Sharapova

The once and future U.S. Open champ fights off a spirited Brit, and the Wimbledon champ Kvitova gets washed out of her quarter. All in a days work.

Adventure on Indian Mountain

Nestled in the base of the southernmost Taconic Mountain is the Indian Mountain School, and the home base for the challenge course construction/inspection/facilitation empire, Indian Mountain Adventure, founded and directed by IMA president Steve Werntz.
The climbing tower pictured above is the rock of his high elements: a sturdy construction with plenty of redundant safety elements, like guy wires extending from all three telephone poles that are the foundation of the tower.

Unfortunately, a construction backhoe violated the 14 foot standard and ruptured the guy wire, wreaking havoc on the seemingly impenetrable climbing tower (see top plank on photo). Werntz and trusty sidekick (yours truly) spent the beautiful pre-Irene Friday morning scrambling up the tower and sawing and prying lumber, but were unable to budge the damaged upper platform.

Fast forward to Friday afternoon and Werntz is hoisting the platform with his truck via rope and pulley, with yours truly trying to surf the platform like a fool while clipped into upper belay cables. No broken bones, (sheer luck), but the platform only went about a third of the way down. Quitting time rolled around and I abandoned the job with a beautiful case of lip salad (thanks to an errant twist of the lineman's tool which flew into my mush) but no satisfaction because the job was as much of a mess as my face: a 200 pound triangular platform wedged into the inner walls, 15 feet above the ground. Sorry, but I wasn't going to hang under it with a chainsaw when I needed to be dashing home for dinner with my lads.

I found out later from the founder that his dutiful brother gave one of those ropes a yank while the fearless leader had the other rope coiled on his arm. Gravity won out, as the platform crashed down within feet of dutiful bro. Super Steve got yanked like a ragdoll, landing with a skid on his nose. Werntz has cancelled a month's worth of work as a body double for Jamie Farr due to his crash landing. But it could have been worse: the platform came down on schedule, and no paperwork was submitted to insurance bureaucrats. Gotta love happy endings for the aptly name Indian Mountain ADVENTURE.

Cup final say

If you were a hockey kid in Wood River Valley, you'll never forget Lord Stanley's Vist

I guess it was all about camaraderie and purpose. Two of the legends of Sun Valley suns hockey, Cub and Hunts, members of the so-called Mount Rushmore according to the creative Kurt Wenzell, succeeded in generating huge buzz and decent dollars for the life and health of high end amateur hockey in the Wood River Valley. It is difficult to quantify what was accomplished at this writing, but I suspect years from now that August 21 and 22, 2011 will be the genesis of a Suns renaissance. If a new skating rink is constructed in the next few years, it will be no coincidence.

Hunts and Cub, 50-something hockey loving lifers, opposite sides of the same coin, shared in all chores in this immaculate production that resulted in, yes by all estimates, 10,000 photos of Lord Stanley. All the cool cats, plenty of rich nerds dining outside the Duchin room. and most important, EVERY hockey kid got their moment (or two) with Lord Stanley. In the 14 miles from working class Bellevue to the Sun Valley Resort, not one place was missed, and some were found. And in the wake of the silver 1966 convertible Mustang was a flowing river of smiles and good will, none wider than contemporaries of Cub n Hunts, the setting Suns that had convened for a national hockey championship tournament 5 months prior. To reunite again solidified a camaraderie forged by hockey with a magical 24-hour Cup date. It was the ultimate Flomax commercial, baby-boomer bliss, our own beer commercial, only better.

Keep an eye out for hockey prospects coming out of the Wood River Valley over the next decade, the ripples from this visit by Lord Stanley will surely resonate.

Hawk lands in Canada...OOPS!

Joyous reunion of setting suns

Stanley rolls onto SV ice

Grumpy gets the ultimate Schooner

Cup handed over to Beets

Cubby Burke channels Bobby Orr

Hawk Jeneson describes adventure

Two trophies

Sunday with Lord Stanley

It's not over yet, put Phase I of the Stanley Cup's tour through the Sun Valley, Idaho area was a testament to organization and execution by former Sun Valley Suns Glenn Hunter and John "Cubbie" Burke. By enlisting pilot and former teammate Hawk Jeneson to fly the Cup from British Columbia, Bruins equipment manager Beets Johnson got extra Wood River hours with the most famous sports trophy in North America.

The first stage of the operation was the trickiest. Hawk Jeneson landed on the wrong side of the Canadian border for starters, and then discovered that the Stanley Cup didn't fit into his little four seater. Rather than spend several thousand dollars on a larger charter, Hawk scrambled for a screwdriver, removed the back seats and shoehorned Lord Stanley into the aircraft. After that turning point, all the pieces fell into place for an operation that was part Sun Valley Suns reunion and part campaign to stoke hockey interest in the Wood River Valley.

Lord Stanley rolled from Bellevue to Hailey to Sun Valley to Ketchum in a vintage 1966 silver Mustang convertable, stopping at establishments for nearly 8 consecutive hours before being shut down at the stroke of midnight with near surgical precision. There was a 2 hour break for a generous party. The proprietors will all hear from Burke and Hunter later in the year when its time to round up financial support necessary keep Suns hockey alive and well.

Beets Johnson, the man who was responsible for the Cup coming to Ketchum because of his contributions to the Boston Bruins Cup victory, was the perfect escort on this mission, a gentle man with a kind word and a selfless smile for each and every encounter. He had no private time with the Cup Sunday, but never appeared to mind, moving from spot to spot, selling his sport to a sporting crowd that embraced every stop.

Beets's decades-long association with the Sun Valley Suns amateur team made his Cup session a team affair, with Suns players from the 1970's to present apparating at landmarks like Whiskey Jacques and the Pioneer Saloon. Suds flowed all night, but the Stanley Cup chalice remained dry. In a town known for wild exuberance, the Cup was treated with the dignity befitting a celebrity, hockey's grandest one at that. It would not be an exaggeration that more than 10,000 photos were taken with the Cup over the 8 hours.

Here's a link to my Facebook photo Album:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1909199696515&set=a.1909199456509.2091906.1437532070&type=1&theater

SportsRap will post an ensuing collection of video vignettes from Sunday's amazing day in Wood River Valley. Some will have more relevance than others based on the viewer's familiarity with the characters. Enjoy!

Cup Odyssey "Cupdate"

Got into Boise @ 1:45 am MT; Craig at Hertz stayed late and saved my bacon. Crashed in Boise with fellow setting Sun Mark Broz, who fetched me and led me into his desert-like canyon for a 5 hour crash. Am now waiting in Ketchum for Suns gang to head down to Hailey airport to hook up with Hawk who is flying with Cup in from Johnny Bucyck's retreat in BC. Hawk is currently on airfield trying to explain to border guards why he is on the wrong side of the border. I like Hawk's chances...having a legitimate claim on Lord Stanley for a day should help his cause.

Big anticipation for Monday dawn trip to the top of Mount Baldy with Lord Stanley. Decent photo op is expected. Will walk it if necessary...ha ha. Elevation 10,000 plus.

Stay tuned for more updates over the next 24 hours. Pictures, moving and still, to follow.

Cup chase

Hangin in Newark Int'l, flight to CHI delayed which will tighten up my connection to Boise. Found a free WiFi spot next to McDonalds so I can chirp away the hours. Taking a couple of days to return to Sun Valley; this time there's a good excuse to carouse with the old gang---Lord Stanley will be dropping in. Yes, North America's most famous trophy comes to Wood River Valley thanks to Bruins equipment manager and former Sun Valley Suns player Beets Johnson. When the B's got to the finals the buzz amongst the boys that if the Bruins won and granted Beets his day he should spend it in Ketchum. They did, they granted, Beets chose Ketchum over Duluth, and I took the bait. I mean really, what hockey playing fan wouldn't want to party with Lord Stanley and the elder Sun Valley Suns? The fact that we all enjoyed a reunion this April at the USA Hockey national championships makes it an easier fit. I just need the travel Gods to cooperate, which is no slam dunk.

l'll post photos and quotes and maybe a g-rated video or two. should be fun. If it's not fun, then that's your story.

What's with Sun Valley? I played there for two years after college in the very early 1980's, came back several times with East coast teams the next few years, including 1991 in which I eloped with my current ex-wife. Have made 3 or 4 trips back since, but not in the last 8 years. This one should be a doozy. A lot of the old gang is still around (emphasis on OLD), some in respectable positions, some in the gutter, all with stories to tell. Hopefully I'll be paying attention.