Seattle Storm took their bows and curtain calls... one of the perks of being the WNBA Champions

Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP) Special Correspondence Damager (an alias) offers his thoughts on the Seattle Storm capturing the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) championship last week:

The Storm are a tremendous asset to the City of Seattle, and to the world of sports. I deliberately do not make the distinction that they are a credit to "womens' sports". It is time that these athletes are recognized for who and what they are. Professionals. They perform at the highest level one may perform at, and, as indicated by their Championship victory, they do it better than anyone else. Yes, they are women. Is that relevant? In some spheres, sure. On the court, no. Does anyone ever talk about how Michael Jordan was the best man to ever play the game? Or what a pleasure it is to watch the high level of competition amongst the men of the NBA? No, we don't care about their gender. Sports are sports and athletes are athletes. It is time that "womens sports" are given their due and treated as equally relevant, significant and entertaining as "mens sports".

The Seattle Times featured the Storm on the front page of the paper after they had won the WNBA Championship. That was great. How many times before that had the Storm even made it above the fold in the Sports section? I won't bother quantifying it at the moment. The answer is... not enough. When a town filled with losing teams gives more attention to those losing teams than it does to the best team the city has seen in over 30 years, something is wrong.

Force 10 Hoops did the fans and the city a great service by saving the Storm and keeping the team here in Seattle. I attended the Finals games at Key Arena and got to shake hands with one of the owners as she made the rounds around the court before the game. What a startling yet pleasant experience. As they reported during an interview with the Times, the owners are fans first, and owners second. Where else can you meet and greet the owner of the team before the game begins?

Coach Brian Agler did an incredible job building this team. He made many difficult decisions about which players he could keep and which players he wanted to bring in. Due to salary cap issues and contract negotiations, as well as personal decisions of the players, we already know that we won't have exactly the same team next year. If the progress of the team under Coach Agler in the past few years is any indication, more good things are sure to follow.

The Storm organization reaches out to fans, and to the community at large. Attendance at games is always a pleasure. Ticket prices are affordable. So affordable in fact that I have carved season tickets into my extremely tight personal budget. There is a magic and powerfully positive emotional draw surrounding this organization. I will be there for it all next year and hope to see you there.

The hit streak continues... join the parade and celebrate with a Saketini

Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki today salvaged an otherwise dismal 2010 by tying a Major League Baseball (MLB) record with 10 200-hit seasons. The other record holder is an unrepentant gambler named Pete Edward Rose.

How significant is this record? Consider that over Ichiro is 10-for-10 in accruing a minimum 200 hits per year. Also, consider that Rose -- MLB's most prolific hitter (4,256 hits over 24 seasons) -- enjoyed two streaks of three 200-hit seasons that spanned from 1968-1970 and 1975-1977.

Damned Yankee Derek Jeter, who will amass Hit 3K next season and could overtake Rose as the all-time leader, enjoyed seven 200-hit seasons from 1995 to 2010. Jeter scratched out two three-consecutive seasons in which he compiled a minimum 200 hits (1998-2000, 2005-2007). Want more numerical perspective? Hall of Famer (HOFer) Henry Aaron, currently ranked third amongst MLB all-time hits leaders, compiled only two 200-hit seasons in his 23-year career. "Mr. Padre", aka HOFer Tony Gwynn and Captain Video, accrued 3,141 hits in a career that included five 200-hit seasons. HOFer Wade Boggs, a classic lead-off hitter, put together a streak of seven 200-hit seasons (1983-1989), made it to 3,000 with 10 to spare. "Captain" Carl Yastrzemski, Red Sox HOFer ranked eighth in the MLB hit parade, never amassed 200 hits during his 23-year career.

Meanwhile, Ichiro's next 200-hit season will establish a new MLB mark.

Seattle fans this season had little to celebrate this year. Full of foolish and misguided optimism, the Mariners began 2010 with Great Expectations of the American League (AL) West pennant and post-season competition. In June the proverbial wheels had fallen off the cart and we began hearing refrains of Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September's Over." By Labor Day we find ourselves dreading another 100-loss year. Ichiro indicated this summer that he's "depressed". We're supposed the Mariners organization isn't stocking the clubhouse candy machines with Prozac and Wellbutrin.

Word in the organization is that Ichiro does not imbibe -- and that his temperance tendencies fueled a chilly relationship with former Mariners reliever and hooch hound Kazuhiro Sasaki. But don't let Ichiro's disinclination to drink stop you from celebrating with a cocktail.

Seattle Saketini

• 2½ oz. vodka
• ½ oz. sake
• Cucumber curl

Pour vodka and sake into ice-filled shaker.

Shake.

Strain liquids into cocktail glass.

Garnish with cucumber curl.

We wonder -- and worry -- how much longer Ichiro will stay in Seattle. Ichiro's contract ostensibly keeps him in Seattle through 2012... or roughly career hit number 2,600. Ichiro reported consulted his Shiba Inu Ikkyu before agreeing to a contract extension in 2007. Providing his counsel, Ikkyu reportedly advised, "Ruff, ruff, ruff." Ichiro translated the guidance as "sign, sign, sign."

If Ikkyu could advise Ichiro to hold off on swinging at the first pitch...

Walk like a mastiff

It's football season, so it may natural to spend this coming Sunday curled up on your couch with a Pabst Blue Ribbon, nachos with Cheez Whiz, and your Pomeranian to watch a battery of National Football League (NFL) games. Or maybe you haven't lost faith in the home team and have tickets for the Seattle Seahawks' contest against the San Diego Chargers at Qwest Field.

But for those "think outside the box" and want to support a worth animal-welfare organization, consider spending your Sunday morning at the Walk For the Animals benefitting The Humane Society For Seattle/King County.

Choose between a "2.25-mile scenic loop starting at University Village and continuing through the Union Bay Natural Area Trails"... or the shorter, one-mile course. "Kickoff" begins at 8:30 am, followed by Fido Best ("a celebration of all things dog"... and a beer garden) that continues until 2 pm. Walkers can come with or without dogs.

Feeling the financial strain of the Bush Recession, animal-welfare organizations need money. Period. Those with tickets to the Hawks game can walk the one-mile course, snap up the freebies, get your dog home, and be in your seats at Qwest by the 1:15 pm kickoff.

http://shs.convio.net/site/TR?fr_id=1040&pg=entry

Slippery when wet... particularly in truck bed

The adage "when it rains it pours" came true today... and we aren't talking about precipitation. Although AccuWeather.com reports that 0.53 inches of rain fell today, it also rained dog-owner idiots.

While Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP) has campaigned against people transporting their canines in truck beds, yum-yums continue to play pickup truck roulette with the safety of their dogs. So it shouldn't have came as a surprise when one of our spotters observed your older brown pickup truck traveling eastbound past the intersection of South Genesee Street and 43rd Avenue South around 6:30 pm.

Despite the trickle of rain, the slippery road and the incompetence of Seattle drivers in semi-inclement weather, you kept your golden retriever in the bed of your pickup truck. The strains of the Carrie Underwood tune streaming out of your MP3 player may have distracted you from observing that your golden retriever was on his hind legs and looked like he was on the verge of leaping from the vehicle.

What the hell were you thinking?

The rainy season has started. Put your dog in the pickup cab, or leave her at home. How many times do we have to state what some people think is obvious? Safety first -- particularly when traveling with your best friend. If you won't let your dog ride in the truck cab, leave your dog at home.

Aggressive dogs like Skyler don't belong in city parks... or out in public

Granted, laws involving unleashed dogs at city parks -- i.e., areas not designated as off-leash areas -- aren't high priorities in the Rainier Valley. When it comes to a police presence at Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson Street and Genesee Park, the crime-ridden intersection wins in a Nixon-versus-McGovern landslide.

Does this mean that the municipal codes requiring owners to tether their dogs should be ignored?

When it comes to Skyler the tan lab-mix: Hell, no. Put a leash and muzzle on that dog.

We saw Sklyer -- the dog's real name -- break away from owner's side around 5:45 pm at Genesee Park... the area on the other side of Genesee where Seafair and the Danskin's triathlon take place. Skyler sprinted about 30 yards and went after a lhaso-looking mix. When the lhasa's owner attempted to pick up his dog, Skyler veered 10-plus yards more and went after my pooch. Growling and bearing fangs, Skyler then lunged at my dog.

Skyler didn't get within biting distance of my dog. Good thing for Skyler that he didn't: I had my container of pepper spray in my hand. And I had no compunction against unleashing a stream of peppery pain in Skyler's face.

Meanwhile, Skyler's owner -- a nondescript, middle-aged woman -- stood at least 60 yards away. "Skyler!" she screamed. "Get back here! Come!" She couldn't be bothered to scramble over and regain control of her dog. Skyler returned to her area, but continued to stalk my dog. "Skyler, leave it!" she screamed. Didn't "leave it" fail five minutes earlier when Skyler broke away?

Irresponsible dog owner, what the hell were you thinking?

She reluctantly leashed up Skyler when it became apparent -- after attempted two attacks -- that he couldn't co-exist with other leashed canines. One suspects that Skyler's behavior this afternoon was the norm versus an exception.

For the edification of Skyler and his inept handler, Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) 9.25.084(G) says it is unlawful for an owner "to permit any animal when unprovoked on public or private property to:

(1) Bite a human being causing less than severe injury as defined in SMC 9.25.023E of the Seattle Municipal Code, or bite a domestic animal, or;

(2) Chase or approach a human, on property other than that of the animal's owner, in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of the attack, which may include but is not limited to any one of the following behaviors: snarling, bearing teeth, growling, snapping, pouncing, lunging, attacking or attempting to bite.

Sound familiar, Skyler's owner? Although he looked part lab, Skyler was all Cujo in his demeanor and actions. If Skyler's owner chooses to enforce her dog's right to go off-leash commando and if Skyler sinks his fangs into a human or kills a dog, the human risks running afoul of SMC 12A.06.060, Negligent Control of an Animal:

(1) A person is guilty of negligent control of an animal if he or she has possession, custody or control of an animal that, because of the person's negligence, inflicts bodily injury on or kills another person or another animal.

(2) "Negligence" includes, but is not limited to, failure to comply with or violation of any provision of Section 9.25.083 or Section 9.25.084.

(3) Negligent control of an animal is a gross misdemeanor.

Think we're joking? Check out the Seattle Municipal Code for yourself:

http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/toc/table.htm

Normally, I don't identify offenders with this much specificity. But aggressive dogs shouldn't be untethered, particularly in public places. The unfortunate thing is that Skyler's owner doesn't appear to find anything aberrant about her canine's behavior... and, worse, doesn't appear to find it necessary to obey the law and keep him on a leash. Perhaps Skyler belongs in his own Skinner box where he can only inflict self harm.

Addendum: A reader asked for a description of Skyler. Here's what I recall: short-coated, tan lab-mix short ears and a long tail. Mostly, I remember curled-up lip, lots of flashing teeth.

The car is "green" but the pavement remains red if the dog hits the pavement

Taking advantage of the rare sunny afternoon, you packed up Sheldon and Sheila the Shih Tzus for a spin through downtown. You popped in your Sky Cries Mary disc in the CD player, and loaded the pups in the Prius. You rolled down the passenger window so the Shih Tzus could sniff the fumes from the gas-using cars. Sheldon and Sheila stood on their back legs and leaned out of the Prius as you rolled down Madison Street and crossed First Avenue around 2:30 pm.

What the hell were you thinking?

Regardless of how "green" your car is, remember that if one of the frou-frou dogs falls out of the hybrid its blood on the pavement is bright red. Even if Sheila survived the traumatic injuries of falling from a moving vehicle, the canine runs the risk of being crushed by a bus or one of the Ducks.

Roll up the window a shade. It wasn't that hot today.

It's Yom Kippur... did you turn off your cell phone?

Gamar Chatimah Tovah from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP).

Translated as a "Day of Atonement", Yom Kippur represents a complete Sabbath in which one attempts to "afflict the soul" and atone for the year's past sins. From sundown before Yom Kippur until sundown the following day the faithful refrain from working and the consumption of food and liquid.

Baseball fans -- and Jewish baseball fans in particular -- knew well the dilemmas that faced Hall of Famers (HOF) Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax when deciding whether to aid their ball clubs in pursuit of victory... or observing Yom Kippur. Greenberg -- labeled by sportswriters as the "Jewish Babe Ruth" -- sat out Yom Kippur during the 1930s. Koufax spent Yom Kippur at the synagogue instead of the pitching mound during the first game of the 1965 World Series. For an insightful piece about Jewish ballplayers observing Yom Kippur.

http://espn.go.com/classic/s/merron_on_green.html

This year, a national campaign urges Americans -- Jews and Goys alike -- to commemorate Yom Kippur by turning off their cell/smart phones for a "No Device Day". Campaign organizers seek to encourage people to take a respite from modern technology to reconnect with others through old-school, face-to-face conversation.... or in the Rainier Valley, maybe in-your-face discourse.

We'll see who goes device-less at the park on Saturday.

Seattle Storm win WNBA championship. Glad somebody in town can chant, "We're #1"

Congratulations to the Seattle Storm, who captured the Women's National Basketball Association (WBNA) title by defeating the Atlanta Dream 87-84 last night in Georgia. The Storm went 7-0 during this year's playoffs.

Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP) Special Correspondence Damager (an alias) will be on hand for the Storm's victory parade at 7 pm at Seattle Center. The parade route begins at the base of the Space Needle and concludes at Key Arena, which will host championship celebration:

http://www.wnba.com/storm/playoffs2010/hype.html

Like many Storm loyalists, season ticket holder Damager caught the game last night on ESPN2. And like many Ranier Valley dogs, Damager's canine Clarence the Retriever AK9 slept during the WNBA contest.

The Jet City hasn't enjoyed a world title since 2004... when the Storm won the WNBA championship. Seattle Mariner fans have long since abandoned the dream of a World Series trophy in the future. Maybe it's our destiny to be the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Enjoy yourselves tonight, Storm fans. Lest anybody get crazy ideas of car tipping or looting, remember the added presence of Seattle Police officers in Belltown.

Is a Storm championship dollars to doughnuts?

Admittedly, few things in life are guaranteed: death, taxes and another Seattle Mariners 100-loss season. However, Seattle Storm fans anticipate their home team capturing the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) championship this evening in Atlanta. The Storm is ahead 2-0 in the series and looking for a sweep in the Peach State.

Somebody in this town needs to win a title.

Storm fan Damager (an alias) has ordered his season tickets for the 2011 season. Damager attended the Storm game Tuesday night reports that several referee calls against Seattle were "questionably bad. When the alleged foul was replayed on StormVision (the Jumbotron screen hanging above the court), the true badness of these calls was replayed multiple times life-size for the crowd of 15,000-plus to jeer at." An angry crowd switched from choruses of "DE-FENSE!" to "NEW-REFS!"

A fan created "the best fan-made sign I've ever seen" that read 'Even Chuck Norris is afraid of Lauren Jackson.' The fan won a box of doughnuts."

According to Damager, if presented with a box of doughnuts, his pooch Clarence the Retriever AK9 (another alias) would "eat the frosting off the top of all of them and then get to work on whatever's left until: 1) It gets too boring, 2) He runs out of water, or 3) He gets tired to chew any longer." Clarence once ate around the crust of a freshly baked loaf of challah -- a braided Jewish egg bread that requires three different rising periods -- and left only the chewy middle as evidence of his feat.

If you want to satisfy your canine's craving for doughnuts, local Top Pot has created a commemorative confection in honor of the WNBA team... which is all good unless the doughnuts are frosted with chocolate. In which case, it's an old-fashioned for Fido. Boring, yes... but that's a given in life and preferable to caffeine poisoning.

Go, Storm.

ESPN2 airs Game 3 of the NBA Championship at 5 pm.

Happy birthday, Brick!

We know that you don't read blogs. But the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP) nonetheless wishes you a happy birthday.

In search of an appropriate birthday cocktail, we unearthed a relatively unknown beverage that combines the flavors of brandy, fig, cranberry and lemon. Sounds wacky... but so did combining the great tastes of peanut butter and chocolate decades ago.

Armagnac Fig Soul

• 2 oz. armagnac
• 1 fresh fig
• ½ oz. fig liqueur
• ¼ part lemon juice
• 1¼ part cranberry juice

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.

Strain into glass tumbler.

Garnish with wedge of fig.

O'Doul the Collie salutes American laborers

Weather prognosticator and labor spokesdog O'Doul the Collie took a break from his busy schedule to offer his words of wisdom related to the Labor Day holiday.

Roughly translated from Mount Baker resident Tony, O'Doul postulated: "Labor does all the wealth, right? How come we don't get to keep it? Somebody must be taking it away, because we ain't wealthy."

Tony took exception to the perception of Labor Day as the the end of summer and a reason to sell ski equipment and clothing. (Remember "Ski Bonkers" Labor-Day-weekend sales of the 1980s?) "People who think that way probably don't do much thinking, period," Tony said. "People should have a holiday, but people should remember that there are problems, things aren't right and you should fix them and kick butt."

As the Peach Margarita seems far too frivolous for Tony and O'Doul's Labor Day celebration, we offer an alternative cocktail for the holiday, the Boilermaker -- a workingman's drink in honor of trained craftsmen who create steel fabrications. We can guarantee with Joe Namath certainty that you would never see Tony sipping a peach margarita.

Boilermaker

• 2 oz. whiskey
• 10 oz. beer

Fill a shot glass with whiskey.

Drop the shot glass into a mug of beer.

Chug-a-lug.

Bully for Old Purdue.

Addendum: Tony was aghast that a recipe would suggest that an imbiber mix the beer and whiskey... much-less drop a shot glass of bourbon into perfectly good beer. He suggested that bloggers posted recipes simply to see if anybody read the item. Wikipedia offers this thought on the boilermaker: "Generally speaking, the Boilermaker is merely a glass of beer with a shot of whiskey served on the side. The shot goes down in one, and the beer follows, being sipped rather than quickly downed.”

People, it's beer and whiskey. Don't over-think the matter.

Here's a shout out to the working class dogs of America

Happy Labor Day from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

While you are preparing a Jell-O mold for your picnic or stowing away your white wardrobe, you may not know the origin of the holiday for which many working Americans enjoy. According to the Department of Labor (DOL), the holiday is "dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers."

Labor Day started as a result of a push to the now-ubiquitous eight-hour workday. In the 1880s employees in the manufacturing industry began organizing protests and strikes to protest unsafe and unjust work conditions... the eight-hour workday, for example. Tension between laborers and management grew increasingly hostile

The first "Labor Day parade" took place September 5, 1882 when 10,000 protesting employees took unpaid leave to march from New York City's city hall to Union Square. On May 11, 1894, employees of the Chicago-based Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike in opposition of wage reductions and the termination of a union representative. The federal government sent United States marshals to break the strike. The predictable result? Riots, violence and the deaths of workers. President Grover Cleveland signed legislation two years later to create a national Labor Day holiday. The holiday was scheduled for the first Monday so as not to appear to link the federal holiday with international labor celebrations on May Day.

Fast forward to more than a century later. Maybe you're preparing for a Labor Day gathering like a picnic in the 1955 movie Picnic with William Holden and Kim Novak. Here's a clip from the seductive love dance between Holden and Novak, who swoon to the tune "Moonglow":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpD5ZkjCoGI&feature=related

Or maybe you're staying home and overdosing on all-day marathons of Pawn Stars or Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. You'll need a beverage to deaden the prospect of the end of summer and returning to work Tuesday. A peach margarita seems in order.

Peach margarita

• 1 cup of ice
• 1½ oz tequila
• ¼ oz. triple sec
• ¼ oz. Peach Schnapps
• ¼ oz. lime juice
• 1 fresh peach, skinned
• Peach slice for garnish

Pour the ingredients into a blender... or the blender-wannabe that you purchased during a moment of weakness while watching an infomercial.

Blend until smooth.

Pour into a chilled margarita class.

Garnish with peach slice.

Kirby Beagle, Your Enthusiasm is Showing: Beef... real food for real beagles

Kirby Beagle here.

The health-conscious among you must find it puzzling that people in Seattle are knocking themselves out -- some to the point of cheating -- to lure a burger joint to their neighborhoods.

Somebody asked me, "Kriby Beagle, shouldn't we stop the establishment of grease-laden food? Shouldn't we encourage businesses that sell healthy food to the Rainier Valley?

I say, "Go chase a car."

I'm a dog. I don't understand cholesterol counts, blocked arteries, and human obesity. But I know what I like: food. While I'm always happy to find the ubiquitous chicken bone during a walk in the Rainier Valley, I also enjoy variety. I've tasted a couple Dick's cheeseburgers in my lifetime, and I wouldn't mind a more consistent supply. We don't get out to Broadway or Wallingford very often. A trip to Lake City Way more likely stems from an emergency visit at Access than a burger feeding a burger fix. I've never been to Queen Anne or Holman Road.

Locate a Dick's Drive-In in the Rainier Valley - maybe near Hillman City or that stretch between the commercially challenged area between the Silver Fork restaurant and Franklin High School -- and I know there'd be an influx of cheeseburgers and hand-cut fries in the Genesee Dog Park. It cracks me up when people bring food to the park, and then get mad when I want a bite. Awhile back some yum-yums set up an agility course at the park with a buffet table full of doughnuts and dog treats -- and then got nasty when a pal and I investigated. Another time, a young woman climbed on a log in a panic and hurriedly downed her sausage-and-egg biscuit rather than share breakfast with her new friends. Do any of you chuckle heads remember that you're at a dog park?

We're dogs. We think we're entitled. A local Dick's Drive-In would make many dogs -- maybe yours -- in the Rainier Valley happy. Think about that when you vote on the new Dick's location.

Later,

Kirby Beagle

Rainier Valley Dick's Drive-In would be so beautiful to local cockers

While Seattle-area humans apply full-court pressure to lobby for the new Dick's Drive-In locale, local cocker spaniels Biff and Zeke (aliases) issue a canine throw down in making the case for a restaurant in Lovely Rainier Valley.

"They would love it, frankly," said owner and long-time Seattle resident Sally (alias), "because their mama likes it."

A Rainier Valley locale would offer only one setback, the Mount Baker resident said. "They can't order on their own," she said. "They don't know how to say, 'Give me a plain burger without onions.'"

But in true Southeast Seattle fashion, Sally doubts that the Dick's chain would build open its doors in the Rainier Valley. She described hearing a story on a National Public Radio (NPR) station reporting that the Dick's organization would prefer to set up shop near the University of Washington.

The proprietors of the Seattle burger establishment suggested that they would give due consideration to an online poll that asked voters to choose from one of three locations: "North" (Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, Edmonds, South Everett), "South" (West Seattle, South Seattle, Renton, Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila) and "East" (Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Bothell, Mercer Island, Issaquah, Sammamish). The brain trust at Dick's later announced that the results were "scrubbed to eliminate tens of thousands of extra votes added by a handful of talented but ethically challenged computer hackers." The number of votes for the "South" magically shrunk.

At present the online survey shows the "East" leading at 46 percent, followed by the "South" (29 percent) and "East" (24 percent).

For those who want to see Dick'w Drive-In locate in the Rainier Valley, go to:

http://www.ddir.com/

Don't you want to keep our fast-food profits in Seattle... instead of Oak Brook, IL (McDonalds' corporate headquarters), Miami (Burger King), San Diego (Jack in the Box), Irvine, CA (Taco Bell), Dublin, IL (Wendy's), or Sandy Springs, GA (Arby's)? Think local.

If we find that the survey results are suspicious and potentially invalid we can hire Al Gore's legal team from the 2000 election and challenge the election. Or not.