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Speaker 2:Welcome to problem quarter, Alaska's longest running radio show presented each weekday by Alaska Laundry and Dry Cleaning. Connect, share, and discuss the topics that matter to Juneau and all of Southeast Alaska. Join the conversation at (907) 586-1800 and online at kinyradio.com.
Speaker 3:And good morning, Juno, KINY problem corner Wednesdays. I'm Justin Miller, and as always on Wednesdays, we are joined by Dave Ignell, and very special, he is here in the studio with us. Very glad to have you here in Juneau, especially during this week with gold medal and that's kinda what's gonna happen on Problem Corner today. But I'll let you kinda start us off what's happened with Problem Corner.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thanks Justin. Yeah, it's great to be back in Juneau with blue skies. Maybe I brought in the sunny weather with me. Yeah, it's great to be in the studio. And Justin, as you said, it is Gold Medal Week.
Speaker 4:And as people around the city have probably noticed, the hotels, the restaurants, the stores, they're all full and they're buzzing with activity. And one of my tenants last night told me that there were orcas in Gastoneau Channel, right by the bridge in front of the house. And I've noticed that orcas seem to be a regular occurrence during Gold Medal Week and also during celebrations. So I think maybe we have some visitors from other dimensions that are with us. And the high school gym is buzzing with activity.
Speaker 4:And so as our listeners know, over the last four or five weeks, we've been talking about education and some of the serious stuff that's going on up in the legislature with HB 69. But today I figured we'd take a break and talk about gold medal because this is quintessential Southeast Alaska for many of us. And so I brought in we're joined by a couple special guests today. Two former presidents of the Lions Club, which puts on the gold medal every year. We have Sasha Sobeloff and we also have Steve Bradner.
Speaker 4:Welcome to Problem Corner guys.
Speaker 5:Yes, thank you.
Speaker 6:Yes, thank you, Dave.
Speaker 5:I follow Steve, so.
Speaker 4:Well, and your names are very familiar to many Junoites and people around Southeast, but I'm sure we have some listeners today who aren't quite as familiar with you all as I am and others are. Sasha is the oldest son of the late Doctor. Walter Sobeloff, And he's also a retired educator, teacher and former principal of Jady High School. And Steve is a I hate to date you, Steve, but Steve and I were teammates on the Southeast Alaska Champions in 1978 for JD High School. And Steve is, he's also he happens to be a a member of the Gold Medal Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4:And he you know, to get that award, he played in I've got it here, 23 tournaments and won seven championship titles, was all tourney 11 times, and was MVP in 1996. So all I can say, Prince, is good thing I wasn't playing against you.
Speaker 6:Yeah, thanks Dave. You know, and it takes quite a bit of dedication to achieve a record like that. But you don't know you're doing it as you go through it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, absolutely. You and I wouldn't have played against each other because we happened to play on the same team whenever I was in town. But yeah, I went off to college and law school and other things. So, look back at tenure in Juneau, and this is one thing I miss, is the fact that I didn't get to play in more gold medals. I remember playing as a senior in high school that year.
Speaker 4:I think I played for the Huna team, and then went off to college and came back for a couple years and played. And then most recently I got to play for the Huna Masters and won a gold medal. But ability to play in a tournament like gold medal is is really special for players. And but, Sasha, let's let's turn to you. Why don't you, you know, maybe both of you, I just want to ask an open ended question.
Speaker 4:What does gold medal mean to you, Sasha?
Speaker 5:Gold medal means to be one of these figures that happened up in Southeastern where as a very young boy, it was started to I became involved in it in 1945, so by 'fifty one I was dragged into the Fifth Street Gym for the Gold Medal Tournament which my dad was of course one of the key members out of the General Lions Club. And it was stunning to me to see a whole bunch of things. One, guys that play ball for openers from all over Southeastern. And then second of all, that it was done at such a high level because that's the mark that was laid out for if you want to talk about why do we do this? Dad was one of the really key guys that was part of the club and I'll read very quickly.
Speaker 5:He said, Lion Bartle Soblev turned to the Juno Lion Club and said, You know there's something great about traditions because they never die. He said, These communities are like little satellites for Juno. He said in the 1940s he went to Juno Chamber of Commerce and asked them to honor the same boat captains when they came to Gold Medal. That brought a lot of money to the local businesses then. And even today, the reason why it's brought such glory to not just the tournament but I think to the communities that participate is the participants had to have an opportunity to do athletics where you're drug free, alcohol free and be able to hold discipline in yourself to do what it is.
Speaker 5:And my dad would say, Many participants had drug and drinking problems and this tournament helped them overcome to have those things for a better life. One village was invited to participate in the gold medal and the suicide rate plummeted to near zero.
Speaker 4:Wow.
Speaker 5:When I told the members of the Alliance Club, he said, It must be worthwhile.
Speaker 4:No, that's great perspective and it's so true because when you're a competitor and you're out on the floor and people are watching, you know, it's a lot different, Steve, than being in the gym, open gym or something like that, where if you lose, all you do is you lose your turn or something like that. When you're playing on the court and the entire community watching, you're also representing that community. And if you're bent over double and you're out of breath, people can tell. People can tell if you've kept yourself in shape and you've done the right things. And that used to be the way of life in Southeast when I was a kid.
Speaker 4:Remember that the villages, everybody fished in the summer, and then they played basketball in the wintertime, and they kept in shape, and it gave them a Sorry about that. Little technical difficulty there. My phone going off in the middle of the air in the middle of the program. Steve, tell me a little bit about what what gold medal means to you.
Speaker 6:Gold medal was an event, and I remember moving here in 1974, so it would be the nineteen seventy five tournament and I was in the eighth grade over at Marie Drake and a bunch of my friends said, hey, let's go gain gold medal. And I'm pretty sure we snuck in as junior high guys at that time.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 6:But I had no idea what they were talking about. And to watch that first tournament in the eighth grade, I I watched the players with the intensity and the the level of athleticism and the skill levels. For an eighth grader, it was like I was watching the NBA.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 6:And I watched a couple of games, and I told myself, I have gotta do this.
Speaker 4:Really?
Speaker 6:And that was what really probably motivated me to become a better player. Because in eighth grade, I had just started playing basketball. I'd only been playing for, like, maybe a few months and was on the the junior high team there. But that was my first experience. And then to watch the teams develop, and like you've talked about, it is a whole different level of competition, athleticism, and everything else than open gym or even some of the other rec leagues that I've played in.
Speaker 6:Because I've gone to play in the tournament no. I'm in the ones in Anchorage in places. And the the level of competition, intensity, and dedication here is a step above.
Speaker 4:Wow, that's great perspective. I remember back in high school, you came out of nowhere. I remember. It's like, Who is this guy? And, you know, yeah, I remember when I was a senior, you were a junior, and I remember one game you drove baseline and went up for a dunk.
Speaker 4:And we were I remember Hami and Houston just looked at each other. All of our jaws were open. Was like, who's that guy? Know, what did But no, you know, and the intensity. I mean, I certainly remember that as a kid too.
Speaker 4:I remember, you know, the Beauvaards, Tim O'Donnell, Dick Leavitt, Lockhart, you know, all these names that had been around Juno for so long, and the teams from Anchorage and Fairbanks would come down, and it was the best basketball in the state of Alaska. I remember there was a guy, Gary Brill, who came down in early 70s. He had played pro for the Milwaukee Bucks. And there was just this standard that was, like you said, intensity. I mean, I can still see it today as a kid, standing at the end of the gym, peeking through the doors if I could, because I wasn't resourceful enough to get in free like you, Steven.
Speaker 4:You saw the intensity. And so I was at the games last night. And for our listeners out there, the tournament goes on all week. We're kind of we're not even halfway through today. And the championship games will be on Saturday night.
Speaker 4:And I was at the games are it's a great bargain. You get to see four games for $10. And tonight, there'll be games starting at 04:00, and they'll go till 08:30. And it's like I said, it's only $10. So if you're Juno, if you're looking for something to do, come on down and experience this.
Speaker 4:Sasha, I think you were at the games last night. Let's talk about some of that intensity. There was a great game last night between Clawak and Ketchikan. Yeah. What did you see in that game?
Speaker 5:Well, I saw a level of competition and Ketchikan has not been here for quite some years. At the time there was the Ketchikan Rockets during our time when we were in high school and they kind of dropped out of the tournament but this year they sent a team in that played Klauwok last night and I think each side had their turn of a sometimes an eight, ten, 12, 14 point lead and like a blink of an eye, the one behind would make a run at it. And the level of play was just phenomenal. For those who come to the gymnasium, the left hand side of the gymnasium underneath the foam booth was packed because that's the opposite side of the Huna side, which is on the other side of the gymnasium. The place was glued to their seats.
Speaker 5:And the vendors officer said, What's going on? I said, We have to wait for after the game, the program will come up. But it came down to the bar burner last minute shot in that game.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 5:And it was just, as Steve said, that's the level of the intensity and the athleticism of a new generation that has now unfolded before the tournament in the public, which is absolutely fabulous to watch.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like you said, Sasha, the game went back and forth. I mean, I was sitting next to Louise Kadinger, my sister, and at one point I was like, oh, Clawox is gonna run away with this. And then I was like, oh, Ketchikan's gonna because it seemed like one side would get gassed and then the other would swing momentum. But it came down to the end, and it was a tie game, I think for the last minute. Klauwak had a chance to win, and then, you know, they didn't convert, and Ketchik can.
Speaker 4:The guy took a shot with like two seconds left, and he missed it. And he got the rebound, and he put it back up and in, and everyone like, I'm going, okay, where's the instant replay? It's like, oh no, no, this isn't nationally televised, you know, because it was literally that close. You had to look at when the ball released off his hand and when it went through the basket and the refs, they huddled and they decided, okay, we're gonna count it good. And so it was the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat moment.
Speaker 4:But no, that's the kind of basketball that is available for the public to watch. And it's the best basketball that you can see. If you're a basketball fan, it's the best basketball that you can see in Southeast Alaska. And another thing that you've talked about, Sasha, is the sense of community that I see. And it's great to see everybody come together, and people that live off the road system in different villages.
Speaker 4:And what's cool about it for me is that everyone's going I mean, these games are very physical.
Speaker 5:It's a non context point.
Speaker 6:I have so many memories of literally being on the floor, rolling around, tugging on the ball or the other player who's trying to tug on the ball. And see that Greg Indurland from Yakutat and I were in that, it's in one of the programs, but it was like neither one of us were gonna let go of that ball. But then after the game, and it's not It's any of these teams, you watch them, they go at each other after the game, they go out in the comments, they sit at the same table, They share family stories, life stories. They shake hands. And you would watch the game and say, oh, these guys are worst enemies, which is far from the truth.
Speaker 6:It's back to that level of competition. But then the communities, they all come together and support each other to get here.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and in fact, I saw that even during the game, Steve, last night. I mean, there were times when I thought there was gonna be fisticuffs. I mean, there were some hard hits. And the guys just smiled and helped the other guy off the floor. But then they went right back to being that competitive nature.
Speaker 4:As you were talking, Steve, I was thinking, maybe we ought to make a required course for our politicians. That this is how you act. You're nice to each other. You go at it hard, you stand up for what you believe, you try to win. But at the end of the day, you're friends.
Speaker 4:Get along with each
Speaker 5:other because That's one of the key things that the people who won the tournament put together, and they had two very simple rules. The first rule was this tournament is strictly invitational for tournament. You have to be invited. You have to submit a letter of participation, but it's an invitational tournament. And the invitations shall be based upon spectator appeal as well as the team record.
Speaker 5:And then second of all, the Tournament Committee provides rules for use of the supervision of the gymnasiums and its occupants. It's not just players, it's fans that are held accountable in that thing. In the sportsmanship that you saw, in the heat of competition, they get it. They absolutely get it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we'll come back to that. I know we have, Justin's holding up the sign that we have a phone call, don't we need to take a commercial break about now and get some news?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we could take a quick break and then come back and get some phone calls on the show.
Speaker 4:Yeah, let's do that. Let's take a break, and we also want to talk about the addition of a new bracket this year, the return to the A bracket or the open bracket. I wanna talk about that. Yeah, let's let's take a let's take a break, then we'll try to fit in a few calls.
Speaker 3:Alright. We'll be back with more problem corner here on KINY.
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Speaker 3:My job, as it said at top of that, everybody's seen it now, team update is to provide updates in real time. General updates in real time. Keep everybody informed. That's what I did.
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Speaker 2:You're listening to problem corner on KINY, bringing neighbors together for generations. From the days of Dennis Egan to today, we're proud to continue the tradition of lively debates, community insights, and local connections here on KINY.
Speaker 3:And we're back to more problem corner here on KINY. I'm Justin Miller, and we are hosted by Dave Igneld on this Wednesday. We got Sasha and Steve in the studio representing Juno Lions Club and gold medal basketball.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thanks Justin. Yeah, so let's this year, the gold medal tournament, the Lions Club has brought back the A bracket or the open bracket. And I think that a lot of listeners, especially in Juneau, would be really interested in this because it opens the door for a lot of Southeast recent Southeast High School Players, including those in Juneau. There's a game tonight, I believe, starting or this afternoon starting at 04:00, is gonna pit two Juneau teams. Juneau AML versus the FIELCO teams.
Speaker 4:And there was a great write up in the Empire by Klaus Stolpe, another basketball player from 1978. And I'll just throw a little shout out to Claus, he's doing a great job of covering not only gold medal, but he just has a passion for all sports in Southeast Alaska, and that's really important. But Claus wrote about a a game that occurred, I think, yesterday, between two Juno teams, in the open bracket. It was, Philco and and Southeast Boys. And, you know, if you've been following Juno High School sports, the leading scores, you know, that that that pitted, you know, Juno players against Juno players, and and Philco was the leading scorer there was Alwyn Carrillo.
Speaker 4:He scored 30 for Philcom, and then Sam Lockhart scored 27 for Southeast boys. And it sounds like that was a close game. Were you at that game, Sasha?
Speaker 5:Oh, yes.
Speaker 4:Yeah, can you talk about that a little bit?
Speaker 5:It was another typical Goldwedding game where sometimes you run into those teams that they come to watch and others come to play. This year's team on both Juneau teams, it's not they come to watch but they come to compete. And there's a lot of skill that we haven't seen in this tournament for a couple of generations that is at such a level that it's nothing to see the big guys going out there, free throw line extended, hitting big shots. But then they get underneath and you've to watch what you're doing underneath because you really have to protect them all and then ultimately you have to protect yourself. But I think it highlights the fact that this talent, which is a new generation of talent, is at such a level that you don't play like I'm going to try to beat this guy the best I can.
Speaker 5:No, it takes five of you on that team to help coordinate, to get whether or not you're going to get the shot that's going to win the game and for some reason, when it gets to that level, it comes down to the last thirty seconds of the game and the intensity is not waning and everybody is running around with their tongue hanging out like, Oh my gosh, no. It's just beginning in thirty seconds. That's the thing that the fans really get and that's the beauty of being able to open the tournament now to that level which hasn't been exposed yet. It's phenomenal.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, and so this afternoon at 04:00, so the winner of that game, which was Philco, is gonna play against Juno AML. They play at four, and I I got to see Juno AML, play, yesterday afternoon. They played in the 04:00 game, and, you know, a lot of people in Juneau are familiar with the the Tompkins name, and I think Kalen Tompkins, was the leading scorer in that game. So that should be a great game to watch. Do you have any any predictions, Steve?
Speaker 4:You know, know that you just got back in town yourself. Sasha, you guys have any predictions about who may come out on top on this game?
Speaker 6:I really couldn't say. I haven't been here for most of the winter to see the teams play and really know which personnels they have on each team. But it's probably gonna end up like the previous games. High intensity, fast paced action, and down to the wire.
Speaker 4:Well, Steve, I mean, this is double elimination tournament, right? So, know, just because a team loses on one night doesn't mean that they're down and out. I mean, about that a little bit, Steve, as a player. Did you think it was an advantage, especially when you're younger? I know when we get older, it's always an advantage to get as many days rest as you can.
Speaker 4:But when you're younger and you can bounce back from these things, what did you find, Steve? Did you find that it was better to come through the winner's bracket or did you actually like the Which way?
Speaker 6:Everybody always wants to come through the winner's bracket, but it doesn't work that way very often. And there are probably more teams I can remember that lost their second game, even their first game, that came all the way back through the losers bracket. And there used to be, I think, the c division where they had to play if you were in the losers bracket, you had to play two games on Thursday. And I remember, I think it was a Clark Juan team that eliminated us, the team I was on, earlier in the day for the c bracket and then won the second game of the day in the evening. And I think they went on to win the c bracket game coming to the losers bracket.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And I I see we have a phone call. So caller, hang on. I'm gonna get to you in about thirty seconds. But I I wanna ask I wanna finish the thought with Steve.
Speaker 4:So do you think it sharpened Having to go through the loser's bracket, do you think that sharpens the intensity level?
Speaker 6:It does. It creates a stronger, more clear focus. You also have more time with your teammates to readjust, get used to each other, work some plays out and things that help ultimately help you out.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you're definitely on the edge a little bit. Mean, lose, you go home after your first loss if you lose again. Yeah. So Justin, let's Oh, I guess we lost our caller. So let's Besides the introduction of the A bracket, which is very exciting, Sasha, I was reading that you were instrumental in bringing women's basketball to gold medal, and that this year we have a really exciting team that is visiting us from kind of far away.
Speaker 4:Could you talk about that?
Speaker 5:Yeah, as a matter of fact, that team came a thousand and one miles from Hooper Bay to come play this duty and believe it or not, they had asked one of the players from Yakutat who was a good friend, how do you get into this tournament? The Yakutat player said, well you have to get a letter of intent, make sure you do that, oh there's a process, they found the process and they sent the letter in and they got accepted. Now remember, Hooper Bay
Speaker 4:And where is Hooper Bay? I mean, you said it's 1,001 miles away, but where is it?
Speaker 5:It's on First Peninsula, North Of Bristol Bay and they're a town of 1,300. They have musk egg and they have sand because it's right on the beach. When they said in their lifestyle they have to be able to run on sand and musk egg, Steve, remember that thought?
Speaker 6:Oh yeah, I've tried to run on the musk egg before and it's not easy.
Speaker 5:These girls not only run, but as Claus was sharp enough to point out, the outlet passes immediate and they run. Mind you, a couple of their moms too, they brought their little ones, one of them bless her heart, has her three months old with her and the team takes care of the little ones as they're playing on the floor. And they're playing at a high caliber, you don't ruin your layups, you don't mean, the talent is there and I'll be surprised if they don't take it all, but we'll see what they do on Thursday against Craig, because it's going be a good team. And I think one of the things that it highlights us is the fact that we have a new opportunity to introduce a whole level of generation players that are ready to come in and step into this thing we call gold medal.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, and like Steve pointed out earlier, players can be a role model for many in the community. Steve and I both have our memories of the Tim O'Donnells, the Mike Bavards, the ones who led Juno to a state championship back then. You know, these these women that you're talking about in from Hooper Bay and elsewhere, you know, and you talked to Sashi, you talked about that earlier where, you know, you're you're on display in front of the community. And, you know, are you gonna stand up and assume that role model, if you will, and live your life a certain way throughout the off season and stay in shape and be mentally and physically focused. So it's great to and especially when people play as a team.
Speaker 4:That's a whole different level where, you know, you can have some great individual players, but they don't always win. And, you know, it takes good players. I mean, I can speak for myself on this. Having never saw us I was accused of never sing a shot I didn't like. I don't know, Steve, about the I guess you haven't had a chance to see the super team play, but so I guess I won't put you on the spot.
Speaker 4:But Sacha, tell me a little bit about what you see in this. What makes this Hooper Bay team so special compared to I mean, are they setting a role of the success you can have as a team as opposed to individual players?
Speaker 5:Oh, absolutely. I think they've come in to answer the call to play in the gold medal tournament. As I watched them play, they're in shape. Their lifestyle is subsistence, their lifestyle requires them to be in shape on top of being able to take care of the little ones that they have. And what they found out is I think there's a couple of sisters, one has a younger sister who plays on the Hoop Hoop A Team, and one of the key members was actually the former teacher that trained them in basketball, many in Southeastern don't know that up north, there's a whole separate league of communities that play one another all year long in the gymnasium that they have here.
Speaker 5:And Hoover Bay had the opportunity and they didn't think they could get it, and they're just having the time in their life. And they bring their skill and the skill is you've got to run. I remember the days when I was on Crimson Bears, we had Stu Bernice and the Schumann twins, and we had to run a hundred miles before the season began, so I had my time up in Basket Road running a hundred miles. And what the secret was, I was not normally Alaska Native, but I had nine years of Russian ballet training, which really worked because I could run as fast as stupid as could backwards. Was one the magical things.
Speaker 5:I got, Carlos got one Allstate team, when I happened, they got three of them. Was one of the great things. Beat two at one year end, so we're
Speaker 4:Wow, that's amazing. Russian ballet. See we have a phone call and this is Problem Corner. So let's take this call.
Speaker 3:Hi, welcome to Problem Corner. You're live and on the air.
Speaker 11:Hey, thanks for taking my call. So we're talking about basketball, and and we're talking about the the high school level of basketball. Mhmm. And it's kind of interesting because I don't think we can just ignore the fact that academic achievement scores in Alaska are in the abyss. And and then I heard it said in this discussion that these basketball players set examples for the for the rest of the school.
Speaker 11:And I agree with that. It takes exceptional talent and actually exceptional intelligence to to function on the basketball court at the varsity level. I see that. Let's ask ourselves in a school of 12 or 13 or 1,500 people, students, how many make it on the varsity basketball team? What?
Speaker 11:10 or 12? What is it anyway? Am I right with that?
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. Twelve,
Speaker 11:eighty of the good that's a good example. So how about if we took their the team's academic achievement scores and posted them on the wall alongside the scoreboard so all the rest of the kids could see what they should aspire to. Oh, wait. Maybe that wouldn't work out too good, would it? I don't know.
Speaker 11:But, ask yourself, of those 1,200 students in that school, how many will ever really achieve that kind of talent shown on the basketball court versus how many will find it necessary to fill out a tax form or balance their checking account or write a business letter? I dare say that most of them will have to do the latter.
Speaker 4:Yeah, well, caller, think what we're talking about at the end of the day is success. And, you know, we need to, you know, role models. I mean, people when I played in high school, when Steve played in Juno, you know, we would pack out the gym every Friday and Saturday night. And we and the games were broadcast as they are now. And so you are on display.
Speaker 4:And just as Steve was impressed by watching gold medal when when he first came to Juno, that inspired him to succeed. And I think at the end of the day, caller, what we're doing is we're talking about success. Whether it's and and I know for myself that my coaches in you know, coach Amy and coach Houston, they inspired a lot of drive to succeed in me. And we were held accountable for what we did. And on the practice court, that's where I learned that success on the court comes through practice.
Speaker 4:And it also comes through applying yourself in everything that you do. And that's a lifelong lesson that I was able to learn through sports. I think Sasha and Steve would agree with me on that. And I think the same thing goes for academics. I think that when our students achieve success in academics, that should be championed, that should be posted for everybody to see.
Speaker 4:And it's something for other people to aspire to. And this is what I like what Sasha is saying about this group of women from Hoover Bay. They have come together as a team. They're mothers, and they're taking care of each other, and they're succeeding to a high level. So thanks for call.
Speaker 4:I do want to return to We're running short of time, and there's some few things that I wanna have Sasha talk about before we leave.
Speaker 11:Okay. Just give me 10 just give me ten seconds to respond to that. I mean, you you're right. Showing success, but you just said that your venue was packed. And what where is this venue that's packed with people observing academic success?
Speaker 11:I'm saying, why not use the same venue and show them the academic success of the team as well to to more or less motivate them. Just saying. You know? Because apparently, they need motivation in that in that regard as well because the grades the grades tell the story. Thank you for the time.
Speaker 4:You bet. Thanks for your interest. Thanks for listening to Problem Corner. So, Sasha, let's turn this a little bit to talking about your father. Okay.
Speaker 4:And some of the values that are embodied in gold medal. I know that you want to talk about the scholarships. I want to talk about a little bit about the award, the Walter Soboloff Award, because we have Steve was the winner of the Walter Soboloff Award in 2017. So, yeah, Steve, let's let's first give it to you. You know, just what is what's embodied in that award and what does it mean to you?
Speaker 6:The Walter Soboloff Award is, by my definition, the highest award you can ever achieve in the tournament. It's not based on player strength or ability, but it's how Like we've talked about being observed, being a role model, helping your community, helping your team, helping your players. And most people get it absolutely, totally unaware, like I did, had no idea. And you read the biography of whoever has nominated you and you look at it, you listen to it, and it takes you dumbfounded. It's like, no way.
Speaker 6:I didn't do all that. And I really am seen that way. It it is really shocking when you receive that, but it is the highest award honoring doctor Sobeloff, who it's named after, that you can get be awarded in the gold medal tournament?
Speaker 4:Yeah, mean, you're talking about someone who has a state holiday named after him. Right. November 14. So, you know, that's a very prestigious, you know, the words honor, respect, those come to mind thinking about Walter Sobolov. I mean, Sasha, this is the first time we've met, but I'm very honored to meet you because your father did so much great work.
Speaker 4:And one of the things when I was preparing for today, I saw something which said his favorite verse was Micah six:eight. To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. And that kind of encapsulates it, doesn't it? So, Sasha, talk a little bit about your father. I know that you have a quote that we're kind of We got about five minutes left, and so I'm gonna basically turn it over to you to talk for about five minutes about, and also bring in scholarships, because that's a big part of this whole thing too.
Speaker 4:It's just not entertainment of the community, generating scholarships for kids. One
Speaker 5:of the many reasons why the Gold Medal Tournament does what it does is that it's an economic machine. It generates revenue wherever it touches from the communities that are involved in it, the communities that host it, to the communities and their schools who awards the opportunity for students who want to sell to do that. Every participating school that participates in a tournament is eligible to receive $1,000 a year for two years as a scholarship so that you can go and prove yourself in whatever area that you would like. And that's one of the key things that I learned in being tutored by my dad. It was actually the guy that said, Okay, we're going to do this and this is what we do.
Speaker 5:He said, We're in service for these people. We're here to do some things that they otherwise would not be able to do. And I wonder where he got that comparison because I vividly remember he would take me in his '49 Buick and we'd go down to Foodland and roll up potatoes, vegetables, canned goods, bread, and he'd say we're going to take these to people who don't have anything, so don't he told me, Sasha, don't say anything. I said, you got it, dad, I'll just pack the box. We went up behind the baron off and we went into a room that was about thirty, forty feet wide and there were 30 people in there with a one lit light bulb and this was during Thanksgiving.
Speaker 5:And we knocked on the door and he said we're here to give you something that will help you and Sasha packed the boxes in and he turned around and he said on behalf of the Lions Club here's something that will help you get through what you need to get through. And he left. It happened time and time again.
Speaker 4:So 30 people in one room?
Speaker 5:In one room. Wow. And that's what he brought to the game. When he brought that to the game, he has a lot of particular quotes. One of the quotes I should read is like, every way it says nowadays, take care of the young man that you're going to be when you get past your prime.
Speaker 5:Another thing that was really very interesting to me was that I often wondered why in the middle of the day he would walk downtown Juneau and he would find a friend that was on the corner of the Juneau Drug Company, which is still there. And there was one of his friends there and he stopped and asked how he was doing and his friends said, I'm not doing well, Walter, and my dad said, Let's pray. Right there in the middle of the community during the daytime they prayed. And it came to a mark that that eventually became one of the community highlights that they had, it actually became one of the territorial legislature representatives. So that's one of the things that Walter Shovelift does, I'll close with this, he also had a quote of a prayer that kind of stuck around.
Speaker 5:He said, Life is a game we all enter. The rules are felt in the heart. When the game ends, the great score shows not whether you won or lost, but how you played the game. That's one of the essences of this gold medal tournament that he started seventy six years ago, and there's no end in sight, Steve. Have you ever seen an end in sight?
Speaker 6:I don't think so. I can't see one. You've got Lions that are dedicated and stepping up and doing the work every year to get the tournament rolling and going. Yep.
Speaker 4:Well, that's a great way to end the show. I think we're out of time, but yeah, the theme here has been to setting this tone for the next generation, bringing in new players, and the elders setting the example on this is how it's supposed to be done. So with that, thank you once again, Sasha and Steve, for coming in and imparting your knowledge to the community of Juneau. And Justin, turn it back over to you. Thank you.
Speaker 3:All right. Well, thank you guys as always. And we are broadcasting gold medal all week in the evening time, 05:30 to 08:30. So you guys could tune in to KINY to catch those games, and we record them and we upload them on a podcast, so if you missed those evening games, you can always check them out by going to kinyradio.com. Thank you gentlemen for joining us today on Problem Corner.
Speaker 3:Until next time, and you guys have a great rest of your tournament, and we'll see you around. This has been Problem Corner here on KI and Y.
Speaker 2:You've been listening to Problem Corner, Alaska's longest running radio tradition, presented each weekday by Alaska Laundry and Dry Cleaning. Join us every weekday at 11AM, and subscribe to the podcast at kinyradio.com.