Thank You Dan!

 

Thanks for the rollerskis, Casey!

Things are as normal as can be expected, considering all the abnormality surrounding us for the time being. I've been able to join the team a few days per week with the classic rollerskis that Lasse gave me and the classic boots that Marine gave me.  And earlier this week I got out with the team for some skate action with the skate rollerskis that Casey Wright gave me.  If it wasn't for these gifts from former Seawolves, I probably wouldn't be able to do hardly any workouts with the UAA Ski Team!  I'd have to stay home on the couch and each potato chips. So I really want to thank Lasse, Marine and Casey for supporting the cause! 

But I visited the 314er website the other day and I noticed that rollerskis weren't the only contribution that Lasse made to the Seawolves.  I saw his name on the list as a "314er" too - somebody who's made a $1,000 contribution toward the $314,000 that the UAA Board of Regents asked us to raise if we want to keep the Ski Team intact.  Lasse and I have crossed paths several times since he left UAA some years back, and every time we see each other it immediately feels as familiar as if we were still hanging out at ski practice together. Obviously, Lasse still feels a strong connection to this team. Otherwise, he wouldn't be a 314er. 

JC was the dominant sprinter at Monday's practice.

But we also got some good news from Daniel Leever earlier this week.  Dan has never been on the UAA Ski Team, but I'm sure his name is familiar to you.  You probably know Dan from such shows as Squawk Box on CNBC and Bloomberg Daybreak. As you may be aware, Dan's son Alex skied for the University of Denver Pioneers recently, and Dan himself recently purchased Ski Racing Magazine. Dan has been very outspoken in his support of NCAA skiing as a development pathway for elite-level skiing, and he has a solid record of putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to his support for NCAA skiing and the opportunities it provides for developing ski racers.  Earlier this week, Ski Racing Magazine announced that they will match all contributions, no matter how big or small, up to a maximum of $50,000, toward the UAA Ski Team.  In other words, Ski Racing Magazine is willing to pony up $50,000 to support us, if we can just scrabble together the other $50,000.  I've just peeked at the 314er website; it looks like we're just above $115,000 at the moment. So with Ski Racing's help, we have an opportunity to reach $215,000 quickly. 

Pascale. Pre-workout medical check. If you wear your new Seawolf PPE to practice, you're probably going to get your photo in the blog.

I think it's important that we take advantage of Dan Leever and Ski Racing's offer right away, and get this $100,000 banked as soon as we can.  That will get us within $100,000 of the $314,000 that the Board of Regents has ordered us to come up with. In my opinion, the sooner we get this money together, the more leverage we're going to have for future discussions with the Board and the administration, as we will be able to demonstrate unequivocally the support we have from the community. 

In the few weeks that have passed since we started this campaign, we've made substantial progress toward the goal. But we're not there yet, and even with Ski Racing's help, we still have a ways to go. If you've been thinking about contributing to the cause, I encourage you to do so sooner rather than later, and to take advantage of Ski Racing's generous offer.  

The thing about Ski Racing's generous offer is you don't even have to be a 314er to get Dan Leever to match your contribution.  You can contribute any amount you wish and Dan and his crew of journalists will pony up a matching amount.  So if you'd like to maximize your contribution to keep the UAA Ski Team intact, I encourage you to visit Ski Racing Magazine's dedicated UAA Ski Team webpage, and contribute there. 

 When all this is over, we're going to owe Dan Leever a whole shipping container's worth of those 314er sweatshirts!

Again the website is here:  https://skiracing.com/save-uaa-skiing/. Let's get this done and behind us, and get back to ski racing!