Derby, Derby, Ice Dogs, oh my!

On Saturday I had the pleasure of going to the triple header in Fairbanks: The Fairbanks Rollergirls took on Rage City (Anchorage), and then the Rat City Rain of Terror (Seattle) in roller derby.  Yes, that is correct, roller derby.  I had no idea how intense this game actually is and I have a new found respect for these women, however it is mostly because of the high self esteems they have considering they are rolling around in what seems to be next to nothing and very few of them have a body weight that their physician would call ideal.  I was also jealous of the names they were able to create such as Fatal Lisa Distic' or 'Twisted Krister', 'PB&J Slamwich'.  It definitely made me think about what my roller derby name would be.  So far I haven't come up with a winner but I will keep working on it.  After seeing two rounds of roller derby we went to the Ice Dogs hockey game, the local NAHL hockey league that if you didn't know any better, you would think it was the pros.  Essentially it is 16-22 year old kids from across the country that are drafted for the league and move to the city of the team they get drafted for.  Does it not seem odd that a 16 year old who hasn't even finished high school can move to a place such as Fairbanks, Alaska to try and live the dream and be one of the 2% who make it to the NHL.  Local families host/foster these children for the season (October-March) and I am not sure what type of education they are getting.  I asked Pete if he thinks we should 'foster' an Ice Dog when he gets home so that we can get him on track for and do flashcards at dinner and try and change their belief that ice hockey is not the end all be all of their existence.  I am sure the coaches would not like this, but at least I could feel like I was truly making a difference in a child's life.  Needless to say, it was a very exciting evening where I was able to learn about new sports, and learn about ways that I can make a difference in the future lives of Fairbanks youth.