PET OF THE WEEK
Hi, my name is Bella and I have been here at the Porterville Animal Shelter for 44 days. I am a good girl and love to play. I use my food bowl as a hockey puck and push it around the kennel because I am bored and I love to play fetch. The staff here love me and want me to find a loving home where I can blossom. I enjoy belly rubs and getting pet all over, I get so excited and happy. I get along well with other dogs that I have been introduced to here. I really need a family or person that has time to play with me and be active with me .... I am going stir crazy in this tiny kennel and need to be free. Please come out and see me, I'll be waiting to meet you.
The Fourth of July was a day of many things. Remembering this country's freedoms. Celebrating the red, white and blue. Fireworks. Parades. Picnics. Beaches. All the values the U.S. was built upon. And Joey Chestnut eating 71 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the annual Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest in New York.
Of course, he didn't break his record of 74 hot dogs in 10 minutes, set last year, so it wasn't a total victory. And Chestnut was disappointed, saying afterward, “I feel like I should eat a couple more.''
Miki Sudo already won the women's competition by eating 31 hot dogs, well short of her personal record of 37 and well short of the overall record of 45 set by Sonya “the Black Widow” Thomas. Perhaps she can take comfort in the fact that she has won the title six years in a row.
Another in our occasional series of readers' favorite sports moments involving local teams or events. To take part, email your favorite sports moment to houston.mitchell@latimes. com. Here's the next one:
Keith Veraldi, Eagle Rock: “I have been fortunate to grow up in the 1960's as a sports fan living in L.A. Many great pro and college teams, legendary columnists in the local newspapers, HOF announcers, historic venues. Plenty of championships as well as heartbreaks in fiftyfive years. Thousands of remembered moments.
“But my absolute favorite was on Sept. 2, 2017. Los Angeles Memorial
The double-a Tennessee Smokies, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, apologized to Colin Kaepernick for a tweet they sent Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Nike recalled a sneaker that featured an early American flag at Kaepernick's urging. On Wednesday, the Smokies drew the 13-star symbol on their infield and tweeted images of it with the caption, “Hey @Kaepernick7 after a lot of thought, we have decided it's best to just do it. #America.”
Connor Pearce, marketing and community relations manager for the Smokies, told the Associated Press that “it was just a lighthearted take on a current situation. We did not mean to offend anyone by it. If it did, we certainly apologize.”