Cougars: Dereliction of Duty

“It’s a dog eat dog world and I’m wearing milk bone underwear.”

– Norm Peterson, Cheers

I love our dog. She’s just the best. If you have a pet, I’m sure you feel the same.

Our little doggie is Stella Mae. We have many nicknames for her and my favorite is Belle. I call her Belle all the time. Partly because it rhymes with Stella and also because she is a princess. At dinner time, I play Be Our Guest while I prepare her meal. She’s the Beauty and I’m the Beast. (Julie will confirm - especially after a loss.)

We adopted her from P.A.W.S. when she was about one, and last month our family just celebrated her 12th Gotcha Day.

Dogs have a far superior sense of smell than we do. It’s a key part of how they navigate the world. With Belle’s advancing age, the last couple years I have been making a big effort to bring her to different locations for new smells. It’s a calorie-free treat for her…and me!

The bonus is that it means lots of new sights for me. Our favorites are walking in the woods and breezing by the beach.

Oh, we take selfies on our excursions, too.

We go out in all seasons.

Sometimes she takes a silly selfie.

And sometimes I take a silly selfie.

Many of our walks are at our hallowed Howard Park. Sure, Howard Park is filled with spirited activity in the evenings and weekends. It’s also a sanctuary. Howard Park is a magnificent meadow where you can savor serenity.

Except when the sights and smells are dog poop.

Dog poop? At Howard Park? In the grass where people play? Yep. I know. I can’t believe it either. Unsafe, unsanitary, and unneighborly.

Love dogs…not dog poop. I don’t even like the poop emoji.

However, this emoji describes how I feel after I step in the poop.

People who do not clean up after their dog have a dereliction of doodie.

The Cougars really stepped in it at Howard Park on Tuesday night.

We were dogged by the defending-champion Tappers, 12-4. We left the field with our tail between our legs.

The Cougars had a dereliction of duty.

Even though we played dead and the loss was ruff, there are always highlights.

Scoring Highlights

Ev and Andy let the dogs out and both barked the ball to right field to rack a run.

Fort crushed the ball into left field, Martini walked, Big Ball Jimmy put one into right field to load the bases. Eddy, running with the big dogs, smashed the ball to the right side for a tally.

Ev roped a right side single and Andy dogpounded a homer over the entire outfield to put two on the board.

Defensive Highlights

An opposing baserunner ended up in the doghouse after Martini and Andy combined for a sweet pickoff at first base.

With guard dog defense, Charley grasped a rocket, tagged a runner headed to third, and fired to Andy for a double play.

With dogged determination, Big Ball Jimmy made an incredible play at short center by hustling to the right side to catch a hot grounder. He secured it and then deftly backhanded it to Ev for the force at second base.

Jimmy continued his Big Ball play in right field by fetching a formidable fly ball in the whipping wind.

Goose caught a long line drive to center and fired it to Charley at third base to get the runner and show who was top dog.

Fantastic Fans

Cougar Nation was a dogpack last night. They barked and howled all night to keep our spirits up!

Our devoted fans as well as Papi and Belle rooting for the Cougars!

Postgame Party

JD treated us to a picnic in the park. It was a beauty of a night as the wind calmed and the temperature cooled. Some needed a little hair of the dog the next morning. We watched the late games and the evening sky.