In the novel One-Flap Rule, the late Phil Crota's (Smooth-billed Ani+) gripping coming-of-age novel about avians struggling in the world of professional athletics, there's a controversial line early in the story. When a bigoted coach first hears of a young crow's interest in joining the team, he snorts with disdain, "Well, at least you're not a frog."

No one has struggled harder for equality than amphibians. While avians, reptiles and prey have fought decades of oppression in a society led by predator mammals, all of those groups have made huge strides in advancement, creating opportunities where previous generations had none. But even today amphibians live segregated from other furries, often in ghettos formed in swamps and marshes, distant from wealth or opportunity. It's a curious fact that when furry liberals speak of the need to further equality for everyone, they rarely mention the amphibians.

Randy Catcher (Bullfrog, G, STA), like many of his kind, was born not in a hospital, but at home in a bullfrog ghetto deep in Georgia's Okefenokee swamp. His family was poor like all the frogs in his town, though they had a meager blessing. Randy's father was a resourceful soul who had landed a steady job collecting samples for a research project at a furry university in Atlanta. His father had no education and didn't understand the value of the samples, but he knew the swamp and had the meticulous eyes the college needed. It was difficult work that sent his dad away for long stretches. But it paid enough to feed his family and buy the occasional present-- like a basketball for when young Randy grew his legs.

Randy played with that basketball until the surface was smooth, hitting the broken old court every day before and after school. He made varsity his freshman year of high school, and quickly became the best player in the swamp. Trouble was the school was only in a regional league, and he only played other frogs. By the time graduation was looming, no college would even look at him, most scouts too afraid to enter the dark marshes of amphibians.

But that's when his dad's connections paid off. The basketball scholarship was a boon for young Randy. There was no other way his family could have paid his tuition. And it was with glowing pride that his parents and siblings watched Randy become the first of his family to go to college.

It might have been a different story if they had seen him there. It was clear from the first weeks that Randy was a mess of an athlete. His shooting was slow and ugly. His rebounding was garbage. He had no sense of teamwork. The only thing the coach liked about him was his webbed hands and high jump, making him an above average defenseman for his size. But Randy felt humiliated when he was put into the team's deep reserve with the mammals and avians and reptiles on the team teasing him for only being there because his daddy had slung mud for the science department.

That ignited something in Randy. He quickly learned how the rest of the furry world viewed frogs, and he didn't like it. It would have been easy to just take the scholarship and remain a deep reserve player, but it would have been wrong. Not when he was the only one in the swamp to get this far, not when his father had worked so hard to get him there, not when he wore the name of his family on his back. He did what he had done from his youth playing on that broken down court. He practiced hard, harder than anyone at the school. He trained himself to shoot like they did. He learned how to box out and clean the glass. He pushed himself every night until his muscles ached and his skin was dry. And when he was finally promoted to starter, he worked harder.

And that's why the Biloxi Mudpuppies picked him in the first round of the FBA draft. And why the Stanislaus Thrust traded for him. And why after a year of backing up FBA superstar Buck Hopper (Rabbit, G, STA), he became the team's new starting point when Hopper slid to 2 guard. All while being the only amphibian in the league.

And that's why the FBA is promoting the hell out of him.

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This is kind of a funny story. During a recent trip, I got to meet  d.chestnut who you all know is one of my #1 all-time favorite artists ever. During one of our conversations, I casually talked about B-Hop's teammates mentioning he played with a cougar, a mule, a gecko, a cat, a bullfrog...

At "bullfrog", T-Kast lit up like I'd hit a switch. So I knew I had to commission a picture of Randy Catcher.

When she opened up for commissions recently, I grabbed a slot just for the frog. At the time, I was still fleshing out the background for the character, and I realized that being the only amphibian in the league, Catcher must have had a special place in the FBA. Of course, the FBA is a business always looking to make money off new fans, and being he was the only frog in the league, I figured he had to be promoted heavily to attract more amphibian money. So I decided to make a poster for Catcher.

My usual process for making FBA commercial pieces like this is to commission the artwork then design the poster myself. But T-Kast surprised me by asking to design the poster herself. I was excited to see what she could make, so I sent her a bunch of NBA posters as references and gave her a few tips along the way.

And this is what came at the end of it. And it's gorgeous. Just look at this piece!! The layout, the water effects, the fonts, the lighting, the design-- everything in this piece just dazzles. The swath of glowing white along Randy's jump shot, the cool look in his eye looking back over his shoulder, the black Stanislaus jersey (which I found out T-Kast designed!!), just everything in this comes together beautifully. This doesn't look like an NBA poster. This is an NBA poster. This thing looks so legitimate, I think when I print this and put it on my office wall, people will be asking me what Randy Catcher's stats were last season.

Unbelievable work,  d.chestnut. This is just glorious.

Randy Catcher's signature designed by  jtigerclaw