The Mallard Lodge

Rice Lake has gotten 12 inches on snow in the last six hours...and it is still coming down pretty heavily. I like winter as much as the next guy, but it's when I stumble across pictures like the one below that I could go for a nice fall hunting day.


And I don't mean a late-November deer hunting day where it is 15 degrees, but rather an early-October bird hunting day where the sun is shining, the multi-colored leaves are bright, and the temperature is 70 degrees.

Soon enough, soon enough.

Dispatch from the Birkie

I headed 45 miles north yesterday to Hayward, WI for the 36th annual racing of the American Birkebeiner cross-country ski race. The 54 km race had over 7,000 participants, and it was reported that another 15,000 were on hand as spectators. To put these numbers in perspective, the population of Hayward is only 2,100 people.
The annual event is a highlight of the Northwoods calendar, and I now understand why.

I pulled into town about 10:20, parked the car, and hustled over to the finish line (basically, they dump a few feet of snow onto main street, and cordon it off) just in time to see the winner cross in 2 hours 11 minutes. The womens race featured the sort of photo finish you see only in movies, with both racers neck and neck across the line, with a video review needed to determine the winner.

Judged on the number of participants, this is the largest ski race in North America. There were skiers competing from 48 different states and 21 countries. A 12-time Norwegian Olympic medalist (including 8 golds), Bjorn Daehlie, also competed, which is pretty damn cool. As contestants finished, the announcer would read their name and hometown. He was dropping Russias, Slovakias, Norways, and Swedens all over the place, in addition to basically any state that gets snow at least once a year.

Those that were on hand as spectators seemed to be having a blast. Exhibit A being the number of bloody marys and cold brews being consumed at 10:30 am while watching skiiers cross the finish line. In talking with some folks it seems that Saturday night is quite the party. I can imagine it being so, especially with the trans-national/international flavor to things.

I didn't stick around past the afternoon, but I'm half-tempted to pull a group together next year and make a weekend of it (don't worry, no delusions exist about myself or any of my beer-guzzling compatriots being able to complete a 50+ km cross-country ski race). Anyone game?

Oh, and lest people begin to think I am photographically talented, the pictures in this post were poached from various news articles about the event as nothing I took did the event any justice at all for what it was.

This is gonna be one rockin' summer

Spring training has officially started. And after a four hour wait in a "virtual line" on the Chicago Cubs web site I bought tickets for the Minnesota Twins - Chicago Cubs series at Wrigley Field.

Anyone else ready for summer?

Best Sport....Ever

I had nearly forgotten about the great sport of Cricket until I stumbled upon something titled "International warfare on a ball field" while wandering though the interweb this afternoon. If you're not familiar with the glories of this sport, check the link out.

I was first exposed to Cricket in a London airport while watching tv waiting for a bus on my first day in the United Kingdom. I had a chance to view the sport live a few times over the subsequent months, as well as to be exposed to it daily on television and on the Sports pages of the newspapers.

I also had a chance to play the sport a few times as well, and honestly, have no idea how to even describe those experiences. Other than to say that it was one hell of a good time.

In summary, England creates a sport and exports it to the colonies it would take men, resources, and goods from over the next 250 years. Fast forward to the twenty-first century and said countries kick England's arse in cricket every year.

Giga-waabamin minawaa.