Zen and the art of surviving winter

I have a theory that winter in Alaska makes people more creative. It also makes for good basketball, thanks to bright, warm gyms.

Last weekend at the Haines School gym was the Dick Hotch annual men's basketball tournament, the last regional games before the huge Gold Medal tournament in Juneau.

The school also hosted the final high school boys basketball series of the season. The Glacier Bears beat Sitka, twice. (The visiting team stays in local homes, and since Southeast towns are a long plane and ferry ride apart, there are always two games.)

The Haines boys, led by current senior Kyle Fossman, won the state 3A championship two years ago, and are undefeated this season. There are high hopes around here for the post-season. (Although we are careful not to say too much for fear of jinxing them.)

Maybe that's why I was uncomfortable with the way a former student and his little brother went wild cheering during the final game. One was shirtless, his face and torso painted in green, white and black school colors, and the other had a painted face and ran up and down waving a Haines jersey on a long stick.

Saturday night the gym was so crowded that we ended up behind the Sitka bench where we couldn't help but listen to the coaches berate the officials on nearly every call. (I heard the home fans across the gym did, too.) The players picked up on it. One guard lost the ball because he was so busy looking to the ref to make a call that the aggressive defender fouled him.

Each game needs three referees. There are only three regular refs in town, the father-son team of fisherman Don Nash and chef Song Nash, and the assistant harbormaster, Pizza Joe Parnell. (Years ago he delivered pizza, and the name stuck.) Don was away for the weekend, so Ray Chapin, the P.E. teacher, agreed to fill in.

I could never do their job. If a coach yelled, "Hey, what's the matter with you, it's our ball." I'd say, "Sorry, my mistake." And give him the ball.

I also know that If I marched into the school office today and said "we need better reffing," Tiana Taylor, the athletic director, would ask me when I could take the test and what size striped shirt I wear.

After the high school game was over, my daughter and I stayed to watch two local men's teams, the Haines Merchants and Klukwan ANS. They are made up of many former Glacier Bear stars. Pizza Joe graciously stuck around to officiate. A player for one of the visiting teams helped him, but he was tired from a weekend of close games, and hobbled slowly up and down the court. There was no third volunteer.

In this game, Joe and the guest referee might as well have been invisible. The fans did watch the scoreboard (the Merchants won the game and the Dick Hotch tournament), but it didn't look as if the players paid any attention. I bet most of them could not tell you what the score was at any given moment. When Stuart DeWitt slammed into Jimmy Lampkins, he bounced up and kept playing. Joe had to blow the whistle twice and wave his arms to stop the play and let Jimmy take a foul shot.

Perhaps that's the difference between men and boys. The boys play to win, and seem relieved when the game is finally over. The men are so happy to be able to play, it seems they hope the games never end, or even pause. (At least until they can't run up and down the court anymore.)

I was still thinking about that when I went to the Haines Arts Council's Northern Lights Showcase Sunday night. It's an annual winter concert featuring local performers of all kinds. This year there was a ukulele trio and a swing band with so many members from harmonica and trombone to banjo and bass guitar that they couldn't all fit on the stage. (The piano was down below.) There was also a magician who made a Coke bottle disappear inside a paper bag. (Mr. Hauser is new in town. He told us in his very thick North Carolina accent, "I saw Haines on a cruise ship, and it was so beautiful I went home, packed up everything, and moved here.")

Dr. Charlotte performed on the violin and Nancy Nash on the piano in three baroque pieces, two from Bach. The music they made sounded like the end of winter. Nancy said they "especially enjoyed" their practice sessions.