Halifax, Nova Scotia-Ten-year-old Vermont Frost Heaves fan Bailey Starr of Barre, who cast one of the votes that made our own Aaron Cook an ABA All-Star, likes to say, "Let's turn the A.C. on!" On Saturday afternoon, as this Canadian city recovered from one Arctic blast, it had to cope with another-Cook winning the Three-Point Shooting Contest at the ABA All-Star Weekend.The Heaves' 6'2" guard dominated the competition, finishing first in each of its three rounds and defeating Billy Knight of the Hollywood Fame in the finals, 12 points to 9. Overall, Aaron sank 37 of the 45 shots he took. Afterward Farley Flax, host of "Canadian Idol," presented Cook with a crystal trophy in front of 2,500 people at the Halifax Metro Centre.
Cook and teammate Antonio Burks will participate in tomorrow's ABA All-Star Game, which tips off at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Vermont coach Will Voigt will lead the East All-Stars.
Following our 144-88 defeat of Montreal on Thursday, the Frost Heaves are 19-4 and No. 2 in the ABA's power rankings. We play next on Thursday, Feb. 1, at Burlington's Memorial Auditorium against Cape Cod. Tickets are available through the Flynn Regional Box Office at 153 Main Street in Burlington and 159 Pearl Street in Essex, by calling 802-86-FLYNN or going to flynntix.org.
As a convenience to fans along Interstate 89, general admission tickets for all remaining Frost Heaves games-in Burlington and Barre-are now available in central Vermont at First in Fitness in Montpelier, and at the Barre Opera House during regular box office hours.
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A number of fans have asked why every Frost Heave didn't get into our last two games, both comfortable home victories-and why our Northfield Savings Bank 110% Community All-Star did. Good question.
The ABA only permits us to report to the scorer's table as eligible for any given game only 12 players. Beyond that, at home, we're permitted to suit up a "13th player"-our NSB 110%-er. All the Frost Heaves on our active, permanent roster practice hard each week for the right to be among the top dozen. We choose to suit up and have on the bench all of our players in recognition of their hard work, even if they're not allowed to play in a particular game. On those occasions when our NSB 110% Community All-Star has gotten into the game-former UVM star and current Burlington High School coach Matt Johnson actually sank a three-pointer against Strong Island on Jan. 20-all eligible Frost Heaves had already seen action.
We've appealed to the league for permission to use all of our guys at home. But given our pressing style and success, it's not surprising that we haven't been granted an exemption. Our players and coaches understand and accept this-and I hope that, now, many of you do too.
By Alexander Wolff
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