All the waiting and anticipation is finally over. The questions will be answered today. Can Zenyatta do it? There are plenty of fantastic races leading up to her historic run tonight at 6:45 PM ET on ESPN.
Here are my picks for most likely winners, not a predicted order of finish, which is quite different:
JUVENILE TURF
I'll be honest. I have no idea in this race, but I'll give a hat tip to my buddy Mike for coming up with a nice choice that makes good sense:
SOLDAT (8-1) - After an impressive three-length graded stakes win over the Saratoga turf in September, in his next graded race, Soldat hit the gate, was bumped in the lane and still finished second. I like the two graded stakes races. I like his speed figures. And I like the fact that he closed into a slow pace in his last after much trouble and still almost won.
BANNED (10-1) - He hasn't faced much competition (but neither had AWESOME FEATHER before her romp yesterday). Banned has won his last two races with ease, and the Proctor barn is high on him.
PLUCK (6-1) - Could Pletcher and Gomez have the Juv. Fillies Turf and Juvenile Turf double? More Than Real got the first half. Pluck has drawn a terrible post position (13 of 13), so he could be a toss-out on that fact alone in a one mile race, but this field is a mystery, so why not?
I have no Europeans in my top three. They were shut out on day 1, a trend I don't expect to last into day 2. I don't love any of them in here, but I'd give MANTOBA the best shot if you want to go with a Euro.
SPRINT
GIROLAMO and BIG DRAMA are the favs here, and they both have a legitimate case for winning. But this race quite often produces a longshot winner. So let's see if we can find him:
KINSALE KING (8-1) - Two races back, he finished behind top European sprinter Starspangledbanner in a Group 1 at Ascot. If the Turf Sprint were 6 furlongs instead of 5, KING would be in that race, but he's here, he looks great in the morning and he has a touch of class.
WISE DAN (10-1) - He's only three, facing elders, but gee, he's been impressive so far, winning his last three by almost 20 lengths combined. His trainer, Charles Lopresti, was on fire at Keeneland, taking 6 of 10 starts.
HAMAZING DESTINY (20-1) - I'm not one to pick D. Wayne Lukas horses very often, but this one seems in sharp form, and he seems to like Churchill. He's stepping up pretty severely in class, but he'll be a nice price, and he's not without a shot in here.
TURF SPRINT
Shoot me now. They might as well just pull out the roulette wheel for a turf sprint at five furlongs, but let's give it a whirl. It's almost impossible to win this race from a wide post, so I'm tossing out posts 10-14:
STRADIVINSKY (10-1) - On paper, he does not have the class to win this race, but races aren't run on paper, and if he gets a good break from the three hole, he could be gone. At five furlongs, this guy is deadly, and he isn't facing a bunch of monsters in here.
ROSE CATHERINE (6-1) - Of the four fillies in this race, she's coming out of the fastest races and has won five of her last six, none of them graded stakes races, however.
SILVER TIMBER (4-1) - If someone's going to come late to win this, it'll probably be him.
CENTRAL CITY, QUICK ENOUGH, BRIDGETOWN AND UNZIP ME are other potential candidates in here. This race is why they invented the ALL button.
JUVENILE
This seems to be your classic East Coast vs West Coast vs Godolphin matchup. UNCLE MO is the favorite, but let's try to beat him:
BOYS AT TOSCANOVA (5/2) - This is a HUGE colt with reams of potential. He's also the only runner in here with experience over the Churchill track.
JB'S THUNDER (12-1) - He's got a couple of routes underneath him, which is fairly rare in this bunch, and he's trained by Al Stall, Jr, who is excelling at the moment.
BIONDETTI (12-1) - Godolphin has won the last two BC Juveniles, and this entrant, took the same path as last year's winner VALE OF YORK, who also won in Italy before coming to the Breeders' Cup. I'd sort of lean against a three-peat, but this horse is three-for-three.
THE MILE
For once, we have a race that comes up a little chalky.
GOLDIKOVA (6-5) - I played against heavy favorites Winter Memories and Midday yesterday because I thought they were both vulnerable. Goldikova is in another league. She has won the most Group 1 races in European history. I doubt that she'll be beaten, but there a couple of others with a shot in here.
GIO PONTI (4-1) - He's in top form, and he's all class. He will be in the money.
PROVISO (12-1) - She's won four in a row, mostly against females, but she's got a nasty late kick. The wide post doesn't help her case, but she could figure in this.
PACO BOY has been Goldikova's whipping boy in Europe, losing three races to her by two necks and half a length, so he's hard to toss, but he doesn't win often enough for me. SYDNEY'S CANDY is an interesting item, who will try to take them gate to wire, but GET STORMY will be pestering him, and the closers seem to have an edge in here.
DIRT MILE
HERE COMES BEN (6-1) - The progeny of Street Cry seem to like Churchill. BEN has won four in a row, all at seven furlongs, two of them at Churchill. He should love the extra furlong as he will be charging home late. His trainer is hot.
TIZWAY (6-1) - This dude has faced some serious competition (namely Quality Road, who would be the heavy favorite in here). And he's stood up well. Won his last by five lengths. HERE COMES BEN may have to come get him.
MORNING LINE (7-2) - He's only three but boy was he game in that Pennsyvlania Derby win. He ripped through some solid fractions, lost the lead and came back at 'em to win. Cuts back in distance, but how much did that race take out of him?
TURF
The scratch of the favorite Workforce doesn't change much for me. I was playing against him anyway. I'm sure a lot of his money will switch to Bekhabad, so I'll try to beat him too:
AL KHALI (10-1) This kid showed a wicked turn of foot in his last race while changing from his usual frontrunning tactics to take back early and make a late run. He gets the services of jockey Julien Leparoux, who is deadly on the turf.
DEBUSSY (10-1) - He beat Gio Ponti in the Arlington Million in August. Gio Ponti would likely be the favorite in this race. DEBUSSY has also run well against the likes of TWICE OVER (3rd in last year's Classic). He rates a chance to take this field gate to wire at the 1 1/2 mile distance.
WINCHESTER (8-1) - This trainee of turf master Christophe Clement beat 3-year-old turf star Paddy O'Prado in his last race and lost a neck to Al Khali prior to that. He'll be coming late and maybe taking this thing down.
THE CLASSIC
It's finally here, the race we've all been waiting for. Drumroll please...
ZENYATTA (8-5) - This is not just a sentimental pick. I want her to win, yes, but from a handicapping standpoint, what's not to like? Yes, she's only beaten the boys once, in last year's Classic, but she's bigger than they are, she has a longer stride than they do, AND the pace of this race ought to set things up perfectly for her late charge. Haynesfield, First Dude, Etched and Quality Road will all have designs on the lead. Queen Z will love the long Churchill Downs stretch and as long as Mike Smith gets her in position early enough, she is going to make history.
BLAME (9-2) - Not very creative, I know, but it's hard to argue with this guy's performance in 2010. He will probably get first jump on the leaders and Zenyatta might have to run him down. He is game and well-trained. The most likely upsetter.
HAYNESFIELD (12-1) - This runner scares me a bit. He looks unbelievable right now, and if somehow, he's able to dictate a slower pace than appears on paper, he could be mighty tough to catch. He'll probably have too much company on the front end, but he's a threat.
I believe QUALITY ROAD, as good as he is, will have a tough time because he will have to jet out of the gate from the one post. LOOKIN AT LUCKY certainly rates a chance, but he's drawn far outside and has only faced three-year-olds. A must use underneath is MUSKET MAN. This dude has NEVER finished out of the money, and he's faced some of these before. FLY DOWN will be coming late for a piece of the action as well.
Best of luck to you today. I hope you can enjoy every minute of his historic day. I know I will.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Breeders' Cup Day 1 Diary
A strange and wonderful opening day for the Breeders' Cup, which went something like this for me:
1:30 PM - Arrive at my University of Louisville parking lot. Walk to Churchill in brisk wind - real feel temperature = 46 degrees.
2:00 PM - Arrive at press box, survey the beautiful surroundings from 6 floors above the track:
4:00 PM - The Marathon, the most boring race in the BC (or so I thought) goes off.
4:03 PM (or 7 years to a dog later) - Eldaafer streaks to the wire in front of Prince Will I Am. I later learn that Eldaafer's trainer has been developing his "slow-twitch" muscle fibers to improve endurance, a nice piece of intel I would've preferred to have had at 3:55 pm. At least I included him on my pick 3 ticket, which is still alive.
4:05 PM - Someone yells FIGHT! in the press box. I thought two reporters were pummeling each other or something. We all scurry to the terrace to discover that below us, Calvin Borel is attacking his fellow jockey, Javier Castellano for cutting him off during the race. Borel gave new meaning to Ragin' Cajun. Hey, world, this a passionate sport! But is there a boxing division below featherweight?
4:10 PM - Official results posted. Prince Will I Am disqualified, meaning my pick, Gabriel's Hill at 25-1 finishes second. I only bet him to win. I mentally pull a Borel on myself.
4:20 PM - As I'm writing up the recap on the Marathon for The Paulick Report and looking up boxing terms, I quickly glance over my picks for the Juvenile Fillies Turf and realize that I had picked New Normal based on his last race at Woodbine (which I loved) and the fact that the Churchill turf had been playing to speed. But now, I'm fairly certain it's not playing that way anymore. I still love the race he came out of, so I switch my pick to More Than Real, who closed from the back and finished second in that race. He's 13-1. I'm definitely against Winter Memories because well, everyone else seems to think she's a lock.
4:53 PM - Nice call, dude. More Than Real storms home ahead of Winter Memories, keying a decent trifecta, since I liked Kathmanblu also, and he finished third. My pick 3 hits and pays $230 for .50. Since my previous BC betting has been an unmitigated disaster, I take a moment to appreciate me learning something - always be willing to adapt.
5:40 PM - After having tossed 8-1 Dubai Majesty onto my Pick 4 ticket at the last second, I'm relieved when she wins impressively in the Filly and Mare Sprint.
6:15 PM - My pick in the Juvenile Fillies, Awesome Feather, wins at 4-1. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough with it (I do have to work, you know), so I'm a little disappointed to have the winner and not much to show for it. At least I'm still alive in the Pick 4.
6:55 PM - I am now dead in the Pick 4. 45-1 Shared Account stuns the press box by beating heavy favorite Midday in the Filly and Mare Turf. Oh well.
7:25 PM - I hear rumblings that my pick, Life at Ten, is not looking well for the Ladies' Classic. I don't like last minute rumblings. I adapt once again and go with my second choices, Unrivaled Belle and Blind Luck, focusing on Unrivaled Belle on top because she's 7-1 and Blind Luck is the 9-5 favorite.
7:30 PM - Oh, what a night! Unrivaled Belle holds off Blind Luck keying a nice score to round out the day. It was my best BC day ever, although my joy was tarnished by the incident with Life at Ten. Based on the information available, the stewards should've held up the start of the race to look into what was being broadcast on ESPN about Life At Ten. Thankfully, nothing bad happened, but it was unsettling that she was allowed to race. It all happened so fast - there's probably plenty of regret about it this morning between the track and her connections. Maybe a lesson learned.
I'm sure the racing gods will punish me Saturday for having a good day on Friday but the glow from the Twin Spires and the excitement of Zenyatta's historic run will more than make up for it.
1:30 PM - Arrive at my University of Louisville parking lot. Walk to Churchill in brisk wind - real feel temperature = 46 degrees.
2:00 PM - Arrive at press box, survey the beautiful surroundings from 6 floors above the track:
4:00 PM - The Marathon, the most boring race in the BC (or so I thought) goes off.
4:03 PM (or 7 years to a dog later) - Eldaafer streaks to the wire in front of Prince Will I Am. I later learn that Eldaafer's trainer has been developing his "slow-twitch" muscle fibers to improve endurance, a nice piece of intel I would've preferred to have had at 3:55 pm. At least I included him on my pick 3 ticket, which is still alive.
4:05 PM - Someone yells FIGHT! in the press box. I thought two reporters were pummeling each other or something. We all scurry to the terrace to discover that below us, Calvin Borel is attacking his fellow jockey, Javier Castellano for cutting him off during the race. Borel gave new meaning to Ragin' Cajun. Hey, world, this a passionate sport! But is there a boxing division below featherweight?
4:10 PM - Official results posted. Prince Will I Am disqualified, meaning my pick, Gabriel's Hill at 25-1 finishes second. I only bet him to win. I mentally pull a Borel on myself.
4:20 PM - As I'm writing up the recap on the Marathon for The Paulick Report and looking up boxing terms, I quickly glance over my picks for the Juvenile Fillies Turf and realize that I had picked New Normal based on his last race at Woodbine (which I loved) and the fact that the Churchill turf had been playing to speed. But now, I'm fairly certain it's not playing that way anymore. I still love the race he came out of, so I switch my pick to More Than Real, who closed from the back and finished second in that race. He's 13-1. I'm definitely against Winter Memories because well, everyone else seems to think she's a lock.
4:53 PM - Nice call, dude. More Than Real storms home ahead of Winter Memories, keying a decent trifecta, since I liked Kathmanblu also, and he finished third. My pick 3 hits and pays $230 for .50. Since my previous BC betting has been an unmitigated disaster, I take a moment to appreciate me learning something - always be willing to adapt.
5:40 PM - After having tossed 8-1 Dubai Majesty onto my Pick 4 ticket at the last second, I'm relieved when she wins impressively in the Filly and Mare Sprint.
6:15 PM - My pick in the Juvenile Fillies, Awesome Feather, wins at 4-1. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough with it (I do have to work, you know), so I'm a little disappointed to have the winner and not much to show for it. At least I'm still alive in the Pick 4.
6:55 PM - I am now dead in the Pick 4. 45-1 Shared Account stuns the press box by beating heavy favorite Midday in the Filly and Mare Turf. Oh well.
7:25 PM - I hear rumblings that my pick, Life at Ten, is not looking well for the Ladies' Classic. I don't like last minute rumblings. I adapt once again and go with my second choices, Unrivaled Belle and Blind Luck, focusing on Unrivaled Belle on top because she's 7-1 and Blind Luck is the 9-5 favorite.
7:30 PM - Oh, what a night! Unrivaled Belle holds off Blind Luck keying a nice score to round out the day. It was my best BC day ever, although my joy was tarnished by the incident with Life at Ten. Based on the information available, the stewards should've held up the start of the race to look into what was being broadcast on ESPN about Life At Ten. Thankfully, nothing bad happened, but it was unsettling that she was allowed to race. It all happened so fast - there's probably plenty of regret about it this morning between the track and her connections. Maybe a lesson learned.
I'm sure the racing gods will punish me Saturday for having a good day on Friday but the glow from the Twin Spires and the excitement of Zenyatta's historic run will more than make up for it.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Breeders' Cup!
It's finally arrived - the most exciting two days in racing. The Kentucky Derby gets more attention from the general public, but the Derby is one single race for three-year-olds. The Breeders' Cup is a collection of 14 races, representing many of the best horses in the world. There is nothing like it.
This year's BC at Churchill Downs in Louisville is more highly anticipated than ever because Zenyatta is seeking to end her career a perfect 20 for 20, one of the greatest feats in sports history. She's the only female in the BC Classic, which is the closest thing racing has to a world championship. If you don't watch any other BC race, make sure you catch the Classic, 6:45 PM ET Saturday on ESPN. It will be drama of the highest order.
It's all the more exciting that I live in Louisville now. I've been going out to Churchill in the mornings to watch the workouts, and the place is alive with anticipation. Throngs of fans have come out, hoping to catch a glimpse of the big, beautiful mare known as Queen Z.
But there are other storylines at the BC. Goldikova, seen above, came over from Europe again to try and do something no horse has done - win three straight BC races. She is remarkable, consistently beating the top male horses in Europe and the US. When she turns into the stretch, it's like she has rocket boosters on her legs. She explodes to the wire with a turn of foot that seems to defy physics. I'd try to catch that race, too (Sat. 4:40 PM ET, ESPN). All the races will be on ESPN, ESPN 2 or ABC. Schedule here.
I attended the official Breeders' Cup welcome party last night at the Yum Center, the sparkling new home of the University of Louisville basketball team. Wow. The BC knows how to throw a shindig. The entire concourse was filled with fine food and drink and country star Toby Keith performed to cap off the night. I met one of the owners of Kathmanblu, a two-year-old filly running in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. He said his brother-in-law had been trying for 30 years to have a horse good enough to run in a race like this. There are stories like that in every BC race. As Churchill track announcer Mark Johnson told me recently, horse racing has the most drama you'll find outside of a theater.
I'm thankful to be working this Breeders' Cup (covering it for The Paulick Report) because it's cold here in Louisville. The high today is only mid-40's, but I will be in the toasty warm press box, six floors above the Churchill track. Should be great viewing.
In case you want to follow the races or even wager a few dollars, here's a link to my picks for BC Day 1. I'll post my picks for championship Saturday by tomorrow morning.
I hope you get a chance to enjoy the drama and excitement that is the Breeders' Cup!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Zenyatta does her Secretariat impression
I've shared my passion for the remarkable mare Zenyatta in a previous post. At the time, she had just won her 17th race in a row -- in her usual thrilling fashion -- to break the American record for consecutive victories.
Well, yesterday, she did it again, this time bringing her win total to 19. She electrified the crowd with another late run to victory. It was her final race in California. She will only race one more time in her career, and that will be here in Louisville, November 6th in the Breeders' Cup Classic, one of the biggest races in the world. Write it down. After you watch the videos below, you won't want to miss it.
If she can somehow pull off one more win against some seriously good horses, Zenyatta will finish her career a perfect 20 for 20. It would be an astonishing achievement to rival any feat, not just in horse racing, but in sports history in general.
Here's a short post from my horse racing blog, Horsepuckey, that I thought you'd enjoy, including the goose bump-inducing videos:
The stars are aligning for this year's Breeders' Cup - hopefully the people running the show realize the golden opportunity in front of them, between the movie, Secretariat, and the real-life racing star who is doing a mighty good impression of Big Red.
From the video below, it appears that perhaps they do. The promo popped up on YouTube last night after Zenyatta's thrilling victory in the Lady's Secret stakes, her 19th win in a row. The final race of her career will be one of the biggest races in the world, the Breeders' Cup Classic November 6th at Churchill Downs, where she will try to end her career a perfect 20 for 20.
Astonishing.
If you missed the Lady's Secret, that's posted below as well. When I bet on a race, I always get a little adrenaline rush as the horses approach the wire, maybe a few fast beats of the heart, if my horse is involved.
I didn't have a dime on Zenyatta's race, and my heart was pounding out of my chest right before she hit the line in her usual oh-my-god-I-don't-think-she's-going-make-it-this-time!!! fashion.
She's in a class all by herself as a champion racehorse.
I love her. I will miss her. I have run out of words to describe her. Let's just roll the videos:
Well, yesterday, she did it again, this time bringing her win total to 19. She electrified the crowd with another late run to victory. It was her final race in California. She will only race one more time in her career, and that will be here in Louisville, November 6th in the Breeders' Cup Classic, one of the biggest races in the world. Write it down. After you watch the videos below, you won't want to miss it.
If she can somehow pull off one more win against some seriously good horses, Zenyatta will finish her career a perfect 20 for 20. It would be an astonishing achievement to rival any feat, not just in horse racing, but in sports history in general.
Here's a short post from my horse racing blog, Horsepuckey, that I thought you'd enjoy, including the goose bump-inducing videos:
The stars are aligning for this year's Breeders' Cup - hopefully the people running the show realize the golden opportunity in front of them, between the movie, Secretariat, and the real-life racing star who is doing a mighty good impression of Big Red.
From the video below, it appears that perhaps they do. The promo popped up on YouTube last night after Zenyatta's thrilling victory in the Lady's Secret stakes, her 19th win in a row. The final race of her career will be one of the biggest races in the world, the Breeders' Cup Classic November 6th at Churchill Downs, where she will try to end her career a perfect 20 for 20.
Astonishing.
If you missed the Lady's Secret, that's posted below as well. When I bet on a race, I always get a little adrenaline rush as the horses approach the wire, maybe a few fast beats of the heart, if my horse is involved.
I didn't have a dime on Zenyatta's race, and my heart was pounding out of my chest right before she hit the line in her usual oh-my-god-I-don't-think-she's-going-make-it-this-time!!! fashion.
She's in a class all by herself as a champion racehorse.
I love her. I will miss her. I have run out of words to describe her. Let's just roll the videos:
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Where the hell am I?
Since I moved to Louisville a month ago, I've heard conflicting messages about where I actually live.
"Hey," they write on Facebook, "welcome back to the South!"
"Are you enjoying the Midwest?" others write.
There are few cities that have this particular identity crisis. New York, Boston, Minneapolis, St. Louis, New Orleans, Atlanta, Denver. If I ask anyone where these cities are, 99.9% of people are going to give the same answer.
Louisville, on the other hand, is in geographical purgatory. It sits on the Ohio River, a half a mile from Indiana. Who would say Indiana is in the South? But Louisville is in Kentucky. Who would say Kentucky isn't in the South?
To make matters worse, Louisville doesn't even exist, according to Google Maps. Go ahead, type in Louisville and see what happens.
I love it.
What makes Louisville so cool is that you can't pin it down. If I was plopped down randomly in my neighborhood, I would absolutely say I'm in the Midwest. If I was dropped (off) in another part of town, I might say, I must be in the South.
I was at a bar recently where this subject came up. Everyone had a different opinion. A guy with a Northern accent who said he was from the South kept saying, this is the MIDWEST. I had my first BRAT here!!!
Another person with a Southern accent said: Awww, come own (that's not a typo, "come own" is what she said), Louisville's pretty Southern.
Obviously, there's a difference of opinion. How about some empirical evidence?
My own personal studies have shown that cities in the South rarely, if ever, serve unsweetened iced tea. You get sweet tea or you go thirsty. The cities farthest from the South tend to only serve unsweetened iced tea. In Louisville, you have places that only serve unsweetened. You have places that only serve sweetened. But a majority of places go out of their way to serve both, as if I arrived here after a post-iced tea war treaty was signed.
Clearly, that doesn't resolve the issue.
I'd say Southern vs Northern accents here is 60-40 in favor of Southern. I'd say the food is 60-40 in favor of Northern. I'd say the culture is 70-30 in favor of either one, depending on the neighborhood.
Here's my final thought on this. If you've lived in Louisville or spent a significant amount of time here, you're welcome to call it whatever you want - North, South, East, West, gateway to Mars.
If you've never visited, you will be welcomed with open arms. But keep your opinions about where it is to yourself. You have no idea what you're talking about.
There's only one label I've seen so far that makes sense to me. I see it on bumper stickers and other signs around town.
Keep Louisville weird.
Amen.
"Hey," they write on Facebook, "welcome back to the South!"
"Are you enjoying the Midwest?" others write.There are few cities that have this particular identity crisis. New York, Boston, Minneapolis, St. Louis, New Orleans, Atlanta, Denver. If I ask anyone where these cities are, 99.9% of people are going to give the same answer.
Louisville, on the other hand, is in geographical purgatory. It sits on the Ohio River, a half a mile from Indiana. Who would say Indiana is in the South? But Louisville is in Kentucky. Who would say Kentucky isn't in the South?
To make matters worse, Louisville doesn't even exist, according to Google Maps. Go ahead, type in Louisville and see what happens.
I love it.
What makes Louisville so cool is that you can't pin it down. If I was plopped down randomly in my neighborhood, I would absolutely say I'm in the Midwest. If I was dropped (off) in another part of town, I might say, I must be in the South.
Another person with a Southern accent said: Awww, come own (that's not a typo, "come own" is what she said), Louisville's pretty Southern.
Obviously, there's a difference of opinion. How about some empirical evidence?
My own personal studies have shown that cities in the South rarely, if ever, serve unsweetened iced tea. You get sweet tea or you go thirsty. The cities farthest from the South tend to only serve unsweetened iced tea. In Louisville, you have places that only serve unsweetened. You have places that only serve sweetened. But a majority of places go out of their way to serve both, as if I arrived here after a post-iced tea war treaty was signed.
Clearly, that doesn't resolve the issue.
I'd say Southern vs Northern accents here is 60-40 in favor of Southern. I'd say the food is 60-40 in favor of Northern. I'd say the culture is 70-30 in favor of either one, depending on the neighborhood.
Here's my final thought on this. If you've lived in Louisville or spent a significant amount of time here, you're welcome to call it whatever you want - North, South, East, West, gateway to Mars.
If you've never visited, you will be welcomed with open arms. But keep your opinions about where it is to yourself. You have no idea what you're talking about.
There's only one label I've seen so far that makes sense to me. I see it on bumper stickers and other signs around town.
Keep Louisville weird.
Amen.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Bluegrass Duke vs Carolina
One of the pleasant advantages of going back to college is that I get the perks of being a student. I can swim in the Olympic-sized pool at the University of Louisville for free (well, "free" after the ungodly amount of tuition I've paid). I can work out in the university gym. And I can get certain University of Louisville athletic tickets for about $15.
I'm taking advantage of all these perks while I have them, which includes going to this weekend's home game against the University of Kentucky. Having graduated from the University of North Carolina some years ago, I'm familiar with intense in-state rivalries. There's a school eight miles from Chapel Hill that I will refer to as the University of New Jersey at Durham, which is a well-known anti-christ to my alma mater.
I've always been of the opinion that Duke-Carolina is the most intense rivalry in college sports, but I must admit, I can already tell this Louisville-Kentucky thing is pretty damned nasty.
It's different than Carolina-Duke in some respects. I see students walking on the Louisville campus wearing UK T-shirts. I don't recall ever seeing a UNC student wearing a Duke shirt. It's a violation so unthinkable that a public stoning would not be uncalled for. That might confirm my original contention about Duke-UNC. But having talked to a few people here, I'm not ready to declare the champion just yet.
I met a guy who told me he grew up in Louisville, and that once I'd lived here for a while, I would understand that UK fans are complete rednecks and that Louisville fans are much more sophisticated. His own family members, he said, are UK fans, despite all "#(#*$!!" logic. Clearly, during football or basketball games, he has a hard time being in the same room with them.
Sounds very familiar.
Even in my classes, certain professors will not utter the name of the school an hour away in Lexington. THAT OTHER school, they say.
Boy, does that ring a bell.
I'm trying to reserve judgment. Obviously, since I'm a student at U of L, I should side with the Cardinals. But in a congruent equation, UK would most likely equal UNC and Louisville would most likely equal Duke. So there's a bit of a conundrum. Besides, Louisville's basketball coach is Rick Patino, a slick-haired equivalent to Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, in my mind.
I've already had one friend (a Duke grad, no less) tell me he'd be disappointed if I pulled for Louisville in any respect.
The Louisville guy told me that there's even some racial undertones to the rivalry, in that Louisville is the most "urban" university in Kentucky and that UK took a extraordinarily long time to accept minorities. Woah, man. I'm not sure I want to get involved in that debate.
Kentucky has no professional sports teams, so I'm guessing that makes the rivalry even more important in the minds of the people here. The Cincinnati Bengals or the Reds, the Indianapolis Colts or the Pacers are the teams of choice since they're not too far away, but they aren't in Kentucky, so it all falls to UK and Louisville to satisfy the state's (I mean, commonwealth's) pride.
Saturday, I will pull for the Cardinals and see how I feel afterward. I'll probably be sitting with a bunch of 20-year-olds, so I'm sure that will bring back memories of Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, where as a freshman I recall a game against Louisville in which I slid down a hill of mud, drunk from Beam and Coke.
I better get a flask, just in case.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Horse heaven humidity
I've finally reached my destination -- Louisville, KY.
Holy mother of god, it is humid here. I have to change my shirt after walking from the apartment to my car. Welcome to the Midwest, you weather-spoiled Angelino.
I'm not complaining. I've died and gone to horse heaven. I was shopping at Kroger yesterday, and above me in the spice aisle was a banner commemorating War Admiral's win in the 1937 Kentucky Derby. Above the bread aisle was Secretariat. By the deli, a picture of the 1972 Run for the Roses, as they rounded the clubhouse turn.
I've never enjoyed a trip to Kroger so much in my life. As I put the groceries in the car, I could see the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs. They're directly across from the University of Louisville campus, where I will spend much of the next year. Pinch me.
I wandered through the beautiful campus buildings and picked up my student ID, feeling like a clueless freshman because I stopped at almost every map kiosk. Sure, I was about the oldest person eating free pizza at the student government welcome event, but no one seemed to wonder why the gentlemen with gray hairs on his temples was so interested in the student body president's initiative for swapping textbooks. Besides, I now have a student ID to prove that I am indeed a 40-year-old 5th-year freshman.
I stopped by the Equine Business building, where I will be doing my studies, and there on the wall was a mathematical analysis of the probability that a claiming horse will return a profit for its owner. E=CRTV3x*+& or something like that. I guess I will learn it soon. I am one happy horse geek.
Louisville is a cool town with a well-recognized arts scene, fantastic restaurants and some of the friendliest people on earth. In the Highlands area, there are five Irish pubs within two blocks of each other. None of them are chains, and I am digging it.
At one local pub, I ran into an assistant for successful thoroughbred trainer Michael Maker and struck up a conversation. That wouldn't happen in LA. And I've only been here two days.
I'm still searching for the blue grass, though. I have looked everywhere, and I don't see any grass that is blue. It's green, just like everywhere else.
But make no mistake, the ground here is special, a tie that binds horses and bourbon together.
Kentucky's grass sits on a bed of limestone, and when limestone seeps into the water, it makes the finest bourbon whiskey and the strongest horse legs imaginable. Near Lexington, you'll find multi-million dollar horse farms and distilleries, sometimes on the same property. They know all about the secret of Kentucky. I took these photos on my last trip here:
The last photo is a tree at Buffalo Trace, a fantastic distillery that sits on an old buffalo roaming route and where bourbon has been made since 1787. The tree is covered in bourbon mash from the distilling process, basically. It doesn't harm the tree. Just turns it black.
Blackgrass. Bluegrass. Greengrass. It's all beautiful to me.
Holy mother of god, it is humid here. I have to change my shirt after walking from the apartment to my car. Welcome to the Midwest, you weather-spoiled Angelino.
I'm not complaining. I've died and gone to horse heaven. I was shopping at Kroger yesterday, and above me in the spice aisle was a banner commemorating War Admiral's win in the 1937 Kentucky Derby. Above the bread aisle was Secretariat. By the deli, a picture of the 1972 Run for the Roses, as they rounded the clubhouse turn.
I've never enjoyed a trip to Kroger so much in my life. As I put the groceries in the car, I could see the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs. They're directly across from the University of Louisville campus, where I will spend much of the next year. Pinch me.
I wandered through the beautiful campus buildings and picked up my student ID, feeling like a clueless freshman because I stopped at almost every map kiosk. Sure, I was about the oldest person eating free pizza at the student government welcome event, but no one seemed to wonder why the gentlemen with gray hairs on his temples was so interested in the student body president's initiative for swapping textbooks. Besides, I now have a student ID to prove that I am indeed a 40-year-old 5th-year freshman.
I stopped by the Equine Business building, where I will be doing my studies, and there on the wall was a mathematical analysis of the probability that a claiming horse will return a profit for its owner. E=CRTV3x*+& or something like that. I guess I will learn it soon. I am one happy horse geek.
Louisville is a cool town with a well-recognized arts scene, fantastic restaurants and some of the friendliest people on earth. In the Highlands area, there are five Irish pubs within two blocks of each other. None of them are chains, and I am digging it.
At one local pub, I ran into an assistant for successful thoroughbred trainer Michael Maker and struck up a conversation. That wouldn't happen in LA. And I've only been here two days.
I'm still searching for the blue grass, though. I have looked everywhere, and I don't see any grass that is blue. It's green, just like everywhere else.
But make no mistake, the ground here is special, a tie that binds horses and bourbon together.
Kentucky's grass sits on a bed of limestone, and when limestone seeps into the water, it makes the finest bourbon whiskey and the strongest horse legs imaginable. Near Lexington, you'll find multi-million dollar horse farms and distilleries, sometimes on the same property. They know all about the secret of Kentucky. I took these photos on my last trip here:
The last photo is a tree at Buffalo Trace, a fantastic distillery that sits on an old buffalo roaming route and where bourbon has been made since 1787. The tree is covered in bourbon mash from the distilling process, basically. It doesn't harm the tree. Just turns it black.
Blackgrass. Bluegrass. Greengrass. It's all beautiful to me.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Monotony, Kansas
Greetings from Lawrence, KS.
Lawrence holds a special place in my heart. My wife, Megan, lived here at one point. And Lawrence is home to the Kansas Jayhawks, a formidable basketball school that is a distinct rival to my alma mater, the UNC Tarheels. In fact, I saw a shirt in a store window that said: Kansas. Home of North Carolina Basketball. If you know your college b-ball history, you'll get that reference. It should get under my skin, but I'm simply amused. Two of North Carolina's greatest coaches, Dean Smith and Roy Williams, have roots as Jayhawks.
Lawrence is also home to the Free State Brewery, which kicks ass, and is worth stopping for. I enjoyed a couple of Ad Astra ales before coming back to the motel tonight. Lawrence is an excellent college town that is similar to Chapel Hill, so I feel at home here.
I visited a friend in Denver last night and drove 550 miles today through eastern Colorado and western Kansas. Here's a picture. Just imagine any place in Kansas and this is a photo of it:
I spent the day wishing a tornado would appear on the horizon to take me away to a better place or at least give me something to look at for a few minutes. Alas, I got a couple strikes of lightning and that was it.
---------
When I moved to California, I drove the Southern route on I-10 with my cat, Sweetpea. She was a royal pain in the ass, starting our cross-country voyage by puking all over my stuff and otherwise being difficult. While I was living in LA, Sweetpea died at the age of 16. Despite her proclivity for being a pain in the ass, I was overwhelmed with grief, and I kept her ashes. After a while, I didn't know what to do with them, so her remains ended up in our garage.
In the moving process, I realized Sweetpea was in a canister in the garage, so I decided it was time to get some closure. During this trip, I've slowly spread Sweetpea's remains across the West. When I reached Bozeman, MT, I saw they were having their annual Sweetpea Festival to celebrate the blooming of a rare flower, and I knew it was fate. I let Sweetpea's final ashes go in a beautiful spot on the Yellowstone River near the entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
I was fine until the last ashes floated onto the wind, and then, I became emotional.
Today, while I was driving through Kansas, I was listening to David Sedaris tell the story of his cat. Like me, David was overwhelmed with grief and kept the ashes.
And like me, he wasn't sure what to do with them. Eventually, he realized his cat hated the outdoors, so he spread the kitty's remains on the living room carpet and then vacuumed them up.
His mother wrote a check for the procedure, and at the bottom of the check, it said:
For: Pet Burning.
I laughed so hard, tears were streaming down my face.
Again.
Lawrence holds a special place in my heart. My wife, Megan, lived here at one point. And Lawrence is home to the Kansas Jayhawks, a formidable basketball school that is a distinct rival to my alma mater, the UNC Tarheels. In fact, I saw a shirt in a store window that said: Kansas. Home of North Carolina Basketball. If you know your college b-ball history, you'll get that reference. It should get under my skin, but I'm simply amused. Two of North Carolina's greatest coaches, Dean Smith and Roy Williams, have roots as Jayhawks.
Lawrence is also home to the Free State Brewery, which kicks ass, and is worth stopping for. I enjoyed a couple of Ad Astra ales before coming back to the motel tonight. Lawrence is an excellent college town that is similar to Chapel Hill, so I feel at home here.
I visited a friend in Denver last night and drove 550 miles today through eastern Colorado and western Kansas. Here's a picture. Just imagine any place in Kansas and this is a photo of it:
I spent the day wishing a tornado would appear on the horizon to take me away to a better place or at least give me something to look at for a few minutes. Alas, I got a couple strikes of lightning and that was it.
---------
When I moved to California, I drove the Southern route on I-10 with my cat, Sweetpea. She was a royal pain in the ass, starting our cross-country voyage by puking all over my stuff and otherwise being difficult. While I was living in LA, Sweetpea died at the age of 16. Despite her proclivity for being a pain in the ass, I was overwhelmed with grief, and I kept her ashes. After a while, I didn't know what to do with them, so her remains ended up in our garage.
In the moving process, I realized Sweetpea was in a canister in the garage, so I decided it was time to get some closure. During this trip, I've slowly spread Sweetpea's remains across the West. When I reached Bozeman, MT, I saw they were having their annual Sweetpea Festival to celebrate the blooming of a rare flower, and I knew it was fate. I let Sweetpea's final ashes go in a beautiful spot on the Yellowstone River near the entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
I was fine until the last ashes floated onto the wind, and then, I became emotional.
Today, while I was driving through Kansas, I was listening to David Sedaris tell the story of his cat. Like me, David was overwhelmed with grief and kept the ashes.
And like me, he wasn't sure what to do with them. Eventually, he realized his cat hated the outdoors, so he spread the kitty's remains on the living room carpet and then vacuumed them up.
His mother wrote a check for the procedure, and at the bottom of the check, it said:
For: Pet Burning.
I laughed so hard, tears were streaming down my face.
Again.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Big skies and bikers
My travel blog continues from northwest Nebraska.
I'm in the only town of substance for miles around here. Every once in a while, the town's college basketball team makes the NCAA tournament, and people say -- Chadron State? Where the hell is that? Well, here it is, in Chadron, NE.
Yesterday, I drove east from Billings, Montana and stopped at the Little Bighorn memorial -- the site of Custer's Last Stand. I wasn't planning to stop, but I'm glad I did. Here lies the remains of 220 American soldiers who were defeated June 26, 1876 by Native Americans trying to defend their land. It was one of the few victories against the US government.
Custer's gravestone is here, but he is buried at West Point.
The ranger told the story of the battle with so much passion, you'd think it happened last week. He explained how the Lakotas never wanted a fight, even though they far outnumbered the soldiers. The tribes couldn't afford to lose their warriors -- the men who provided and protected. It would take a generation to replace them, while a new US soldier could be trained in five or six months. The whole thing was very moving and made me ponder the senseless behavior of our government.
Later in the day, I stopped at Mount Rushmore, seemingly a monument to American brilliance. But the faces of our leaders are carved into land that was once sacred to the Sioux. The US government just took it from them. The carvings are pretty extraordinary, but I found Little Bighorn more compelling. Here's Rushmore from the parking lot:
I'm in the only town of substance for miles around here. Every once in a while, the town's college basketball team makes the NCAA tournament, and people say -- Chadron State? Where the hell is that? Well, here it is, in Chadron, NE.
Yesterday, I drove east from Billings, Montana and stopped at the Little Bighorn memorial -- the site of Custer's Last Stand. I wasn't planning to stop, but I'm glad I did. Here lies the remains of 220 American soldiers who were defeated June 26, 1876 by Native Americans trying to defend their land. It was one of the few victories against the US government.
Custer's gravestone is here, but he is buried at West Point.
The ranger told the story of the battle with so much passion, you'd think it happened last week. He explained how the Lakotas never wanted a fight, even though they far outnumbered the soldiers. The tribes couldn't afford to lose their warriors -- the men who provided and protected. It would take a generation to replace them, while a new US soldier could be trained in five or six months. The whole thing was very moving and made me ponder the senseless behavior of our government.
Later in the day, I stopped at Mount Rushmore, seemingly a monument to American brilliance. But the faces of our leaders are carved into land that was once sacred to the Sioux. The US government just took it from them. The carvings are pretty extraordinary, but I found Little Bighorn more compelling. Here's Rushmore from the parking lot:
Some photos without my car in them:
Not far from Mt. Rushmore is Custer, South Dakota. Custer is a good 60 miles from Sturgis, site of this week's gigantic biker rally. It doesn't matter. Bikers are EVERYWHERE around here. It's good people-watching.
Hey, I thought you were buried at West Point?
Here are some high-speed photos, and by that I mean they were taken while I was driving 80 mph (or less):
Why they call it Big Sky country. Wyoming:
If you look behind the biker's head, you can see the carving of chief Crazy Horse:
A storm brews over the grasslands of Nebraska:
Monday, August 9, 2010
Greetings from Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park is stunning beyond words, so I'll try to use as few words as possible and stick with my large photos and a few comments and stories.
Yellowstone sits on a volcano. It could erupt at any time, and when it does erupt, it will spew ash over half of the United States. Scientists believe it has erupted three times so far and is due for another explosion any century now. Until then, we get to enjoy its immense beauty.
The ground beneath Yellowstone is literally boiling. It creates strange geological wonders you won't find anywhere else. Like this:
This is not snow:
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble. A boiling sulfur cauldron:
Now that you've been warned that Yellowstone sits on a volcano, do you see anything wrong in this picture?
Apparently, some people don't understand the words DO NOT ENTER. Ranger Betty told me that every year, Yellowstone transports people to the Salt Lake Burn Center because they do stupid things like this -- walk on ground that could collapse at any minute and burn their legs to cinders.
I encountered other absolutely asinine behavior at Yellowstone. Early on in my drive through the park, I spotted a bison a few hundred yards away on a plain. I pulled over to grab a shot with the zoom. While I was doing this, two other cars pulled over, and the families inside sprinted toward the bison, leaving the doors to their mini-vans wide open.
When one of the families returned to their car, I said to the guy:
"That wasn't the brightest thing in the world."
"What?"
"You running after that bison with your kids. Last summer I saw a bison charge a family just like yours (lying). A couple weeks ago, somebody was eaten by a grizzly bear out here (not lying)."
"Oh, yeah, I heard about that."
All over the park, there are signs warning people not to approach the wildlife because bison do charge and grizzly bears do eat people.
The stupidity of tourists is unavoidable here, but thankfully so is nature's grandeur. Exhibits A, B & C:
At some points in the park, the wildlife comes to you. In Hayden Valley, the bison seem extremely comfortable with humans:
This bison and elk couldn't have been more than 20 feet away:
I did stop at Old Faithful, but I couldn't wait around for it to spew. Apparently, Faithful didn't get my itinerary ahead of time, so I was only able to watch it cough:
I left Yellowstone on 212 East, which is considered by many to be the most scenic highway in America. I won't argue with them. It is breathtaking:
The road itself is amazing. It's not for the faint of heart. It reminded me of a Formula One course on the edge of a cliff. Check out the road:
When I reached the top of the canyons on 212 East, it was 52 degrees and magnificent (although the photos can't nearly do it justice):
The only words I have left -- it was worth every mile I drove to get here.
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