Announcing my new favorite sports team

My new favo(u)rite sports team is the Salmonbellies lacrosse team of New Westminster, British Columbia - a suburb of Vancouver.

How did this happen? Hypertext!

Dances with Wolves was on AMC the other day. I thought I recognized one of the actors from Northern Exposure. A quick search showed that I was correct (it was Floyd Red Crow Westerman, who played the recurring character "One Who Waits"). That should have been satisfaction enough, since I'm genetically impaired in my ability to recognize actors. Since I never know when to stop, though, I moved on to an article on Mr. Westerman's Northern Exposure cast-mate Elaine Miles, who played the doctor's secretary. That article contained a link to the Native American name controversy, which, in the section on Canadian terminology, linked to an article on Chinook jargon, the lingua franca of the old Pacific Northwest. Chinook jargon contains the word "hyak" or "hyack," meaning "fast" or "hurry," which became the nickname of the fire department of New Westminster, British Columbia, which is home to the Salmonbellies, one of Canada's oldest prfessional lacrosse teams.

But the greatest link of all came from the 'Bellies web site, where they link to their sponsor, Canadian Beaver Buzz Energy Drink. Nothing says "energy" like a scowling aquatic rodent with pupil-less eyes.

It's also worth noting that the New Westminster Fire Department "Hyacks" set off a 21-anvil salute every May as part of the Victoria Day festivities. Let the anvils ring, eh?