Party On, Beloveds

Yes, the Lady Terps were unceremoniously drummed out of the NCAA tournament last night by a beyond-control Stanford team. (Can it be possible that Kristi Toliver scored 35 points and the Terps still never really had a chance? Turns out it is possible if Lang and Harp are shut down inside, and the normally solid-from-the-charity-stripe Terps manage to miss 5 out of 6 shots from the foul line during a critical streak in the second half.) (Kathy Orton's Wa Po report is here. Milton Kent's Bal Sun report is here. Rick Maese has a nice tribute to senior Crystal Langhorne here.)

So, yes, there is sorrow in Roxie's World today, but we can take comfort in the fact that the Terps got bounced by one of the few teams in women's collegiate basketball coached by a pretty much out dyke. We have always admired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. I mean, how can you not admire a woman so focused on the game and nothing but the game that she goes on national television wearing aviator glasses and clothes straight out of the box from Lands' End? We love us some sports geeks here in Roxie's World, and VanDerveer is just about as geeky as it gets. Plus, we bow in homage before the searing talent of Stanford guard Candice Wiggins, who scored 41 points in a performance Orton accurately described as "transcendent." We are heartbroken for the four seniors on Maryland's team who worked so hard to get back to the Final Four in their last season, but we don't mind seeing VanDerveer and Stanford having their first chance to battle for the crystal trophy since 1997. We wish them well, even if we will be pulling for C. Vivian Stringer and the Scarlet Women of Rutgers to be the ones cutting down the nets in Tampa.

The agony of defeat notwithstanding, sports fans, today is a holiday in Roxie's World. Today is the day we celebrate the birth of America's favorite dog blogger obsessively devoted to politics, pop culture, and basketball. Yes, kids, it's true. It's April Fool's Day, and I am fourteen years old! I may be mostly deaf, a little bit blind, frequently incontinent, and achy in the legs, but my leaky old heart is still ticking and my typist is still pounding away at the laptop. Life is good, children, and so we celebrate by re-posting the vid we used last year to mark this occasion because, hey, we think this scruffy terrier dancing to "Happy Birthday" is just about the funniest thing we've ever seen. Watch it again, and raise a glass to my amazing longevity. You know you want to, and I want you to, too. Love you, legions. Mean it.