Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod

The ceremonial start to the 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the "Last Great Race," will be held today in Anchorage. The actual race will begin tomorrow in Willow. 

This year, the race will follow the northern route, the standard trail for even-numbered years. The 975-mile northern route follows the same path as the southern route for the first 450-or-so miles before turning north at the Ophir checkpoint. From there it follows the Yukon River through checkpoints like Ruby, Galena, and Nulato. Although the route last year had to be modified due to insufficient snow, race officials report sufficient snow along the northern route for this year's race. 

After crossing two mountain ranges, the Yukon River, and a stretch of Bering Sea ice, the finish line is near Nome's City Hall, built on the former site of The Dexter, a bar once owned by Wyatt Earp during Alaska’s gold-rush days. The winner is expected to arrive in Nome the week of March 16.

This year's field includes three former champions looking for their second title - defending champion Jessie Holmes, 2023 champion Ryan Redington, and 2019 winner Pete Kaiser. Holmes, star of National Geographic’s Life Below Zero, is trying to join former champions Susan Butcher and Lance Mackey as the only mushers to win their second title the year after winning their first. Redington, who finished 8th last year, is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr., the race’s co-founder, and Kaiser is the first Yup’ik to have won the race.

In all, there are 34 mushers competing this year, including returning veterans Matt Hall, who finished in 2nd place last year, and Paige Drobney, Michelle Phillips, Bailey Vitelo, Travis Beale, and Mitch Seavey, who were 3rd through 7th, respectively. Denmark's Mille Porsild (9th), as well as veterans Jason Mackey (16th) and Brenda Mackey (scratched), are also competing. Last year's promising rookie, Emily Ford (18th), is not racing this year.

Disturbingly, the Iditarod has started a new "honorary category" which allow billionaires, not content to own more money than god and to play astronaut with their vanity space programs, to participate in the race with the assistance of outside help, although they are not eligible for prize money. Norwegian billionaire Kjell Rokke, who now lives in Switzerland, will be assisted by Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner, who won the 2020 Iditarod. Canadian entrepreneur Steve Curtis will be assisted by four-time champion Jeff King.

Rokke is providing financial support to the race, including boosting the purse by $100,000 to a total of $650,000 and providing $170,000 in support for the 17 Alaska Native villages that serve as checkpoints. Curtis, whose addition was only announced three days ago, has committed $50,000 to support youth sports programs in villages along the trail. Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach said the donations will raise the payouts to competitors, with the winner getting about $80,000 this year, well above the $57,000 paid to the top musher last year.

Cool, and I'm happy to see donations going to the villages. But I swear, those billionaires better not get in over their head and either interfere with other teams' progress or require a rescue. On the other hand, if a legitimate team gets stranded and needs emergency dog food, I suggest they slaughter a billionaire and use him to feed their team. Eat the rich, yeah!

After today's ceremonial start and photo ops on the streets of Anchorage, tomorrow's Official Restart is at 2:00 p.m. Alaska time, 6:00 p.m., Eastern time, although Daylight Savings might make a difference and I'm not smart enough to work that out. 

Celtics 120, Mavericks 100

 

Last night, Jayson Tatum made his return to the Boston Celtics' lineup after a 10-month absence due to last year's season-ending Achilles' heel injury.  Amazingly, the rest of the Celtics are a significantly improved team from when he left them, and while some were predicting they might tank this season to get a good draft pick for 2026-27, they're instead in first place in their division and second in the Eastern Conference.  They have the best defense in the NBA, giving up an average of only 107.0 points per game, with an average winning margin of 7.5 points per game, second only to Oklahoma City's 11.1.

As well as the Celtics had been playing, I had been thinking that it might be better to let the remaining team finish the season without him this year to maximize his healing and be assured that he was 100% ready to play at the start of next season. But Celtics GM Brad Stevens showed that he's all in for this season by bringing Tatum back now with time to get in the groove and rediscover his new and improved teammates before the playoffs start.

Last night, Tatum scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, made seven assists, and had one steal. Center Neemias Queta had a double double, too, scoring 16 points and snagging 15 rebounds. Mr. Brown led the team with 24 points and Mr. White had 20. Payton Pritchard scored 18 points off the bench. 

The bad news is that backup center Nikola Vučević fractured his ring finger in the first quarter and only played 1:00 minute of last night's game. He underwent surgery today and will be reevaluated in three to four weeks. The team is confident he'll be back in the lineup in time for the playoffs, if not sooner.

With 19 games left to the regular season, the Celtics are 42-21. Their next game is at Cleveland against the Cavs (39-24) on Sunday afternoon (1:00 pm) and will be covered by ABC.

Predators 6, Bruins 3

 

Last night, the Boston Bruins played without injured defenseman Jonathan Aspirot.  The Bruins are 28-8-4 with Aspirot playing, and in games where Aspirot has gone 17 or more minutes, they are 14-3-2. Without Aspirot, the Bruins are 6-13-1.

Last night's game didn't buck that trend. After Morgan Geekie got the Bruins close at 2-1 with a power-play goal early in the second period, Nashville knocked in three unanswered goals within a four-minute stretch to put the game effectively out of reach.  McAvoy and Arvidsson tried to mount a comeback with two goals in the third, but too little, too late, and the Predators scored on an open net at 17:33 for the final score.

Such is life in the NHL. The Bruins (34-22-5) are now clinging to the last Wild Card spot by a single point ahead of Columbus. 

Saturday, the Bruins will host the Washington Capitols (31-25-7). ABC will televise the game. Puck drops at 12:30 pm. 

Hornets 118, Celtics 89

 

OMG, this f-ing team! Brown and Queta return to the lineup, and what do they do? LOSE TO THE CHARLOTTE FREAKING HORNETS!! That's what.

The Celtics were outscored by the Hornets every quarter, putting up even a modicum of challenge only in the third, when they were outscored by only two points. Mt. White led the team with 29 points and Mr. Brown had a 10 point, 11 rebound double double but no one was hot from outside and every single player on the team was in negative numbers in the plus/minus. 

Awful game. Better to just forget it ever happened and move on. Friday, wunderkind Cooper Flagg, along with Anthony Davis and what remains of Klay Thompson and the rest of the post-Luka Dallas Mavs (21-40), come to the Garden for a Friday night game on ESPN. That should be a better game, right? Right?

Right?     

Bruins 2, Penguins 1

 

"Let's get this shit over with early," someone must have said in the Bruins locker room before the game, because ALL the soring action last night occurred in the first six minutes of the first period. After that, a lot of defense and skating up and down the ice, but no one lit the lamp. Strange game.

The Penguins struck first in the very first minute of play, but the Bruins' Marat Khusnutdinov tied the game up at the 5:10-minute mark and then Casey Mittelstadt gave Boston a 2-1 lead fifty seconds later. After that furious start . . . nothing. The final score after 54:00 more minutes of NHL hockey was 2-1, thanks in part to Swayman's 34 saves. Like I said, strange game.

The Bruins are now 34-21-5 and in fifth place in the Atlantic Division at 73 points. They're still hanging on to the last Wild Card berth, three points ahead of contender Columbus. 

From here, the Bruins travel down to Nashville, Tennessee for an 8:00 pm game Thursday night against the Predators (27-26-8). 

Celtics 108, Bucks 81

 

OMG, this f-ing team! They head into Milwaukee last night with, of course, Jayson Tatum still on the long-term DL, but also give backup superstar Jaylen Brown a day off for his knee and last night's surprise breakout star, Neemias Queta, a night's rest after his career-best performance the day before, all while Giannis A. returns to the lineup for the Bucks. A sure-fire recipe for a Boston loss, right? And what happens?

They put Hugo González, the pride of the Iberian peninsula, in as a starter and he drops 18 points and grabs 16 rebounds, as well as three steals, two blocked shots, and one assist to lead the Celtics to a 108-81 victory. Not only were those career high numbers for González, but no Celtic player had as high numbers in as many categories since Larry Bird. 

On back-to-back nights, unlikely heroes Queta and then González rise to the occasion with career-best games and lift the Boston Celtics to a 41-20 season record. If you're not yet on the team bandwagon, I suggest that now's the time to get on board.

I've been stanning for González here for a while now, mainly for his defensive play (rebounds and steals, mostly), but I purposely laid off a little because I felt like too much close examination on a rookie might build up too high an expectation, jinx his career, or at the very least, bias my opinion. But last night, he proved that he's worthy to be a starter on this team, and the bench is so deep that even without Tatum all season, the Celtics lead their division, and have the second best record in the East and the fourth best in the entire NBA. 

Speaking of bench players, Payton Pritchard lead the team in scoring last night with 25 points. Luka Garza, normally a starter, got 10 rebounds off the bench while Nikola Vučević, usually the backup center, hit for 10 points and 7 assists as a starter. All starters last night had at least 10 points.

What a team! Jayson who (lol)? The Celtics held Antetokounmpo to 19 points and had a big enough lead in the fourth that they played the last two minutes of the game with Amari Williams, Max Shulga, and John Tonje (who, lol?) on the court.

The Celtics return home from this one-game road trip and will host the Charlotte Hornets (30-31) Wednesday night. 

What a team!

Celtics 114, Sixers 98

 

A pair of double doubles from the two centers - starter Neemias Queta scored 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, the first Celtics player to record 25-plus points and 10-plus offensive rebounds in the same game since Robert Parish in 1989, and Nikola Vučević came close with 11 points and 12 rebounds coming off the bench. Mr. Brown also scored 27 points, while Mr. White scored 21. 

The Celtics trailed the Sixers by two points after the first quarter, but took the lead with a dominating 36-22 second and sealed the win with a 25-15 fourth. 

The Celtics are 40-20, winning twice as many games as they've lost, and are currently 12-3 in their last 15 games. Tonight, they play in in Milwaukee against what remains of the Bucks (26-33). Tip off is at 7:30 Eastern time.     

 

BU 5, BC 1

 

The unranked and underappreciated BU men's hockey team sweeps No. 10-ranked Boston College! I hate the fucking Eagles, man!

Freshman Ben Merrill scored two goals, opening the game with a short-handed score in the first, and hitting an insurance goal with 4:57 left in the game in the third. After Merrill's first score, BC responded with their lone goal of the game, but Gavin McCarthy gave the Terriers the lead back with a goal in the second period. Jack Harvey opened the third with a short-handed goal and after Merrill's second goal of the night, Cole Eiserman knocked in an open netter. Mikhail Yegorov made 28 saves in goal. 

With the win, the Terriers complete a sweep of arch-rival BC in the penultimate game of the regular season, played in BC's home arena.  They'll close out the season with a game at UMass Lowell (12-20-0).

The Terriers are 16-15-2 overall and 12-11-0 in conference play. Their 35 points put them in sixth place in Hockey East, and in a best-case scenario, with a win in Lowell and losses by UMass and Maine, they could end the season tied with UConn for third place in the conference. That's asking a lot and most of it's out to their hands, but a guy can dream, right?  

Northeastern 2, BU 1 (2 OT)

 

Pity the women: they open the season with two games against No. 3 Minnesota and two against No. 8 Colgate, and the seventh and eighth games of the season were against No. 12 Northeastern. Since those games, Northeastern has moved up to No. 5 and now the Terriers' season ends after they drew the Huskies in the second round of the Hockey East conference tournament, losing 2-1 after two OTs.  

BU's lone goal of the game was a short-handed score in the second period, fittingly by team captain Sydney Healey, her fourth short-handed goal of the season. Although BU out-shot the Huskies in the game, 40-35, Northeastern blocked 27 while BU blocked only 24. 

And with that loss, the Terriers are eliminated from the post-season and the 2025-26 season ends at a disappointing 11-21-3 overall. However, remember that this is the team that won the Friendship Series in North Ireland over No 7 Quinnipiac and Harvard, took the Beanpot championship game into OT against Harvard, and took Hockey East's No. 1 seed into double OT last night in the conference quarterfinal.  

Seniors Sydney Healey, Clara Yuhn, the Welcke sisters, Riley Walsh, and Maeve Kelly all graduate, and thank you for the memories and great play. I maintain that it was a killer schedule that ultimately did in the team, and that's a hill I'm willing to die on. 

Next year, hopefully, all things considered, juniors Greta Henderson, Neely Nicholson, Maeve Carey, Ella Belfry, and goalie Mari Pietersen all return, as well as sophomores Kaileigh Quigg, Kiera Healey, Tessa Demain, Lola Reid, and Kate Meinert, and freshmen Lexie Bertelsen,  Anežka Čabelová, Mia Vergilii, and Jackie Wright. I'm expecting great things from these women, and look forward to another year of quality collegiate hockey.

Flyers 3, Bruins 1

 

Charlie McAvoy (BU, Class of 2016) scored a goal for the Boston Bruins, but that was it. The Philadelphia Flyers scored three, and as I understand the rules of hockey, the team that scores the most goals wins. The Bruins had far more shots on goals (27) than the Flyers (17), but one-time Bruin goalie Dan Vladar made saves on all but McAvoy's one shot, going .963 on saves and winning the game.

Just another night in the NHL. The Bruins are now 33-21-5 and still hanging on to the last Wild Card spot, two points ahead of the Capitals. 

Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins (30-15-13) will pay a visit to the Garden for a 7:00 pm game.  

Celtics 148, Nets 111

 

The New Guy found his groove and the Celtics rediscovered their three-point shot as Boston crushed the Brooklyn Nets, 148-111, in the Garden. 

Nikola Vučević caught 11 rebounds and scored 28 points off the bench, including nine points on three-of-three three-point shooting. Overall, the Celtics were 22-34 on threes (64.7%), with Mr. Brown going four-for-four on his way to 28 points, tying Vučević, and Mr. White got all 12 of his night's points on four-of-eight shooting from outside the line. Pritchard was 4-5 on threes on his way to 22 points, and both Scheierman and Walsh went 2-2 from downtown. 

The Celtics also outrebounded the Nets, 39-25, but I'm not going to gloat. The Nets are struggling and, quite frankly, aren't that good a team.

Boston (39-20) still leads the Atlantic Division and are 5½ back from Detroit in the Eastern Conference.

Sunday night, the Celtics will host Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and the rest of the last-place Philadelphia 76ers (33-26). The game starts at 8:00 and will be  carried by NBC.

BU 3, BC 1

 

Last night, the unranked Boston University men's team beat beat the No. 10 Boston College Eagles, 3-1, on home ice. The Battle of Comm Ave moves up Chestnut Hill tonight for a game at BC.

The Terriers took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Ryder Ritchie and Cole Eiserman. BC got their only goal on the night on a power-play in the second, and Jack Harvey hit an empty-netter in the final minute of play to seal the win. Mikhail Yegorov made 24 saves on 25 shots.

I hate the fucking Eagles, man.

With only two more games left to the regular season, BU improves of 15-15-2 overall and 11-11-0 in conference play. Their 32 points are tied with Northeastern for sixth in the Hockey East standings.

The Terriers will play their penultimate game of the regular season tonight at BC and then will close the season with a final, March 7 game at UMass - Lowell.