Sire. That’s a great word. Simply, it means male parent, but for some reason it’s ring is so much grittier. Maybe it’s the etymology: vulgar latin (source: Merriam-Webster). In these decidedly non-feudal times, nowhere is the term sire more poignant than in horse racing. More often than not, the highly competitive colts or fillies have a story to tell with their lineage. At this year’s Kentucky Derby, the field is for the most part no different.
Take a moment to check out the dad’s associated with the Run for the Roses.
Smart Strike
Sired: Lookin At Lucky (3-1)*
Stats:
Daddy of Curlin
Mating fee jumped from 50 K to 75 K the year Curlin won the Preakness
Produced over 260 stakes winners 14 time Champion Sire in Great Britain & Ireland, given to the horse whose progeny earns the most prize money that year
Unfortunately, I’m not a big enough horse racing nerd to know if winning a “a highly competitive second-level allowance race for 3-year-olds” two months before the Kentucky Derby is indicative of possible Derby performance (The skilled handicappers RollingStone.com seems to think so). However, I am a big enough nerd, in general, to link to a story about a horse race – second-level allowance or otherwise – strictly because the horse that won is named Radiohead.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — What figured to be a highly competitive second-level allowance race for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park turned into a showcase for the English-bred Radiohead, who cruised to an easy victory over stablemate Homeboykris in Saturday’s third event. Radiohead was making his first start on dirt and first since being switched to trainer Rick Dutrow’s barn following his seventh-place finish in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He stalked the pace of the previously undefeated New York-bred General Maximus under confident handling from jockey Edgar Prado in the one-mile race, readily gained command when roused nearing the eighth pole, and was never seriously threatened thereafter, winning by 3 1/4 lengths. He was timed in 1:35.90. “It was a good day for us,” said Dutrow referring to his one-two finish in the race. “This is what I wanted to see from Radiohead. He could have gone to the lead, but I told Edgar to let the other horse go and be a measuring stick. It certainly showed he likes the dirt.”
Leading up to this past weekend’s inception of the 2009-10 NFL season, I polled the sports blogosphere on What’s the Greatest Sports Day of the Year. Thought we’d get a top-10 out of it, but it turns out everybody sort of likes the same days with a few wild cards thrown in. (Actually, just The Indy 500 sort of puzzles me.)
Therefore, here’s my highly arbitrary Top-5 based on the sports blog intelligentsia’s feedback.
Don’t forget to vote at the bottom…
NFL Opening Sunday
Hanging out in a bar or ensconced on a couch with onion dip for 8-12 hours on a Sunday watching pro football is a truly iconic American experience. We wait all Summer for that experience, the whole time left to believe that sort of behavior is inappropriate and lethargic. Then, on a faithful Sunday in September – no matter what level of balmy Indian Summer weather we’re having – all your dreams come true, sloth. And, it’s not just one day, but the start of 5+ months of Sundays like this.
Here is Adam Best’s (Fansided.com) take on NFL opening day…
Not only is the NFL the professional sports league with the best product, it’s the sports league with the best presentation. After waiting for over half a year for the real thing, you get a taste of actual NFL regular season action on opening Thursday. That just wets your appetite for the 13 games on the Sunday slate. From tailgating to fantasy football, there isn’t a sports day that offers this much from start to finish. Christmas in September. Watching the Red Zone Channel for almost 7 hours before you switch over to NBC for the encore, and ESPN and the NFLN for the nightcap recap. From 8 AM until Midnight it’s all NFL. You can’t get non-stop action and highlights like that anywhere else.
The Kentucky Derby
I’ll take the sights at the local OTB on the day of the Kentucky Derby over any exploding fireworks spectacular. If they put an OTB there, even Mayberry would look like public squalor on Derby day. Utterly, fantastic.
But, to quote something The Cincinnati Kid Steve McQueen might have said – it’s not just the gambling, it’s also the drinking. You can muddle fruit everyday of the year, and it’ll never taste as well muddled as in a julep on Derby Day.
Also, you can wear a seersucker suit or a hat shaped like an extra large Triple Meat Italiano from Pizza Hut every day of the year, and people will always look at you with vague condescension, but at least on Derby Day they’ll have formulated an explanation as to why you’re dressed like a doofus.
The NBA Draft
I got more responses that read I know it sounds crazy, but I really enjoy the NBA Draft. Why so ashamed?
Two rounds, five minutes a pick (two minutes in the second round even), and all the wardrobe audacity that you could ask for in under three hours. I don’t think ESPN could get a more efficient display of unintentional comedy if they got Keyshawn, Kruk and Lou Holtz to tri-anchor SportsCenter live from Pamplona at the Running of the Bulls.
Opening Day
Answer: The first day when teams play each other in this sport is commonly referred to as Opening Day.
What is baseball, Alex. This would be a $200 dollar question in Jeopardy round. Under the category: Sports, amateur hour.
There’s a reason it’s Opening Day, and not Opening Sunday in the norms of society. And, the explanation might be that this is actually the greatest sports day of the year.
Hope springs eternal. Dads with their sons playing hookie from school and work, your first smells of the fresh cut infield and outfield grass, grilled ballpark franks, batting practice and ice cold beer…and then you go home that night to watch march madness…perfection.
The first or second day of the NCAA Tournament:
I used to work with a guy who took Thursday and Friday of the NCAA tournament off every year, and went to Vegas with his buddies for the first round of the tournament. In a world where most of us lose vacation time do to sinister company policies, he’s an inspiration.
Interchangeably known as the least productive day of the corporate year, sports fans might actually be at their best and brightest these two days. There are 13 games on NFL Opening Sunday, and due to mitigating circumstances (spreads, fantasy players, food comas) you’re bound to let the outcome of one or two slip until Sport Center, Monday morning. Also, due to occurrences like Opening Day: Kansas City at Baltimore, you’re likely to not care about the full MLB slate on April 1. 32 teams play on each of the first two days of the tournament, and you will know the fate of every single one (and you won’t need to reference a fistful of sports book tickets to conjure up this knowledge).
Hit the poll to vote for the greatest sports day out of these five, and check out some other bloggers’ takes below…
1. Super Bowl Sunday
2. Opening Day Baseball
3. Game 7 ( MLB or NBA )
4. NFL Championship Sunday NFC AFC
5. The Big Dance Day 1
6. The Big Dance Final 4
7. The Big Dance Sweet 16
8. First Saturday of NCAA Football
The best sports day of the year for me is New Year’s day. I love college football and having it to watch from 11:00 in the morning until after midnight engrooses me every single year. The first two days of the NCAA Basketball Tourney run a close second, and baseball opening day is third.
This is going to sound ridiculous, but one of my favorite days has always been the NBA All-Star game day/weekend. My birthday always happens to fall on that same weekend so I get to celebrate my bday along with my favorite sport’s all-star festivities.
According to The Online Wire, The Belmont Stakes are currently giving Kentucky Derby Champ Mine That Bird 6/5 odds as the favorite to win the last leg of the Triple Crown. Not exactly a long shot herself, Preakness champ Rachel Alexandra is next up at 5/2.
Some of the other’s getting consideration from the handicappers include Dunkirk – 4/1, the highly touted Charitable Man – 9/2, and the R&B sensation Chocolate Candy – 14/1.
Last year, Triple Crown Contender Big Brown hit the gate at Belmont Park as a 4/1 favorite before laying a huge egg, finishing dead last, and costing me $80 bucks crushing my dreams . Mine That Bird won’t get to this level of lopsided, but with Rachel Alexandra’s cachet continuing to slip due to the uncertainty that she’ll even race it wouldn’t surprise me if MTB entered next week’s race with an overwhelming amount of hype to live up to.
Hey, if a team that lost games during the regular season 47-7 and 56-35 – with a Quarterback who has come back from the dead more times than agent Tony Almeida on 24 – can make it to the Superbowl, then why can’t a blog that rambles on about Lil Wayne, roller derby, Natalie Gulbis, and kickball get in on the Superbowl marketing blitzkrieg, right?
Right. That is why yours truly has been given the privilege of giving away this cachet of prizes from Pepsi.
The process is real simple, just go to Facebook here and become a fan of the new Steady Burn fanpage. I’ll be adding righteous content to this page moving forward. You can go there right now and check out the videos from last year’s debauched experience attending all three legs of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing. I also added some photos of the RZA taking on chess prodigies on his birthday at a Wu Chess event from last year.
To address a few FAQs, this is totally a boiler room operation we’re running here, so people I know personally are absolutely eligible. Also, if you email me a photo of your dog and promise to make him or her wear the chip helmet during the game (with the Doritos bowl filled) the odds may be skewed in your favor.
So on Monday morning I’m planning to have my lovely assistant (fresh off her stint at the Rusted Gun Saloon, pictured above) write everybody’s name down on little slips of paper, throw them all into a hat, and pour me a snifter of brandy. I’ll then select three names and take a healthy swig.
Next, I’ll light-up a cuban stogie, take a puff, then torch two of the names and those people will receive absolute squat. The person whose name dons the remaining slip will emerge victorious and receive the t-shirt, the football, the beverage pail to add to their collection, the league rated impact resistance snack helmet, and all the other accoutrement you see above
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Go to Facebook and fan the Steady Burn page right now because the winner will be selected at dawn on Monday (I gotta smoke down that Cuban, crush brandy, kick my lovely assistant off my apartment premises, and show up for work by 9 – it’s going to be a daunting A.M.). Every human alive is eligible, except for this kid…
Larry Jones, who trained this year’s Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles, says he will retire after the 2009 Breeders Cup.
“I’m just physically tired, and it seems like I have a hard time keeping everybody happy,” Jones said. (Kentucky.com)
Jones fell under intense scrutiny after Eight Belles’ tragic collapse and death at this year’s 2008 Kentucky Derby, criticism that he told the AP, “took a toll on his life.”
This coming year’s run for the roses will be Jones’ last shot at the Kentucky Derby victory that has eluded him throughout his career. Along with Eight Belles, Jones trained Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell and Derby runner-up Hard Spun.
Made it home in one disheveled piece from Louisville. Go check out my post on Yahoo! Sports about the journey from New York to Louisville by way of Columbus, OH. I didn’t get it to Jamie at Yahoo! until late Monday afternoon due to my demented state.
I’ll be posting on Yahoo! again for the second leg of the Triple crown at the Preakness in two weeks. If there is any conceivable way you can get to Baltimore on Saturday, May 17, it would be irresponsible for you not to go.
We posted up at Ohio State (a mere 2.5 hours from Louisville) for the weekend.
I thought I knew about college partying…these kids make me look like a seminarian. As you can see, their football stadium seats a few people. According to my hosts, tickets for an Ohio State vs. Youngstown State game will go for $200.
In my four years at Fordham University, I went to one football game. That game, I’m pretty sure the highlight for everyone there was me and my buddy Bob facing off in the field goal competition at half time. After he put three 20-yarders through the up-rights, I went an embarrassing 0-3, kicking in bare feet. People. Were. Booing.
My advise to those of you still and college. Don’t graduate in four years. Stay for like eight, nine. Fail a few classes, immediately.
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In reading up on the Derby going into the weekend, I noticed that they love to report on the lineage of the horses. For instance, they were giving Recapturetheglory a fighting chance because he was sired by a relative of Secratariat. And that is the term they always throw out: sired (it sounds sort of evil, right?). You don’t hear about siring in any other sport…except maybe bull-riding.
Sometime in the near future Ken Griffey Jr. is going to hit his 600th home run. And you heard it here first, Junior was sired by Ken Griffey Sr. – a ballplayer who himself had over 150 home runs and averaged just under .300.
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I’ll let these videos speak for themselves. As you will realize, I had a much better view of the mud soccer game than I did of the Derby race.
Tomorrow I embark on what is sure to be a memorable trip to say the least when my good buddy Bley and I set forth from Queens, NY for Louisville, KY and the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby.
I’m teeming with excitement. I can’t remember being this jacked up on a Wednesday since…well, ever.
I’ve arranged with Jamie Mottram at Yahoo! Sports to do a blog post on Y! Sports Blogs recounting the experience that should hit interweb newstands Monday morning.
Here’s a portion of the itinerary that I sent Jamie late last week…
As of this time next week, I’ll be en route to Louisville, KY for the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. Here’s my rough itinerary for the journey:
Wednesday, April 31, Midnight: Paycheck hits checking account; man, I love direct deposit.
Thursday, May 1, 10 a.m. Eastern Standard: Depart Queens, NY. Former college roommate, the honorable Bley, esq. at the helm of the Dodge Charger.
Thu. May 1, Dusk: Arrive at the Ohio State University. See what all the hullabaloo about this place really is. Bring (and/or join) the ruckus.
Friday, May 2, Noonish EST: Embark for Louisville, KY. Approximately 180 miles from Columbus. What lies in between? Only god knows. My main goal would be to pick up Chad Johnson & Chris Henry in Cincinnati, but who knows if they even like hanging out with each other?
Friday Night, May 2: Arrive in Louisville, KY, knowing nobody, find a place to crash. Really excited about this part of the trip. (note:Bley has since secured a hotel. I can’t imagine it’s a nice one).
Saturday, in the a.m., May 3: Don seersucker. Set-up shop at Church Hill Downs. Devour the Derby.
Sunday, May 4: schlep back to NYC. Reflect.
Monday, May 5: recovery day.
Just writing this itinerary got me real fired up, and now, I’m listening to Ace of Spades by Motörhead. The full details of this trip, I can only imagine.
I plan to be a skilled professional in the arts of the mint julep, the double exacta box, the triple exacta box, and the southern belle by close of business on Saturday, May 3rd.
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The early lines are in for the running of the roses, and Big Brown is the morning line favorite at 3-1. BB drew number 16 (out of 20) in the post position selection order however, and might have to break from the outside gates on Saturday.
In other gambling happenings, I bet my friend Cadigan a c-note this morning that Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy won’t win 10 games combined this year
Post time is roughly 72 hours from now. We’ve got to cover roughly 700 miles between now and then (and I plan on being their Friday morning). I can’t freakin’ wait! Look for my post on Yahoo! next Monday.
