Quote of the (Last) Week

I was meaning to do this last week, but fate(and exams)intervened. Anyway, for the record let me just state that I'm given the wonderful privilege of an edit button for my ridiculous comments and that if someone stuck a tape recorder in my face and asked me an oddball question, I'd probably come off like a total moron. With that said, let's go to the quote.

The set-up for this one is just too beautiful. Apparently Fairbanks Daily News-Miner hockey columnist Danny Martin wasn't able to fill the appropriate amount number of words for his article on Ryan McLeod's dedication, so he needed what those in "the biz" like to call filler.*

That filler just happened to be a 20 foot by 30 foot inflatable bear that the Fairbanks Faceoff Club dropped $8,000 on for the Nanooks to skate out of when they're introduced onto the ice.

Danny Martin ventured into the lockerroom to find the player's opinions on the bear and come out with this beauty of a quote:

"It's sweet and it's huge," said junior center and tri-captain Curtis Fraser. "It's awesome, too."

Ok, let's take a look this. I could completely understand the "It's sweet and it's huge" part. Like I said earlier, 20 feet by 30 feet is pretty huge. And who among us wouldn't want to skate out of a giant bear mouth? It's definitely pretty sweet.

But "it's awesome too"? Clearly he wasn't using "the slang" like kids do these days, as I've been informed that sweet and awesome are synonymous.

Was Curtis, being an astute grammarian and wordsmith, trying to say that this giant inflatable bear inspired a mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by great beauty? I doubt it. While I may respect and dread real giant bears, giant inflatable bears inspire a different reaction; mostly giggling.

I feel the more plausible explanation for Curtis throwing in the "it's awesome too" at the end of his quote was that he was coached. I can easily picture his handlers standing 15 feet away, cattle prods set to "Robert Downey Jr.," gritting through their teeth "Do not downplay the awesomeness" while Curtis answers Danny Martin's quetsions. That's the only possible explanation for this week's quote of the week.










*Not being "in the biz" I'm just guessing here. I've also been told they have these things called "fact-checking," and "budgets," and "good writing skills". All of which are complete mysteries to us here at WCH.