Alaskan fishermen save bear cub from whirlpool (VIDEO)

A boat  of Alaskan fishermen documented their successful, and risky, attempt to rescue a bear cub who was struggling against the river current and in danger of being pulled into a nearby whirlpool.

Mike Polocz tells the Anchorage Daily News that the bear was struggling to stay afloat in the Kenai River when Polocz, his son and a fishing buddy went into action.

"I couldn't watch this defenseless animal suffer," Polocz told the Anchorage Daily News. "I was ready to go in after it if it went under."

And aside from the obvious risks involved with trying to save even a bear cub, Polocz notes that the cub's mother, along with its siblings, were all standing nearby on the shoreline watching the entire scene unfold.

"I was so close I could look into its eyes and they were wide open and filled with just sheer terror," Polocz said.

On a somewhat unusual aside, the bear is screaming throughout the video in a tone that almost sounds like a disgruntled human yelling the word, "bear." But anyway, back to the rescue.

At first, Polocz tries to use his fishing net to bring the bear aboard, and the cub tries climbing into it. But when that fails, he uses the net's handle to guide the cub close enough to the shoreline for it to safely escape.

The video does not contain the final moments of the cub's escape but it reportedly let out a roar of approval upon reaching the shore and its worried mom.

"There were three pretty tough guys in the boat, and there wasn't a dry eye among us," Polocz said.

Warning: The video contains some mildly not-safe-for-work language.

Video: Family of four stranded at airport for six days

The Saxton family spent six days at SLC Airport before getting a flight home (ABC News 4)A Virginia family spent six days stranded at Salt Lake City International Airport before a generous donor purchased them a flight back home.

"We just sit and walk around and wait for our flights," Curtis Saxton told local affiliate ABC 4. "We've been here for every flight, rolled over for every flight," said Saxton. "We're still at the bottom of that list."

Curtis Saxton and his wife Nicole Bennett, along with their 13-year-old daughter Sadee and 4-year-old son Dominic, had used a relative's buddy pass, to fly from Virginia to Utah.

Buddy passes are technically lower-end version of standby flights, meaning that the Saxtons were forced to wait until all passengers, including regular standby requests, had been seated.

And with so many Americans traveling on summer vacations, there just weren't any seats available on their return JetBlue flight. So the family was stuck at SLC Airport from Aug. 15 through Aug. 21.

Even worse, they were forced to sleep on airport benches and because of limited funds, could afford to eat only one meal per day. "There's a lot of people walking by and staring at you and kind of laughing at you," said Bennett. "It doesn't feel very good."

The family hadn't even been able to shower since the day they arrived at the airport. "You feel gross," said 13-year-old Sadee. "It's embarrassing."

The family said neither they nor their relatives could afford to purchase a ticket back to Virginia at the standard price.

However, once news of their plight was reported, donations quickly arrived. United Airlines purchased a motel room for the family and an anonymous donor purchased them a ticket back to Virginia, which they used on Wednesday morning.

Before the donations arrived, things had gotten so bad that 4-year-old Dominic began vomiting on Sunday and had to be evaluated by airport paramedics. "I have been hungry, hungry, hungry, hungry!" Dominic said.

It should be noted that JetBlue did nothing wrong here. In fact, the airline said it was without options, as it could not take away tickets from other paying passengers on flights that were already fully booked. A independent survey of airlines passengers released by J.D. Power and Associates in June ranked JetBlue as the top industry airline for customer satisfaction for North America.

Watch Avalanche mascot Bernie rappel 31 stories for charity (VIDEO)

Sports mascots are known to be quite daring during performances and sometimes things go wrong. Whether it was S.J. Sharkie, the San Jose Sharks mascot, getting stuck rappelling from the HP Pavilion rafters or Wild Wing of the Anaheim Ducks failing to completely go through a ring of fire, there's no question to be a mascot you've got to be a little, well, off.

Last weekend, Colorado Avalanche mascot Bernie took part in the Cancer League of Colorado's annual "Over the Edge" event, which allows fundraisers to rappel down 31 stories of one of Denver's most prominent skyscrapers: Glenarm Place Luxury Apartments. Fortunately, nothing went wrong for Bernie as he made the long trip down look quite easy:

(Can we note the awesomeness of the bone-as-number detail on his jersey?)

In order to rappel, participants needed to raise at least $1,000. According to FOX31, nearly $230,000 was raised during the event in Denver, all of which goes toward cancer research and treatment in Colorado. (S.J. Sharkie, by the way, is scheduled to take part in the Over the Edge event in Santa Clara in late August.)

Last year Bernie took part with Denver Nuggets mascot Rocky and successfully completed the decent. He's conquered planking, now rappelling. What's next? A pregame flash mob?

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Tim Thomas spent eight hours in a cab with a lesbian (VIDEO)

Tim Thomas drew some angry reactions yesterday when he took to Facebook to stand with Chick-fil-A, the American fast food chain whose owner has drawn criticism for his stance on gay marriage. He also drew some very funny ones, the best of which might have been the response from Boston-area stand-up comedian Alicia Love.

"I wonder if Tim Thomas knows he spent 8 hours in a cab with a lesbian filming this commercial," Love tweeted. "I hope he didn't catch gay!"

Suffice it to say, Love's opinion on Thomas is a far cry from that of her character in the commercial, especially now.

Not that Thomas was aware of her orientation. "I certainly didn't walk up to him and offer a high five and say 'So we both like ladies, that's cool right?!' I'm not sure how that would have gone over," says Love.

Born and raised in Boston, Love identifies herself as a Bruins fan, and calls the day she spent filming that Discover Card commercial "an unbelievable experience."

"It was my first national television gig and I was lucky enough to get to do it with a Boston sports hero. I was beyond excited."

Chatting between takes, Love says Thomas was "wonderful, very sweet and charming. I think that's what bummed me out the most when I read his Facebook post."

So how does Love feels about Thomas now?

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. In a sports-driven city like Boston we want our athletes to focus on the game, not politics. Whether Tim likes it or not, he's part of an organization and he is representing the Boston Bruins. He should use caution when discussing his stance on anything that could potentially alienate a group of people."

"I will say I miss the superhero that stood between the pipes and brought us home a Stanley Cup."

Watch Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis arrive at Hockey Hall of Fame on a Zamboni (VIDEO)

Greg Wyshynski is a Hockey blogger for Yahoo! Sports.

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Paulina Gretzky has the number 99 tattooed on her pelvis (VIDEO)

Greg Wyshynski is a Hockey blogger for Yahoo! Sports.

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

Grand Rapids Griffins give you POV experience of a flying t-shirt (VIDEO)

If you're reading this, then it's likely you've stood up at a hockey game during intermission and drunkenly screamed your head off as your team's "ice patrol", "gameday crew" or Ice Girls spent the down time shooting t-shirts into the crowd. (If you weren't one of those trying to get a shirt, you were probably wondering why all these fans made more noise for cheap piece of cloth than during the actual game.)

But what is it like on the other end of that situation? What is it like to be the t-shirt flying out of the cannon and into the crowd? The AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins, with the help of a GoPro camera, answered that question:

(Not captured: the fistfight that breaks out over the $3 shirt.)

There's almost a sense of grace as the shirt flies through the air like a, well, mythical griffin.

The Griffins, you'll recall, have done this sort of thing before. Using a GoPro camera they slapped one on top of the helmet of a human hockey puck and also used one in practice on a goalie, skater and gave us the unique Stick-Cam perspective.

Since the team took us up on the t-shirt cannon offer we put out there last time, let's see them try one with a linesman breaking up a fight. Or, as we suggested last time, a linesman shot from a cannon.

Stick-tap Ryan Gajewski

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy