Risen Star & the FOY

back to the derby trail....yesterday one of the many Todd Pletcher Horses took another big step towards Churchill on cinco de mayo.....El Padrino won the Risen Star stakes....in 5 career starts El Padrino has always hit the board 3 Wins a place and a show.....a good looking horse no doubt........today however we have a battle of champions in the FOY ...Algorithims and Union Rags both firmly believe they will be wearing the Roses in May......but being the contrarian that I am....I am leaning with the tried and true combo of Pletcher-Velasquez...DISCREET DANCER is my late february pick for the derby.....alas...I have been wrong before.....it's too soon to get sentiMENTAL...but of course my heartstrings will be pulling for MISTER Zito and Casual Trick...even if my wallet does not.

Gulfstream Park - February 26, 2012

Race 11 - 5:13 PM $1 Daily Double / $1 Exacta / $.50 Trifecta / $.10 Superfecta
STAKES Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. (Grade II)

Purse $400,000. (Plus $100,000 – FTBOA - FL TB Owner Brdr Assoc Fund). For Three Year Olds. One And One Sixteenth Miles.
P# PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1 Neck 'n Neck (KY) 3/C L J Lezcano 116 I R Wilkes 15/1
2 2 Algorithms (KY) 3/C L J Castellano 120 T A Pletcher 8/5 3 3 Fort Loudon (FL) 3/C L R Maragh 120 S I Gold 20/1
4 4 Casual Trick (KY) 3/R L C S Nakatani 116 N P Zito 8/1
5 5 Discreet Dancer (FL) 3/C L J R Velazquez 116 T A Pletcher 3/1 6 6 News Pending (KY) 3/C L K J Desormeaux 116 D L Romans 20/1
7 7 Union Rags (KY) 3/C L J R Leparoux 122 M R Matz 2/1 8 8 Csaba (KY) 3/C L P Lopez 116 P A Gleaves 20/1

Sweater Nite 14

sincerest thanks to those who made time in their schedules to attend Sweater Nite 14, to those who made the concious decision to spend 4 or 5 hours out of the year to raise a glass and chat with an old friend, to those who were not afraid to donn a hockey sweater and risk public ridicule and to those who realize that a fire left unattended with soon extinguish

Great Cardinal

not sure if anyone has been following the stories the past few weeks about Timothy Cardinal Dolan , but this man has has done a great deal to restore my faith.......not faith in my religion, But faith in the Human Beings who persue a Religous life....i am not a big fan of the priesthood and it is no doubt that Priets, Nuns and Brothers are the biggest reason sooo many people turn away from the Catholic Church , but it is nice to know that some of them, like Cardinal Dolan are bona fide "Good People".....the story this week about the altar boy in Staen Island and his father with cancer is a real nice read.....i think Cardinal Dolan is perfect for NY...I hope he stays a long time.........and he drinks beer.

14

amidst the hockey glory and revelry of the past week....the anniv of the great Russia Victory, the anticipation of a bloodthirsty Ranger win over a heated rival, i made a sidetrip to the teardrop memorail in Bayonne and paid my respects....it made me think of one of the most Passionate Ranger fans i have ever met, "Coop" ...nobody loved his Rangers more than John Cooper.....R.I.P. Coop, gone but never forgotten

CSI K of C

48 hours and then some......

miissing man formation

and a tradition that is growing as old as Sweater Nite itself , one of the faithful will be marked as absent yet again this year, once a proud sweater wearing faithful member of the squad, NOW ? a swimsuit wearing world traveler who only books vacations AFTER the sweater nite letter is delivered.....as is customary, like the navy fighter Jets, we will march to the Knights in the MISSING MAN FORMATION in a desperate search for our fallen brother.......Where is Adm Halsey ?? The World Wonders. .....



***apologies to Paul Molloy for any confusion***

107 hours

till they drop the puck at the sweater night LOU-Owwwwww......mid 60's .....baseball weather.

in focus

tomorrows Southwest Stakes....the 9th from Oaklawn park in Hot Springs Arkansas could go a long way to sharpening our focus towards the derby....a couple of real nice horsies go nose to nose manyanna.

1 Red Jack (KY) 3/C L J K Court 115 D W Lukas
2 Unbridled's Note (KY) 3/C L J R Leparoux 115 S M Asmussen
3 Jake Mo (KY) 3/C L M C Berry 117 A Milligan
4 Majestic Stride (FL) 3/C L C H Marquez, Jr. 115 J Bonde
5 Longview Drive (KY) 3/C L M Garcia 119 J Hollendorfer
6 Junebugred (KY) 3/C L J Bravo 122 S Hobby
7 No Spin (KY) 3/C L J Graham 119 T A Ice
8 Reckless Jerry (KY) 3/C L S Laviolette 115 K P Smith
9 Ring It Up (KY) 3/C L L Wade 115 C Richard
10 Laurie's Rocket (KY) 3/C L C H Borel 117 D Stewart
11 Castaway (KY)

recollections of the KID

I was living on borrowed time….literally……Uncle Sam had a signed contract that stated he owned my soul for a period of four years…..I was on delayed entry into the United States Navy when Opening Day April 9th 1985 rolled around..i was down to 60 days of freedom before I was scheduled to begin my stint at Great Lakes Boot Camp on June 10th……..I KNEW this would be my last opening Day at Big Shea for quite some time…….so I had to make it count……..we chartered a Bus as always and loaded up the 1/4 Kegs from Teddy the Greeks Deli….there wasn't a coffin cooler big enough to house the amount of BEER we planned to consume that day , and so multiple Kegs and Red Solo Cups were the order of the day…

..1984 had been a surprisingly good year for our beloved Metropolitans….90 plus wins and we hung in the race until Sept……this of course was the pre-wild card era , and we were expecting a summers long dogfight with the Cubs and Cardinals for NL East Supremacy. In Honesty though , there was only one topic of conversation and focus that day, and that was the debut of our prized offseason acquisition of Gary Carter…….i'd be lying if I said I was 100% behind the deal…..being the cynic that I am , I lamented the departure of Hubie Brooks and Mike Fitzgerald…and I was skeptical of the BIG STAR Carter ( I hated the Messier deal too, and the G-men giving up too much and passing on Big Ben to get Eli….but that's me…..p.s. I still don’t like the carmelo deal, so that bodes well for the Knicks)…….anywho…..the parking lot was abuzz with Gary Carter Chatter……..with visions of pennants dancing in our soon to be drunk heads…..it was a bitter cold day in the parking lot and there was less animosity amongst the fans since the Rangers were NOT playin the Islanders in the playoffs ( as opposed to the prior few opening days).

I don't recall too many particulars from the game until the 9th inning ended tied with the Cardinals…..we were sitting in the upper tier behind 3rd base ( about 30 guys) and since the beer vendors had stopped serving it was time to head to the warm and friendly confines of the Bus…..where iced cold Budweiser and the timeless Bob Murphy awaited us….how great it was going to be to hear Murphs call of a dramatic extra inning win on opening day………we walked all the way down the left field line before entering the rotunda and taking the ramps down to street level…..as was par for the course since day one of Big Shea…the ganglike Chants of LETS GO METS echoed throughout……what a happy bunch of knuckleheads this breed of Met Fanatics were and still are…..i stepped off the blue and orange conga line to use the men's room….and when I came out I was with 2 good friends ( Tom Daly and Dano Woods)………we started back towards the ramps when Dales walked out to the field level and saw there were 2 outs in the top of the tenth……."Wanna Hang and watch the Mets get up ? I think carter is due up in the 10th" Daly asked and thankfully the cold wind must have subsided long enough for us to agree…….we walked to the front row of the Lodge, just above the auxiliary scoreboard in left and literally right next to the Foul Pole……we waited anxiously as the hated Neil Allen took his warm-up tosses to begin the 10th and rose to our feet with those who still remained when Gary Carter strode to the plate………Allen hung a curveball ( I think) and Gary connected….we watched it sail right past us and touchdown safely in the bullpen near the Circus like tent in the picnic area and I can honestly say I had Chills up and down my spine…….30k folks jumpin up and down like a pack of cheerleaders...the spark had been lit……belief had been restored…..you knew right then and there that THIS Guy was meant to play on Broadway…..and the Mets were now complete…..by now we all know the rest of story, the newspapers will chronicle the big hit against the Stros…and the "single" that started the rally in game 6…we all know how Gary died way too young , but that his legacy will live forever…….but for me, when I heard he was on his death bed , I thought of the beginning….his debut with the Mets….and I Thank God I was lucky enough to see it in person.....it was one of those memories that i will take to the GRAVE.

full sad recap to follow

sat up into the wee wee hours drinking beer and thinking about the glory days of Gary Carter and the NY Mets.....due to time constraints I must leave for work....check back later for my full disclosure.

KID

KID WHAT CHANGED YOUR MOOD
YOU'VE GONE ALL SAD SO I FEEL SAD TOO
I THINK I KNOW SOME THINGS WE NEVER OUTGROW
YOU THINK IT'S WRONG
I CAN TELL YOU DO
HOW CAN I EXPLAIN
WHEN YOU DON'T WANT ME TO (c. Hynde)

story with a happy ending

yet another happy ending for Giants fans as "Maria Menunnos" ...whoever that is....had to wear a Tiny-Giant Bikini in Times Square after big blue beat the pats.

certainly a brotherhood

These are the moments that define who we are.......where we have come from , and where we are headed.....the resiliency and determination of the New York Football Giants this past month and a half brought a tear to my eye and a chill to my spine. To have the good fortune to finally exhale and drink a case of beer with some good friends in the Kettle Black yesterday was the priceless cherry on top. kudos to our Jet brothers who chose not to wallow in the mire but rather come out , shake a hand, have a drink and join the party....although it must hurt immeasurably......i love the Mets and 86 was a blast, but as delighted as i was back then, i don't recall being "proud" of them......Hockey was my cross to bear and that 54 years curse was unbearable...i have exalted the members of that team into the Tom O'Dowd Hall of Fame and will never utter a disparaging word against any of them...i have named pets after these guys so as never to allow their names to fade from consciousness.....but alas hockey is a canadian game........football...as we know, eat, sleep and breath IS America's past time....the Super Bowl is the most important event of ANY year...as Americans we wear it on our sleeves, we are part of the games....we feel it when we win and we are crushed emotionally, mentally, physically when we run out of time....for we never loose.....I am Proud to be a New York Football Giant Fan....and I am Proud of this team.

Don't Give Up the Ship

well, on New Years eve i added this flag to the pole as both a message to the Giants but also my neighbors and the country at large....DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP......as difficult as the road ahead may appear....don't quit......it is the rally cry of the United States Navy and should be the motto of our nation during these dark economic times.......the flag was supposed to grace the pole for an extended weekend....but of course she remains there today and flap proudly in the breeze this evening at 6:29 and beyond.....GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GIANTS.......ALL IN.....never give up the ship.