BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
We're going to need a round of applause or three this morning. Clap it for women in the shower, a plenty agile dog and women on the hoof . . .
MUSICAL SHOWERS: Applause the first goes to west siders Marie Frondorf, Jean Ann Tucker and Cathy Bennett. Seems they won again. Won what? This: The Cincinnati edition of Unilever's annual Singing in the Shower contest. For the third consecutive year, no less.
Shower is the contest -- conducted in 20 cities in early June -- where people rewrite an old song with lyrics that mention a Lever Bros. product, then dress whacko and sing in a portable shower. Winners in those 20 cities get a free trip to Hollywood and a crack at a $5,000 top prize.
This will be Frondorf's sixth trip to the finals, No. 3 for Bennett and Tucker. They never won, but did finish second once. They went one year as Nunn-Sudds, singing "Lever" to the tune of "Fever." The other year it was the Shower Poofs, singing "Lever Soap Boy From New York City."
And this year? Singing under the name Miss Liberty and the Legends (dressed as the Statue of Liberty, Wagner's Brunnhilde, and Cleopatra) they did "Shower Escapades" to the tune of "It Don't Mean a Thing." The women hit Hollywood Sept. 26 for finals.
But first: ClapClapClap.
DOG'S LIFE INDEED: Round of applause the second goes to Teagan, noted dog. Oh what the heck, might as well throw in one for owner John Casey, too.
Casey and Teagan, see, are off to Washington for the finals of the 24th annual Friskies Alpo Canine Frisbee Championships. They're one of 16 teams competing on the grounds of the Washington Monument Saturday. About 12,000 spectators are expected.
Teagan, for the record, is a 3-year-old Australian shepherd. Casey, somewhat older, is a Cincinnati carpenter who has been competing in the contest since 1991.
Anyway, he won the right to represent the North Central region after winning a May 30 tournament in Indianapolis.
Finals (watch the news that night; they're all over TV every year on account of you can't go wrong with warm fuzzy animal shots) are judged by former winners in the areas of Showmanship, Leaping Agility, Degree of Difficulty and Execution.
First prize is $1,000 and a year's supply of Alpo. Whether Teagan gets it or not, give him one of these: ClapClapClap.
RUNS FOR IT: Round of applause the third goes to marathoner and Huntington Bank exec Julie Isphording.
No stranger to applause, Isphording, a runner for 17 years, competed in the '84 Olympics and has run hundreds of marathons all over the country. And we might add, learned a heck of a lot about training for same.
Now she's sharing it in On Your Feet. She wrote the book for free (yeah, some people still do it) and it's being distributed for free by TriHealth.
Why the freebie? The idea, she says, "is to get more women out on the fitness trail," but to make sure they do it safely. Meaning everything from the right shoes to proper breathing and warmups, training, even what to eat.
All that info and more is presented as a 12-week training program in the book's 60 pages.
Call 475-4500 for a copy. But first, one of these: ClapClapClap.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
KNIPPENBERG ARCHIVE
