June 2023

NHL Coyotes referendum failure reverberating through the sports world On May 16th there was a vote in Tempe AZ on three separate referendums relative to the construction of a new arena for the NHL Arizona Coyotes and an adjacent entertainment complex in the city. They involved taxpayer funds for infrastructure needed for the project and some tax abatements for the developers and properties. All three of them went down like clay pigeons at a shooting range. Many observers from the hockey world were hopeful for passage so the Coyotes could finally have their first real 'home' since arriving in the Phoenix area from Winnipeg in the summer of 1996. Since the Coyotes ownership group, headed by majority owner Alex Meruelo, was going to finance the construction end of the project, many felt that passage of the referendums was a mere formality. Not so fast Baba Louie! They were resoundingly defeated, leaving the NHL, the team, and its fans contemplating what comes next for them. There are no easy answers here. To say the Coyote's tenure in the desert has been difficult and wrapped in uncertainty would be an understatement. Between the different owners and their groups, trying to lock down a permanent facility to play in, and more, it has been a battle and a half from the beginning. The league, along with Commissioner Gary Bettman has always had such faith in having a team there they even ran the team for four seasons while trying to create some stability for it. To me, this demonstrates how important TV markets are to the four major sports leagues in obtaining favorable TV contracts. The Phoenix Metro area is the 11th largest TV market in the US and that itself is demonstrably one of the biggest reasons Bettman has been quite reluctant to abandon the market. As a minor side issue, it also makes me consider what were the real reasons for changing the team name from the 'Phoenix' Coyotes to the 'Arizona' Coyotes. Was it the possibility that somewhere down the road this projec

I was feeling a bit of anxiety as I got closer to the BWCA entry point lake last week, the memory of last year’s lingering lake ice firmly in mind. There were patches of snow in the woods, and every blog and report I could find online suggested that some lakes might still hold onto enough ice cover to prevent paddling into the canoe country. That was certainly the case for my son Everett and me last year, as we waited for hours for open water channels to enlarge and connect enough for us to head in, but to no avail. But this year we got lucky, and while there was still ice blocking the landing, we were able to access open water a few hundred yards up the shore and start paddling. The ice had likely gone out during the night. Ice-out is one of my favorite times to be canoe tripping in the backcountry. Especially when it's linked to fishing for lake trout. The land is fresh and the ground appears packed down by the weight of the snow that recently melted. Typically, there are still a few patches of snow lingering in shaded ravines, or ice in rocky crags, to remind one that winter is never far away up here—but nearby the first traces of greenery are emerging from a seven month slumber. There is a tangible excitement in the air, as loons vocalize late into the lingering twilight, happy to have returned to their northern home. Sometimes saw whet owls can be heard all night, their beeping vocalizations sounding like a large truck backing up. Otters ply stream inlets where white suckers spawn, and cow moose tend to their newborn calves on tiny islands. And usually, the mosquitoes and black flies that can bring misery to Man and Beast alike are still a week or two away.