Iditarod – Day 14

by Bryan

10 comments

1 hipparchia { 03.19.10 at 6:47 pm }

i keep obsessively checking the nomecam [this is my 2nd or 3rd year doing this], and while i often catch crowds of people clustered around the finish, i’ve never actually caught it at the moment when a team goes running by the camera, or even seen any of the pupsters among the crowd. i think i did the back of a sled once, but that’s just not the same.
.-= last blog ..Run, ntodd, run! =-.

2 JuanitaM { 03.19.10 at 8:17 pm }

Hipparchia, I did exactly the same thing last year, and I never saw any of them come in either. I would have like to have seen some of the dogs come in, but all I ever saw was Jeff King working the crowd about 20 minutes after he arrived. (Why couldn’t I have been at my computer 20 minutes earlier!) But after that, nada. If I wasn’t so cheap, I guess I’d pay for the Insider. Instead, I just stay cheap.

Bryan, I see that Wattie and Newton are at Safety. It looks like they’re going to bring’em on in! I hope someone does a good interview of Newton after this. I just want to hear his take as a Jamaican on -40 degrees…

Thanks for all your input on this race. I know it takes a lot of your time, but we appreciate it!

Oh, gee, it looks like Celeste Davis is back at the rear again. They’re switching so fast back there, I can’t keep up.

3 Bryan { 03.19.10 at 10:26 pm }

Hipparchia, Juanita’s right – the only way you’ll see it is if you give them their 20 dollar bribe. That’s really annoying, and holds down the worldwide audience.

Juanita, Newton is going to be happy. It’s something in the water in Jamaica, they are a happy people. It can get really annoying when you are having a bad day to have someone like my friend, Horace, standing around being happy and seeing the bright side. “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” is the cultural anthem of Jamaica. They can live in some really brutal conditions, but they have a innate optimism that is as admirable as it is annoying.

Celeste isn’t about to push her team. Her goal is that belt buckle, and she has put up with too much so far to do anything risky. That’s what I admire about the true amateurs, their determination.

4 hipparchia { 03.20.10 at 1:39 am }

If I wasn’t so cheap, I guess I’d pay for the Insider. Instead, I just stay cheap.

😆 i’ve often said that i come from a family of competitive cheapskates myself.

the only way you’ll see it is if you give them their 20 dollar bribe

oh i know this. but like your jamaican friend, on this at least i’m a perpetual optimist: someday some anarchist type is going to get control of that webcam and free the pupsters! [even if only for one frame one time in the middle of the night].
.-= last blog ..Run, ntodd, run! =-.

5 Bryan { 03.20.10 at 10:11 am }

Hell, Hipparchia, they could get a grant from the Department of Homeland Security and put a web cam on the burled arch and broadcast the whole thing to the world while “checking for terrorists”. With the way the Feds throw money at such projects, they could probably do it in HD and surround sound with a satellite link.

Oh, Juanita, Quinn Iten admits sleeping for at least 15 minutes on the trail into Ruby according to the Anchorage Daily News blog. His Dad probably taught him how to do it. 😉

6 hipparchia { 03.20.10 at 1:42 pm }

i would consider that a most excellent use of my tax dollars.
.-= last blog ..Run, ntodd, run! =-.

7 JuanitaM { 03.20.10 at 4:17 pm }

Great idea Bryan! With surround sound, we can set up our computers and speakers on each side of the bed at night, and every time the horn blows to announce another musher on the way, we can get up to watch it. 🙂

Hipparchia, you’d never miss anyone that way!

Quinn Iten admits sleeping for at least 15 minutes on the trail into Ruby

You know these are some really tired dudes when they can fall asleep on a sled, for heaven’s sake. I mean, are they standing up and everything?

8 Bryan { 03.20.10 at 8:00 pm }

I think the Iditarod committee is the problem, and is preventing others from broadcasting what is going on. They probably have pressured the people who own the webcam to reduce the frequency so you can’t see the arrival. They are the most controlling group I have ever encountered.

You control the sled just like skis or a skateboard by shifting your weight, so mushers are standing on the rear of the sled runners for about two weeks.

The Alaska Dispatch had a story about Gerry Willomitzer falling asleep and having his team run off with his sled. He only only found it with the GPS beacon.

Snow and doggie butts are not the most fascinating view in the world after a couple of weeks. Throw in sleep deprivation, and falling asleep on your feet is very possible.

9 JuanitaM { 03.21.10 at 9:26 am }

Oh yeah, Bryan, you’re absolutely right, and you really hit a nerve with me on this Iditarod Committee business. IMO, their attitude of exclusiveness is part of why the Iditarod is not followed as actively as other sports. I had always wanted to know more about the Iditarod, but about all you ever saw on TV about it was a blip at the end of the sports news. You know, sort of like an afterthought: “oh yeah, we almost forgot, so and so won the Iditarod” and you’d get the obligatory far away shot of a musher running the trail (probably not even the person that won).

Consequently, the only thing I ever knew about the race was that, yeah, it was run once a year. Up in the blizzard zone called Alaska. And someone won. And I got to see a picture of a musher.

Being in marketing myself, I blame the Committee’s grasping and hoarding it’s information for there not being a larger following for the sport. I’m also aware of the fact that they need to make money. But there are huge benefits financially to marketing this to a larger crowd rather than just limiting it to the Iditarod Insiders online.

My impression has been that the Committee just doesn’t want to make nice with an outside network. And I’m not talking about storytelling documentaries with Discovery, either. I’m talking about CBS, NBC, ABC or FOX which are losing money like a sieve on their old platforms of programming, and are moving heavily to reality programming – most of which is such drivel. What if they were to partner with the Committee to show an hour every night highlighting the days humor, mishaps, dog stories, people stories and “who’s on first” stuff. Would you watch it? I’d be glued to the TV for that hour. And I think millions of other people who can’t stand “The Kardashians” and “High Society” would flock to it.

The result, good money for the Committee. Very good money, enough to pay even the rear mushers (which as you so aptly remarked earlier are really more interesting than the ones who do it as a business) a decent purse so they’re not completely pauperized by the end of the race. Once again, my opinion is that it would take some of the control away from the Committee and we can’t have that, can we?

Oh man, my apologies for this . I’ll bet you wished you’d never mentioned it. 🙂 I’m new to posting here, and certainly don’t want to sound like a complete nutcase. Guess I’ve now been “outed”, huh?

10 Bryan { 03.21.10 at 1:30 pm }

Juanita, if you would like to know how bad the Committee is, go to the official site, pull up the rules [PDF] and look at the agreement the mushers have to make regarding the media and media relations. It’s insane from a modern point of view. They are cutting themselves off from their potential audience.

There is a reason why companies that worked with them before, stopped working with them. They are difficult people for a media company to deal with. They do a number of things that limit their audience potential.

For example – I use the official site for standings when I cover the Quest, but I have to use the Anchorage Daily News site during the Iditarod, because you have to pay the Insider fee to access the standings on the official site. It’s annoying, and it isn’t very timely.