Mushers use the bales to make beds in the snow for their dogs. Slicing open the blue plastic is a checkpoint ritual, repeated countless times over an Iditarod career.
This time, Seavey nearly severed his finger at the joint, the lawsuit says.
I'll bet he's opened hundreds of straw bales, and with that same knife.
"Mr. Seavey bears the burden of proving all of his damages, including his claim that but for cutting his finger, he would have won the (2011) Iditarod," Fairbanks attorney John Tiemessen wrote in an email. "As Mr. Seavey probably knows better than most, there is a wide gulf between hoping you will win, even thinking you might win, and actually winning the race."
The proof will be tough to find.
I actually think the gut hook is an ideal tool for cutting those bands. He just screwed up this time.
