I'm a man of my word when it comes to covering the hard news. As such, the PETA sponsored protest involving the Seattle Mist started at noon today in Westlake Park. A few members of the local press showed up prior to the appointed time - I noticed one of them pulling a serious photographer rig out of the car parked just ahead of me on 2nd Avenue. We gave each other a "wassup" nod after which I asked if he was downtown to "shoot lingerie" and he replied "I hope it's not a total bust." Scout's honor. The rain was miserably steady around that time, soaking through even the heartiest and best geared-up. I spent much of the next hour under an awning or similar building outcropping. Two of the players (#4 Riki Creger-Zier and #12 Christine Moore) showed right about on time. Two others (#8 Chelsie Jorgensen and #5 Jessica Hopkins) showed up soon after. That made 4 of the forecast 10 players. Add in two PETA handlers, maybe a few dozen passersby who stopped to snap pictures or take a flier, and a half dozen pseudo-serious media types and you've got the sum total of today's protest. The pictures I've seen out on the web thus far look pretty bleak. I've at least tried to capture the humanity seen in what until not long ago was the part of downtown where Occupy Seattle held sway. Y'all can see for yourselves a few of my own posted above. Including one from inside the Starbucks across the street where the team headed inside to order drinks and dry off. I was already there, reflecting upon what this protest means in the grander context (you'll just have to wait for that). I snapped a few pics for Chelsie (a fan favorite, given her past work in "Playboy") using her iPhone and then took a few of my own. I'm not sure if the Lingerie Football League will make it all the way through this season - last Season was cancelled after just 3 games. Whatever happens, I think they'd do just fine in an outdoor game here in the Northwest judging by how they looked after an hour in the rain.