Welcome back to The Rewind, a weekly digest that puts a spotlight on the biggest stories and best performances from Alaska’s world of sports.

Last week featured several notable individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school and professional levels, as well as new developments on the college front. The high school basketball regular season saw a shocking upset and exciting tournament action. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage basketball teams were recognized for some impressive individual and collective performances. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances and career achievements worth recognizing and celebrating in their respective arenas.

Headlines and highlights

The premier in-season tournament for girls basketball in the state took place in town this past week with the annual Lady Lynx tournament, hosted by Dimond. After three days of exciting action that was capped off by a 70-66 overtime win over Bartlett on Saturday night, this year’s champion was Mountain City Christian Academy.

“Us MCCA coaches demand a lot out of our ladies,” head coach Lonnie Ridgeway said. “It’s not easy playing as hard as they do every possession knowing they aren’t going to get a sub. But that is the demand and expectation in our program and they rose to that challenge. The three games of the tournament gave us new situations and circumstances that we cherish as a team.”

After a couple of double-digit blowouts of South Anchorage and host Dimond, the Lions had their hands full with the Golden Bears and reigning Cook Inlet Conference Player of the Year sophomore Kennedi Gaines, who dropped 28 points in the title game. MCCA had star power of its own with senior Keelie Kronberger who scored a game-high 38 points.

“Prior to the championship game, we told our girls it was going to be a battle until the very end, and it was. I was proud of how our girls kept their composure and responded to adversity down the stretch,” Ridgeway said. “Coach Darian (Lawson) and his coaching staff have an incredible program and I know we both hope to see each other again.”

The second annual Anchorage-Fairbanks challenge between a pair of the top high school boys basketball teams in Anchorage and Fairbanks took place at Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School over the weekend. A pair of games took place on Friday and Saturday, during which both Lathrop and West Valley emerged victorious on Day 1 but both the Thunderbirds and Grace Christian bounced back with impressive wins Saturday.

After getting blown out by Lathrop by nearly 20 points Friday, the Grizzlies rebounded with a 41-38 win over West Valley despite going the entire third quarter without a bucket.

“We have good players, we have good shooters and sometimes you just have to stick with it,” Grizzlies head coach Jason Boerger said. “Despite the adversity of not scoring in the third quarter, I’m glad our guys were able to get it done in the fourth.”

The three-time defending Division I state champion Thunderbirds defended their home court on Day 2 much better than they did the night before and handed the Malemutes just their second loss of the season. After trailing 31-28 at halftime, they went on a 19-4 run in the third quarter and stayed ahead the rest of the way even as Lathrop tried to mount a late rally but fell short as East prevailed 59-52.

“They’re a really talented team and I feel like they’re one of the better teams that people don’t really think about,” said East sophomore Baba Sabally, who tied for the team lead with 16 points, half of which came in the pivotal third period. “We started rebounding better, we started pushing the ball in transition, getting easy baskets over the top and we just played together.”

In Division II prep hockey action, North Pole claimed the first state title in program history on Saturday night out in Palmer. The Patriots defeated perennial powerhouse Houston 3-1 thanks to goals from three upperclassmen and 34 saves from junior goaltender Kieran Olson.

[South hockey claims second CIC region title in 3 years with comeback win over Dimond]

On the college hoops scene, the UAA men’s team established a three-game win streak by winning both home tilts against Great Northwest Athletic Conference foes last week. The Seawolves were powered to a 77-70 victory over Central Washington on Thursday by a pair of career days by two Anchorage products. Senior forward Bishop Tosi led the team with a career-high 30 points and fellow senior, guard Hasaan Herrington finished with a double-double by leading the team with a career-high 14 assists and was third in scoring with 13 points.

“Bishop made some great shots and Hasaan fought through cramps in the second half to give us huge performances,” UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said in a statement.

Two days later on Saturday, his team blew out Northwest Nazarene 71-53 in a game where four Seawolves reached double figures in scoring. Junior forward Sylas Williams recorded his seventh double-double of the season by leading the team with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Tosi was second in scoring with 14 points and was named GNAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the second time in his career.

“Bishop was outstanding for us this weekend on both ends of the floor,” Osborne said. “He continued his excellent play since we came back from winter break. He has been efficient offensively and continues to be tremendous for us on the defensive end as well.”

The UAA women’s basketball team got nearly a third of its points in a 79-69 road win over rival University of Alaska Fairbanks from senior guard Elaina Mack, who led the team with 25. The King Cove product knocked down five 3-pointers and led the team with four steals as well.

“We did a nice job on the boards and withstood an impressive 3-point barrage by Fairbanks, and Elaina kept coming up with big shots at the most opportune times,” UAA head coach Matt Thune said in a statement. “Elaina was coming off a couple tough games, but she showed her character, skill and overall leadership today to lift us to a critical win.”

After coming up short Friday night in the program’s first game at Sullivan Arena in nearly six years, the UAA hockey team bounced back with a vengeance on Saturday to beat in-state rival UAF 3-2 in overtime.

“Saturday’s win was big for our program for a lot of reasons,” head coach Matt Shasby said. “After a tough night before, our group showed real character and resiliency, which speaks to the culture our players are building every day. The results haven’t been there often enough this year but this team refuses to quit on each other, and that’s what pack mentality is all about — sticking together and responding the right way when things don’t go your way.”

A crowd of more than 4,800 fans was treated to a thrilling back-and-forth game in which the game-winning goal was scored by local product, junior forward Aiden Westin of Anchorage.

“To see an Anchorage kid score the overtime winner made it even more special,” Shasby said. “Our players understand what it means to represent this city and this state, and moments like that show young players in Alaska that you can grow up here, play in front of your hometown fans, and make a huge impact at this level. It was a great night for our team and a great night for Anchorage hockey.”

[UAA hockey falls to rival UAF in bittersweet return to Sullivan Arena for Governor’s Cup]

The UAA track and field team saw a pair of program records fall Saturday in Reno at the Wolf Pack Classic. Junior hurdler Liv Heite and sophomore distance runner Hunter Taddy each lowered their own school records. Heite‘s mark of 8.61 seconds in the 60 hurdles was a record and tied for seventh all-time in GNAC history while Taddy recorded a record time of 1:23.66 in the 600 and 1:57.76 in the 800.

The UAA ski team had a strong showing at the Denver University Invite over the weekend. On Saturday, junior Corbin Carpenter led the Seawolves with a third-place finish in the 10-kilometer classic with a mark of 25:09. The following day, sophomore Marit Flora of Anchorage came in fifth in the 7.5-kilometer freestyle race Sunday with a time of 22:22.

The UAA gymnastics team came in third at the Air Force tri-meet Friday but had several impressive individual performances. Junior Claudia Lessig produced a season-best score of 38.250 in all-around while senior Madelyn Gomez led the Seawolves with a 9.65 vault and a 9.5 on uneven bars.

“We had some nice highlights during a tough meet, and our best scores fortunately were good enough to earn a season high,” UAA head coach Marie-Sophie Boggasch said in a statement. “Claudia continues to be rewarded for her hard work in the gym.”

The Anchorage Wolverines lost their lead in the AK 49 Cup standings after getting swept by the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on the road over the weekend. They lost 7-1 and 5-1. Their lone goals came from forwards Harout Arutyunyan and Balint Lobenwein. With the two losses, they narrowly trail the Ice Dogs by a point in the Cup standings 20-19.

Alaska stars shining Outside

Anchorage’s Obed Vargas had his dreams come true in more ways than one this past week. Coming off a breakout season for the Seattle Sounders in the MLS, the 20-year-old signed a 4.5 year contract with Athletico de Madrid last Sunday and made his LaLiga debut on Thursday in the 79th minute of a 5-0 semifinal win over Real Betis in the Copa del Rey.

Even though he was among the Seattle Seahawks game-day inactives Sunday, Anchorage’s Brandon Pili still became the third born-and-raised Alaskan NFL player, and fourth overall to become a Super Bowl champion following the team’s 29-13 blowout of the New England Patriots. The former Dimond standout joins an elite fraternity that includes North Pole’s Daryn Colledge (2010) and Anchorage’s Mark Schlereth, who is a three-time champion. Steve Smith II was born in Anchorage but grew up primarily in California and won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2007.

Anchorage’s Chris Kuper has big shoes to fill in the City of Brotherly Love as he is slated to replace renowned offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland as the new offensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. He most recently spent the past four years with the Minnesota Vikings serving in the same role under Kevin O’Connell where his path previously crossed with his new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, who spent time on the team’s practice squad in his last year as a player during the 2023 season.

Anchorage’s Daishen Nix helped the Rio Grande Valley Vipers improve their winning streak to three last week in the NBA G-League. He recorded scoring performances of 20-plus points in both of the team’s wins. In a 130-116 win over the Valley Suns on Wednesday, he recorded another triple-double by leading the team with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. On Thursday, in a 112-111 win over the Austin Spurs, he led the team in all three categories again and recorded a double-double with 31 points, 11 rebounds and added seven assists.

Two former Gatorade Players of the Year faced off at the collegiate level for the second time this season on Saturday. Isaiah Moses of Dimond helped lead the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team to a 72-71 win over Montana State University and Patrick McMahon of Colony, who had as many fouls as points with four apiece. Moses tied for the second most points on the Eagles with 11 while McMahon led the Bobcats with six assists and recorded eight points.

Anchorage’s Sayvia Sellers powered the University of Washington women’s basketball team to a 91-86 bounce-back win over Wisconsin on Sunday. The former Anchorage Christian star finished second on the team in scoring with 23 points three days after she dropped 26 points in a loss to Ohio State.

Palmer’s Hallie Clark nearly matched her single-game career-high scoring total for the Colorado Mesa University women’s basketball team Thursday. In a 78-48 blowout win over MSU Denver, the former Colony star and Gatorade Player of the Year tied for for the second-most points on the team with 17, just one shy of a personal-best.

Anchorage’s Mikayla Johnson recorded 16 points in back-to-back games for the University of Pittsburgh women’s basketball team. The former Bartlett standout finished second on the Panthers in scorning and tied for the lead in rebounds with six in an 86-65 loss to Stanford on Thursday and finished second in both Sunday in a loss to the University of California Berkley.

Fairbanks’ Stewart Erhart extended his streak of consecutive games reaching double figures in scoring for the Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team to 17 in a row this past week. In back-to-back narrow losses to N.M. Highlands and Adams State, the former West Valley star and Gatorade Player of the Year recorded 18 points in both outings, totaled nine steals, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

Anchorage’s Colin Kessler didn’t just find the back of the net for the second week in a row for the University of Vermont men’s hockey team, he recorded a goal in consecutive games for the first time this season. The sophomore forward scored the first goal and assisted on another in a 6-1 win over Boston College on Friday then recorded the Catamounts lone goal in a 6-1 loss to Providence on Saturday night, bringing his season total to five in 18 games.

Anchorage’s Mac Swanson also recorded his fifth collegiate goal of the season over the weekend for the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team. In a 4-1 win over Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday, the sophomore forward found the back of the net for the first time since early November and logged at least one assist for the fourth game in a row with two.

Anchorage’s Emily McCutcheon continued the strong start to her sophomore season on the Western Washington University softball team by recording her first collegiate home run. The former South slugger and two-time Gatorade Player of the year sent the ball over the left center for two of her four RBIs in a 14-4 win over Colorado Christian last Tuesday. She recorded a hit on half of her four at bats.

Anchorage’s James Reinbold was recently revealed as one of only 26 NCAA Division I football players to be named First Team Academic All American. The former Dimond standout starred on the gridiron and in the class room at Cornell University, recording 45 tackles, including 6.5 for a loss and 4.5 sacks while maintaining a GPA of over 4.0 with a dual major in Government and Performing & Media Arts.

(If you know of an Alaska athlete who has achieved a standout performance or reached a noteworthy milestone Outside, emailsports@adn.comorjreed@adn.comwith the details.)

Fast Forward

Prep

Hockey

Division I state tournament at Sullivan Arena, Thursday-Saturday

The postseason for the 2025-26 high school season will officially come to a close this week in town. Action gets going on Thursday with the opening round, followed by semifinals Friday and the title tilt will be played Saturday at 5 p.m.

Girls hockey

State tournament at Ben Boeke, Thursday-Saturday

Next door, the 2025-26 girls high school season will also be wrapping up this week on the same days. Dimond-West and South-Bartlett have first-round byes and will face the winners of Service-East versus Palmer-Wasilla and Chugiak-Eagle River versus Kodiak-Tok (Friday 3:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.) and the championship will be Saturday at 1:15 p.m.

Girls basketball

Grace Christian at Mountain City Christian, Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The best matchup in town will pit the three-time defending 3A state champion Grizzlies against the powerhouse Lions who are looking like the cream of the crop in the entire state this year.

Boys basketball

Service at West, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

The top matchup in town on the boys side will feature the second-seeded Cougars traveling to play the third-seeded Eagles, according to the MaxPreps CIC standings. In the first meeting between these two teams last month, Service successfully defended its homecourt with a 10-point win.

College

Women’s Basketball

UAA vs. Western Washington at Alaska Airlines Center, 7 p.m., Thursday

The Seawolves will be back in town to take on a pair of GNAC foes with a chance to avenge their road loss to the second-seeded Vikings to split the season series on and sweep Simon Fraser on Saturday with a tip-off time of 5:15 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

UAA vs. UAF at Alaska Airlines Center, 7:30 p.m., Saturday

The Seawolves will be taking the court just once this week and will put their winning streak on the line at home against their instate rival Nanooks, who are looking at establishing a winning streak of their own.

• • •

Last week’s results

High school

Boys hockey

Monday

Service 7, Bartlett 1

Tuesday

Dimond 3, Service 1

Eagle River 4, Chugiak 2

Thursday

North Pole 11, Kodiak 0

Soldotna 2, Juneau-Douglas 1

Houston 2, Monroe Catholic 1

Wasilla 6, Colony 1

South 5, Eagle River 0

Palmer 2, Delta 1

West Valley 4, Lathrop 0

Dimond 4, West 3

Friday

Juneau-Douglas 3, Kodiak 1

Delta 5, Monroe Catholic 4

North Pole 2, Soldonta 0

Colony 6, Lathrop 0

Houston 7, Palmer 1

Eagle River 3, West 2

Wasilla 4, West Valley 3

Service 4, Chugiak 3

Saturday

Juneau-Douglas 7, Delta 2

West Valley 5, Colony 3

Palmer 3, Soldotna 1

• • •

Basketball

Girls

Sunday

Craig 35, Petersburg 15

Monday

East 49, Eagle River 35

Tuesday

Susitna Valley 45, Tikigaq 32

Seward 68, Ninilchik 5

Mt. Edgecumbe 57, Sitka 49

Redington 48, Houston 28

Wasilla 72, Palmer 18

Bartlett 76, South 18

Chugiak 58, East 13

Service 66, West 34

North Pole 55, West Valley 31

Kenai Central 61, Homer 26

Colony 65, Mountain City Christian Academy 51

Dimond 43, Eagle River 22

Wednesday

Shishmaref 54, Brevig Mission 36

Tok 75, Nenana 22

Shishmaref 67, Gambell 18

Chugiak 51, Dimond 41

Thursday

Nunamiut 64, Meade River 52

Tok 55, Fort Yukon 48

Dimond 61, West Valley 26

Minto 64, Tri-Valley 44

Mountain City Christian Academy 66, South 23

Service 65, Lathrop 39

Scammon Bay 54, Aniak 38

Monroe Catholic 62, Delta 25

West 65, East 34

Bartlett 74, Ketchikan 29

Shishmaref 67, Koyuk Malimiut 39

Hoonah 55, Newhalen 48

Brevig Mission 132, Koyuk Malimiut 20

Chaputnguak 74, Nuniwarmiut 18

Friday

Fort Yukon 72, Meade River 35

Tok 58, Nunamiut 32

Kalskag 48, Akiachak 47

Cook Inlet Academy 43, Birchwood Christian 30

Scammon Bay 34, Hoonah 18

South 35, West Valley 29

Seward 70, Cordova 31

Minto 62, Nenana 37

Newhalen 82, Aniak 32

Barrow 60, Nome-Beltz 16

Mountain City Christian Academy 72, Dimond 55

Saturday

Davis-Romoth 65, Kisimgiugtuq 32

Hoonah 46, Aniak 34

Birchwood Christian 45, Nanwalek 33

Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat 39, Kwigillingok 31

Tuluksak 79, Kalskag 54

Newhalen 43, Scammon Bay 34

Lathrop 48, South 37

Seward 57, Cordova 18

Nunamiut 56, Nenana 54

Boys

Monday

Klawock 50, Hydaburg 40

East 86, Eagle River 17

Tuesday

Ninilchik 87, Seward 47

Mt. Edgecumbe 58, Sitka 53

Susitna Valley 57, Tikigaq 54

Redington 54, Houston 53

East 72, Chugiak 42

South 84, Bartlett 48

Delta 34, North Pole 33

Wasilla 61, Palmer 52

Kenai Central 70, Homer 22

Colony 81, Mountain City Christian 38

Dimond 93, Eagle River 28

West Valley 56, Monroe Catholic 43

Wednesday

Shishmaref 88, Brevig Mission 69

East 71, Dimond 42

Tok 77, Nenana 67

Shishmaref 57, Gambell 49

Klawock 56, Angoon 53

Thursday

Walter Northway 98, Nunamiut 65

Tok 80, Fort Yukon 75

Scammon Bay 81, Russian Mission 49

Ninilchik 82, Nikiski 39

Shishmaref 78, Martin L Olson 45

Monroe Catholic 48, Delta 37

Nuniwarmiut 73, Ayaprun 51

Susitna Valley 75, Homer 61

West Valley 66, Bartlett 27

Tanalian 80, Tuluksak 47

Sitka 70, Ketchikan 30

Grace Christian 64, Wasilla 43

West 55, South 50

Scammon Bay 67, Newhalen 47

Chaputnguak 81, Nightmute Elitnaurviat 30

Friday

Fort Yukon 61, Nunamiut 56

Scammon Bay 69, St. Mary’s 45

Soldotna 50, Kodiak 34

Shishmaref 84, Brevig Mission 43

Ket’acik and Aapalluk Memorial 51, Z John Williams 42

Nelson Island 91, Nuniwarmiut 52

Chaputnguak 102, Paul T. Albert Memorial 32

Akiuk Memorial 47, Anna Tobeluk 44

Ninilchik 52, Susitna Valley 48

Z John Williams 74, Joann Alexie Memorial 61

Aniak 91, Tanalian 68

Lathrop 73, Grace Christian 54

Cook Inlet Academy 90, Birchwood Christian 39

Anna Tobeluk 63, Joann Alexie Memorial 59

Juneau-Douglas 56, Sitka 49

Scammon Bay 69, Newhalen 40

Hoonah 61, Yakutat 18

Haines 55, Wrangell 36

West 89, Eagle River 23

West Valley 50, East 47

Service 84, Bartlett 28

Mt. Edgecumbe 72, Ketchikan 62

Valdez 52, Galena 44

Nelson Island 66, Chaputnguak 58

Gambell 63, Shishmaref 54

Akiachak 78, Tanalian 62

Metlakatla 56, Craig 47

Saturday

Ket’acik and Aapalluk Memorial 46, Anna Tobeluk 38

Chaputnguak 96, Nuniwarmiut 70

Nunamiut 69, Merreline A. Kangas 27

Akiachak 93, Akiak 53

Nelson Island 106, Ayaprun 64

Hoonah 67, Yakutat 26

Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat 65, Kwigillingok 37

Grace Christian 41, West Valley 38

Nelson Island 105, Nightmute Elitnaurviat 90

East 59, Lathrop 52

College

Hockey

Gymnastics

Friday

1.) Air Force 195.800; 2.) Utah State 195.400; 3.) UAA 190.325

Friday

UAF 4, UAA 1

Saturday

UAA 3, UAF 2 (OT)

Women’s basketball

Saturday

UAA 79, UAF 69

Men’s basketball

Thursday

UAA 77, Central Washington 70

Northwest Nazarene 78, UAF 64

Saturday

UAF 89, Central Washington 81

UAA 71, Northwest Nazarene 53

NAHL

Friday

Fairbanks Ice Dogs 7, Anchorage Wolverines 1

Saturday

Fairbanks Ice Dogs 5, Anchorage Wolverines 1

A popular cruise line has abruptly shut down and ceased all operations after 15 years.

On Feb. 4, Alaskan Dream Cruises announced that it will be shutting down for good, and all planned cruises will be canceled.

“Since 2011, Alaskan Dream Cruises has had the privilege of sharing the wonders of Alaska and the richness of our Alaska Native heritage with incredible guests from across the globe. It has been an equal honor to work alongside extraordinary communities, partners, and crew,” the cruise line said in a statement shared on Facebook.

“Effective immediately, Alaskan Dream Cruises has ceased business operations and will no longer be operating future sailings,” the statement continued.

“We are deeply grateful for the trust you have placed in us over the past 15 years. Thank you for the lasting relationships we’ve built and for allowing us to be a part of your Alaskan stories.”

At the time of the announcement, Alaska Dream Cruise had no active trips going on since they primarily sail from May through September, Alaska’s cruise season.

The small-ship cruise line, which once offered 5- to 10-night sailings to Southeast Alaska, noted that guests who had existing reservations should have received refunds and information on the next steps via email.

Alaska Dream Cruise also said it was working with UnCruise Adventures to help voyagers find other booking opportunities, according to the Daily Sitka Sentinel.

Though the cruise line will no longer operate, its parent company, Allen Marine Tours, will continue to offer excursions that showcase “Alaska’s natural beauty and cultural heritage.”

The decision to shutter was “essential and necessary,” Jamey Cagle, one of the owners of Alaskan Dream Cruises, told the Daily Sitka.

“After careful evaluation of our long-term objectives, we determined that concluding cruise operations allows us to responsibly focus our resources where they will have the greatest impact,” he said, per The Independent.

“We have had the privilege of sharing the wonders of Alaska and the richness of our Alaska Native heritage with incredible passengers from across the globe. It has been an honor to work alongside extraordinary communities, partners and crew throughout this journey.”

Part of a continuing weekly series on Alaska history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage or Alaska history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.

In late October 1982, the Anchorage Daily News ran a particularly interesting advertisement. It took the form of a question and answer about one of the hottest topics of the day, though few modern readers will remember. “I’m real excited about Alaska buying the National Football League but won’t the cost be so great that we will have to forego our plans for a new capital city or for building the Susitna Dam?”

And the response, “Hardly. We should have plenty of money to buy the National Football League, build a new capital city in the wilderness, and construct the Susitna Dam. We may even have a few dollars left over to bail out Chrysler and pay off the National Debt.”

In 1982, Alaskans faced the weightiest choices: whether to move the state capital or buy the NFL. Our legislators could be sitting in Willow right now. Or the state could own the NFL. The former question made it to ballots that November. The latter question, and the thoughts it engendered, influenced the failure of the former. In this way, Football Fannie and the NFL Access Committee helped shape modern Alaska, one of the wilder anecdotes in state history.

In the decades before statehood, politicians campaigning outside Juneau frequently invoked the idea of a capital move as an easy, crowd-pleasing move. In 1922, Territorial Legislature candidate Harry Staser addressed the Anchorage Women’s Club. He declared, “The capital of Alaska belongs in Anchorage or in the third division at least. I had a talk with the Hon. James Wickersham on this subject, and he says that it is within our power to move the capital, and I will most certainly try to move it.” The Anchorage women surely enjoyed those ultimately empty words.

While there were several proposals to move the capital during the Territorial years, such efforts intensified after statehood, beginning with a 1960 ballot initiative to relocate the capital “within the Cook Inlet-Railbelt Area.” Voters rejected it 23,972 to 18,865. In 1962, another referendum asked voters whether to move the capital to “Western Alaska, to a site not within thirty miles of Anchorage.” Voters rejected that 32,325 to 26,542.

By the early 1970s, there were tens of thousands of new arrivals and some corresponding shift in attitudes. The issue returned to ballots in 1974 when voters approved — 46,659 to 35,683 — an initiative for the “construction of a new Alaskan capital city” in “Western Alaska at least thirty miles from Anchorage and Fairbanks.” Three potential sites were selected by a governor-appointed committee: Mount Yenlo, Larson Lake and Willow. And in 1976, voters selected Willow, which received more votes than the other two choices combined.

From there, the momentum somewhat dissipated. In 1978, voters overwhelmingly rejected nearly $1 billion in new capital construction bonds, 88,783 to 31,491. On the same ballot, Alaskans also passed an initiative that required all costs of a capital relocation to be determined in advance.

That brings us to Nov. 2, 1982, when voters were presented with the opportunity to respond to the results of that calculation. Per the ballot, “Considering the cost, revenue and population estimates set out below, may the State of Alaska spend the money necessary (estimated to total $2,843,147,000) to accomplish relocation of a functional state capital from Juneau to the new capital site at Willow?” Yes, the capital move was projected to cost some pocket change more than $2.84 billion, a contentious estimate in several ways.

Several organizations formed to oppose the move to Willow, including the early Alaska Committee, Frustrated Responsible Alaskans Needing Knowledge (FRANK), Fairbanks Against Relocation Expenditures (FARE), and Anchorage Rejects the Move (ARM). Collectively, the anti-move groups spent over a million dollars in the lead-up to the 1982 election.

Their anti-move arguments were generally logical and grounded, focused on factors such as inflation, expected overruns, and infrastructure opportunity costs, e.g., sewers, roads. On the other hand, this was also a rather dry approach to an election with momentous implications. For example, one Alaska Committee advertisement listed some of the needed capital improvements potentially lost if the capital move was approved, among them an expanded A and C Street couplet in Anchorage and a University of Alaska Anchorage office building. How could voters not think of a lost university office building given the option of a more accessible, shiny new capital city?

Enter Lee Stoops, then an aide for state Sen. John Sackett. A lifelong avid sports fan, he had two problems that fall. He was a Juneau resident opposed to the capital move, and a players’ strike shut down the National Football League. Though the two concerns seemed entirely unrelated, he saw a possible connection and so founded the NFL Access Committee.

As Stoops told me in a phone interview, “The capital move was looking bad for Alaska, for Juneau in particular, where I was a resident, and I didn’t like the way that others attacked the move. There was a lot of crying about people losing the value of their homes and just stuff that didn’t seem relevant to an election like that. And I decided to just make fun of the whole process and the amount of money they wanted to spend to move the capital and build in Willow. So, I combined that with the fact that the NFL was on strike, and of course, everybody loves the NFL.”

The conceit was simple. With its surging oil wealth, Alaska should buy the NFL, a comparatively simple bauble than the far more expensive new capital site at Willow. The teams would move to Alaska and, in doing so, positively represent the state with every player, game, highlight and broadcast. Further, by ending the strike, Alaska would earn the goodwill of an entire sports-loving nation.

Football Fannie, a cheerleader at a typewriter, was the face of the campaign. Designed by Bob Grogan, she parodied Access Annie, the mascot for the pro-move Capital Access Committee chaired by Frank Harris. On at least one occasion, Access Annie and Football Fannie advertisements ran on the same newspaper page.

The wildest month of Stoops’ life began on Oct. 8, 1982, the first day of many print advertisements, radio spots, letters to editors, and interviews. Stoops had the sums to back his proposal, as laid out in the inaugural Football Fannie notice. “In 1981, Al Davis offered to sell the then-Oakland Raiders for $17 million. Allowing $20 million each for all 28 NFL teams comes to only $560 million. The Kingdome in Seattle was built for $40 million about 7 years ago, so we could certainly build three domed stadiums for $80 million each. The whole package, 28 NFL Teams and 3 stadiums would only cost $800 million.”

With the math out of the way, the advertisement continued. “Interestingly enough, this is only about one-fourth of the amount proposed to move the capital to Willow. NFL football once and for all: We can’t afford not to buy it.”

Naturally, Stoops had already worked out where the teams should relocate. The combinations are surprisingly apt. There would be the Alaska Patriots, Susitna Chargers, Chicken Cardinals, Prudhoe Bay Oilers, Elmendorf Jets, Haines Eagles, Willow Raiders, Deadhorse Broncos, McKinley Park Rams, LaTouche Buccaneers, Tanana Chiefs, Juneau Packers, Anchorage Steelers — or Stealers — and Kodiak Bears, the most obvious choice. As Stoops noted, a Juneau-Anchorage rivalry was inevitable.

As envisioned by Stoops, the purchase would pay for itself in a few short years. If the state bought the famously profitable NFL, then that money would flow in only one, Alaska-friendly direction. From the Oct. 19 Football Fannie edition in the Daily News, “The profit is so large that the cost of the NFL purchase would be paid back to the State in only a few years. Free football!!—Free money!”

Then there were to be the “thousands” of jobs created by the NFL purchase and move. From the Oct. 27 Football Fannie edition in the Daily News, “In addition to short-term construction jobs stemming from the building of domed stadiums, each team has hundreds of jobs associated with administration, public relations, maintenance, laundry and on and on and on. And these jobs will last as long as football itself.”

The NFL Access Committee did not beg for donations, as many political action committees do. Instead, they sold T-shirts and buttons to fund the campaign. Pam Calhoun dressed as Football Fannie at Juneau events. After their first 10 days of public operation, contributions totaled more than $13,000.

The T-shirts, made to look like football jerseys for the fictional Alaskan teams, were their fundraising foundation. Stoops remembers, “They were, they were just a phenomenon, and everybody wanted them. So, we were selling them for twenty dollars each, and we paid like six dollars each, and we sold thousands of them. So there was our fifty thousand or so that we spent on advertising.”

The Anchorage “Stealers” T-shirt was a popular offering. The jersey number on the back was “2.84,” referring to the $2.84 billion estimated cost for the capital move. Stoops’ catchphrase was at the bottom: “One Man’s Pork Is Another Man’s Pigskin.”

The nameplate read “Frank O. Harris,” a dual reference to Capital Access Committee chairman Frank Harris and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris. Stoops trademarked Football Fannie before the first advertisement ran, then contacted Frank Harris regarding the similarity between Access Annie and his own legally protected Football Fannie. Feeling generous, Stoops did not request the removal of Access Annie, though he did solicit a contribution from Harris.

Eventually, smaller state press caught wind of the proposal, some of them delighted to have something different to talk about than the NFL strike. According to Stoops, “I remember one day doing six radio interviews with radio stations in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Jacksonville. Just all these sports shows were having fun with the idea. They loved it.”

Yes, the entire campaign was a satirical farce. It was gleefully absurdist, but it was also clever and insightful regarding the typical Alaska voter. Football Fannie and the NFL Access Committee drove its point home better than any other argument at the time, emphasizing the opportunity costs of the capital move to the masses better than any amount of possible infrastructure improvements.

Stoops says, “It was all tongue-in-cheek and a beautiful subject matter to play with, because there are people out there who believed every word I said and thought it was a great idea and that it could be done. And then there were those who graduated from high school and knew that it wasn’t really likely to happen. But it was, it was all a way to draw people that would otherwise be unattached to the election.”

That massive number for a capital move, that $2.84 billion, prompted some cognition issues. To the common person, multiple billions of dollars are beyond their ability to effectively contextualize. People who live in terms of groceries and rent and car payments, which was and is most Alaskans, rarely think about things in terms of billions. Functionally, billions have little meaning for people who live in a world of thousands or less. Nearly $3 billion might as well just have been noted as “a lot of money,” and people always think governments cost “a lot of money.”

For Stoops understood the brutal realities of public knowledge. The average Alaska adult, after all, is likely able to identify far more NFL quarterbacks than Alaska legislators. In raw, cynical numbers, NFL coverage certainly garners more interest than anything the Legislature or governor get up to. And so, putting that $2.84 billion in terms of multiple NFLs was a better way to illustrate the scale of that figure, more useful than any number of unpaved roads, unbuilt sewers or lacking schools.

Moreover, while the capital move debates otherwise ranged from dour to combative, the NFL Access Committee, Football Fannie, and Stoops were always lighthearted and entertaining, albeit subtly didactic. After decades of capital move arguments, the ray of positivity looked all the sunnier by comparison. Ultimately, it may have swayed the vote.

To many in Alaska, on both sides of the issue, the capital move seemed inevitable. In late September 1982, Dittman Research of Anchorage conducted a statewide poll on the capital move question. Of the 527 respondents, 52% said they would probably vote in favor of the move versus 45% opposed. Only 3% were undecided, understandable given the years spent on the question. Every Alaska resident, whether newcomer or old-timer, had endured questions about a possible capital move throughout their residency. Of course, they already had opinions.

According to Dittman Research founder Dave Dittman, the results were consistent with the firm’s surveys over the previous eight years. He also did not believe the price tag was a sufficiently relevant factor in the outcome, that the cost figure “is not a mystery. It’s been so well publicized.” This polling data was coincidentally released a day after the first Football Fannie advertisement.

But to quote former New York Jets head coach Herm Edwards, “You play to win the game. You don’t play to just play it.” Come Nov. 2, the Hotel Captain Cook was the election headquarters in Anchorage, where many candidates and their adherents gathered, waiting for the outcomes. The crowd included Football Fannie accompanied by supporters in Anchorage Stealers, Prudhoe Bay Oilers and Juneau Packers shirts. Her group led the cheer when the numbers arrived. Voters rejected the capital move. The final count was 102,083 to 91,249. In Juneau, where the jubilation was highest, the NFL Access Committee hosted a victory dance at the Armory featuring a Football Fannie look-alike contest.

On Oct. 25, Juneau Empire reporter Mark Baumgartner wrote, “By now everyone is familiar with the thinking of the NFL Access Committee.” The Empire itself editorialized, “The beauty of the campaign is its simplicity, its humor — we all needed it in this life-and-death campaign — and its positive nature.” Bob Miller, the Anchorage campaign coordinator for the Alaska Committee, described Football Fannie as “the greatest campaign stunt I’ve seen in my life.”

After the election, Sally Fowler wrote to the Empire. She stated, “Another group that deserves our vote of thanks is that which created ‘Football Fannie.’ Her questions and answers have pointed out, in a very reasonable way, the absurdity of the capital move and just as importantly, they have created a bright funny note in an otherwise pretty tense, emotionally charged atmosphere.”

In 1978, more than 120,000 Alaskans voted on the capital move referendums. In 1982, that number was over 190,000. At the very least, the NFL Access Committee was a factor in the failure of that capital move election. The campaign possessed a strong hook, a clean elevator pitch with a compelling populist approach. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that its reach was significant, particularly in the key Anchorage battleground. At best, it was perhaps the crucial variable for the capital move failure.

“A vote for Willow was a vote against the NFL,” says Stoops. And people love their football.

The difference between Juneau and Willow as the state capital came down to a few thousand votes from a few thousand Alaska voters who might not otherwise have shown up at the polls. Stoops believes that the NFL Access Committee reached a disengaged section of the electorate. He says, “And I mean, it was a close, close election, and there’s no way anyone could ever tell me that, that Football Fannie did not determine that election.”

One frantic month was the entire lifespan of the NFL Access Committee and Football Fannie. As soon as the idea went public, Stoops’ home was besieged with phone calls, to his epic delight. “I never had more fun,” says Stoops, “and it was all done in a whirlwind, one month.” After Football Fannie, he had a long and varied career in Alaska — legislative aide, state Senate candidate, lobbyist, economic development director, fisherman and sportswriter — before retiring to Florida. He’s written novels and become a notable sandcastle artist.

The 1982 NFL strike lasted 57 days, ending two weeks after the Alaska election. Each team played only nine games in that regular season. The owners won the public relations war, and the players negotiated higher salaries and benefits. However, neither side was content with the outcome, and the lingering antipathies led directly to the ugly 1987 strike and later lawsuits for free agency.

The 1980s NFL labor strife is poorly remembered primarily because of the relatively peaceful and prosperous years since. No matter the lighthearted approach, Stoops was right. The NFL was an appreciating asset. By every possible metric, the NFL as a business is bigger than ever, and team values have accordingly skyrocketed. The Dallas Cowboys, for example, sold for a reported $80 million in 1985, then $140 million in 1989. According to a 2025 estimate, the team is now worth roughly $12.8 billion. Alaska would have profited a tiny bit if it had bought back in 1982.

The 1982 election did not end efforts to move the capital. Some Alaska elders still question the authenticity of that vote, grumbling about power-outage conspiracy theories. Still, voters also rejected subsequent initiatives to relocate the capital to Wasilla in 1994 and to move all state legislative sessions to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in 2002. And almost everyone today has some opinions and feelings about that.

Ten years later, Stoops had another, far more earnest proposal for Alaska. The Seattle Mariners, then up for sale, would be the perfect Permanent Fund investment opportunity.” As he wrote, “Ken Griffey Jr., Kevin Mitchell, Eric Hansen and all their Seattle Mariners are ready, able and willing to go to work for us, the people of Alaska … I think we ought to ante up $100 million and buy it. $100 million amounts to about 1/120th, or less than 1 percent of the Permanent Fund.” But that is a story for another time, during baseball season.

My thanks go to reader Ross Oliver for suggesting this topic. Special thanks also go out to Rep. Sara Hannan, Reed Stoops and, most of all, Lee Stoops.

• • •

Key sources:

Baumgartner, Mark. “Alaska Can’t Afford Not to Buy the NFL.” Juneau Empire. October 25, 1982, 7.

Davies, Karin. “Football Fannie Confesses She’s No Rookie to Politics.” Anchorage Daily News. October 18, 1982, A-1, A-16.

Fowler, Sally. Letter to editor. Juneau Empire. November 3, 1982, 4.

“Harry I. Staser, Candidate for the Territorial Legislature, Addresses Letter to Anchorage Woman’s Club.” Anchorage Daily Times. November 4, 1922, 1, 4.

“Keep Cool, Be Positive.” Juneau Empire. October 4, 1982, 4.

Lindback, John. “Majority of Alaskans Favor Capital Move, Poll Finds.” Anchorage Daily News. October 9, 1982, A-1, A-12.

Murkowski, Carol. “Suite Moods Followed Returns.” Anchorage Times. November 3, 1982, D-1.

National Football League Access Committee. Football Fannie advertisement. Juneau Empire. October 8, 1982, 7.

National Football League Access Committee. Football Fannie advertisement. Anchorage Daily News. October 25, 1982, D-3.

National Football League Access Committee. Football Fannie advertisement. Anchorage Daily News. October 27, 1982, E-3.

Scandling, Bruce. “ARM Works Against Move.” Juneau Empire. November 3, 1982, 2.

Scandling, Bruce. “NFL Access Sought.” Juneau Empire. October 8, 1982, 1.

Stoops, Lee. Interview by David Reamer. February 2, 2026

Stoops, Lee. “My Turn: Alaska! Let’s Buy the Mariners!” Juneau Empire. January 8, 1992, 4.

Virtue, Cary. “Move Cost May Cloud Capital Vote.” Anchorage Times. October 24, 1982, E-1, E-3.