Monday, February 14, 2011
The Westminster Dog Show
In my opinion, the Westminster Dog Show is probably the best sporting event in February. I watch it every year, and it's always great. It starts tonight, so we'll do a little bit of live-blogging.
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OK, so we've got Mary Carillo on the USA Network. Right now, she's interviewing David Frei, who is the John Madden of the Westminster Dog Show.
ReplyDeleteTiffany Simons, our sideline reporters, tells us that we have two new hound breeds this year -- the blue-tick and the redbone. I may have to root for the blue-tick -- a great Southern dog, even if it does have ties to UT.
ReplyDeleteMary Carillo just said that when we come back from break, they will "release the hounds."
ReplyDeleteOK, so now the hound group enters the ring. I love the hounds, but they are pretty much the OVC of the Westminster Dog Show -- they virtually never win Best in Show.
ReplyDeleteThe hounds used to be part of the sporting group, but they became their own group in 1928.
ReplyDeleteMary Carillo just pointed out that the judge has to be an expert in all breeds of dog. David Frei agreed.
ReplyDeleteHuge cheers for the Basset Hound.
ReplyDeleteIt turns out there are two categories of beagle -- the 15-inch beagle and the 13-inch beagle. I don't see the point of that, but I trust the American Kennel Club.
ReplyDeleteThe crowd also loves the beagles. (We're at Madison Square Garden, by the way.)
ReplyDeleteThe "bloodhound" gets its name from the fact that in olden times, only blue bloods could own one.
ReplyDeleteBig cheers for the blue-tick hound. It turns out that the game has nothing to do with ticks at all, but with the blue "ticking" pattern of its fur.
ReplyDeleteNo new breed has ever won best in show.
According to the announcer, the Dachshund was bred to hunt badgers -- which seems odd, because badgers are always good guys in children's literature. Maybe German badgers are meaner than English badgers.
ReplyDeleteThe announcer, by the way, is very careful to pronounce Dachshund as "dox-hoond." So don't go around saying "dash-hound."
ReplyDeleteOh, man, new episodes of "White Collar" are coming up soon. I'm very happy about that.
ReplyDeleteGrayhounds just look freaky to me.
ReplyDeleteOK, here's the Saluki. Have to root for it, although it is a weird-looking dog -- sort of like a hairy grayhound.
ReplyDeleteMary Carillo, by the way, did absolutely no prep for this show. She keeps asking questions about statements the announcer just made, like "this dog has webbed feet?" or "how can a dachshund catch a badger"?
David Frei says the Whippet is the most athletic of all dogs.
ReplyDeleteWaiting on the winner in the hound group . . .
ReplyDeleteand the Scottish Deerhound -- a massive gray dog -- takes the group! The 15-inch beagle comes in second.
ReplyDeleteThe Scottish Deerhound moves onto the Best-in-Show competition tomorrow night.
Next up: the Toy Group.
Meanwhile, Syracuse leads West Virginia in Syracuse 61-52 with 3:35 left in the game.
ReplyDeleteOK, this is weird. At 9 PM, USA Network switches to WWE Raw, so the Westminster Dog coverage is being shifted over to CNBC.
ReplyDeleteOh, man, I hate the toy group. David Frei always defends the toys, and tries to convince us that they are just as "doggy" as the other dogs. He just told us that they are not a fashion accessory. But I can't help but blame the toys for their owners.
ReplyDeletePlus, the miniature poodle usually seems to win this group.
It turns out that the origin of the Chihuahua -- the smallest of all pure-bred dogs -- is a mystery. David Frei assures us that the Chihuahua is "fearless."
ReplyDeleteI would say that the Chihuahua is more likely to be "fierce."
ReplyDeleteSyracuse wins: 63-52.
ReplyDeleteNext up: Kansas will crush Kansas St.
There's a toy grayhound -- the Italian Grayhound. He is even weirder-looking than the big grayhound.
ReplyDeleteThe judge keeps making weird noises at all of the dogs, apparently to get a reaction out of them. This is just about the only part of the proceedings in which Mary Carillo has shown any interest during the last 15 minutes. Maybe she dislikes the toys as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteWell, I would love to keep up this live-blog, but I've got too many other things to do. If you get a chance, tune in.
ReplyDeleteLove your Kansas prediction.
ReplyDeleteI was very happy to be wrong.
ReplyDeleteThis was fantastic. Really fantastic. A few things:
ReplyDelete-- I love Mary Carillo. Love her. She came to Paducah to support a tennis tournament one time, and The Paducah Sun trotted 19-year-old me out to do a little feature on her, which I did. I was incredibly nervous, and she pretty much had to both ask and answer the questions. Then I wrote a completely limp little story, which I'm sure she didn't read--but nonetheless mailed a letter to both the newspaper and the country club hosting the tournament praising me and saying how my higher-ups needed to encourage my ambitions. This had to have pretty much nothing to do with me and pretty much everything to do with Mary Carillo. I love her.
-- The Mary Carillo mention and note of the switchout from USA Network to CNBC make me miss the Olympics, which I also love (summer, winter, whatever you got).
-- My wife's parents have a dachshund, whom I take out on walks from time to time, and that dog is a hunter. It's always trying to burrow into leaves, under tree roots, etc.
-- Who couldn't love Basset hounds? But I will say that there is only one breed of dog that makes me literally laugh out loud (and I'm not just saying that ... literally) every time I see one, and the Basset is not it. This is.