Finally!!! After 37 years of watching, hoping and waiting we have a Triple Crown winner!
In 1973 I was a young boy who tuned in to Wild World of Sports talking about how it had been 25 long years since Citation won the Triple Crown in 1948, and then we had Secretariat! I was hooked, enough to tune in to the Triple Crown races every year.
American Pharoah ran a great race, and there were tears as he crossed the finish line… just one year after Steve Coburn, the outspoken owner of California Chrome, said there won’t be a TC winner in his lifetime.
It was a great race!
Did anyone else catch the TV coverage of Ahmed Zayat making his way to the winner’s circle when a guy in the stands reached out, took his hand, and pulled him back to say hello to Penny Chenery? She is 93 years old, and she watched it happen. That was great, and the TV cameraman missed an opportunity to show the two owners together.
Why can’t he breed and still race? I could understand it for a female horse due to pregnancy, but never understood why males can’t still race. He could race for another 5-6 years. It would be a shame to have him miss out on even more greatness.
I’m at the Travers every August, in fact I worked at Saratoga for 4 summers, what a gorgeous track, but it’s the graveyard of favorites. It’s where Man O’War lost.
I hope they never race him again though. It would be a tremendous waste, and a shame if he were injured.
I never got up to Saratoga for the Travers. I just couldn’t convince myself to pay the money and deal with the crowds. That said, I loved every time I could get up there for a day. I’ve never been anywhere quite like it.
Oh, I did make it up there for the Whitney once. That was fun.
That was me too. Even as a kid it was obvious from the coverage and the performances that Secretariat was a once in a lifetime, outstanding athlete.
My wife and I were discussing the possibility of a TC this time. Did I hear correctly that none of the other Belmont horses had run in either the Derby or the Preakness? Today’s race specialization of course makes it all the more impressive when a horse can perform at a level above in all three. What amazed me most maybe was that the trainer decided not to train him beforehand at that length but to let it “be a surprise” to AP. Geez, and it darn sure worked!
Five of them ran in the Derby but not the Preakness, one in the Preakness but not the Derby, and one in neither. (That last had raced against American Pharoah (and lost) in the Arkansas Derby.)
Joke of the day: Visa is bringing back the Triple Crown Challenge, and in honor of American Pharoah’s win, will pay…NBC’s fine to the FCC for not censoring Espinoza.
Now watch NBC’s Breeders Cup coverage begin with an apology, following by a statement that all of its “live” horse racing coverage will be on a five-second delay. This is what happened with NBC’s NASCAR coverage the week after Dale Earnhardt Jr. said an obscenity in a live post-race interview.
Yes, and on commercial broadcast TV, you’re still not allowed to say it, although it turns out that the Supreme Court ruled that the FCC can’t actually fine TV stations for spontaneous expletives like that (Earnhardt got fined by NASCAR, which tries to keep a family-friendly image, but NBC probably avoided any punishment.)
What was he supposed to say? “We’re going to DisneyWorld?” At the horse track? (A place where literal shit is not that uncommon to have around, mind you)
Some day I want to read the following report:
WASHINGTON: FCC Chairwoman Alfonza Schmuckarelli announced this morning the Agency’s official response to the momentary outburst incident during last Saturday’s live broadcast.
According to Schmuckarelli, “we have received about 324 distinct complaints and about 32,200 signatures on one or another form complaint created by the Family Media Forum and other such organizations, the exact same ones we get every single time someone’s tongue slips”.
“I have decided this shows that there’s 32,524 people out there who have to get a grip and get a life, and the Commission will wipe itself with their petition,” concluded the agency head, announcing there would be no investigation, no fine and no reconsideration “no matter how much whining”.
Exactly how many vulnerable little kids are into archaic, ridiculously expensive niche sports built almost entirely around gambling?
My main problem with Espinoza is his choice of words. I always had the impression that “Holy shit!” is what you yell when something bad happens. A simply “Yeah, baby, yeah!” or “Whooooooooo!” would’ve sufficed. He’d have plenty of time to elaborate on his sentiments in the postgame.
Judging from my admittedly not very recent experience, I’d be really nervous about broadcasting a NASCAR race without a 5-second delay.
The last time the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, one of the players, I forget who, hoisted the cup and yelled “FUCKIN’ A!” In the post-game interview, Fleury quoted himself as thinking “Oh shit” when the Red Wings started swarming. That said, try going to a hockey game. The air in the stands is steel-blue.
