Spurs vs. Knicks
As I write this, Game 4 of the NBA Finals is underway, the San Antonio Spurs are at the New York Knicks. The Knicks are up 2-1 in a best of seven series. I’ve been watching the second half of games with friends who don’t normally watch basketball, but the series has a higher than normal amount of buzz.
Part of the fun is Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 Spurs phenom everyone expected to take over a series like this after disposing of the defending NBA champs Oklahoma City in the previous round. But what makes him easy to love, even in New York, is the off-court stuff. He spent part of last offseason living with monks at a Shaolin temple in China, shaved his head, and took up meditation. Then he turned up in a Manhattan park on a rainy December morning, posted on X, and invited total strangers to play him in chess. A crowd came out in the rain. He lost to two of them, beat his brother, called it a good day, and posed for a group photo. It’s easy to root for a guy like that.
Then there’s Jalen Brunson, who has me pulling for the Knicks. By the way, I’m a Houston Rockets fan, and we beat the Knicks in the Finals all those years ago, and of course San Antonio is a hated rival.
Brunson left Villanova University, a two-time NCAA national champion and college player of the year, and still slid to the 33rd pick because scouts decided he was too small and not athletic enough. Dallas drafted him, watched him carry them to the Western Conference Finals when Luka Doncic went down, then let him walk rather than pay him. He signed with the Knicks, and four years later he’s the heart of the team.
Here’s the thing about those Knicks though: they’re a little cursed. No title since 1973. First Finals since 1999, when, of all teams, these same Spurs beat them. Game 3 on Monday was right there, a home lead that slipped away after halftime, 115-111. Wembanyama and Brunson both dropped 32. Only one of them walked off a winner.
So why am I talking about basketball (besides the fact that I love the game)?
Because I think most agility people spectate the same way at a trial. We love watching the top dogs run, and we should. The fast, flawless, consistent ones are a thrill to watch and study. But when the underdog steps to the line and starts putting together a magical run, the whole crowd starts buzzing. We want them to get it.
Jalen Brunson, the undersized guard that so many teams passed over in the draft, is halfway to a championship ring. That’s worth remembering next time you think your dog is too slow, too green, or too whatever.
VIP Open
Over the last week or so, Sarah, Jennifer, and I took you through our Run Happy Podcast Series, and tonight we closed it out with a webinar that pulled the whole thing together. If you followed along live, thank you. The three podcasts in the series (but not the webinar) will be available with our regular podcasts.
In podcast #2, we went deep into the lowest point of the Emotional Cycle of Change, the Valley of Despair. We talked about what it actually looks like in agility, why landing there doesn’t mean something is wrong with you or your dog, and the part that catches most handlers off guard: there are only two ways out, and only one of them works. Quitting and starting fresh feels fantastic (like when you decide to give up on your stopped contacts and try running contacts), but it often just drops you back at the top of the same cycle with a new issue. Click here to listen to the podcast.
In podcast #3, we walked through eight things happy handlers do differently, then took the struggles you sent in and worked through a few of them live on air. So much of it came back to a common theme: a lot of the work isn’t about the dog, it’s about us. Click here to listen to the podcast.
Tonight, we tied it all together and opened the doors to something we only do once a year: our VIP program. For the next year, you can have Jennifer, Sarah, and me as the wind beneath your wings. Yes, we will be your personal coaches, alongside a whole community of handlers who will be there to support you and answer your questions.
So here’s the question we’ll leave you with. With the three of us and the VIP community behind you, what could you accomplish this year?
Click here for more information about the VIP program.
VIDEO: I never saw the movie, but this song was huge in 1988.
The Premier Cup
Sarah here! In between live podcasts, Jenn was competing in the Premier Cup and doing interviews with ESPN for the upcoming made-for-TV AKC Agility Team Challenge. Jenn says that we need a whole podcast dedicated to the Agility Team Challenge, so we’ll save that for another day. In the Premier Cup, Jenn and Bee swept the whole event, winning both prelim rounds and the Finals to take the 16″ class. In the Premier Cup, Jenn and Bee swept the whole event, winning both prelim rounds and the Finals to take the 16″ class. Her other sheltie, Rio, also made it through to the Finals and placed second in the 12″.
Congrats to Jenn, and to the rest of the Premier Cup winners: Han Yu and her Poodle Opportunity took the 8″ class, Tammie Gigstad and her Poodle Maui won the 12″, Andy Winther and his Border Collie Zoom-Zoom claimed the 20″, and Sally Connell and her Border Collie Kit topped the 24″.
What questions do you have about the VIP? Email us at team@baddogagility.com.
Happy Training,
