THE DALE EARNHARDT OF THE IDITAROD

EARTHDOG PATRICK CROSSES A LOG BRIDGE YESTERDAY IN WYGANT FOREST

It is 7:41 a.m. and clear out at 20.3 degrees. Patrick is still in bed.

Rick Swenson is the Dale Earnhardt of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska, only not as well loved, due to some introversion. Anyway He is our perennial favorite, the only five-time winner and a owns phenominal string of top five finishes and top ten finsishes and second places. Jeff King (4x winner) has always been a favorite too. We've got a framed bag of Kasko dog food signed by Jeff King.(Once bought a pallot load of Kasco for the big dogs). Race update later.

First round of SEC Hoops Tourney starts today, Gators get a bye til Friday night.

OK, down to business. You may not like this, but we tell it like it is.

The only racists left in America are the African-Americans. They still want special privileges. They are actively trying to create their own phony caste culture apart from mainstream America and this is resented by white people.

What set me off is Lakisha Jones on Idol. We have no one left to root for this year. No hot babe good singers left, in our opinion. (Our own Kelly Pickler got a boob job and looks GREAT--it balances her butt perfectly.)

Lakisha is not a real name--it is a made up Black name designed to set Blacks apart from the rest of America.

When the Italians, Pollocks, Germans, etc. immigrated to this country in the 19th and 20th centuries, they kept certain traditions and beliefs from their own cultures, but basically ASSIMILATED into American English culture. They learned the language, accepted our fashion, even went to the lengths of anglicizing their names. They wanted to be included, and contribute to and benefit from our freedom and culture.<>p> Part of the Jews problems thruout history has been their refusal to accept the culture of their host countries and remain clustered together. That and shady business practices.Another story.

But these modern American Blacks have no culture of their own from Africa, so they make it up--Kwanzaa for example, and making up foreign sounding or muslim names for themselves.

They have achieved social equality, now they are trying to separate themselves from American culture--not a good idea. If you're one of us, OK. If not, don't blame us if you don't fit in.

"Lakisha?" Sheesh!! It's a shame. Blacks are being badly used by their leaders. They are the 21st century racists in America.

GO GATORS!!

Lance Mackey 's father and brother both won the Iditarod on their six try wearing Bib number 13

This is Lance's sixth try, he is wearing Bib #13, and he is leading the race at the halfway point...

They get knocked down, but get up again
Middle to back of pack endures brutal winds, but drive on
by Jon Little

TAKOTNA, Alaska, 2:30 p.m., March 7, 2007 — Life is rarely better in the back of the pack, and a quick tour of the mushers still in Nikolai on

Jon Korta pauses from his work at Nikolai. Purchase this photo by Jon Little.

Wednesday proved that theory resoundingly. Some limped, some staggered under the weight of sleep deprivation and concussions and some ranted about their bad luck. But one, Jon Korta of Galena, was determined to keep his perspective and stay in the zone.

Korta was out with his dogs under piercing sunshine that reflected off the snow at the Nikolai checkpoint. His string of 15 watched him calmly and with great attention. Some of the dogs stood up to readjust their spot on a straw bed and plunk back down. In other words, his dogs looked great at this point in the race.

The 2007 rookie said it hadn't been easing going. He was among a large group of mushers who'd been urged strongly to wait out blizzard conditions at the Rainy Pass checkpoint, which he did. But he and the others who took off into violent head winds recounted an ordeal trying to get balking leaders to push into the blasting wind in temperatures near 20 below. Some teams quit, only to be helped along by the next passing musher.

Korta worked hard with his leaders, leading them up the final valley, struggling against the wind. Going past one trail marker, and looking desperately for the next. They "waited for windows," he said. Occasionally, the sun would poke its way through the steep valley, providing just enough illumination to see the next trail marker. "It was as ugly as I've ever seen it," Korta said.

Clint Warnke takes a break for breakfast at Nikolai. Purchase this photo by Jon Little.

Clint Warnke was in there about the same time and said the trail markers were there but the head wind was so strong that he couldn't lift his head to look. "It's total head-on and it's cold," he said. He wound up relying on a nine-year-old leader named Merlin who dragged him from marker to marker and down safely to Rohn.

At one point, he came upon Robert Bundtzen, whose team of young dogs had had enough, and pulled over to quit. Warnke said he wasn't about to leave Bundtzen there, so he helped grab hold of the stranded musher's leaders and pulled them back onto the trail behind his team. The trick often works, and Bundtzen's dogs were willing to follow close on Warnke's heels.

Warnke and every musher in this race has already experienced violent emotional ups and downs, but said he was sticking to the twin mottos that he entered the race with: "Attitude is everything," and keep taking good care of the dogs.

A bunch of mushers were way, way behind the pace that they expected to be setting, mostly because race officials strongly advised them to wait out the conditions at Rainy Pass. They hoped to push on and maybe gain a little time, still having hopes of a top 30 finish.

Mike Williams may have been in the worst shape, after colliding head-long into a tree in a section of trail that has become infamous this year - the bad glaciation about 10 miles out of Rainy Pass checkpoint where Doug Swingley and DeeDee Jonrowe were injured. Williams has rammed trees with his head before, but this time he said it left his head swimming. His face was puffy and, now, frostbitten. "That was terrible," he said. "I think this is the hardest trail to Rainy Pass that I've ever seen. And the Burn, I've never seen it so bumpy in my 12 years."

Back to the front

Teams in the top 20 or so missed out on the worst of the weather through Rainy Pass, which is typical. Many of them were off the trail today, allowing their dogs to bake in the zero-degree sunshine in McGrath, Takotna and Ophir for their mandatory 24-hour layovers. A small pool of teams shot off into the unknown, making the long and reportedly often snowless run over to the ghost town of Iditarod.

Mike Williams is frosted up after his run to the Nikolai checkpoint in 35 below temperatures. Purchase this photo by Jeff Schultz.

Jason Barron, down to 11 dogs, stopped short of his plan to take his 24 at Iditarod. He was up and feeding his dogs at 1 p.m. in sunny Takotna, about 12 hours after arriving. With his team winnowed down, he said he had to be more cautious. But if he could keep this 11-dog unit happy the rest of the way, he was optimistic about a high finish, even if thoughts of a win were slipping away. It would be a "meat and potatoes" run from here on out, he said.

Ramy Brooks was also playing it cautious and happy with his current top 20 position. He had an off year in 2006, and said his team is in much better shape in 2007. "They're staying nice and steady," he said.

Brooks pointed out something we've all been either thinking or talking about: The cold and wind don't appear to be vanishing, and that wind has already taken a toll on some lead dogs. Several mushers mentioned dogs quitting in lead. They don't like running into a head wind any more than humans do, and the route from Grayling up to Kaltag is notorious for brutal head winds. Going too fast with too little rest puts added stress on the dogs, which can lead to failure later on. "You might see teams start to falter depending on what happens right now," Brooks said.

Update on DeeDee Jonrowe

DeeDee Jonrowe couldn't agree more with Ramy Brooks. The veteran whose race was cut way too short this year, due to a broken hand, reminded me that she'd had to scratch in 1999 when her team quit on the Yukon.

Ramy Brooks in Nikolai. Purchase this photo by Jeff Schultz.

"I'm paying attention," Jonrowe said during a telephone call from her home in Willow, voice still gravely from a couple of days on the trail. "I think your going to see some troubled teams. It's going to shake up a whole bunch more before its done." If the dogs are already feeling the mental stress of the wind, it's too late, she said. She agreed when I mentioned that John Baker and Ed Iten, who routinely train in cold, windy conditions in Kotzebue, might do well. "I don't think speed is necessarily the thing. But the thing is how hard-headed, how solid-headed the leaders are. And it's probably - if it stays blowing - it's probably going to be one of those years where you won't be able to use as many leaders up front. It's going to require your toughest-headed dogs."

Jonrowe was devastated about having to scratch, but said she had to for the sake of the dogs. She was descending that bad glaciated hill that ended in a lip of ice that sent sleds banging sideways into trees. Her handlebar pinned her hand against a tree, snapping off her pinky. X-rays show the bone is literally broken off. She knew it was bad because she could move the digit in any direction.

Without that hand, and in these conditions, she feared she might lose hold of the sled in the dangerous trail that lay ahead. Jonrowe had to scratch.