In memorium. Another sad day in Snowflake rescue. Adobe, a sweet boy who had Feline Leukemia, died today. He was a shy a guy, who learnt to trust, loved and to be happy in his all too short life. He will be greatly missed.

Adobe, again shows why Snowflake is different. It all go back to the wonderful founder. The story is found here We give every animal in our care everything they need and as much time as they need. Not many organisations would even have considered taking Adobe and his sister. Yes, it does leave us open to heartbrake, but, the rewards are worth it.

It sometimes causes controversy and difficult decisions becasue we sometimes can't bring in new cats due to this commitment, but, that's the mission we do. When a scared, frightened, cat learns to trust, sometimes over years and then gets a loving home it is all worth while. Two of own personnel cat's have stories such as this (which I will come to soon). Then taking these "un-adoptable cats" make it all worth-while.

-Richard

Finished reading "With My Face to the Enemy, Perspectives on the Civil War." A compilation of short essays by various historians on the American Civil War. It was edited by Robert Cowley.

I have alluded, but, not talked much about our involvement in Animal Rescue. As a kid I was definatly not an animal person. Infact, we never had any pets apart from the occasional goldfish.

So, what happened? I married Jenn. She had a heart for animals. When we got married and moved to the States (I will tell our story at some point) I "inherited" her dog Oreo. Oreo was a wonderful German Shorthair Pointer who should have died when she was 6 months old due to Parvo, but, by a miracle she survived to live until 17 years. Oreo accepted me and I fell in love with her. We moved to California and Oreo went with us. In August 2001, just as we were getting ready to leave California she had a suspected stoke and died. This ended up being the most painful thing I have ever been through. If I had been told that I would feel like this about an animal even a couple of years before I would have called you crazy. That got me hooked on dogs. I also promised Jenn that we would volunteer for an animal rescue organisation when we moved to North Carolina. Since then we adopted our new Dog in October 2001 and our cats which make up our family. We have also fostered several cats and kittens that have been saved and moved on to new homes.

Over the next few weeks I will post the stories of the members of our family, those who passed through onto new homes and those that are currently foster members of our family.

However, below is a picture of Oreo, the wonderful dog who started it all..

Score Update:

Rugby Union: Sheffield 22 West Hartlepool 19 League North Two East. This was the final game of Season. West finished in 6th place in the League on 23 with a record of 11-1-10. The good thing was West finished one place higher than our arch rivals Hartlepool Rovers.
Raleigh 65 Wilmington (Deleware) 0 MARFU (Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union) Division II Quarter-Final pay-off.

Cricket: Durham beat Kent by an innings and 56 runs. County Cricket Championship Division I. Durham are in 1st place.

Football: Hartlepool United 3 Nottingham Forest 2. Pools give themselves a slim lifeline with two games to go.

Rugby League: Bradford Bulls 52 Huddersfield Giants 18. Superleague. Bradford move up to 3rd place.

Ice Hockey: Carolina Hurricanes 0 Buffalo Sabres 4. Final Regular Season game. Canes finish South-Division Champions and 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference play-offs. They finish with a franchise record 112 points and finaly playing record of 52-22-8.
Carolina Hurricanes 1 Montreal Canadians 6. Eastern Conference play-offs first round. Game 1. Montreal leads series 1-0.

Baseball: Houston Astros 8 Milwaukee Brewers 7
Houston Astros 13 Milwaukee Brewers 12
Houston Astros 2 Milwaukee Brewers 7
Houston Astros 3 Pittsburgh Pirates 2
Houston Astros 3 Pittsburgh Pirates 0 The Astros have a record of 12-5 and are leading the National League Central Division by 1 game over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Basketball: Denver Nuggets 83 Houston Rockets 86
Houston Rockets 87 San Antonio Spurs 89 The Rockets finish the Season with a miserable record of 34-48. The finish last in the South West Division 29 1/2 games behind the Champion San Antonio Spurs.

-Richard

Veronica.

The hardest thing, bar none, in working for an Animal Rescue Organisation is when one of the guys get sick and don't make it.

Today Veronica died. She came into Snowflake about three years ago as a very scared, shy mama with two kittens. The Kittens got adopted really quickly. After three years of volunteers spending time with her she became friendly, trusting and ready to get adopted. Unfortunatly she got suddenly sick. The diagnosis of FIP meant there is nothing we could do. One of the differences between Snowflake and other rescues is we give these "hard to adopt" cats a chance. Many other organisations would have taken the kittens but not her because she was too shy. Not us. She became very happy in her foster home. Another thing Snowflake does is that every animal in our care gets all the medical necessary as long as they have a good quality of life. We also need to know when it is the right time to make the best decision to put the cat to sleep. In Veronica's case on the recommendation of a Specialist it was her time today.. She went over the Bridge peacefully, ready and happily knowing she was loved after finally learning to be trusting and safe. She laid in my arms this morning as I said good bye to her. One of the hardest things I have ever done.

Veronica you made a difference in my life. I love you and you will be missed.

-Richard

After another week of MLS Fantasy Football my Team is still in 4 th place. My points for this week were:

Cannon 0
Marshall 1
Dunivant 2
Goldthwaite 0
Cooke 0
Donovan 7
Clark -3
DeRosario 0
Ching -3
Alvarez -1
Cooper 0

For a total of 3 points and an over all total of 55 points.

-Richard

Score Update:

International Cricket: England beat India by 5 wickts in the 6th One Day International
India beat England by 7 wickets in the 7th One Day International. India win the series 5-1

International Football: USA 1 Jamaica 1 Friendly

Football: Colchester United 2 Hartlepool United 0
Hartlepool United 1 Bristol City 2
Milton Keynes Dons 2 Hartlepool United 1 All League 1. Pools crash to 23rd and second bottom and in relagation dire straits.

Rugby League: Leeds Rhinos 18 Bradford Bulls 20 Superleague. Bradford move up to 4th place.

Ice Hockey: Carolina Hurricanes 3 New Jersey Devils 4 (Over Time)
Carolina Hurricanes 5 Tampa Bay Lightening 4
Tampa Bay Lightening 3 Carolina Hurricanes 2 (Over Time)

Baseball: Houston Astros 5 Washington Nationals 4
San Fransisco Giants 5 Houston Astros 3
San Fransisco Giants o Houston Astros 8
Arizona Diamondbacks 5 Houston Astros 1
Arizona Diamondbacks o Houston Astros 10
Arizona Diamondbacks 5 Houston Astros 8 Astros are now 8-4 on the Season and lead the National League Central Division by 1/2 game over the Chicago Cubs.

Basketball: Sacramento Kings 86 Houston Rockets 77
Utah Jazz 85 Houston Rockets 83
Houston Rockets 79 Minnesota Timberwolves 82
Houston Rockets 81 Memphis Grizzlues 92 Rockets crash out of play-off contention.

-Richard

Finished Reading "Rebels in Blue" by Peter F. Stevens. It is the true story of Keith and Malinda Blalock and the violence nature of the American Civil war in the Western Counties of North Carolina. Families turned upon families and where division still exists today over 100 years later.

-Richard

He is RISEN!!!

-Richard

We went to see the USA Soccer team in a World Cup warm up game vs Jamaica at SAS soccer park in Cary, NC. A great atmosphere, dissapointing game. I was watching it thinking do these players really want to get chosen for the squad? My appraisal of the players and should they go:-

Goalkeeper - Tony Meola. He will not go. He played in this game to be rewarded with his 100th cap.

Defence - Albright played better than I thought he would. Not good enough for the world stage. Pope, a liability. In the World Cup could have easily been sent off for a handball instead of getting a yellow. Should not go. Mastroani was erratic and gave the ball away to much. I think he should be in the squad. Hedjuk was all over the place. I will give him the benefit of thr doubt as he is coming back from injury. He needs to prove himself in league play over the next three weeks.

Midfield - Olson played well for the first 35 mins or so then dissapeared, Donovan skated through as he knows he is a lock. O'Brien made a difference when he came in. Still needs to get fit. I like Dempsey, but, he looked rusty. Noonan and Ralston should not go. Do not have at at this level.

Strikers - Nothing was shown at all. Johnson should go. Wolf definately not. Ching and Twelmann are fighting for possibly one spot. I think Twelmann has the edge, but, the next three weeks in MLS could make a difference.

-Richard

Finished Reading Napoleon's Russian Campaign by one of his aide-de-camp's, Count Phillipe-Paul De Segue.

-Richard

After two weeks of MLS my fantasy team is in 4th position in the Triangle Soccer Fanatics League.

My players cummulative points are:

Joe Cannon - 1
Chad Marshall - 0
Todd Dunivant - 1
Kevin Goldthwaite - 5
Landon Donovan - -2
Ricardo Clark - 3
Danny O'Rourke - -2
Dwayne DeRosario - 13
Brian Ching - 22
Chris Brown - -4
Kenny Cooper - 11

-Richard

Score Update:

International Cricket: India best England by 49 runs in the 3rd one day international
India beat England by 4 wickets in the 4th one day international
The 5th one day international between India and England was washed out.

Rugby Union: West Hartlepool 18 Alnwick 6 League North Two East. West stay in 6th place.
NOVA 0 Raleigh 31 Friendly

Football: Swindon Town 1 Hartlepool United 1 League 1. Pools drop one place into the relegation zone.

Rugby League: Bradford Bulls 18 Warrington Wolves 22 Superleague. Bradford fall to 4th place.

Ice Hockey: Carolina Hurricanes 6 Washington Capitals 5
Washington Capitals 3 Carolina Hurricanes 4
Washington Capitals 3 Carolina Hurricanes 4
Atlanta Thrashers 5 Carolina Hurricanes 2

Baseball: Houston Astros 1 Florida Marlins 0
Houston Astros 2 Florida Marlins 11
Houston Astros 6 Florida Marlins 5
Houston Astros 6 Washington Nationals 1
Houston Astros 8 Washington Nationals 12
Houston Astros 7 Washington Nationals 3 'Stros record is 4-2 , 4th place in National League Central 1 game between leaders Milwaukee Brewers.

Basketball: LA Lakers 104 Houston Rockets 88
Seattle Supersonics 104 Houston Rockets 87
Portland Trailblzers 76 Houston Rockets 75
Golden State Warriers 93 Houston Rockets 100 Houston are 25 games behind San Antonio in the South West Division

-Richard

After watching the first Houston MLS game there are mixed emotions. Joy at the performance of my team, my players. But, this is the team that due to incompetence by MLS and AEG was ripped away from its roots. I was raised to by loyal to your local area team. In MLS that is San Jose. Mixed emotions because of my ties to the Houston area I follow all the Houston teams. I think perhaps I can follow this team, but, never support them because if the Earthquakes do come back I will have to be lotal to them.

The other dilema I have is do I buy the Direct Kick package. I swore I would never spend another penny on MLS until the Quakes came back, but, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the free preview. Perhaps the solution will be watching the game on the internet. I have a week to decide.

-Richard

So, the MLS Season is here. For the first time since 2000 I have not really paid attention to what was going on. However, once the games started I found I had an interest, if not the excitement. I can see it being more like the English Premier League for me. A definate interest with no team to support. I will still follow the Quakes players. I think that will be my main interest.

I did sign up for a MLS Fantasy League Competition I am part of a Triangle Fanatics Group. My Team is called Quakes STILL rule. I tried to get as many players with Earthquakes connection, when they ran out, players with Bay Area connections and finally the last couple of players had English links as did the Manager.

My Team for Week 1 was: Joe Cannon - Colorado (Former Quake), Chad Marshall - Columbus (Stanford University), Todd Dunivant - LA (Former Quake), Kevin Goldthwaite - Houston (current Quake!!), Landon Donovan - LA (Former Quake), Ricardo Clark - Houston (current Quakes), Danny O'Rourke - New York (Former Quake), Dwayne DeRosario - Houston (current Quake), Brian Ching - Houston (current Quake), Chris Brown - Salt Lake (former Quake), Kenny Cooper - Dallas (has played in England). Manager: Steve Nichol - New England (has played in England).
The bench players are: Jon Conway - New York (former Quake), Jimmy Conrad - Kansas (former Quake), Terry Cooke - Colorado ( English), Richard Mulrooney - Dallas (former Quake), Galen Carr - Chicago (Born in Bay Area), Luchi Gonzalez - Colorado (former Quake), Jamil Walker - DC (former Quake) and Arturo Alvarez - Dallas (former Quake)

-Richard

Score Update:

International Cricket: India beat England by 39 runs 1st One Day International
India beat England by 4 wickets 2nd One Day International

Football: Hartlepool United 1 Oldham Athletic 1 League 1. Pools move up one place to 20th

Rugby League: Bradford Bulls 23 Hull 12 Challenge Cup 4th Round

Ice Hockey: Carolina Hurricanes 1 Washington Capitals 2
Carolina Hurricanes 2 Tampa Bay Lightening 1 - Canes Clinch play-off place
Carolina Hurricanes 1 Washington Capitals 5
Carolina Hurricanes 3 Florida Panthers 2 - Canes Win the South-East Division
Atlanta Thrashers 5 Carolina Hurricanes 2

Baseball: Washington Nationals 13 Houston Astros 6
Detroit Tigers 5 Houston Astros 3
Houston Astros 4 Atlanta Braves 5
Cleveland Indians 6 Houston Astros 5
Houston Astros 11 Los Angeles Dodgers 3
Houston Astros 5 Kansas City Royals 6
Houston Astros 6 Kansas City Royals. All games Spring Training. Tha Astros finish Spring Training with a record of 11-19

Basketball: Houston Rockets 102 Cleveland Cavaliers 104
Houston Rockets 115 Seatle Supersonics 87
Washingon Wizards 103 Houston Rockets 105 Rockerts are 24.5 games behind San Antonia in the South-West Division.

-Richard