Iditarod: WTF? The Billionaire's in the Lead!

 

The Last Great Race has gotten a little less great as this year it's allowing "assisted" teams of wealthy trail-and-tribal donors to run alongside the real mushers. Cool, they're adding, substantially, to the winner's pot, and have made contributions to the native settlements along the trail, and they're not eligible for prize money or to even to qualify in the standings. Their main purpose, as I see it, is as a potential source of human protein in case other mushers and their team get stranded. 

But the official Iditarod standings today, the first full day since yesterday's start, has "Expedition class" billionaire  Kjell Rokke in first place. Another "Expedition class" racer, Thomas Wærner, the 2020 Iditarod champion, is assisting Rokke and was actually the first to arrive at the Finger Lake checkpoint, 123 miles from the starting line, beating Rokke by a minute. However, Rokke was the first to leave, a minute ahead of Wærner, and has the "lead." Neither team has rested so far.

If it's any consolation, the third "Expedition class" racer, Steve Curtis, is dead last, having just left Yentna, only the second checkpoint on the trail.

Okay, enough Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The real leader right now is Paige Drobney, who left Finger Lake without rest about 2½ hours ahead of 2025 champion Jessie Holmes, who took a four-hour rest before leaving. As of right now, Drobney and Holmes are the only "official" teams out of Finger Lakes.

Ten other teams (Michelle Phillips, Bailey Vitello, Ryan Redington, Riley Dyche, Jessie Royer, Peter Kaiser, Kevin Hansen, Jason Mackey, Jody Potts-Joseph, and "rookie" Brenda Mackey) are currently in Finger Lake. Even though she was in the 2022 and 2025 Iditarod races, Brenda Mackey is racing as a rookie since she had to scratch both times and hasn't yet completed thee trail.       

So far, all the teams other than Curtis have made it through Moose Alley, the 100 mile or so stretch between Willow and Skwentna. In 2024, Dallas Seavey had to shoot and kill a moose that got entangled with his dog team.  

After Finger Lake, the trail clings to the side of a heavily forested incline along the narrow Happy River Gorge for 30 difficult miles to Rainy Pass on Puntilla Lake.  From Rainy Pass, the trial continues up past the tree line and over the divide of the Alaska Range, and then descends down into the Alaska Interior.

Penguins 5, Bruins 4 (OT)

Speaking of brutal (I just finished the previous post about the Celtics' upcoming schedule), despite a Pavel Zacha hat trick, the Bruins (35-22-6) gave up a three-goal lead to lose in Pittsburgh in OT last night.

Zacha started the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period assisted by Geekie and McAvoy. He scored again in the second, followed by a Pastrnak goal to make the game 3-0. But the Penguins chipped in a power-play goal of their own in the second, followed by two more goals in the third to tie the game up.

But then Zacha scored for the third time of the game, an even-strength goal assisted by Arvidsson and Aspirot, to seemingly win the game. But the Penguins had other ideas and tied the game back up, and in the OT, scored the game-winning goal.

It seems a three-goal lead and a hat trick aren't enough anymore to win a game anymore in today's NHL. Brutal.

But an OT loss is still worth one point, and Boston's 76 still qualifies them for the last Wild Card slot. The L.A. Kings (25-23-14) visit the Garden on Tuesday night.

Celtics 109, Cavs 98

 

The Boston Celtics are 2-0 since the return of Jayson Tatum. I'm pretty convinced they'd still have been 2-0 even if Tatum were still out, but it's fun to have another milestone with which to measure the team's progress.

Last night, they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 108-98.  The team was once again led by the two J's like it was 2025 as Jaylen Brown had 23 points and Jayson Tatum had 20. Off the bench, Pritchard sank 18 points and Scheierman hit 16 while grabbing 10 rebounds for the night's double double. Starting center Neemias Queta got 11 rebounds, all on D, but only four points.

With 18 games left to the regular season, the Celtics are 43-21 and all but assured a playoff spot, and with Tatum back in the lineup, they've got to be considered as possible Eastern Conference champions. Boston is now only 2½ games back from Detroit, who've conveniently gone 0-4 in their last four games.

The Celtics are off on a road trip next to face the top two teams in the entire NBA - Victor Wembanyama, De'Aaron Fox, Luke Kornet and the San Antonio Spurs.(47-17) on Tuesday night and then Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder (50-15) on Thursday night. Brutal. 

Bruins 3, Capitals 1

 

The mighty Boston Bruins win their 12th straight home game in the Garden, beating the Washington Capitals, 3-1, last night.  

Pavel Zacha started the scoring with a second period power-play goal assisted by McAvoy and Pastrnak. The Caps tied it up that period, but Arvidsson got the go-ahead goal in the third, assisted by Mittelstadt and Hampus Lindholm. Elias Lindholm hit an empty-netter in the last minute of play with an assist by Pastrnak. Meanwhile, Swayman was solid in the net, making 22 saves on 23 shots (.957).

The Bruins are 35-22-5 and in fifth place in the Atlantic Division. They have a two-point lead over Columbus for the last Wild Card spot.

Today, the Bruins will be in Pittsburgh to play the Penguins (31-17-4). Last Tuesday, the Bruins beat Pitt, 2-1, in Boston.   

 

UMass Lowell 4, BU 3

 

Well, that sucked. After a triumphant weekend that saw the sweep of archrival Boston College, the Boston University Terriers drop their last game of the season to the ninth-place UMass Lowell River Hawks. 

What happened? We lost, that's what happened. What more do you need to know? We lost, okay? Regular season's over. Got any other jack-assey questions you wanna ask or are you done? Yeah, I didn't think so.

The regular season's over, but with the end of the season is the limitless potential of the post-season. Fortunately for BU (16-16-2), all teams in the conference participate in the Hockey East playoff tournament.  The Terriers (12-12-0 in conference play) drew the No. 6 seed and will open the tournament against No. 11 Vermont (13-20-1/8-15-1) on Tuesday (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m.). During the regular season, the Terriers and Catamounts split a series at Agganis Arena in December, and BU owns an all-time 3-2 record over Vermont in the playoffs. This will be the first time the two teams will meet in an Opening Round.

Should BU persevere and win the conference championship, they will get an automatic bid to the NCAA's Frozen Four tournament - they made it to the final game there last year. If not, the season's over, and every game in the Hockey East playoffs will be a sudden death match for their season.

Good luck, Terriers. 

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.