>On Tue, 16 Apr 1996, Mark Sonnier wrote:
>
>> 1) The trip to Alaska is long and hard on players from the Lower 48.
>>
>> I, for one, do not see what the big deal is here.  Minneapolis to Anchorage
>> is a five hour flight.  How long is the bus ride from the Madison to
>> Houghton?
 
Thought I'd better look up this one:
Northwest # 845 Minneapolis, MN (MSP)                      16:50
                Anchorage, AK (ANC)                        19:48
 
Looks like 3 hours + 3 hours time zone difference = 6 hours.  This is from
a current airline sched with Daylight Savings Time included in the times --
that makes no difference if Alaska also goes on Daylight Savings Time*.  If
not it's one hour more time zone difference, or a seven-hour flight.
Of course, that doesn't include the extra 2 hours or so involved in all air
travel (ride to airport, boarding, etc...)
 
The Gophers' 1995-6 travel plans (from the media guide):
        Leave via commercial flight Wed., Dec 13 to Seattle
        Fly to Anchorage on Thurs., Dec 14
So for some reason the Gophers saw fit to leave a day early and stop over
in Seattle.  (I grant you this was just after the end of finals, but
hopefully the stop wasn't made just for some really good coffee...)  It's a
4.5-5 hour bus ride from Mpls to Madison, and about 6 to Milwaukee.
Somehow I doubt they stopped to spend the night in Baraboo on the way to
the Final Five, so to me that suggests that it's not just an easy hop from
the Twin Cities to Anchorage in the Gophers' eyes.
 
*To any Alaskans on the list:  DOES Alaska go on Daylight Savings Time?  I
never thought about it before, but it seems a silly concept when you're
going to be getting such long days anyway.  Obviously it's not a hockey
topic but my curiousity has got the better of me, so please email me
privately!
 
Pam Sweeney
Go Gophers!!!
Ski-U-Mah!!!
 
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