Chapter Three: "Believe the Hype"

Texas has Football.

Minnesota has Hockey.

If it's not Indiana, Basketball belongs to Alaska. 

They told me it would be nuts and they did not disappoint. The first game of the day started at 9:00 am where the Kivalina Boys lost to the UpRiver Hunters. The Qavvik boys are now done for the year and become active concessions managers and professional fans. The second game on the morning docket featured my Lady Qavviks and the Ambler Grizzlies. Ambler tried unsuccessfully to run the Box and One on Maayuk. She ended the game with 28 points. When the Grizzlies scrambled to put on a Full Court Press, most of the time my girls calmly did what they were coached to do and put on a clinic on how to beat the press with the pass, not the dribble. It was fun to watch. 

Riding high off of being back on the winning side of things, we were free to enjoy the rest of the day with limited responsibilities. There was an hour of study hall time during which my players dutifully hammered out the learning packets that their teachers sent them with. We were also responsible for our first shift inside the concession stand. At 1:30, during the Noatak and Kiana girls game, we put on the serving gloves and went to it. 

Word has spread throughout Kotzebue of a crimson bearded man's abilities on the ice cream machine. All those trips to the Dairy Queen have finally paid off as I flawlessly created masterpiece after masterpiece irregardless of whether or not it was on a cone or in a cup. The Kivalina girls each mastered a station and worked hard serving up nachos, fountain pop and popcorn like champions. The controlled chaos was a fun break from the monotony of repetitive basketball.

For the morning highlight, there was an upset on the boys side. Selawik defeated the Noorvik team in a back and forth contest. The number one seeded Bears were not able to overcome an early surge by the Wolves and fought back but just couldn't muster that last bit needed to survive. It was a good game and I estimate that the gym held close to a thousand fans for this Thursday midday contest. 

Once again, the Hospitality Room did not disappoint. In there coaches, referees and administrators are served up a smorgasbord of fruit and meat trays, desserts and even some Native foods to include a great pot of Caribou Soup. I took full advantage of earning an extra few calories for the day because of my 6:00 wake-up and subsequent workout in a real weight room. 

By the time the evening session came up, I had taken a couple different pairs of my players on two runs to the AC Store. They filled up on gee dunk while I shopped around, still contemplating the purchase of another winter jacket just because the sale is so good. 

The Village of Buckland settled in for the evening session as both their boys and girls teams were competing for a chance to play in the Friday Championship game. Neither team was able to punch their own ticket and now the Sissauni must fight their way back towards the second place game. In front of about 1500 rabid fans, the Noatak Lynx boys team and the Selawik Wolves girls team advanced to the championship games. 

This was on a Thursday.

A capacity crowd filled the bleachers and spilled in to the aisles. I scored a cush padded folding chair on the baseline where I sat amongst the other coaches, respected elders and unassigned officials. A small part of me felt guilty for having such an awesome front row seat to the spectacle that is Bush Basketball. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with Brett Slatthaug, the regions Athletic Director and Wyatt Moum, the head coach of the Noorvik boys team. They are my kind of guys and were helpful in deflecting any guilt that we may have been feeling for exercising our power and privilege to score some prime seats.

1500 plus fans....passionate and proud of their basketball...on a Thursday "Play-In" game...screaming, hollering, clapping and chanting... it was cool.

Side note - I didn't hit the sack until about midnight last night and am definitely excited for another day of ball, although I may need to sneak in a nap somewhere this afternoon.