Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana, Harvard philosopher. Okotoks Dawgs fans have no problem remembering the past because after dropping a 2-1 decision to the Edmonton Prospects were eliminated from the Western Major League playoffs in the first round for the fourth-straight year — the last three from those guys from a city best known for having a big place to shop. There’s no need to panic. The Dawgs under executive director John Ircandia and an elite recruiting squad in the organization will always have a first-rate team on the field. But the reality is, those early days of three straight championships of the late 2000s are becoming as distant a memory as those Joe Torre Yankees. Since 2009, the league has gotten better, it is a bona fide college league now — remember the days of some teams having the odd 30-year-old on the squad? The Dawgs’ success in those early days drove the rest of the teams to up their game — and they have done it with a string of non-Okotoks pennant years. Dawgs coach Joe Sergent commented one of the reasons for the Prospects’ success was because they have players who have been there before, been with Edmonton for a few years. Okotoks has a tendency to start with a clean slate every year. Remember 2007 to 2009, when legendary Dawgs, Manny Kumar, Jeff Duda and Brett Thomas were there all three years? Continuity also breeds popularity with the fans. The most popular players in the Dawgs non-championship years have been, arguably, Eddie Sanchez, Jordan Procyshen and Brendan Rose — all players who had been at Seaman for a while. The Dawgs will be strong next season, and the fans will once again fill the stands, and hopefully there will be some familiar faces back.
