Signs point to big Oscar upsets

Just five years ago it was unthinkable. Even one year ago no one could have conceived of it. Even last summer this kind of earth-shattering upset would have been labeled a pipe dream.

But several years after all but being completely out of the business and all but forgotten someone out there thought he was worth one more shot. Now, shaggy hair and all, this natural and supremely gifted talent has come all the way back to the top to  claim the ultimate honor in a profession he almost threw away.

Sound like Mickey Rourke?

Actually I was talking about the remarkable comeback last week of Stump, the 10-year-old Sussex spaniel who came out of a five-year retirement to become the oldest dog to win the Best In Show Silver Cup of the 133rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Shortly after winning the sporting dog competition at Westminster in 2004, Stump contracted a mysterious illness and nearly died. But after a 19-day stay at Texas A&M Hospital, the vets saved his life and he retired to life as a house pet. That is until about a week before this year’s Westminster event, the Super Bowl of dog shows. His owner decided on a lark to enter him and the rest is now history as he has become the toast of the town, appearing as lead guest on shows that wouldn’t have even booked him a few months ago.

Is this an Oscar sign for notorious canine lover Mickey Rourke, who has six dogs of his own? Does the unexpected triumph of Stump signal something in the air that could transmit all the way from Madison Square Garden to the stage of the Kodak on Sunday? From some angles Rourke and Stump even look alike. Perhaps they share the same groomer.  Could they have been soul mates in another life?

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