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Few things I learned my first year in the Copper Country

Der-whine.

That is how you pronounce my last name, which – through my first sports season as sports editor at the Daily Mining Gazette – with being in a new area, has led to the No. 1 question I get asked: How do you pronounce your last name?

A lot of people go with “der-own” which makes sense, based on how it’s spelt. Also: Jonathan Drouin of the Tampa Bay Lightning has his last name pronounced similarly to der-own, so I figure with the Copper Country being hockey-centric, they leaned on that annunciation.

The first year has been enjoyable with a lot of great games. Next week, I’ll post a top 10 list of games I covered this year. But for now, here are just some of the random thoughts and observations I had as sports editor at the Daily Mining Gazette.

As you may know, I’m from Bark River and graduated from Grand Valley State University. But despite living in the U.P., I didn’t know where every town not named Houghton in the Copper Country was located. The previous times I was in the area was for the boys basketball regionals when we played at the SDC.

So, for the first time I had to go to Hancock from Houghton, I had to type it into my phone’s GPS to find Hancock. Yes, I now know how ridiculous that sounds.

Oh, and I have gotten lost on the way to numerous schools: Missed the turn to Jeffers and went 10 miles to Ontonagon; couldn’t find the Calumet football field, so I drove around and followed various groups of cars that I figured would be going to the game (same strategy I still use to find L’Anse’s High School); when I typed in “Gipp Park” into my phone, it showed a park in Chicago, so it took awhile to find the Calumet softball field.

Racer’s Burger Bistro in Hancock makes one of the best burgers I have ever eaten – get a double quarter pounder cooked red and juicy on a pretzel bun topped with an egg, bacon, mushrooms, jalapenos, cheese and Racer’s sauce.

The Danwich at the Hut is the best sandwich I have ever eaten.

The Downtowner’s dry rub wings are the best wings I have had up here, but I hear Jazzy’s Pub and Grill may be better.

Houghton’s Sean Hyslop wins the Good Samaritan Award for being the first person from the area to say hi to me. Houghton and L’Anse opened the football season in Houghton during a thunderstorm with constant rain, and Hyslop said, “Welcome to Houghton.”

Calumet’s Clara Loukus is the recipient of the Good Sport Award for graciously accepting defeat in the 3-point contest we had. That’s OK, she still has a state title over me.

Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Arthur Lyons and Calumet’s Matt Ojala win the award, by far, for Takes The Longest Time to Get Ready In the Locker Room After Games. There were a few times where the gym was empty except for us while we conducted an interview.

The quality of volleyball in the area is unlike anything in the central U.P. It makes it more fun to cover when schools care and can score with stellar hitting, instead of relying on the other team to hit into the net.

The Copper Country lived up to its hockey reputation. My first experience was the Copper Island Classic at the Calumet Colosseum; the bleachers were filled to capacity the length of the rink, along with numerous people standing by the glass – just a neat atmosphere in a historic building.

The winter wasn’t THAT bad. I heard stories about it being ridiculous, and I know there’s a scientific reason why the snow accumulation was below average, but I’m not complaining.

The snow only got ridiculous one time: During halftime of the Green Bay Packers-Arizona Cardinals playoff game on Jan. 16, I had to shovel the steps and porch of my apartment so the Domino’s delivery guy could bring up my pizza and wings.

Those are just some of the observations I saw in the first sports season. For the summer, I plan on attempting to know more about George Gipp, golf a ton of rounds at Portage and attempt to win the 5-mile Canal Run.

This first sports season was fun. Let’s do it again.

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