Well, I'm not getting any younger...."

joated said...

Gas is up to $3.30 a gallon here. You'd think the media would be screaming about this and how it will impact "the recovery." You would think. But they're too busy covering for the Hope-and-Change crowd.

Steven M Nielson said...

I paid $3.59 over the weekend for regular gas... There is about a $0.30 variation depending on which part of town or which gas station you're at... basically it seems like gas station owners are guessing on price and betting on us not catching them gouging!

Steven M Nielson said...

oh... and down here we race cars, not dogs :)

Rev. Paul said...

Whatsamatter, Steven ... dogs won't obey? ;)