NEW YORK -- Imagine going to the World Series and hanging out in the dugout with Chipper Jones.

Or going to the Super Bowl and running into Peyton Manning in the lobby of your hotel and talking football with him.

Of course that’s probably not going to happen.

But at the Westminster Dog Show you can get up close and personal with the canine stars of the show.

That’s the beauty of the annual dog show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The competitors, dog owners, handlers and fans all come together for a two day celebration of all things canine.

Westminster is one of the last “benched” dogs shows in the U.S.

That means all the dogs entered in the show stay in the backstage area on the day they compete unless they are in the competition ring.

Any ticket holder is welcome to make their way into the “benching area” and meet the dogs, their owners and their handlers.

Dog owners who care enough to enter their pooch at Westminster are enthusiastic representatives of their breed.

They will talk for hours about their dogs.

If you’ve ever had any questions about a bouvier de Flandres, a petit basset griffon vendeen or a Canaan dog this is your chance to get some answers.

And it’s your chance to pet some of the top dogs in the country; to scratch them behind the ears; maybe even give one a belly rub.

I just got back from three days in New York for the show and it was a blast.

My wife, my mom and I have been going for several years. We look forward to it for months and then talk about it for months afterwards.

This year was special because we had a cheering interest in James, the English springer spaniel who won Best in Show. His registered name is Felicity’s Diamond Jim, but he answers to James.

At dog shows he is all fluffed and buffed, but any other time he is all dog. He loves garlic chicken and his squeaky toys. He sleeps on the bed with handler Kellie FitzGerald or owner Terry Patton.

We first became aware of James at last year’s show. When he entered the ring to compete against all the other springer spaniels people actually gasped. He is that handsome.

He won Best of Breed that day. That means he was the most impressive springer spaniel in the show. But when he competed against all the other spaniels and retrievers in the Sporting Group he was beat out by a handsome golden retriever.

The golden went out to compete for Best in Show and James went home early.

But we had become fans of James.

I told my wife “That dog is going to win the whole thing next year.”

James spent 2006 entering dozens of dog shows and winning most of them. He even won the Eukanuba National, one of the best known shows in the country.

I sent an e-mail to James’ owner, Terry Patton, telling her how much we liked her dog.

She sent a reply thanking me and attached a picture of James.

Remember what I said about enthusiastic owners?

Terry and I started an e-mail correspondence. She kept us posted on James’ wins. She told me that no matter what happened at the Garden; win or lose, James was coming home for good. It would be his last show.

We had become part of Team James.

We cheered long and loud when he won Best of Breed Tuesday afternoon against the other English springers. We were on our feet when he won the Sporting Group early that evening.

We went back to the benching area and chatted briefly with Kellie, the handler James has been living with the past few years.

She wouldn’t predict a win, but she told us “He’s in the best shape of his life. He’s as ready as he’ll ever be.”

I was nervous. His competition in the finals included two flashy poodles (the standard variety and the toy).

The favorite was a Dandie Dinmont terrier named Harry, owned by entertainer Bill Cosby. Harry had been imported from Australia and was rated the top dog in the country.

When the Best in Show finals began the fans in Madison Square Garden adopted a petit basset griffon vendeen as their favorite. They cheered every move the cute little dog made.

James didn’t let any of it bother him. He moved around the Garden ring like he owned it.

Judges talk about dog's being "on," almost demanding to be picked as the best dog in the ring. Tuesday night James was "on"; he was locked in.

Just before 11 p.m. the judge ended the suspense and named James Best in Show. Kellie dropped to her knees in shock. James reached up, nuzzled her and began licking her face.

So what do James and Terry win?

You might be shocked to find out it’s nothing but a ribbon. No money, no car, no trip to Disney World.

For the most part show dog owners compete simply because they love dogs.

Terry will be able to charge a little more for James’ offspring and he will be in demand as a stud dog. But that won’t be enough to offset the astronomical costs of raising puppies, traveling to hundreds of dog shows and paying Kellie to handle James.

He and Kellie appeared on the network morning talk shows Wednesday morning. They made the rounds of the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN and MSNBC.

Now that his moment in the media spotlight is over James will go home to Virginia. Westminster was his last dog show. He is retiring at the top of his game.

Terry tells me he’ll sleep on her bed and romp on her five acres. He’ll get to be her pet.

That will be a pretty good life.

This was written by wsbtv.com web content manager Mark Bauer who shares his house with an English cocker spaniel named Toby