Spurs and the Arse drew at Highbury, 1-1. Tottenham were actually just a few minutes away from winning 1-0 when Henry leveled the score. I can’t wait for him to go to Barcelona next season…

What does this mean? Spurs’ fate is still in their own hands. If they win their last two, they retain fourth place and should qualify for the Champions League. Allegedly, if the Arse win the Champions League then they get automatic entry into the tournament and England loses one spot—which would be the fourth-placed team, which would likely be Spurs. If this happens, I think there will be a lot of legal wrangling. Ever since the Champions League expanded to include more than league champions (and I could go on for days about this) it seems silly to deny teams from the big leagues entrance to the competition. In the end, it’s all about money, not fairness, and there’s a lot more money to be made having teams like Liverpool and Tottenham in the tournament than Molde FK from Norway. Besides, my prediction is that it will be Barcelona versus Ars*nal in the Champions League final and Barca will come out winners.

Which means the wrangling for fourth place in England would still be the decider.

Happily, Liverpool beat Chelski in the FA Cup semifinal. The Russians may win the Premier League for the second season in a row, but that’ll be their only trophy. You’d expect more considering the investment, wouldn’t you Jose?

We stopped by the open house for Club Bow-Wow which opens tomorrow. It’s a dog boarding house but it’s nice enough to house humans. I’m not kidding. Each dog gets their own personalized room with access to the outside, 2-hour group play sessions up to three times a day, and nightly turn-down service that includes guaranteed cuddle time before light’s out. The higher end units have their own televisions. Still not kidding.

Rates aren’t terrible at $30-$40 per day. That might sound like a lot but it’s conveniently located (over by Woodman’s and West Town Mall in Madison, if you’re familiar) and trying to line up someone to watch the dog for a weekend can take a lot of time. We’ve only kenneled Athena once for a long weekend; reports said she was well-behaved but sulked most of the time. That place only had one play session a day though, so I think the philosophy of keeping dogs busy will also keep them happy is correct.

Going in next door is 4 Paws Swim and Fitness, which is like a Bally’s for dogs. They have underwater treadmills and all sorts of other gadgets to help dogs get a lot of exercise. Our initial reaction was that the prices were too steep (about $30/session) but then we figured the sessions were pretty long (4 hours) and it would likely exhaust your dog. As all dog owners know, a tired dog is a good dog. Athena is basically built like an athlete—she’s lean, fast, and pretty much all muscle. Once she got used to it, she’d probably love it and I could see spending $30 to wear her out before a long car ride. We’re planning on driving to South Carolina (about 15 hours) later this summer, and it would be much nicer to share the car with a dog resembling a wet noodle instead of a coiled spring.

I also remarked to Amy while we were on the tour: “What percentage of America would think everyone here is absolutely nuts?”

Current Mood – Good! |