Super Bowl overshadowed in Central by Quest

By Laura Stickells | February 1, 2020


The Super Bowl was playing on all three of the televisions in the Central Corner Roadhouse Sunday, but only a handful of the 40-plus people who had packed the small bar waiting for Yukon Quest teams to go by seemed interested in game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

The Super Bowl played inside the Central Corner Roadhouse on Sunday while dog handlers and spectators waited for mushers to arrive at the checkpoint. Photo by Laura Stickells

CENTRAL, ALASKA – One football fan walked into the roadhouse and exclaimed, “It’s Super Bowl Sunday!” only to be corrected by a Quest spectator who yelled, “No! It’s Yukon Quest Sunday!”

The mushers on the trail also seemed unconcerned by the game that was playing on televisions across the nation.

“To be honest with you, I don’t even know who’s playing,” Yukon Quest leader Brent Sass said as he was packing up and heading out of the Mile 101 checkpoint, heading to Central.

“I used to be a big football fan, but then I became a dog musher and I don’t pay attention to football anymore.”

YQ300 leader Jeremy Traska shared a similar sentiment. “The last time I watched football, I think John Elway was still a quarterback,” he said.