February 22 Is National Dog Biscuit Day
Yesterday on National Sticky Bun Day I lamented that most of these days of national observance seem to be nothing more than excuses to gorge ourselves on delicious treats. Doing some basic math, I have calculated that if a person celebrated a year’s worth of Days of Observance that has to do with food, they’d potentially weigh upwards of 900 lbs come Christmas.
Today is National Dog Biscuit Day, a day that your palate gets a break (unless you enjoy dog biscuits). If you do enjoy munching on a Milk Bone, well, that’s up to you, but your dog would really appreciate it if you gave him a few biscuits today. Although, let’s be honest, your dog doesn’t really need a day dedicated to enjoying a dog biscuit If they are anything like my dog, any dog biscuit is worth the biggest and most excited celebration they can muster.
So give them some biscuits today. They’ve earned it. If you have a cat you can try to give it a dog biscuit, but chances are it will just look at you like it doesn’t understand why it has to share a planet with you. Not so with the dog; even hint you’ll give the dog a biscuit and it’s instantly the most exciting event that has ever happened in the history of the world. Well, at least since the last time you gave the dog a biscuit.
Today in history: February 22, 1847: The Battle of Buena Vista
During Mexican-American War in the fall of 1846, the American force led by General Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican forces in the north Mexican city of Monterrey in a bitterly fought battle. The Mexican General Pedro De Ampudia signed a 2 month armistice surrendering the city to Taylor, in exchange for a period of cease fire to enable an orderly evacuation of Mexican forces.
Soon after the withdrawal, Mexican general Santa Anna returned from exile and regrouped the Mexican force. His command came into possession of a letter from Taylor to a subordinate detailing plans for their march southwest to Mexico City. Santa Anna determined to attack the city of Saltillo, and establish a force to threaten the American advance, and cut off the occupied city of Monterrey.
Santa Anna set off with his army in late January, and by February 20, he was in position south of Saltillo with more than 15,000 men. On that day Major Benjamin McCullough and his Texas Rangers encountered Santa Anna’s force in the town of Encarnacion, reporting back to Taylor of the army they faced. Taylor placed 4.650 men just south of Saltillo in an area known as Agua Nueva, near Hacienda de San Juan Buena Vista. Defensive ground was selected, and the American troops dug in and throttled the roads north.
Santa Anna began his attack on February 22, and thanks to outstanding artillery placement commanding the entire battlefield, the far-outnumbered Americans routed the Mexican army. The cannon fire forced Mexican units into deep ravines where they were helpless to defend themselves. By the 25th Santa Anna’s troops were in full retreat.
Sports History: The Miracle on Ice: February 22, 1980
In the days of the Cold War, competition with the Russians went well beyond trying to develop enough weapons to kill each other 50 times over. Sports were also hotly contested and the rivalry between the United States and Soviet athletes was fierce. Each Olympics were inevitably painted as a test of ideologies, with the rigid Soviet method of developing their athletes from a young age compared to the American way of selecting athletes from champions in the various sports. Choice versus force, the “American Way” vs the Soviet machine.
There was no shortage of controversies, no shortage of accusations. If you want a great idea of how hot things were, take a peek at the 1972 Olympic basketball game between the US and Soviet Union.
As you might expect, the Soviets were the most powerful force in international hockey at the time, having won the gold medal in 5 of the previous 6 Olympic games. At the time, professional players were strictly prohibited by the Olympic rules, which the Soviets ignored. Their team was made up primarily of professional players with significant experience in international play and Olympic competition. These “amateur” athletes played in what was presented as ‘after-hours social leagues’ provided by the Central Party to their workers. (At the time, the NHL had very few Russian players, because Soviet citizens were not allowed to leave the Soviet Union unless they defected, a dangerous proposition not only for the defector, but the family they often left behind.)
Only one player on the American team had any Olympic experience, with the other 19 players made up of collegiate hockey players who had tried out for and made the US team in 1979. The average age of the team was 21, making it the youngest team in US history to play in the Olympic games.
In 1980 there was tremendous friction between the US and Soviet Union. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had President Carter considering a boycott of the Summer games that were to be held in Moscow. The US eventually did stay home from those games.But the Winter games were held on American soil, in Lake Placid, New York.
In the first game of the Olympic tournament, the US faced off against powerful Sweden, and scored a goal with 27 seconds remaining in the game to earn a 2-2 tie.
Had they not scored that goal, the Miracle would never have happened, because the Soviets would have eventually won the gold on goal differential. The Soviet team stormed through the other group, cruising into the medal round easily, and the matchup with the Americans was expected to be one sided, despite the scrappy nature of the US team.
Due to the anticipation, ABC television requested the game be moved from it’s 5PM time slot to 8PM to accommodate their prime-time broadcast. The IOCC declined after the Soviets protested that this would make the game appear at 4AM Moscow time. ABC made the decision to tape delay the game, and legendary sports anchor Jim McKay announced that the game had already occurred, but they would not spoil the outcome and show the game in its entirety in the 8PM hour.(Unlike today, you could not simply go to another device and get instant news.)
The game was tough, and after the second period the Soviets led 3-2. In the third period, the US tied the game on a slap shot goal at the 8 minute mark, and then took the lead 2 minutes later. The Soviets had not trailed in the game until that moment attacked ferociously, but time and again goalie Jim Craig turned away their efforts. As the game wore down the intensity in front of the American goal reached a fever pitch as the Soviets surprisingly pulled their goalie and skated 6 on 5, something they were rarely forced to do. With 7 seconds remaining the US cleared the puck out of the zone and counted down the seconds to the improbable, miraculous victory.
Al Michaels made the legendary call.
A lot of folks will point out that this was not the gold medal game, even though you’d never have known it for the celebrations that erupted. The US still had to get past the mighty team from Finland, which they did with a strong 4-2 victory, securing the gold medal. And that small sentence sort of underscores how the fact that they won gold almost felt like a secondary accomplishment to defeating the USSR on this date in 1980.