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By Kenzie Masson Assistant Sports Editor
As I walked into work, the Bears and Giants game was playing on the big screen, so I knew it was going to be busy. The purple fluorescent light that hung along the wall gleamed off the piles of emptied beer glasses and mugs. The bar was starting to fill up with people eager to catch the game. As football season gears up, more people stroll into the sports bar wearing jersey and t-shirts in a dizzying array of colors and mascots. The chatter turns to debates about quarterbacks, defense, and wagers on which teams are going to win their divisions. This is what I love about Alaska; you can support pretty much any NFL team you want. Sure, you are going to get grief if your
B9 Alaska gives NFL fans rare freedom to cheer whomever
team isn’t doing well, but you’re not going to get beat up in a parking lot for wearing your team’s jersey either. There are several unique aspects about living in the Last Frontier. The landscape, the weather, the fact that we’re bigger than any other state (especially Texas) and the lack of a football team sets us apart from any other state. This gives residents the freedom to cheer for any other team with very little criticism. Alaska has the most diverse population of NFL fans I’ve ever seen in one place. You’d be hard-pressed to find a fan that doesn’t have a story of how they came to support their team. Maybe they used to live in that team’s state or they grew up cheering for that team. Maybe they know one of the athletes. Some residents have lived here their
whole lives and jump on a bandwagon for a new team each season. My short curly blond-haired government teacher in high school was a dedicated Eagles fan, and proud of it. She plastered her classroom with almost as many Eagle’s headlines and posters as there were presidents of the United States. She would frequently offer extra credit if you could admit they were the “best team” or could give positive stats from that weeks game. Giants fan were idiots and guaranteed to flunk. Alaskans can freely fly their own team’s colors without any concern for their safety, a freedom that is a rarity in the Lower 48. You wouldn’t walk around in Minnesota wearing a Green Bay hat. You wouldn’t fly a Broncos flag in front of your house if you lived in Oakland or you life might actually
REALINGMENT: new shakeup continued from Cover
\With St. Cloud State leaving, the WCHA now drops to eight-remaining teams set to begin play in 2013-14. Left to carry the WCHA flag is UAA, UAF, Michigan Tech, Bemidji State, Minnesota State, Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan, and Ferris State. On Aug. 25, the WCHA issued an official invitation to five teams from the CCHA to join the WCHA beginning in 2013-14. While UAF, Lake Superior State, and Ferris State all responded quickly
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with acceptance, Western Michigan and Bowling Green University remained mum on if they would accept. While the hockey world now knows Western Michigan’s answer, Bowling Green looks to be running out of time on the one-month long window to join the WCHA. Rumors still swirl that the WCHA and CCHA may not be through with looking to add to their conference numbers and stabilize their positions in the continually volatile college hockey landscape.
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be in danger. You don’t wear Redskin maroon and gold through the streets of Dallas. This is common sense and an unspoken rule that applies no matter what region you’re from. In one 2011 preseason game between the 49ers and Raiders, a brawl broke out between fans in the stadium. A man was beaten unconscious in a bathroom, and a post-game shooting in the parking lot left two injured. So all you Alaskan football fans out there, embrace your unique freedom and cheer loud for your respective teams. However, anyone who knows anything knows that the Denver Broncos are where it’s at. Orange crush!
sports briefs UAA earns road wins over Clan and #25 Vikings, run win streak to four straight Middle blocker Robyn Burton notched 16 kills and four total blocks Sept. 22 to power the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team to a 26-24, 25-16, 25-19 sweep of Simon Fraser at the SFU West Gymnasium. The Seawolves also got 10 kills from senior outside hitter Jackie Matthisen as they recorded their third straight sweep for the first time since late in the 2009 campaign. Middle blocker Kristjana Fridfinnson led the home team with nine kills, however the Clan (0-9, 0-5 GNAC) remained winless despite jumping to a 13-6 lead in the opening set. UAA overcame its early deficit with an 8-point rally behind Matthisen’s serve, getting kills from Nikkie Viotto and Nora Anders along the way. After a Burton kill put UAA ahead 23-20, SFU responded with three straight points, leading to a Seawolf timeout. Anders, a freshman right-side hitter, then traded kills with Fridfinnson before Viotto and Matthisen gave UAA the set with consecutive kills. Burton, who entered as the GNAC’s attack percentage leader at .387, had another sterling performance, ripping her 16 kills in just 22 attempts. Her .591 percentage (16-3-22) marked the sixth time in 12 matches this year that the sophomore has hit .500 or better. She also had a pair of solo blocks. Meanwhile, the Seawolves got a lift with the return of junior setter Kimya Jafroudi, who had missed the previous two matches with a leg-muscle strain. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native tallied a match-high 27 assists and a team-best eight digs. Viotto finished with six kills and seven digs, and Anders had four kills. Burton had another huge performance with 12 kills and 10 total blocks to lead the ‘Wolves to a 27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-18 upset of 25thranked Western Washington on Sept. 24 at Carver Gymnasium. The Seawolves (8-5, 4-1 GNAC) also got a season-high 51 assists from junior setter Jafroudi, who helped the visitors to a .448 attack percentage in the clinching fourth set. Matthisen had 18 kills and 10 digs, while junior right-side hitter Ariel Austin had 13 kills in her first game back from an injury. Outside hitter Marlayna Geary led the hosts with a match-high 19 kills and 14 digs, but the Vikings (7-3, 5-1) could not convert early advantages in the first and second sets and saw their 13-match home winning streak come to an end. UAA trailed 9-4 in the first set
before scrapping back to tie it at 18. The Vikings earned a set point at 25-24, but Matthisen responded with her fifth kill for the equalizer. Geary was then blocked by Austin and Miranda Doing, and Austin converted a kill to give the Seawolves the early advantage. Burton, a sophomore middle blocker from Eagle River, matched her career-high in total blocks and earned her second career double-double with another standout performance. The GNAC’s attack percentage leader hit four points better than her average coming in, converting at a .409 clip (12 kills-3 errors-22 attacks). Matthisen, meanwhile, reached the 900-kill mark for her career as she hit .364 (18-2-44) and earned three total blocks. Doing had seven kills on .545 hitting and four block assists, and Austin converted at a .364 clip after missing the last two matches with a knee strain. Sophomore libero Quincy Haught paced the back-row defense with 15 digs, while the Seawolves’ 15 team blocks were four more than their previous season-high.
Cross Country teams both ranked nationally Both Alaska Anchorage men’s and women’s cross-country teams were among the top 25 squads ranked by the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), released on Sept. 21. The UAA women’s team remained in the top 10 at No. 6, while the men’s team sits at No. 12 in the Week 1 poll. Leading the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and second in the West Region, the women’s team fell one position from the preseason poll to No. 6, marking the 25th consecutive week that they have been in the top 10 since ascending to ninth in the final poll of 2008. UAA leads GNAC foe Western Washington (No. 21), while trailing West Region member Chico State (No. 2). Western State maintains the No. 1 position for the second straight poll, while Ferris State collected the No. 3 position. The men’s team advanced one slot from its preseason ranking of No. 13 and leads the conference over WWU (No. 19) and Western Oregon (No. 20). Adams State tops the board at No. 1, while Western State and Grand Valley State round out the top three. The Seawolves are amid a threeweek break before competing in the Western Washington Invitational on Oct. 8 in Bellingham, Wash.
Coimpiled by Taylor Hall