horse racing

My Kentucky Derby picks

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It’s the time of the year you raise a glass of Kentucky bourbon mint julep, sing
“My Old Kentucky Home,” and watch the two-minute race of thoroughbreds.

And it’ll be…

aqueduct-horse-racing

Wicked Strong and Intense Holiday. Wicked Strong on the nose, and Intense Holiday will come in second. In case you don’t know what that is, that’s an exacta bet. (And yes, I box it. That means you can get them to win or place both ways.)

And there we be. It’s that simple.

The menu of the day is fillet of beef with Henry Baines sauce (obviously), cheese grits, asparagus, and strawberries.

You can’t see a horse in the infield. $50 to get in there and not see a thing… The best seat in the house is on television.

The girls run Friday. If you’re into the Kentucky Oaks, which are three-year-old fillies, I like Miss Sophie — I bet on her when she was a two-year-old. But I await the full roster tomorrow morning in the paper.

 

 

Dear college basketball network announcers…

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We are getting close to the crazy part of March Madness. Excitement will not be scarce. As you think about your brackets, don’t miss the opportunities to pick some of the lower-budget schools that will surely upset some of the bigger teams in the earlier rounds.

I’m not picking on the referees this week — I promise — but I want to address my advice to the network announcers. (Well, all of them except Mike Emrick.)

Please call the games as the action rolls on, and leave out the dribble (no pun intended) about how YOU would have done it. Please do not wax on about players and their families, coaching advice, celebs in the stands, and other non-event narrative. Just stay focused on the action taking place on the court. That is all you are paid to do, and we don’t need information overload to distract us from the action on the court. Save that for timeouts and half-time shows.

While you fans are drowning in basketball mania, don’t forget take an advance glance at the horses, because the Kentucky Derby is right around the corner.