Mackey moments highlight Alaska Sports Hall of Fame class of 2010
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One unique celebration of the event in the atrium of the ConocoPhillips building was Fairbanks sled dog racer Lance Mackey getting inducted on the same night as his father and fellow musher, Dick Mackey.
The younger Mackey went into the hall as an individual for capturing multiple titles in two of the world’s longest sled dog races — four in the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon, and three in the 1,100-mile Iditarod from Anchorage to Nome.
The elder Mackey was recognized in the moment category for his one-second victory over Rick Swenson in the 1978 Iditarod.
“To be inducted on the same day with my dad is a pretty damn cool feeling,” Lance Mackey said to a rousing ovation from the crowd of more than 200 people, including a camera crew from HBO’s “Real Sports,” which has been filming the 39-year-old musher for an upcoming segment of the series.
The feeling was obviously mutual for his father, who was 45 in 1978 when he and his dog team outpaced Swenson and his team down Front Street in Nome to the Iditarod finish line.
“To those of you who are parents, just imagine being part of the same class with your son,” Dick Mackey said with a smile and a pumped fist as he ended his acceptance speech.
Many families have attended the Midnight Sun Baseball Game, which is annually played at 10:30 p.m. on Summer Solstice (June 21) at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks without the use of artificial lights.
Tne nationally-renowned and 106-year-old game that is hosted by the Alaska Goldpanners of the Alaska Baseball League was the Hall’s event inductee for the class of 2010.
“It’s the oldest non-Native sports tradition in the state. ... It’s just a really special event,” Todd Dennis, Goldpanners associate general manager, said before the induction ceremony. “It’s not only honored by Alaskans, but people around the world. Baseball America called it one of the 10 must-see sporting events and The Sporting News said it’s one of the reasons to be proud to be an American.”
Dennis was joined by Goldpanners veteran Sean Timmons, who has pitched in four Midnight Sun contests.
Three-time Olympic snowboarder Rosey Fletcher of Girdwood had a family member clinging to her during the ceremony. While it was her time to be recognized for a career that includes a bronze medal in the 2006 Winter Games, it was feeding time for Oskar John, the 5-day-old son of Fletcher and her husband, Peter Grunwaldt.
“My husband said to be sure you don’t fall up the stairs,” Fletcher, while nursing her son, said with a laugh before her speech.
Fletcher had falls and near-falls in her first two Olympics — a crash in 1998 in Nagano, Japan, and a near-crash in 2002 in Salt Lake City — before she stepped onto the medals podium for placing third in the snowboard giant slalom in 2006 in Turin, Italy. Highlights of her career — and of the other inductees — were shown on a large video screen.
“Watching Salt Lake ... it seemed like nothing could get worse than that,” Fletcher said, “but then you wake up the next morning and life goes on.”
Elliot Sampson has gone on to legendary status in high school cross country in Alaska, as the runner from the village of Noorvik stunned competitors from larger schools to win the boys title in the 1981 state championships.
Sampson, a moment category inductee, battled mental-health issues later in life and died in 2004 at age 40 after wandering from an assisted-living facility in Fairbanks. To this day, he remains an inspiration to young runners, particularly those from small communities in the state.
“He was an inspiration to his family, as well as to all Alaska Natives out there,” said his brother, Steven Sampson, who was joined by seven other family members at the ceremony. “He did it, I feel, for everybody. It goes to show that it doesn’t matter what color your skin is, you go out there and you run with your heart and you believe in yourself.”
Reggie Joule, an individual inductee who has won more than 30 medals in Native Games events, including 10 golds in the blanket toss of the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, said each inductee shares a similarity.
“There is passion that is like nothing else, that is in your veins and you just have to live through it,” the 57-year-old from Kotzebue said.
The late Bradford Washburn, also an indvidual inductee, lived in Boston, but he was first climber to make three ascents of 20,320-foot Mount McKinley (Denali).
“It’s a lovely honor, and Alaska was truly his second home,” said Washburn’s daughter, Betsy Washburn Cabot, who was joined by her 26-year-old son, Brad, named after his grandfather.
Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586.
But one, for me, is very personal.
I did not know Elliott Sampson when he ascended to legendary status on the Alaska sports scene.
While I've known his family since the mid-1980's, I had personal contact with Elliott beginning in 1990, and only after I had become employed in the Mental Health field here in Fairbanks.
He, at times, had told me about how he "beat everybody in the 1981 Alaska State Track and Field Championships."
I would always say "thats good," and be about my way.
As one living with mental illness, Elliott was taken seriously by many, including myself, just not THAT seriously.
Some of what he said illicited the proverbial "in one ear, out the other" mentality, mainly because one minute he'd give off an extremely logical response to something, and the next, in the delusional sense, he'd tell you something totally out in left field.
When he died back in 2004, I was quite saddened by the event.
If you've ever worked in the Mental Health field, or any other "arm" of Human Services (Child or Adult), having a great deal of compassion SHOULD come with the territory.
It was only after his passing that I realized just how legendary his feat was in Alaska sports history, as well as his place in it.
Imagine how I felt as well.
I knew plenty about Elliott Sampson, the man living with mental illness, and his myriad of personal struggles.
Since his passing, I've heard even more about his affect on Alaska sports, and his Native people.
One that now will continue on for all time.
I sure wish I could have been there to witness his feat that day.
I can no longer tell him this to his face, in this life,.....but knowing that his spirit now runs free...no more eduring the indignities of our "life," I look to the sky, and hope he's listening.
"Go Elliott!"
May You Rest in Peace,
Darryl A. Lewis, Sr.
Resident Behavioral Technician
Fairbanks Community Behavioral Health Center
1990--Present