Go Dogs !!!

Betcha thought from the headline I was gonna write about puppies again. Well, this morning all I have to report is that both Webster and Kea do sit on command---or when they feel like it. Occasionally, they also go No. 1 and No. 2 on command---or when they feel like it. I received similar reports from my daughter-in-law, Debbie, in Boise, with the comment that two dogs are a lot harder than one when it comes to potty training.

Again, we must remember puppy time slots, and the fact that they haven't yet mastered the art of asking to go to the bathroom outside in two day's time must be taken into account in the grand scheme of puppy and human timelines. Seems to me that the "much smarter" humans take a lot longer to learn those same potty rules that we expect puppies to learn in just a few days.

No, I wasn't planning to talk about puppies today. I want to talk ZAGS. The Gonzaga Bulldogs have come back for another season of winning basketball games and giving Inland Northwesters a lift through the long winter. We are thrilled. They've already played and won two games---U of Montana and U of Idaho, both teams which are also important in family circles.

The ZAGS team, however, have become the region's winter icon, especially for the elderly. Their impact on the lives of senior citizens who are basically housebound for the winter months is invaluable. I was at a Selle Extension Club meeting the other day, wearing my Zags sweatshirt. Just as I was leaving, one of the more senior members of the club, Ina Jacobson, asked me what time the game was.

I told her it was at 5 o'clock on KHQ-TV.

"I'm not sure who they're playing," I said to Ina. "Maybe it's Eastern."

That's when 95-year-old Wilma Erickson, who rarely says anything at the meetings, announced in her characteristic low key fashion, "I believe it's the Vandals." Sure enough Wilma had it pegged, and I left the meeting feeling pretty sure two more women in that gathering would have their TV sets tuned in to Channel 6 and the ZAGS.

And, of course, I already knew that my mother was going to remember to wear her ZAGS sweatshirt for this second game. She forgot to wear it for the first game, but she did not forget any of the play-by-play, which she reported to me on Monday morning after I'd returned from Southern Idaho and had missed the ZAGS opener----only because I was on a plane.

The ZAGS play again tomorrow (KHQ--Channel 6 --- 5 p.m.). Their fans---young and old---will be watching and glad they're back to win and to win the hearts of all who appreciate them for their talents and for the psychological lifts they provide through the winter season here in the Northwest.

GO Dogs! Go ZAGS!!