Wheels in motion, Ultimate Bowl, Iron bars

So yesterday I followed up my complaint to animal services via the web site with a call, verifying they got the complaint.  I was glad I called because for whatever reason the complaint was not in the system.  I gave the guy on the phone the details of the situation.  He sounded genuinely angry at the owners treatment of the dog.  I asked what would happen next.

The guy said an animal control officer would be going to the house to inspect the dog’s living conditions and if they are found to be in violation they will be warned.  He said if I still see the dog getting out I should let them know. Ok fine.

I later talked to a friend of mine from the running club who is deeply involved in animal rights in the county.  He told me that county animal services basically does a dreadful job of enforcing code when it comes to animals.  They will issue warnings but then do not follow up to see if the warning is heeded.

Evidently in a case like Thina’s not only would they find her living conditions suck, they also should be forcing the owners to license the dog, make sure she has her shots, and if they don’t want to pay $60 a year, get her spade as well.

My buddy said he is quite familiar with how this goes.  It’s bad enough that Thina has to endure living in a home where she is little more than a lawn ornament.  If she continues to run free around the neighborhood and runs into a loose male dog now all of a sudden one mistreated animal multiplies into 7 or 8 when the puppies come.  It’s a vicious cycle that is fueled by irresponsible and ignorant pet owners.

When I drove home last night I looked at Thina’s property.  The front gate was wide open but the dog was not visible.  What was visible was the garage door was cracked about 6 inches.  I have a bad feeling the answer these idiots have to keeping Thina contained is to throw her in the hot as an oven garage.  During the heat of the day a garage in SWFL is not much different than a sauna. The reason I suspect this is because that is where they put her during one of my trips to their front door with the dog.

I have been in contact with my neighbor across the street about this bullshit as well, she is an animal lover as I am.  She is disgusted with what is going on as well although she is accustomed to dogs being treated poorly in our area.  She plans to reenforce my call to animal services with a call of her own.

I plan to call them back today as well.  First I want to get a case number so I am able to track what is going on.  Second I want to let them know that I suspect the owners have now locked the dog in the hot garage.

Before I headed out to the Ultimate Bowl last night I went home to change and feed the dogs dinner.  Outside my front door was a BIG box.

I knew I had a box arriving from New York, I didn’t know it would be that big.  Inside was a set of heavy duty, homemade parallelettes.  They came from my long distance calisthenics buddy Lou, one of the many great people I have come to know through my involvement with the Bar-barian forums.

Lou makes me look like a total beginner when it comes to exercise.  He eats, breathes and sleeps exercise, 24/7.  His intensity is something I use for inspiration on a regular basis.

Anyway these parallelettes were actually something he made.  He put together some metal parts from an old job he had at a lumber company with some 4×4’s to make a super sturdy set of bars.  He used these for a long time but eventually bought himself a professional set, so he sent me these, for free, no less.

I hope to keep these things forever and perhaps extract some of that magic Lou energy along the way.

So I headed out to the Ultimate Bowl, arriving at the arena around 6:45.  The parking lot didn’t seem to be any more or less full than it was for last weeks game.

I decided to get my first non-$7 ticket for the Tarpons, laying out the big bucks for a seat in one of the corners down low.  I figured since it was the last game of what I assumed would be a perfect 12-0 season I might as well go crazy.

After grabbing a slice of pizza and a beer I found my seat.  Damn it was nice being that close.  I also enjoyed upgraded seating amenities including a padded bottom and a cupholder, sweet.

I took turns watching the pre-game action on the field and walking the concourse.  I downed a couple beers pretty quickly and felt a bit fuzzy.  I walked by the merchandise stand repeatedly, weighing if I should buy anything or not.  Actually the thing I was considering buying the most was a pink Tarpons t-shirt for Ali.  However logic won out as I visualized both my and Ali’s existing t-shirt collection.  Neither of us need another one.  Still, if they would have taken credit cards at the stand, impulse may have won out.

Being that close to the field has other advantages besides the nice close vantage point, you also get to interact with the players.  Before the opening kick off the Tarpon players slapped hands with the fans, including mine, it’s all part of the feel good effort the team puts out for the fans.

The Tarpons opponent for the championship were the Cincinnati Commandos who won the Northern Conference.  The Commandos had three losses this season, unlike the Tarpons sparkling 11-0 record.  I think pretty much everyone in the arena just assumed the Tarpons would steamroll their way to the championship, just as they have the entire season.

Well that assumption took a quick punch in the mouth.  The Tarpons kicked off and on the Commandos first play they immediately scored on a long TD pass.  The pressure continued to be applied and before the first quarter ended the Tarpons were down 21-8.

Well the Tarpons were also down briefly in last weeks playoff game.  They shrugged it off and went on a torrid scoring streak.  The fans were simply waiting for them to step on the gas.  Well the Commandos played really well, they picked a few balls off, put a lot of pressure on the Tarpons QB and had a pretty potent offense of their own.

At one point later in the game it looked like the Tarpons were ready to finally make their move, they were down by less than a score and driving for a TD.  Instead they turned the ball over and it was the beginning of the end.  The crowd was mostly quiet for the last 5 minutes of the game once the outcome became obvious, there would be no perfect season. The Tarpons lost the game by a final score of 62-44.

Despite the outcome I still had a good time at the game.  One of my personal highlights was at half time.  One of the cool things the Tarpon QB does is come out early from the locker room during halftime and play catch with the fans in the stands.  He basically goes around the field and throws a ball to people in the stands and they throw it back to him.

Well my beer induced buzz was still in effect at halftime so I had no issue standing up and waving my flag pole length arms for number 7 to throw to.  He spotted me and sent a pass my way which I snagged cleanly and then threw back to him in rhythm.  It was cool.

Despite the disappointing end to the season I really am glad that I rediscovered local arena football this year.  For whatever reason I found it significantly more fun then when I was a Firecats season ticket holder.