After weeks of continued domination by the hungry dogs, the alley was rocked today by a swarm of ferocious kitties. Seldom do we see the mighty dogs so humiliated in these battles for alley supremacy. We thought at first the day would be another hard fought event much like many we have seen in the past. Once again, the cats jumped to a quick lead in the first round leading 7 to 5. I strained from my window to hear the cat's huddle between rounds which usually takes place right below me. Today, the Intimidator called the meeting near the dumpsters because Sockit2u, dressed in a dog suit, was sitting on the fire escape hurling insults. Acastofmany climbed onto the garbage can so all could hear and all could see his determined eyes. I caught some of his pep talk, the normal encouragement of the youngsters, and the recognition of the fine play in the first round, but then he motioned for all the cats to come in real close. There was a hush over the alley as he whispered something to the closed ranks of felines. Suddenly, as though a bolt of lightning hit the alley, the cats let out a scream in unison. The noise was so frightening, 2 of the puppies fell off the loading dock and landed in the Big Dog's food dish. The determined cats continued their shrieking as they clawed their way to the boxes in the middle of the alley. The dogs, confused and maybe just a little intimidated, took their places at the assigned boxes. I could feel the tension mounting as I watched through my window. A murmur ran up the fire escape. Some of the younger cat spectators giggled with joy that the Cheerleader had come down from the air conditioner perch to join in the battle on the side of the cats. Their hero, Computemom had joined with Poppeye and had won her first round match against feared opponents Softfire and Rueful Rabies. Sockit2_the_cats, on the stairs above the young cats growled that their fun was over as their beloved Cheerleader was about to face Kenny_ha2, the Big Dog himself.

Whatever was whispered in that brief huddle must have been loaded with magic. The cats scratched their way to victory in 10 of the 12 second round matches. The dogs were shocked to find themselves down 17 to 7 at the end of the round. The Big Dog, severely hampered by the absence of his regular partner, tried desperately to encourage his troops. The next round started with 6 of the cat teams with 2-0 records. The young kittens on the fire escape squealed when it was announced that the Cheerleader was one of them. Sockit2_the_cats climbed down from the fire escape and slipped out of the alley. Midway through the round, I saw one of the dogs, I couldn't tell who, talking to the animal control officer in the shadows at the far end of the alley. Within seconds, the officer was dragging off Computemom to answer to some obviously trumped up charges. We can only hope that she will be released by next week and that these tactics won't continue in future. The cats maintained the lead and won the day 29 to 19. As the victory banner was being raised, I heard a voice from under the loading dock. "Next week, I'm bringing some friends - the dogs will rule again".

Supersub was Alan Mitchell

Purrrfect Games were played by: Acastofmany/Jean; Mrykath/Xbrorsen; Nuageman/MeowMixJin

Slams were bid and made by: Macmarine/Lorainew - 6C; SteveBurdette/Woo7NT - 6H; Rueful Rabies/Softfire - 6NT; and Errikos/Dittny - 7D

The Cats were: Acastofmany/Jean; DonKiwi/ScorpioKirsten; Mrykath/Xbrorsen; Nuageman/MeowMixJin; Paula_am (sub Rojohncl)/Paulajuk; Poppeye/Computemom; Dittny/Erikkos; Harlequin Smiles/GaleB; Pob01br/Orla; Pom_Two/Kippers; Psspill/Twister16; Sandrajoy/Felden

The Dogs were: Wyatt/Tonyswede; Woo7NT/SteveBurdette; Softfire/Rueful Rabies; RedRover/Pomfrted; Macmarine/Lorainew; Doggotu/CMK1912; BillsGirl/Alanbolt; Papabud/Amuzyka; Nonny (sub Tiss22) /HolyGuy; MickiFinn/CanadaGirl (sub Zuktort); Megin315/Bearafm; Kenny_ha2/Amanda (sub Kareyn_au)