Friday Five on Sports

I went out to the Friday Five (no longer active) website to get the questions for today. At first glance I thought today's questions were boring. But once I got into answering them it was fun and brought back some good memories.

1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?

• Not usually.

2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?

• Joan Benoit Samuelson: Won the first women's Olympic marathon in 1984. Now mother of two and still running. Does charity work in Maine.
  
  
• Florence Griffith Joyner - FloJo: World record sprinter with eye-catching outfits and four-inch fingernails. She was awesome in so many ways. Died in 1998 of a severe epileptic seizure. So sad.
  
  
• Steve Yzerman: Over a decade as Detroit Redwing captain. He's been there for the bad years and the good. Always a hard worker and a class act.
  
  
• Derek Jeter: Yankee shortstop who grew up in Kalamazoo. His mother used to work in my building and we ate lunch in the same cafeteria. Does that make me famous?

3. Are there any sports you hate?

• I hate any sport that someone expects me to play. See question 5.

4. Have you ever been to a sports event?

• Olympic Track and Field Trials in 1988, 1992, and 1996. That's where I saw Carl Lewis and FloJo. Also Jackie Joyner and Mary Decker Slaney.

5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?

• I'm a near-sighted nerd. Do I need to explain more?

Bonus Friday Five from Mother
In the Wednesday comments, I wrote the following update on the plans for the Briarwood Dog Training entry in the Kalamazoo Christmas Parade:

"I just found out tonight that Gail wants Sunny and Pappy to ride in a rickshaw pulled by Fraulein, the German Shepherd. That means I'll be walking and holding their leashes."

This got Mother curious about everything and on Friday she responded with a set of five questions. How handy! So here is a second set of Friday Five submitted by Mother:

1. From where is the rickshaw coming? Who's got one?

• Denise, a woman in Pappy's Advanced Hobby dog training class, has a rickshaw. I believe her husband made it for Fraulein, their German Shepherd, to pull. She is going to bring it to class next Thursday so I can see it.
  
  
• It was Denise's idea that Briarwood do the Christmas Parade. She is making twenty-six gold capes for our group to wear in the parade along with matching neck scrunchies for the dogs.

2. Who is going to control the German Shepherd?

• Denise will have Fraulein's leash. Fraulein is a mature, intelligent, well trained dog. Fraulein is friends with Pappy, but she doesn't know Sunny yet.

3. Are Sunny and Pappy still going to have their carseats wrapped as Christmas gifts?

• Doubtful. I don't think there is room in the rickshaw for the carseats. The dogs may be in wrapped boxes or maybe not. We have to see how it works the best.

4. What makes Gail think the German Shepherd wants to pull this putative rickshaw a mile or two through the cheering masses??

• Fraulein pulled the rickshaw in last year's Christmas parade, so she is experienced.

4. Or that Sunny and Pappy are going to sit still for it??

• They don't have to sit still. Gail wants them to be the "Two Naughty Papillons" in the Briarwood 12 Dog Daze of Christmas. She wants to see if we can get them to jump in and out of the rickshaw. Yes, I will be holding their leashes.

The Briarwood parade application has been sent in so The 12 Dog Daze of Christmas theme is final. The execution of the theme is still in the planning stages. There will be practice sessions and many changes to come. Stay tuned and don't worry.