Record (8-1) MVP: Brett Owens DEFENSE: Brett Owens ROOKIE: Elizabeth Gouchon 6TH MAN: Peter Tse MOST IMPROVED: John Wong Matt Grigg forever changed the history of the Mad Dogs-Brass Monkeys rivalry with his miracle half court buzzer-beater to beat their arch-nemesis in the postseason, ushering an era (2006-2009) largely dominated by the Dogs. Matt's half-court heave would be known as the "The Shot," as monumental and influential as "The Catch" for the 49ers. The Mad Dogs saw their 10-game winning streak snapped by Bassphemy (a team they have never matched up well against) in an unfortunate triple OT loss (49-47) on 8/30/06. That loss prevented the Mad Dogs from capturing the top seed. What resulted, was a three way tie for first and the Mad Dogs losing the coin flip to the Monkeys. Inevitably, the two powerhouses locked up again in the semifinals. The Monkeys even came armed with their Rally Gorilla (one of their fans dressed in a full ape suit). What ensued would become a remarkeable tale of lore. With 0:20 left, the Monkeys rushed upcourt, with the ball in the hands of the fat blonde guy (FBG). FBG drove the lane as three Mad Dog defenders converged on him to help. With 9.6 seconds remaining, his off-balanced fade-away dropped straight through the net to give the Monkeys a (37-35) lead. Rather than call time-out, the Mad Dogs decided to play on. One train of thought for such a strategy is to catch the opponents off guard and not allow them to set their defense; however, this probably never crossed anyone’s mind. Surely if the Mad Dogs had called timeout, they would have tried to get the ball in the hands of a reliable and fast guard. But these were strange times, and who else was racing the ball up court than their 30-something forward, Matthew “Big Shot” Grigg, with his penchant for throwing Chris Webber-esque behind the back passes. It appeared that the Mad Dogs had a good break shaping up – Phil and Brett were each wide open on the wings, racing towards the hoop. With a dearth of viable options, Matt chose wisely – he pulled up and jacked a 30-footer with 4-seconds showing on the clock. The decision-making process was like a page out of Mike Ghirawoo or Marc Wilson’s playbook. One unnamed Mad Dog team source later remarked: “That was a Top 10 worst shot in Mad Dog history. Top 10.” But one thing kept the shot from cracking the top 10 – Matt drained the shot, time expired, and the Mad Dogs captured the most dramatic win (37-38) in franchise history. As the team swarmed Matt in a sea of humanity, he maintained his “Big Shot Rob” demeanor by not once trading his scowl for a smile. Then after shaking hands, he stormed off to the lavatory to flush out his bladder. “When he launched that three-pointer, I was thinking ‘You got to be kidding me,’” remarked Brett. Apparently Mr. Big Shot was not in the mood to be joking around, his demeanor as ice-cold as Robert Horry. “He knew the shot was going in,” Brett rambled on. Lost through the years of fan's memories, many forget Matt's miracle shot did not win the championship. The Mad Dogs still had business to take care of after the breathtaking semifinal. The team captured their second championship, defeating #4 Basshers (58-41), who earlier upset #1 Bassphemy. ------------------- This would be Brett Owens and Bill Metzger's last season. Both were honored with awards (for Inspiration & Sportsmanship) in their namesake - the first recipients were Lisa Lefkowitz and Elizabeth Gouchon in Spring 2008. Retirement ceremony pending for Brett.

20090620-09714 Nathan’s was founded by a Polish immigrant, Nathan Handwerker as a small hot dog stand in Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY in 1916. The recipe for his hot dogs was developed by his wife, Ida. He sold them for five cents each. Coney Island was in it's hey-day and Nathan’s became popular very quickly. Some of it's earliest regular customers included Al Capone, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, and Cary Grant. In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt served Nathan’s hot dogs to the King and Queen of England. Later, Roosevelt had Nathan’s hot dogs sent to Yalta when he met with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, once stated that, “No man can hope to be elected in New York State without being photographed eating a hot dog at Nathans. Politicians, show-business, and sports celebrities can often be seen eating Nathan’s dogs. Barbra Streisand once had Nathan’s hot dogs delivered to London, England for a private party. A trip to Nathan’s was the focus of an episode of the hit TV sitcom Seinfeld. Recently, ex-mayor of NY City Rudy Giuliani declared Nathan’s the “World’s best hot dog.” Shortly after that, Nathan Handwerker was named to New York City's Top 100- joining the ranks of Joe Namath, Irving Berlin, Andrew Carnegie and Joe DiMaggio. Jacqueline Kennedy served Nathan's at the White House. In his final last will and testament, actor Walter Mathau requested Nathan’s hot dogs to be served at his funeral – and they were. In 1988, Nathans began franchising and at some point started packaging their hot dogs for retail sale. In 2008, over 360 million Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs were sold from over 20,000 food service and retail outlets worldwide. The photo above is at the location of the original Nathans hot dog restaurant. -------------- Original Nathans. Coney Island, NY