anything you can do, they can do better...

since arriving in the yukon, i've come to know a considerable amount about dog mushing... sled dog racing, if you don't follow... each year in february the yukon quest is held -- it's a 1,000 mile dog race between alaska and the yukon... today i attended a press conference about the training of a musher looking to qualify for the big show come 2009... seems like your regular northern-style press topic -- that is until the musher was introduced as a 44-year-old man... from jamaica...

since 2005, the jamaican dogsled team has been up and running (no pun intended)... unlike the traditional affair of gliding across the surface of vast winter white environments, the jamaican team mainly performs on dry land... now, with a little help from friends like jimmy buffett (yes, margaritaville buffett) and yukon sponsors, one of their mushers will train with former quest champ hans gatt in hopes of making the cut in 2009...

at first the thought of it all conjures up humourous headlines and the disney hit "cool runnings"... but once i saw clips from a documentary about the unique team, i knew this was for real... teams use only dogs saved from shelters in jamaica and proceeds from wins and merchandise sales go towards preventing cruelty to animals and the hope of building an animal hospital in kingston...

i'd never had such an urge to be a sports reporter... until today...