Manuel Katz hated Peter Conner.

When P-Con was selected by the Santa Cruz Clefs in the 2003 FBA Draft, Furballer magazine ran a story on the big cougar from Marin County, California. Conner was a descendent of the original Californios, with blood lines reaching back to the Spanish and Native American roots of the state. Back then, the family had been known as Conero, but when the US took the land from Spain in the Mexican-American war, his cowardly ancestors changed their name.

It wasn't just his family's denial of their heritage that angered Katz. The Conners had done well in Marin County, their land rapidly gaining value until the family was one of the wealthiest in the West. Peter grew up on a magnificent mountain estate, where he lived in comfort with his successful parents, who took him around the world and sent him to the best schools, giving him a life of luxury. When young Peter showed a talent for basketball, he was given personal coaching at the best sports camps in the country. His father even built an indoor court on the estate just for him.

And to make it all worse, the Conners were devout Catholics. Peter was a cougar of strong faith, always thanking God for His gifts, always donating to his church, always keeping a clean, wholesome image. With his beautiful wife and his humility to the cameras, reporters picked up on the cougar's humble style. Before long, his teammates were no longer calling him P-Con, instead choosing a new and more arrogant nickname, St. Peter.

It all sickened Katz. The tabby had grown up in a Panamanian slum, abandoned by an American soldier father he never met. He grew up hungry and penniless, having to teach himself the sport the Americans played when the other cats found him too tall and gangly for soccer. And when his mother died leaving him with nothing in the world, the church refused to help her orphan. With nothing but his body and his clothes, the tabby found his own way to the States, traveling for months, starving every night.

Katz earned his way into the FBA, starting as a practice squad scab and fighting his way to being a superstar. He certainly wasn't handed his success like that God-touting, heritage-denying, richboy cougar from California.

When the 2009 FBA Playoffs arrived, Katz's Stanislaus Thrust were the #1 team in the Western Conference. The Santa Cruz Clefs were #6. The Thrust defeated team after team with ease, but when the Western Conference Finals came, Katz found himself facing Peter Conner who had struggled and clawed his way through the post-season, fighting with everything he had for his team. The pair played like lions, with Katz unwilling to lose to that prettyboy cougar, especially with his last chance to earn a ring on the line. To Katz's frustration, Conner was a beast on the court, his moves quick and brilliant, his defense ferocious, his shooting more graceful than it should have been from a player his size. Katz couldn't believe it when the Clefs won 3 games, much of it from Conner's incredible athletics, forcing the series to a 7th and final match.

The Thrust won. Katz was elated, the victory sweetened by his loathing for that damn cougar. But when Katz grinned at P-Con to show the richboy how good it felt to finish him off, Conner smiled back.

"It's been such an honor, Señor Katz," he said. "You were my hero growing up. Thank you for inspiring me to play. Good luck in the finals, I'm praying you win."

Katz didn't. He retired from the court, and became his team's assistant coach.

And when the team needed a new forward, he recommended St. Peter.

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A truly magical commission from the extraordinary  christaphorac! Be sure to fav the original from the master himself, located here: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/5423226/

C-Cat worked especially hard on this one for me. When he first showed me a sketch, I wasn't happy with the staging of it, so I sketched out the way I thought it should be drawn and he re-did the whole thing from the sketch without question.

Just win your freaking' Caldecott already, C-Cat.