Lorenzo on Sports

Fairbanks in This Week's Sports Illustrated

socaln8tvinfbx — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:25:00 GMT

This week's edition of Sports Illustrated is now available throughout local Fairbanks-area newsstands now. On page 44 of SI, the story on the annual Midnight Sun Game is covered. Check out the story written by SI's Luke Winn as the story is titled "The Alaska Pipeline".

The subtitle reads:

"A rugged, no-frills league in the Last Frontier State has funneled almost 400 college players to the majors and kept fans in Fairbanks up late each June with its quirky Midnight Sun Game."

~ Lorenzo

Alaska Aces 2008-2009 Season Schedule Released

socaln8tvinfbx — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:30:00 GMT

The Alaska Aces' full schedule for the 2008-2009 ECHL season is now officially released. With the regular season schedule announced earlier last month, the preseason schedule was announced today and so for that, let's check out the full schedule:

* ALL ACES HOME GAMES ARE PLAYED AT SULLIVAN ARENA

PRESEASON SCHEDULE

October 8th: SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS, 7:15 pm

October 9th: SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS, 7:15 pm

REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

October 17th: LAS VEGAS WRANGLERS, 7:15 pm

October 18th: LAS VEGAS WRANGLERS, 7:15 pm

October 24th @ Utah Grizzlies, 5:05 pm

October 25th @ Utah Grizzlies, 5:05 pm

October 31st: FRESNO FALCONS, 7:15 pm

November 1st: FRESNO FALCONS, 7:15 pm

November 2nd: FRESNO FALCONS, 5:05 pm

November 5th @ Idaho Steelheads, 5:10 pm

November 6th @ Idaho Steelheads, 5:10 pm

November 7th @ Idaho Steelheads, 5:10 pm

November 14th: UTAH GRIZZLIES, 7:15 pm

November 15th: UTAH GRIZZLIES, 7:15 pm

November 16th: UTAH GRIZZLIES, 5:05 pm

November 19th @ Victoria Salmon Kings, 6:05 pm

November 21st @ Victoria Salmon Kings, 6:05 pm

November 22nd @ Victoria Salmon Kings, 6:05 pm

November 28th @ Stockton Thunder, 6:30 pm

November 29th @ Ontario Reign, 6:00 pm

November 30th @ Ontario Reign, 4:00 pm

December 3rd: BAKERSFIELD CONDORS, 7:15 pm

December 5th: BAKERSFIELD CONDORS, 7:15 pm

December 6th: BAKERSFIELD CONDORS, 7:15 pm

December 12th: IDAHO STEELHEADS, 7:15 pm

December 13th: IDAHO STEELHEADS, 7:15 pm

December 14th: IDAHO STEELHEADS, 5:05 pm

December 17th @ Victoria Salmon Kings, 6:05 pm

December 19th @ Victoria Salmon Kings, 6:05 pm

December 20th @ Victoria Salmon Kings, 6:05 pm

December 27th @ Las Vegas Wranglers

December 28th @ Las Vegas Wranglers

December 31st: STOCKTON THUNDER, 7:15 pm

January 2nd: STOCKTON THUNDER, 7:15 pm

January 3rd: STOCKTON THUNDER, 7:15 pm

January 7th: @ Ontario Reign, 6:00 pm

January 9th: @ Fresno Falcons, 6:30 pm

January 10th: @ Bakersfield Condors, 6:00 pm

January 14th: VICTORIA SALMON KINGS, 7:15 pm

January 16th: VICTORIA SALMON KINGS, 7:15 pm

January 17th: VICTORIA SALMON KINGS, 7:15 pm

January 23rd: @ Bakersfield Condors, 6:00 pm

January 24th: @ Stockton Thunder, 6:30 pm

January 25th: @ Fresno Falcons, 4:00 pm

January 28th: ONTARIO REIGN, 7:15 pm

January 30th: ONTARIO REIGN, 7:15 pm

January 31st: ONTARIO REIGN, 7:15 pm

February 4th: @ Stockton Thunder, 6:00 pm

February 6th: @ Bakersfield Condors, 6:00 pm

February 7th: @ Ontario Reign, 6:00 pm

February 11th: VICTORIA SALMON KINGS, 7:15 pm

February 13th: VICTORIA SALMON KINGS, 7:15 pm

February 14th: VICTORIA SALMON KINGS, 7:15 pm

February 17th: FRESNO FALCONS, 7:15 pm

February 18th: FRESNO FALCONS, 7:15 pm

February 22nd: @ Bakersfield Condors, 1:00 pm

February 23rd: @ Fresno Falcons, 6:00 pm

February 24th: @ Fresno Falcons, 6:00 pm

February 27th: UTAH GRIZZLIES, 7:15 pm

March 1st: UTAH GRIZZLIES, 5:05 pm

March 6th: LAS VEGAS WRANGLERS, 7:15 pm

March 7th: LAS VEGAS WRANGLERS, 7:15 pm

March 8th: LAS VEGAS WRANGLERS, 5:05 pm

March 11th: PHOENIX ROADRUNNERS, 7:15 pm

March 13th: PHOENIX ROADRUNNERS, 7:15 pm

March 14th: PHOENIX ROADRUNNERS, 7:15 pm

March 19th: @ Phoenix Roadrunners, 5:05 pm

March 20th: @ Phoenix Roadrunners, 5:05 pm

March 21st: @ Las Vegas Wranglers

March 24th: @ Las Vegas Wranglers

March 27th: @ Las Vegas Wranglers

March 28th: @ Phoenix Roadrunners, 5:05 pm

April 3rd: @ Utah Grizzlies, 5:05 pm

April 4th: @ Utah Grizzlies, 5:05 pm

ROAD GAME LOCATIONS

Bakersfield Condors - Rabobank Arena; Bakersfield, California

Fresno Falcons - Save Mart Center at Fresno State; Fresno, California

Idaho Steelheads - Qwest Arena; Boise, Idaho

Las Vegas Wranglers - Orleans Arena; Las Vegas, Nevada

Ontario Reign - Citizens Business Bank Arena; Ontario, California

Phoenix Roadrunners - U.S. Airways Center; Phoenix, Arizona

Stockton Thunder - Stockton Arena; Stockton, California

Utah Grizzlies - E Center; West Valley City, Utah

Victoria Salmon Kings - Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre; Victoria, British Columbia

Aces Offseason Update

socaln8tvinfbx — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:29:00 GMT

The Alaska Aces will be protecting 20 players for the upcoming 2008-2009 season. Here's a list of protected players on the Aces roster as announced today:

RW Bo Cheesman

C Kimbi Daniels

C Olivier Filion

D Ryan Glenn

D Lee Green

G Derek Gustafson

F Barrett Heisten

F Brett Hemingway

D Ed Hill

F Brendan Hodge

D Joey Hope

F Michael Lambert

D Felipe Larranaga

D Derick Martin

D Peter Metcalf

RW Eric Neilson

C Vladimir Novak

LW Matt Robinson

D Corbin Schmidt

D Matt Shasby

Wolfpack Boys & Girls Prepare for State Soccer Tournaments

socaln8tvinfbx — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:56:00 GMT

Two games, four hours, one day.

That is exactly what is going to happen for the West Valley Wolfpack's boys and girls soccer teams on Thursday. And it won't get any easier because both teams will be going up against the same school in the same city, as the Alaska School Activities Association / National Bank Alaska 2008 Boys and Girls State Soccer Championships kickoff today at high noon.

GIRLS: WEST VALLEY WOLFPACK VS. SOUTH (ANCHORAGE) WOLVERINES...THURSDAY, NOON

The Wolfpack girls had a spectacular Mid Alaska Conference season going an amazing 8-0-2, as Greg Gibson's squad clinched not only the conference title, but also a berth to the state tournament with a 2-0 win over the Eielson Ravens on Friday.

Their first-round opponent will be the South (Anchorage) Wolverines, who have dominated the state's soccer scene all season long by demolishing their opponents immensely. South is the Cook Inlet Conference champions at 13-1 (17-1 overall). They survived the CIC conference title game last Saturday by beating the Service Cougars, 3-2 at Anchorage Football Stadium, the site of this week's state tournament.

The key to victory for the Wolfpack girls is to completely shutdown three Wolverine players -- Carly Butcher, Amanda Hall, and Whitney Velez -- who tallied up a combined total of 68 goals going into Saturday's conference title game. Head coach Brian Farrell's squad has outscored their opponents a sickening 101-9 in their 18 games played including Saturday's win. The Wolverines' lone loss, a 2-1 loss to the Dimond Lynx. South beat Dimond, 1-0 on Friday to earn the state tournament berth.

BOYS: WEST VALLEY WOLFPACK VS. SOUTH (ANCHORAGE) WOLVERINES...THURSDAY, 2 PM

The Wolfpack easily won the Mid Alaska Conference title last week by beating the Lathrop Malemutes, 2-0, thanks to junior Nick Herzberg, who has been the biggest reason why the Wolfpack boys are entering this year's state tournament undefeated (9-0 MAC; 10-0 overall). Wolfpack coach Alan McGinty will be depending on Herzberg, who knocked in five goals for the Wolfpack in beating the Houston Hawks, 7-0, the Wolfpack's only non-conference opponent of the season back on May 16th.

Nine days prior to that win, West Valley only gave up one goal to the Hutchison Hawks in their 6-1 win. That was the only goal given up by the Wolfpack all season long.

The Wolfpack will be taking on another undefeated boys team in the South (Anchorage) Wolverines, led by their head coach Mike Montgomery, whose team is entering Thursday's matchup with an impressive 16-0-2 record (13-0-1 Cook Inlet Conference).

The Wolverines captured the CIC tournament title on Saturday with a 2-1 win over the Dimond Lynx at Anchorage Football Stadium. They will be bringing a 36-game unbeaten streak into Thursday's game, a streak the Wolfpack would love to end.

- - - BOYS' TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - - -

Wednesday

Game 1: #4 Kenai Kardinals vs. #5 Service Cougars, 2 pm

Game 2: #3 Dimond Lynx vs. #6 Soldotna Stars, 6 pm

Thursday

Game 3: Kenai - Service Loser vs. Dimond - Soldotna Loser, 10 am

Game 4: #1 South (Anchorage) Wolverines vs. #8 West Valley Wolfpack, 2 pm

Game 5: #2 Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears vs. #7 Colony Knights, 6 pm

Friday

Game 6: South - West Valley Loser vs. Juneau - Colony Loser, 8 am

Game 7: South - West Valley Winner vs. Kenai - Service Winner, noon

Game 8: Juneau - Colony Winner vs. Dimond - Soldotna Winner, 4 pm

Saturday

Game 9: 4th Place Game, 8 am

Game 10: 3rd Place Game, noon

Game 11: State Title Game, 4:30 pm

- - - GIRLS' TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - - -

Wednesday

Game 1: #4 Soldotna Stars vs. #5 Chugiak Mustangs, noon

Game 2: #2 Service Cougars vs. #7 Colony Knights, 4 pm

Thursday

Game 3: Soldotna - Chugiak Loser vs. Service - Colony Loser, 8 am

Game 4: #1 South (Anchorage) Wolverines vs. #8 West Valley Wolfpack, noon

Game 5: #3 Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears vs. #6 Wasilla Warriors, 4 pm

Friday

Game 6: South - West Valley Loser vs. Juneau - Wasilla Loser, 10 am

Game 7: South - West Valley Winner vs. Soldotna - Chugiak Winner, 2 pm

Game 8: Service - Colony Winner vs. Juneau - Wasilla Winner, 6 pm

Saturday

Game 9: 4th Place Game, 10 am

Game 10: 3rd Place Game, 2 pm

Game 11: State Title Game, 7 pm

**ALL GAMES PLAYED AT ANCHORAGE FOOTBALL STADIUM

~ Lorenzo

2008 - 2009 Alaska Nanooks Hockey Season Schedule Released

socaln8tvinfbx — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:32:00 GMT

I apologize for getting this on the blog five days late, but I thought, what the hell? Do it anyways. In celebrating its 30th year as an NCAA member and 14th season in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, the University of Alaska Nanooks' hockey program has released its 2008-2009 season schedule. The games in bold are conference games. All home games, unless otherwise noted, as usual will be taking place at the Carlson Center:

Courtesy of AlaskaNanooks.com

September 26^th: Blue vs. Gold (Exhibition - Patty Center)

September 27^th: U.S. National Under -18 Team (Exhibition - Big Dipper Ice Arena)

October 3^rd: British Columbia Thunderbirds (Exhibition)

- - - KENDALL HOCKEY CLASSIC...SULLIVAN ARENA; ANCHORAGE - - -

October 10^th: Northeastern Huskies

October 11^th: Connecticut Huskies

- - - BRICE ALASKA GOAL RUSH...CARLSON CENTER - - -

October 17^th: Mercyhurst Lakers

October 18^th: Maine Black Bears

October 24^th - 25^th: Bowling Green Falcons

October 31^st - November 1^st: at Miami (Ohio) Redhawks

November 7^th - 8^th: Michigan Wolverines

November 21^st - 22^nd: at Ferris State Bulldogs

November 28^th - 29^th: Lake Superior State Lakers

December 5^th - 6^th: at Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks

December 19^th - 20^th: Western Michigan Broncos

January 2^nd - 3^rd: at Michigan State Spartans

January 9^th - 10^th: at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

January 16^th - 17^th: Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks

January 23^rd - 24^th: at Northern Michigan Wildcats

January 30^th - 31^st: Ohio State Buckeyes

February 13^th - 14^th: at Western Michigan Broncos

February 20^th - 21^st: Ferris State Bulldogs

February 27^th: Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (Senior Night)

February 28^th: at Alaska Anchorage Seawolves

The rest of the CCHA schedule will be released at a later date.

~ Lorenzo

Goldpanners / Fire Baseball Season Around the Corner

socaln8tvinfbx — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:17:00 GMT

Alright Fairbanks sports fans, now that the Nanooks' collegiate sports season is over, high schools going down to the wire in their seasonal sports, and the Grizzlies' inaugural season convincingly over, we can now move our focus to a sport that many people in the lower 48 (including Canada) that think it does not exist in this state...amateur baseball.

Two of Fairbanks' home teams, Alaska Goldpanners and the Athletes in Action Fire, are in the six-team Alaska Baseball League, which the season will begin its season schedule on June 9th. But before all that happens, the Goldpanners, under second-year manager Tim Gloyd, will have his players out for their spring training down in Anchorage June 10th-12th. They will start their season in Anchorage June 14th against the Bucs, and June 15th against the Glacier Pilots. Both games will be played at Mulcahy Stadium.

The Fire, under Mike Gillespie (not the one who guided the USC Trojans to the 1998 College World Series championship), are the defending ABL champions. They will begin their season also in the southcentral Alaska area from June 17th-21st with five games against three different teams. They will play the Glacier Pilots (17th and 20th, 7 pm), the Bucs (19th and 21st, 7 pm) and the Mat-Su Miners on June 18th at 7 pm. The game with the Miners will be held at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

The Goldpanners' home opener will be on June 18th against the Fairbanks All-Stars team at 7 pm; the Fire's home opener will be against the Goldpanners on June 23rd, which will be part of a five-game series that will run thru the 27th. The remaining three games will be Goldpanner home games.

The ABL season will conclude on August 1st.

More on the Goldpanners, Fire, and the rest of the Alaska Baseball League later this week.

~Lorenzo

Safe and Sound (For Now)...Lakers Go to SLC Up 3-2

socaln8tvinfbx — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:18:00 GMT

We can now say that the Lakers' series with the Utah Jazz is no longer a threat. Despite home teams in the NBA Playoffs going 19-1 at home, including the Lakers 111-104 win on Wednesday night and up 3-2 in their Western Conference Semifinals series at Staples Center, L.A. can attempt to wrap up their series Friday night at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

What really surprised me in this game is that Kobe Bryant did not play superhero in the fourth quarter. That's because he did not attempt to shoot a field goal in that entire quarter. As we are all used to seeing him racking 40+ points a night, including in the last waning minutes of any game, it looked like Phil Jackson decided to pass the ball around and fool the Jazz defenders.

This was only one night we will all see this happen. The Lakers cannot afford to do the same thing, especially the hostile crowd at Salt Lake, whereas we saw in Games 3 and 4, they were totally shut down. No matter what happens in Utah, the Lakers will be back at Downtown Los Angeles preparing for the worse...either a possible Game 7 on Monday night, or Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals sometime next week.

When you are the #1 seed in the playoffs, league or conference, you are going to be hunted like a fugitive on a long outstanding run. They are aware of what is at stake. Anything can happen. If the Lakers are going to win the series in SLC this Friday night, they need to do two things:

1) Give the ball to Kobe. No questions asked. If the Lakers don't give up the ball to him, expect the Jazz to shut the Lakers down to under 90 points, and limit Kobe to under 25; giving the ball to Kobe and letting him carry the team will prevent a Game 7 back on Figueroa Avenue this Monday night.

2) Play severe backcourt press. You cannot let the Jazz relax upon receiving the ball. Head coach Jerry Sloan knows how to get his team to set up the offense once they have possession. The Lakers need to press hard and wear out the Jazz as quick as possible before they can make their play in the frontcourt.

Next game: Lakers at Jazz (Game 6), Friday 6:30 pm (ESPN / ESPN HD).

Back from the Basement...Sports Talk Back in Session

socaln8tvinfbx — Mon, 12 May 2008 05:34:00 GMT

Fairbanks clones...I am back out of the basement. For those wondering what the hell happened to me, well, being a current active-duty sevicemember I had to be flexible in my schedule. So a last-minute change a couple of weeks ago had me going with my current organization for a field training exercise away from the area for a couple of weeks and I just came back late Friday afternoon. So thanks for your small, long-awaited patience with me (yes, I am also talking to you tens of soccer fans out there) and thanks again for all of your support.

WILD DRAMA IN ANCHORAGE

Well, we can safely say for the record that David Weatherholt is Alaska's most dumbest person / businessman (and I hope that the Fairbanks Daily-News Miner, Anchorage Daily News, and every media outlet in the state puts my quote out...and hope like hell that Weatherholt hears about it). When you are the one who is responsible for racking up debt to the football organization, trying to pretend that you know a thing or two about football (what team goes thru 3 coaches before the second season of existence), pretends to be Jerry Jones, etc., you obviously have no idea what you are doing.

On Friday May 2nd, Weatherholt fires Hans Deemer as the head coach of the Alaska Wild, over something that has nothing to do with him being the head coach. (Note to the blog readers, Deemer is also the Wild's sales representative) At 4-2 AND in a playoff position, he decides to pull what New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamariello did to his other head coaches...fire them during a playoff run. According to local sources, Deemer was fired just because he was missing some administrative meetings outside of his head coaching duties. Hey David, ARE YOU THAT STUPID???

And for that, the Wild players, cheerleaders, and the rest of the organization were considering a strike over Weatherholt's decision to fire Deemer, which Sunday night's game vs. the Lousiana Swashbucklers was in jeopardy thanks to the Weatherholt. To make matters worse, Weatherholt didn't have the balls to tell Deemer IN PERSON that he was fired. Deemer found out thru KIMO-TV / ABC Alaska News' sports anchor Mark Drake on their 5 pm newscast: (video clip here at http://www.aksuperstation.com/sports/18521279.html?video=YHI&t=a).

Then after the firing, Weatherholt decides to sell the team. He leaves the team in debt, he leaves the team during a playoff run and so forth. Go figure. Now an oral surgeon, Dr. Frank Deeter, is running the team as its new owner and completed his first order of a business by doing a what smart new owner would do...re-hire the coach that improved the team to begin with, Hans Deemer. Strike over, drama over, let's play ball.

As of last check, Weatherholt has done the Ken Behring style (former owner of the Seattle Seahawks)...bolted out of the Anchorage scene and probably trying to find a way to get out of the state, never to be heard from again.

Game Update: Wild drops to 4-3 by losing Sunday afternoon's game at Sullivan Arena to the defending IFL champion Swashbucklers, 55-49.

AND THE NEW 2008-09 NANOOKS' HEAD COACH IS...

By Friday we will know who will be the next head coach for the Alaska Nanooks' hockey program. Current interim coach and former Nanook defenseman Dallas Ferguson, and University of Wisconsin Badgers assistant coach Kevin Patrick are your current finalists.

Let's get this straight, if I were Forrest Karr, I would not have any hesitation in choosing Dallas as the new head coach. Ferguson knows the university inside and out. He has the experience within the hockey program. He knows the community. He knows the support the community provides to the program and the university's athletic department.

Patrick, no disrespect, has won an NCAA championship with the Badgers during the 2005-2006 campaign in his first season with the hockey program as an assistant coach, was a four-year defenseman at the University of Notre Dame, where he served as the team's captain during his junior and senior seasons, and is also a former member of the American Hockey Coaches Association (2004-2006). I just do not think the Nanooks would hire someone, despite championship experience, who does not have local ties to the university nor the community.

If it was Election Day in Fairbanks, my vote would definitely go for Dallas Ferguson.

-LZV

Opinions...News and Views from an Outraged Sports Junkie in Fairbanks

socaln8tvinfbx — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:03:00 GMT

HOCKEY ACTION TO RESUME AT FAIRBANKS...IN OCTOBER

What a way to start off my take this weekend by giving you all my news and views of such honesty of how Moosehead beer is supposed to taste like...no wait, that's a commercial I used to listen to constantly years ago living in SoCal.

However I have not been in a very good mood these last several days within the local and national sports scene, let's get right to it. If you thought moving an NBA basketball team to Oklahoma City was bad enough, how about telling our local hockey team that they can't play on their home ice because it would be a "disadvantage" to the division champions' home ice advantage and over money. That's right Topeka, I'm talking about your hockey team. The Roadrunners are saying that it was an economics issue. I say it was absolutely BS.

Let me say this right now. If you are in a league that involves other teams outside of your local area, outside of your state, etc., you should be able to play at other venues. Can you imagine the Roadrunners telling NAHL Commissioner Mark Frankenfeld that they can't play in the Robertson Cup because they can't afford to play in, say...Fairbanks? (Just to let you all know, the 2007 Robertson Cup tournament was held at the Big Dipper.) Bottom line, the Ice Dogs paid to fly down to Kansas to play in a playoff series. Topeka, you want to compete for the Robertson Cup in St. Louis, its just like competing in the World Series of Poker...put your money down and prove that you belong in the finals. Its that simple. If you can't, shut down your business, let the players go into the basement for the summer, and start selling girl scout cookies on your own time. That way you can be able to have the money for once to fly up here (and the testicular fortitude) and compete against one of the best. Cody Reichard shut you guys down Friday night, just like he would have done to you this coming week in Games 3 and 4.

As for Rob Prof and the gang, I'm sure Friday's 3-1 win (all three goals in the second period) was a message sent to Roadrunners team owner Georgia Frontiere....ERRR....Mary Magdalene Lorang. If you can't afford coming up to Fairbanks, we'll make sure you can't afford going to St. Louis. Get out of the playoffs, watch the Stanley Cup on TV and chow down some tuna sandwiches with Toto. Good luck Topeka. You may now resume your elimination process already progress.

ACES HIGH ON WAITING...AND WAITING...AND WAITING

It was last Sunday night down at Sullivan Arena that Keith McCambridge's Alaska Aces swept the defending Kelly Cup champion Idaho Steelheads advancing to the second round of the ECHL's National Conference semifinals.

Here we are on Saturday afternoon, and we still have no idea who the Aces will play.

Last night the Las Vegas Wranglers knocked off the Stockton Thunder in overtime 4-3 at Stockton Arena, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. Game 5 resumes Sunday afternoon in Stockton. If Stockton wins Sunday, Game 6 will be back at Orleans Arena on Tuesday night, with a possible deciding Game 7 to be played Wednesday night on West Tropicana.

For the Aces, its been practice, practice and practice just to kill time. I mean, come on, you can't have these guys lie around doing nothing and watching game film all day. They gotta keep loose, fit, and ready to go at anytime. Here's how the scenario goes:

- If the Wranglers hold on to the series lead and wins it, they would host the Aces starting on Friday and Saturday nights. Games 3, 4 and 5 would be back at Sullivan Arena the following week. Game 3 will be on Tuesday April 29th; Game 4 on Thursday May 1st; Game 5 (if necessary) on Friday May 2nd.

- If the Thunder comes back and wins the series, the Aces-Thunder series will not take place until next Sunday at Sullivan Arena with Game 2 on Tuesday April 29th. Games 3, 4 and 5 will be at Stockton Arena. If necessary, Games 6 and 7 will be back in Anchorage

The Aces might as well go to Vegas just to kill time. Find the blackjack tables, the penny slots (yes those actually exist still), and not to mention, my favorite place when I used to live there, Glitter Gulch at the Fremont Street Experience.

22 in San Diego

It was at 12:22 am that I shut my computer down for the evening and get in my four-hour sleep to prepare for Friday at work on the base.

That's about one minute after watching the Colorado Rockies finally beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 at San Diego's PETCO Park in a game that lasted exactly 22 innings. I turned on the game thru my subscription to MLB.TV Premium package (which is the only way to watch non-blacked out Mariners game in Fairbanks via GCI...more on that in a minute) and when I started watching the game, they were in the 13th inning and not one of those teams had yet scored...until the 14th...after the 14th it was tied...and it remained 1-1 until 22nd inning when Padres shortstop Khalil Greene threw just a bit too high to first baseman Tony Clark. The Rockies would later score in that inning and seal it.

I tell you I was tired and I was glad I was not at that game in person. Channel 4 San Diego's "Padres Postgame" hosts John Weisbarth and Bob Scanlan were being seen having their own action during the 22-inning marathon by bouncing coins into a cup (must've been a quarter, but that's just me saying that). Anyhow, that game was as boring as watching Natalie whining about everything that doesn't go her way on CBS' "Big Brother: Till Death Do You Part".

GCI Home to Mariners Baseball...When Available

When I first moved here to Fairbanks last May, I knew I was going to end up watching FSN Northwest's coverage of Seattle Mariners baseball. Then GCI went ahead added FSN Northwest's HD feed, since all home games were seen in high-definition. That makes it even better.

Here we are in 2008, and not even a dozen Mariners games have been seen in Fairbanks, let alone the state of Alaska on GCI. Blacking out Mariners on FSN Northwest (which is GCI's FSN regional affiliate) is as worse as KUAC-TV (PBS in Fairbanks) being the only Fairbanks TV station airing anything in HD. I tell you what, I better get with my landlord about getting my DIRECTV service back (I haven't had their service since 2005) and finding a way to get the dish up. I found out that Mariners' coverage on FSN Northwest are not being blacked out via DIRECTV or DISH Network.

Thankfully my MLB.TV Premium subscription does not blackout any games here in Alaska, including Mariners games. Pretty much all games are seen by the home team telecasts (the only games blacked out are the Sunday Night Baseball telecasts on ESPN) including games that are not even on TV itself by showing the in-stadium feed with the home team radio broadcasts. (**Update: MLB.TV now blacks out FOX' Saturday Baseball live coverage...something it was not doing the first week of the season)

Another fine example on why we pay too much for basic service and receiving very little with our cable companies now these days. The only good thing that GCI has not done...moving NFL Network over to the sports tier. Now I'm waiting for Channel 11, ABC Alaska and Channel 13 to finally air some sports programming in HD. What's taking so long for sports fans in Fairbanks to wait for the World Series, Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Finals & Super Bowl to air in high-def?

Those are my takes...now its your turn.

The Premiere Blog

socaln8tvinfbx — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:43:00 GMT

First things first...I would like to thank the people at KTVF-TV Channel 11 for allowing to voice my opinions to the Fairbanks community. Maybe this will be a start to new career into the sports media department in the near future.

ANCHORAGE'S CHALMERS HELP JAYHAWKS WIN NCAA TITLE

Okay enough of that, there was a champion crowned Monday night in San Antonio. The Kansas Jayhawks captured the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship with an unforgettable 75-68 overtime win over the Memphis Tigers. And who would have thought that the player named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament happens to be a graduate of Anchorage's Bartlett High School...Mario Chalmers.

Chalmers was the hero on this night as he scored the game-tying three-point basket with 2.1 seconds left in regulation forcing the game to go overtime tied at 63-63. The overtime was the first since a pair of Wildcats' teams decided the overtime in the 1997 final in Indianapolis where Lute Olson's Arizona squad (Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, etc.) knocked away Rick Pitino's Kentucky team.

ICE LOTTERY

The National Hockey League season came to an end on Sunday, and what better way to prepare for the playoffs by having...you guessed it, a draft lottery. Congrats to the Tampa Bay Lightning on becoming the team to select first overall in the upcoming June draft in Ottawa. Second pick goes to my Los Angeles Kings, who for the sixth consecutive season have failed to make the playoffs. And thanks to my Kings, I have to put up with another postseason of watching the crosstown rival / Stanley Cup champion Ducks not only compete in the playoffs starting Wednesday night versus the Dallas Stars, but also watch them (and hope they unsuccessfully) defend Lord Stanley's Cup. Go Stars!

TIED GOING INTO TEXAS

Friday night was playoff night at the Dipper. I attended Game 1 of the North American Hockey League's South Division Semifinals between the Ice Dogs and the Wichita Falls Wildcats. After accidently dropping my white towel into the nacho cheese dip, I decided to twirl it anyways during the Dogs' 4-0 shutout. Cody Reichard was brilliant, stopping save after save, especially during the penalty kill. Head coach Rob Proffitt was a little upset at the officials during a changeover during the third period.

But did anyone notice the referee that was about the size of each car that was on the ice during first and second intermissions? I mean, did the guy forget to give up his Slim-Fast cases to Tommy Lasorda? Was he the only official not to have his name on the back of his uniform? I swear to God, it had to Mario...then I thought, where is Luigi on the ice?

Anyways back to the series; Games 3 and 4 will be played Friday and Saturday afternoon at Wichita Falls, with Game 5 if necessary early Sunday afternoon. Winner of this series plays either the Topeka Roadrunners or Texas Tornado for the South Division Final.

...AND FINALLY (FINALLY)

The Seattle Sounders are playing their final season this year in the United Soccer League.

The new Major League Soccer team in Seattle, which will be playing at Qwest Field in 2009, will be called...Seattle Sounders FC.

And in the words of the great Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton would say...THANK YOU, GOOD NIGHT NOW!

-Lorenzo