59.0°

Jeff's call: ABL documentary makes for fun viewing

Imagine Terry Francona, the manager of the Boston Red Sox, at the mouth of the Kenai River catching salmon with a volleyball net. Fun, huh?

That's why the interviews with past players were my favorite part of "Touching the Game, Alaska," a documentary on the Alaska Baseball League that was released on Monday.

The film covers the history of the league and takes a look at each of the six current ABL franchises. This part of the film is good, but it's nothing I had not already seen.

I'm familiar with the history of the league from reading Lew Freedman's "Diamonds in the Rough" and I'm familiar with the sights and sounds of the league from covering the Peninsula Oilers as part of my job.

The treat, for me, was the interviews with over 20 ex-ABL players who made it to Major League Baseball.

As someone who interviews for a living, I know such interviews can take one of two forms: genuine excitement about the topic, or feigned excitement just to make somebody feel good.

I got the sense that players, including former Goldpanners and Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Tom Seaver, were genuinely excited about the time they had spent in Alaska.

Jim Carroll, the director, got the same sense.

"It was such a young time in their lives and everyone had such a good time in Alaska, they were happy to talk about it," he said.

It's understandable. I like thinking of Francona going through the day-to-day stressfest that is managing a club as fervently followed as the Red Sox.

Amidst all those worries, Carroll gets Francona up in the stands at Fenway, and all of a sudden the manager is relating a story about getting a volleyball net from a gym and heading to the Kenai River with his Goldpanners teammates to try and catch fish.

The chance to escape from the daily grind with such a memory clearly was enjoyable for Francona. It's also enjoyable to watch as an Alaskan.

We don't have millions of dollars. We don't have World Series rings.

We're not revered by New England for finally delivering a championship.

But we can fish the mouth of the Kenai River every summer. And we even get to use something a heck of a lot more effective than a volleyball net.

Mike's call: Time to re-evaluate wrestling season

Alaska high school sports are unique in that many seasons are condensed, from season opener to state finals, as quickly as possible. The weather, as well as distances teams must travel to compete, are two major reasons for the abridged sports seasons. Though every athlete deals with packing in game after game, one of the most crammed sports is wrestling. In less than two months, teams go from their opening dual to a region tournament that happens the week after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Teams often attend invitationals where wrestlers can grapple six times in a weekend.

The season is demanding. It's also unfair.

Soldotna football player and wrestler Nathan Strieby missed half of his senior wrestling season because of the short season. Strieby, the No. 1 ranked 4A heavyweight as of Nov. 25, played 11 consecutive football games, including the small-schools state championship on Oct. 17. That was the same day as day two of the Peninsula Duals in Nikiski.

During the Skyview Invitational, Strieby said spring would be the ideal time of year for the wrestling season. I agree.

While Alaska will always pose problems no matter what the sport and/or what time of year it's played, maybe it's time to re-evaluate the wrestling season.

Hailing from the Lower 48, I have great respect for all high school athletes in Alaska, in particular, the wrestlers. The mental and physical preparation needed for success in such a short season is incredible.

The fact that so many schools field teams in the sport is a testament to the wrestlers and coaches.

Mike Nesper and Jeff Helminiak work in the Peninsula Clarion sports department. They can be reached at sports@peninsulaclarion.com.