JH Underground – news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Riding a wave of holiday good cheer. © JH Underground

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

In these scary economic times, it’s helpful to get together with family and friends and reflect on having everything we need, and then some.

At JH Underground, we’re taking a much-deserved break in the tropics in preparation for the long, cold winter ahead. Posts may be sparse for the next week or so, but this is not another hiatus (although longtime readers will associate this photo with such a layoff).

Eat, drink and be merry.

Aloha!

Posted under From the Publisher, Holidays

Jim Roscoe, builder and outdoorsman.

We’ve all been suffering from election fatigue. But imagine you’re state legislative candidate Jim Roscoe, and after eight months of tireless campaigning, knocking on just about every door in a district nearly the size of Connecticut, you’re sentenced to two more weeks.

I’m going to throw a Brett Favre pass downfield here for all those who were part of Barack Obama’s movement for change, either by making phone calls to swing voters or urging their friends to register. With Tuesday’s revote in Alpine approaching, now is the time to step up and gain the final yard on behalf of Roscoe, for we will never achieve the change Obama represents if we don’t start at the local level.

Have friends or co-workers in Alpine? Give them a shout, and make sure they cast absentee ballots before leaving town for Thanksgiving. Contact the Teton Dems (or Joe Albright at 730-0403) for a list of voters and phone numbers. Better yet, volunteer to go door to door in Alpine by contacting Jim directly at (307) 733-5389.

We’ve seen already that this race will be decided by a handful of votes, and if ever you were looking to make a difference, here is the opportunity. One volunteer, one vote, could tip the outcome.

After the jump is an account of my wild and woolly trip to Alpine.

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Posted under Democratic Party, Politics, Wyoming Legislature

That Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are an ass-kicking band has been well documented here and here.

In advance of Friday’s show at the Pink Garter Theater, we’ve decided to showcase the softer side of this whiskey-drinking rocker who brings to mind Janis Joplin. This is “Apologies,” a radio-friendly ballad from the group’s latest album, This is Somewhere, about the pain of breaking up.

Tickets are $25, and showtime is 9 p.m. Doors open at 8. Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, a young rock band from Boston, will open. Click here to purchase tickets, or visit Tobacco Row or Mountunes.

This is Grace Potter’s third visit to the Tetons in less than a year, owing likely to her glass-blowing sister, Charlotte, making her home here when not off on art or educational endeavors. In contrast to last summer’s set at Grand Targhee, a theater is a better setting to capture the band’s explosive energy when the time comes for the musicians to go off.

Posted under Music

A herd crosses Flat Creek, shortly after daybreak.

I became a hunter this fall. That may sound strange to some of you, coming from someone who practices catch-and-release with spiders in the house. But I’ve found that one of the things that makes it easier to pass a winter in Jackson is eating meat, and what better way is there to obtain a hundred-plus pounds of grass-fed, free-range, low-fat, organic meat than with a $52 elk tag? In this economy, it’s a smart investment.

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Posted under Food, Sports

Coming soon: skid housing.

Not even the golden gates of the nation’s swankiest ski resort can keep out the liquidity crisis facing this country. Last week the Yellowstone Club was given a three-week lease on life after a Montana judge signed a loan of $4.4 million from Credit Suisse, to whom the club already owes $307 million, to delay the inevitable: immediate liquidation.

The four companies that own the uber-exclusive club near Big Sky, Mont., had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, an astounding feat for an institution that oozes opulence, collecting $6 million in yearly membership dues.

With this ruling the club can afford to pay its employees and service its lifts at least until mid-season, while it struggles to reorganize approximately $600 million in assets. However, the loan will not cover the cost of the club’s most recent international investments, including a chateau in France, Scottish golf resort, villa in Mexico, and an estate in the Caribbean — all purchased before the credit bubble burst. It looks like the government’s golden parachute includes ski passes this year, but not first-class seats to Antigua.

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Posted under Economy, Ski Resorts

N.Y. Daily News back page.

Last summer, in the midst of the media frenzy over Brett Favre’s unretirement and trade to the Jets, I abstained from weighing in publicly. In fact, I groaned when I heard about the trade, which smelled of a p.r. stunt by Jets owner Woody Johnson to make the seat license fees (up to $20,000 or more) for his new stadium more palatable.

When the season began, it was hard not to get caught up in the giddiness, as the New York media all but bestowed the Super Bowl crown on Favre’s head. Then came the reality of those awful interceptions against Oakland and Kansas City, and Jets fans were left wondering whether we would have been better off with Chad Pennington.

Last night, during the Jets-Patriots showdown at Foxborough for first place, Favre erased any doubt. The look on his face said there was no way he was going to lose this game, and despite the resurfacing of so many ghosts, he willed the Jets to victory.

Now the Jets are legitimate Super Bowl contenders, a precarious position for fans used to having their hopes dashed. The next big test comes Nov. 23 against the (as-of-yet) undefeated Titans in Nashville. Remember the original Titans of New York. With Favre flashing his Hall of Fame form, this team finally may put its history of futility behind it.

Posted under Sports