Turbo, Point of Rocks, Md.

There's a glut of greyhounds up for adoption these days. At least half a dozen dog tracks closed in the U.S. last year, including established racing outposts like Raynham Park in New England and Dairyland Racetrack in Wisconsin. That's caused a relocation of thousands of greyhounds to still-viable circuits, mainly in Florida. And dog racing is a survival-of-the-fittest realm, meaning a lot of Sunshine State racers have been forced into retirement by better-performing immigrants.

Retirement hasn't historically been a pretty place for greyhounds. So rescue groups will take displaced dogs and give them homes wherever they can get them. Even if it means the animals have to leave Florida for D.C. during the worst winter ever.

"A load of six dogs from Daytona arrived on Friday," says Meredith Dowell, an organizer with Greyhound Welfare, a rescue group that operates throughout the D.C. area. "They left 60 degree weather for a blizzard. But we're trying to pull as many dogs out of Florida as we can."

Dowell says the six arrivals taken in by Greyhound Welfare — out of a total haul of 33 being delivered from the Daytona kennel — were immediately placed in separate foster homes here.

And while they showed some signs of being bummed at the change of scenery and diet — "Three had diarrhea after they got here," Dowell says — they have settled down nicely already.

Even though greyhounds are the fastest dogs on the planet, they're better equipped for being snowed in than other breeds. "Greyhounds sleep 18 to 20 hours a day, and they conserve energy," Dowell says. "They don't mind being shut in at all. It's not like having a lab or a border collie. Those dogs would go crazy in this."

Dowell's own greyhound, Turbo, who she got several years ago out of Wonderland Racetrack, a recently closed track in Massachusetts, has ridden out the recent snowstorms on the floor of her Point of Rocks, Md., home.

"Turbo is fine with doing nothing all day," Dowell laughs. "I had to literally shove him out the back door today to get him outside. He came running back in as fast as he could."

And that's fast.

For more information on how to adopt a greyhound or help out during this glut of displaced dogs, visit www.greyhoundwelfare.org.

Scout 1998-2008

Tis the season to adopt a greyhound. Though D.C. isn't near any dog tracks — the closest racing outposts can be found about five hours away in Wheeling, W..V. — the city is a hotbed of greyhound adoption. (My favorite adopted greyhound of all time, Craig Brownstein's Scout, is pictured here. Here's their story.)

Adoption's a real big deal right now, because the sport, or whatever you want to call greyhound racing, is dying fast. As 2009 ends, a lot of these 40-mile-an-hour couch potatoes will need new homes.

Several greyhound tracks are shuttering within days. Raynham Park in Raynham, Mass., is closing Dec. 26. Phoenix Greyhound Park in Phoenix, Ariz., and Dairyland Racetrack in Kenosha, Wisc., will end live racing by Dec. 31.

That means hundreds of dogs are being put up for adoption.

Voters in Massachusetts, where racing thrived for decades, banned dog tracks as of  2010, joining Vermont and Maine among states that have put prohibitions on the books. Two New Hampshire tracks went out of business earlier this year. That leaves Twin River in Rhode Island as the  only dog track in New England, and its owner is in bankruptcy and has asked to shut down its live racing operation.

Contact greyrescue.org for information on how to help.

***

The demise of greyhound racing has caught some two-legged victims around here, too: Andrew Beyer, who in his years with the Washington Post became arguably the most important horse racing writer of all time, lost a lot of money when Hinsdale, a New Hampshire tack, went under this year.

From a report in early 2009 in the Daily Racing Form, an equine publication:

Andrew Beyer, the popular handicapping expert, book author, and columnist, had $20,441 in his Hinsdale account at the time of the bankruptcy. Beyer, who frequently has columns published in Daily Racing Form, said on Thursday that he had never considered that the account could be wiped out by a bankruptcy filing.

For anybody still wondering what Beyer's been up to since he took his buyout from the Washington Post, let me try to explain something: HE HAD MORE THAN TWENTY GRAND IN A BETTING ACCOUNT AT AN OBSCURE NEW HAMPSHIRE DOG TRACK!

Good God.

(AFTER THE JUMP: Tommy Amaker bails on Falls Church High, loses to Georgetown? Can anybody explain why the Desiree Jennings crippled-by-a-flu-shot story died so fast? Can anybody explain why the D.C. Armor died so fast? Want to collect debts for Dan Snyder?)

***

A long time ago, Tommy Amaker, a Falls Church guy, was supposed to attend my alma mater, Falls Church High. But Amaker somehow weaseled his way out of attending FCHS and got himself enrolled at W.T. Woodson, an outside-the-beltway school with a better basketball program (and a better everything else, truth be told) than Falls Church had. He had a great run at Woodson, then went off to Duke and had a fabulous college playing career. Falls Church continued losing 16-20 games a year.

Amaker came back to town yesterday as coach of Harvard. He got whupped by Georgetown in a rare weekday day game at Verizon Center. I'm not sure how his coaching failures at Seton Hall and Michigan and yesterday's blowout are related to his bailing on FCHS all those years ago, but I'm sure they are.

***

I only got into this stuff this week, but I'm stunned at how fast the story of Desiree Jennings went away. Jennings became world famous overnight this fall as the Redskins cheerleader who was crippled by a flu shot. She set up a web site, desireejennings.com, just as her story went viral and it was used by leaders of the anti-vaccination movement (including Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy) to promote their cause.

But mere months after it went live, Jennings' site is dead. Visitors are now redirected to godaddy.com. The anti-vaccination crowd doesn't mention her anymore. Jennings quietly put a video on youtube indicating that the incurable disease brought on by the flu shot has been cured.

This is weird stuff.

***

The body hasn't yet been recovered, but there a few more clear signs that the D.C. Armor really is lifeless:

1)The official website of the city's first and only arena team has been shut down. As recently as last week, the front page of the site begged readers to keep showing up for news about the city's first and only arena football team.

2)The American Indoor Football Association no longer shows the D.C. Armor in the Eastern Division on its league standings, or anywhere on the AIFA website.

Why won't Armor owner Corey Barnette just come out and say the game's over? If he's even whispered it, I haven't heard such a thing.

There's no longer any shame in an arena team folding. If the Armor are indeed muerte, they'll have tons of company: One report has the AIFA killing off six of the 14 teams that played in 2009, and the DC franchise is listed among the fatalities.

But more suckers prospective franchise owners stepped over the bodies, so the league will add five new teams for 2010: New Jersey Revolution, Richmond Raiders, Wenatchee Valley Venom, Yakima Valley Warriors, San Jose Wolves.

***

Via Mister Irrelevant: Dan Snyder is looking to take somebody off the unemployment line just in time for the holidays.

Lest you think our town's Mr. Potter has changed his stripes, however, the job Snyder is looking to fill is a start-up position in... collections!

And not collections in the curator sense of the word, like somebody to work with art collections. No, this is collections in the pay-for-your-premium-tickets-now-or-we'll-sue-your-ass-like-we-sued-that-broke-grandmother's-ass sense.

We at Cheap Seats Daily are not usually in the business of giving Snyder free advertising space. But, he's filled so many thousand digital column inches for us in 2009, and, what the hell, it's Christmas, so:

Collections Coordinator – Washington Redskins (Landover, MD)

The Washington Redskins are seeking a highly motivated, energetic professional to join the organization on a Full Time basis as a Collections Coordinator.

Job Responsibilities:

• Oversee the collections process
• Coordinate with Legal and Finance departments
• Make calls to customers
• Process payments
• Set up payment plans
• Assist with customer related needs
• Transfer contracts
• Assist on game day
• Assist in preparation of legal correspondence
• Prepare reports for management

Requirements:

• Knowledge of FDCPA guidelines
• At least 2 years of collection experience
• Basic computer knowledge
• Strong communication and negotiation skills
• Must be able to work a flexible schedule
• Experience with Archtics database a plus

The Washington Redskins offer a competitive salary and an excellent benefits package. If you wish to become a part of this exciting, fast paced organization AND you meet the requirements listed above, please reply with a resume, cover letter and salary requirements or fax your information to (703) 726-7172. Apply Now NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

You can keep the referral fee, Dan.

***

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They were the two best teams in the city back then, and played before a huge crowd on a little outdoor court at Jelleff.

Well, they sort of played. Thompson made the evening memorable, though for wholly unsporting reasons. He kept his star-stocked lineup, full of future NCAA Division 1 players, on the bench, and instead sent in a ringer squad of non-basketball players to face DeMatha. The Stags took no pity on the replacements, crushing the kids in St. Anthony's uniforms, 108-26.

DeMatha players and the hoop-crazy fans who believed the hype and took the trouble that hot summer night to get to Jelleff, a boys club off Wisconsin Avenue, are still peeved at Thompson for making a mockery of the matchup.

But at the time the future Georgetown legend was anything but contrite.

(AFTER THE JUMP: Thompson ducked Wootten for Ducking Thompson? Nats win a video replay battle, lose the war? Larry Weisman practices the real new journalism? Michael Vick is the new Justin Timberlake? Greyhounds have friends?)

Thompson said his prank was to get back at Wootten for ducking his team in a year earlier in a postseason tournament: "I hope everyone who was there the other night and everyone who was interested was disappointed," Thompson told the Washington Post. "Then they'll know how my kids felt last year."

They don't have high school rivalries like that anymore. Or, if there are, they don't get written up on the front page of the sports section. Also, how many times do you have a high school matchup that can boast three future Hall of Famers — Thompson, Wootten, and DeMatha's Adrian Dantley? Basketball was indeed king around here back then.

The whole thing would make a good documentary.

***

Nats lose, 7-5. Starting pitching doesn't hold up, bullpen doesn't hold up, and immediately after a video replay turned a homer from Brewers Ryan Braun into a triple, Garrett Mock wild pitches the dude home from third. Few hints of Thunderation, is all I'm sayin'...

***

Training camp opens today. I get more excited about the start of football season every year. I don't know if it's me or the NFL publicity machine.

Speaking of: Larry Weisman practices the real new journalism. The longtime USA Today writer and football savant left the newspaper biz a couple months ago to work for Dan Snyder's PR staff.

Weisman's duties will include writing faux news stories for the Redskins website, such as today's piece on Jim Zorn's status. (Weisman's real stories are still appearing in real newspapers.)

It's a good thing Zorn wasn't fired after his team sunk to 8-8 last season, Weisman's hired hands type: "Lessons were learned last year, Zorn said. Hard lessons, some of them. Now more teaching commences, more building takes place and, executed properly, sets the stage for further development. That’s the hope. That’s the plan."

Readers could mistake Weisman's work for a newspaper story. And, I'm sure Snyder would admit: That's the hope. That's the plan.

I'm surprised Snyder hasn't given Weisman a faux radio show yet, too.

***

The Great Dan Steinberg showcases a pack of fans who came to Redskins Park to lobby for the signing of Michael Vick. When asked how he'd feel if Vick were actually brought to DC, one says: "Have you ever seen a girl at an 'N Sync concert?" I sorta get it, but would have been more convinced if the answer was something like: "Have you ever seen Michael Vick when his brown pit bull rips the throat off another guy's pit bull wide open, and collects on his $40 bet?"

Now THAT's excitement!

***

Not everybody is mean to dogs. This weekend, folks who care about the conditions of the greyhound breed are holding a convention in Massachusetts. The worries come from the decline of greyhound racing in this country, and the lack of concern the rest of the world has about the welfare of the racing dogs. A huge greyhound adoption network has sprung up in the U.S. in recent years with the help of animal rights groups and the racing industry, but apparently the dogs have a less rosy post-racing future elsewhere.

***

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