Happy Birthday!

No, the BasketCases' blog has not gone to the dogs. But today our little Cairn terrier, Ripley, is 15! And we think any dog who lives to that ripe old age deserves to have her picture on the Internet and a big cyber shout out. (Isn't she a cutie pie?)

Also, since the Mystics are playing the Liberty tonight in that all-important head-to-head matchup between the two teams vying for the very last playoff spot in the league, Ripley has a couple of birthday wishes she'd like to share with our loyal readers. First, of course, she wants the Mystics to win and clinch that final playoff spot! And since she's also a huge Terps fan, her second birthday wish is that Shay Doron gets some minutes.

Other than watching the game on NBA TV while the BasketCases are at the Phone Booth, Ripley expects to spend a quiet birthday at home, beginning with a nice morning walk and then sleeping in till about noon, at which time she will go into full terrier alert mode, staring out the window for several hours waiting for the mail to be delivered, as she has done six days a week, every week, for 15 years. And when the letter carrier arrives, Ripley will immediately transmute into Psycho Dog and hurl herself multiple times against the front door . . . after which she will promptly go back to sleep. No doubt her dreams will be sweet, since she knows that every birthday always ends with some of her all-time favorite food in the world: ICE CREAM! (And we don't mean Frosty Paws, we mean the real thing!)

A Mystics win. (We hope.) A playoff berth. (We hope.) Shay on the hardwood. (We hope.) Ice cream. (Definitely!) It's a dog's life.

Photo Credit: DC BasketCases