Road Trips with a Cat

I may not be a fan of the Seattle Mariners, but I do like it when people help animals in need, so Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz is an MVP in my book.

Muñoz made news recently when he revealed that he'd adopted a cat that now accompanies him when the team is on road trips. The cat had been abandoned by a previous owner in Mexico. After hearing about its situation, Muñoz stepped up to give it a home. He and his wife then made the decision to bring the cat on team road trips because they didn't want to add stress to its life by leaving it in the care of someone else.

Such concern for the cat demonstrates a high degree of empathy. Also, it shows how strong the bond between humans and animals can become.

Muñoz is a pitcher, but he hit a home run by helping this cat.

Still ARFing

Two of the things I remember from my childhood are loving animals and rooting for the Oakland Athletics baseball team. The two might not appear related, but they are.

At the time, the manager of the A's was Tony La Russa, an animal advocate I previously blogged about when he retired from managing in 2011. Two weeks ago, La Russa and his Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) celebrated the 25th anniversary of the event that sparked this baseball man to action on behalf of animals.

During a game on May 7, 1990, a stray cat found its way onto the field at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. La Russa helped secure it, and after the game, he worked to find it a home. In searching out a home for the cat, which was named Evie, he discovered the lack of no-kill shelters in the Oakland area. As a result, he and his wife went to work starting ARF.

La Russa left Oakland to manage the St. Louis Cardinals following the 1995 season, but his organization and his work for animals continue today. Since 1991, ARF has found homes for more than 30,000 dogs and cats. For more information about ARF, click here.

La Russa managed a lot of successful teams, but rooting for them was even more fun because I knew he loved animals.

A Goal for Iran

We'll need a world-class goalie to make this save.

Along with playing in this year's World Cup, Iran's national soccer team took on an important conservation concern. In an unprecedented move, FIFA, the governing body for international soccer, agreed to allow the Iranian team to wear jerseys displaying the image of an Asiatic cheetah.

With the jersey image, Iran hopes to enlist international help in a movement that has mobilized the country's conservationists. The world has fewer than 75 Asiatic cheetahs left (all are thought to live in Iran), but the declining numbers have inspired Iranians to study and protect the cats, and the country's government has taken steps to stabilize the cheetah population. To strengthen its cheetah-conservation efforts with international support, Iran successfully petitioned FIFA to make an exception regarding rules for jersey features. For more details on this story, click here.

When a species' population drops to numbers as small as those of the Asiatic cheetah, keeping it from extinction becomes a major challenge. It's the kind of project that requires much work, constant attention, and international cooperation. Sharing the message about Iran's cheetahs at the World Cup will hopefully bring the resources needed to protect these cats.

The Iranian soccer players may not be able to use their hands on the field, but they are lending one to the preservation of their country's cheetahs.

The Non-conquering Hero

She had the world in her hands and set it free.

Sports and power go hand in hand. In most sports, athletes struggle to assert their power over each other. The most successful athletes also tend to achieve social power and standing beyond the arena or the field of play. Fans revere them and see them as models for how to live. Some athletes become influential in politics.

Finland recently attempted to give an Olympic medalist power over nature, but her response turned the power structure on its head. According to this story from Finnish news outlet Yle, snowboarding silver medalist Enni Rukajärvi was offered land for a house as a reward for her success. She declined and said she asked only for "pure nature."

It's not completely clear what Rukajärvi's request includes, but her revision of tradition certainly calls into question the hierarchy that encourages the development of nature for human consumption. With it, she has placed greater value on the natural world than on humans' long-asserted privilege to control and manage the environment.

Nature has a special power, and thanks to a Finnish snowboarder, there's a place in the world where that power will remain.

Roaring Success

My present-free Christmas is off to a great start.

As I mentioned in the last two blog entries, I did not ask for presents this year. I simply requested that my family members make contributions to environmental/animal groups.

My sister took the idea and ran with it. She asked me if I had heard of Erin Henderson, a linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings whose Sacks for Cats initiative is part of National Geographic's Cause an Uproar campaign. Cause an Uproar raises funds for efforts to protect the world's big cats, and Henderson donates to the campaign each time he gets a sack. My sister wanted to know if Cause an Uproar worked as a charity, and I thought it sounded great. Check out the video about Sacks for Cats below:



This morning, I received an e-mail from my sister confirming her donation. It was really exciting and fulfilling to see my idea springing to life.

Stepping up Our Game

When it comes to the health of the environment, you have to play to win, and more and more sports teams are embracing that idea.

Partnering with the Natural Resources Defense Council, many leagues and teams, including the Pacific Northwest members of the Green Sports Alliance, are working to minimize their environmental impact. Check out the following video about the NRDC's 2013 game changers for environmental stewardship (that's "The Natural," Robert Redford, narrating):



As a sports fan and environmentalist, it makes me happy to see these teams helping advance the ball on environmental sustainability.

Slam Dunk

Connecting with nature and playing sports are great ways of improving our health, but our sports can also improve the health of some of nature's other creatures.

As I have discussed many times before, a lot of my time growing up involved experiences of nature. However, another major part of my early life involved sports, so it makes sense that the following video of a sea otter playing basketball to live a healthier life at a zoo in Oregon leaves me with a smile:



Because sea otters are known for their intelligence and playfulness, I think this idea is a great form of enrichment for Eddie and represents the perfect mix of human and nature.

Eddie's certainly got game.

The Immortal Rally Squirrel

According to this story, the St. Louis Cardinals' Rally Squirrel, which I've already blogged about, is going to be getting its own baseball card.

The funny thing is that the card is supposed to be the card for Skip Schumaker, the Cardinal batter who was up when the squirrel ran across home plate in Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

I love how the whole squirrel story has taken on a life of its own. Congratulations, Rally Squirrel. You're further cemented in the history of baseball.

Friend to Animals Retires from Baseball

Tony La Russa, who managed the St. Louis Cardinals for 16 years, including this year's amazing World Series run, has retired. In 33 years of managing, he also led the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox.

La Russa leaves with the third most wins of any manager in Major League Baseball history. I have been a fan of his teams for about 20 years, but my respect for his work in the game would not be as strong if it were not for his efforts on behalf of animals.

He co-founded the Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF), which is a no-kill shelter for dogs and cats. Recently, La Russa also supported a campaign to shut down puppy mills in Missouri.

Thank you, Mr. La Russa, for all the sports memories and especially for the work you do to protect animals.

Of Cardinals and Squirrels

Three weeks ago, I blogged about my favorite baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals, and their squirrelly experience in the playoffs.

Last night, less than 24 hours after completing a World Series Game 6 comeback that served as a microcosm for the team's season and provided an ultimate example of perseverance, the Cardinals prevailed in Game 7 to win their 11th world championship.

The victory capped an incomparable run to first get into and then progress through the playoffs. In two months of work that seemed more like play, the team created something special; and right in the middle of that special experience, you'll find a real-life squirrel, name Rally Squirrel by the St. Louis fans.

Even after the real squirrel was caught in a live trap and relocated to a wooded area away from the ballpark, St. Louis embraced it: Fans dressed up as squirrels, relief pitcher Octavio Dotel carried a toy squirrel with him, and a squirrel mascot was hired to accompany the Cardinals' usual mascot, Fredbird. Major League Baseball even created a commercial that tied the playoff theme "Legends are Born in October" to the squirrel's runs around the field.

Sports aren't always all they're cracked up to be, but I'll treasure the experiences the Cardinals and Rally Squirrel gave me this fall. It was something more than playing a game and winning. For just this once, it was the stuff of life.

What an autumn this has become.

Nature at the Park

I'm a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, so this fall has been pretty exciting. The team had a special run just to make the playoffs, and it's been a lot of fun to watch.

Then, on Tuesday, the Cardinals played Game 3 of their National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. That's when things got really interesting: A squirrel ran on the field at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and momentarily delayed the game.

Yesterday, a squirrel (perhaps the same one) ran across home plate right after a pitch, and an inning later, the Cardinals scored two runs to solidify a lead that gave them a win, letting them tie the series at two games apiece. Watch a video of yesterday's squirrelly events below:



The squirrel has been named Rally Squirrel by Cardinal fans, and it now has a Wikipedia page, two Facebook pages, and a Twitter account. Without doubt, this has been an interesting mixing of human and nature, and now, people seem to be speaking for the squirrel.

In 2006, the Cardinals won the World Series. That was pretty neat, but regardless of what happens for the rest of this season's playoffs, the September comeback by the team combined with the adventures of Rally Squirrel have really made 2011 memorable.

To a T

Earlier this week, I saw a person wearing a T-shirt that read, "I Play Green." The words intrigued me, so I committed them to memory with the intention of looking them up online later.

First, I discovered that I Play Green is a program from the Green Education Foundation. I Play Green focuses on making participation in sports more environmentally sustainable by recruiting athletes, coaches, and teams for the purpose of reducing waste from plastic bottles, instituting eco-friendly field management policies, and lowering the carbon footprint of travel associated with sporting events.

In and of itself, this sounded pretty cool, combining sports and the environment, both of which I enjoy. Then, I found that I Play Green was only part of a larger effort by the Green Education Foundation, which advocates for sustainability in education and the teaching of skills that will help children think critically about environmental issues. The foundation provides programs, resources, and curriculum geared toward fulfilling these ideals.