Archive for May, 2009
Saturday, May 30th, 2009
An enjoyable afternoon
My interest in thoroughbred racing has increased exponentially over the past few years. I’m not sure what sparked the added interest, but I’ve been watching a lot more horse racing the past few years and DVR’d Animal Planet’s series “Jockeys” about — believe it or not — jockeys at Santa Anita Park in California. My friends and I have sort of jokingly talked about making a trip to Churchill Downs and watching the Kentucky Derby.
In the meantime, though, I saw my first live horse races Monday. My wife and I went to Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colo., on a whim and had a very enjoyable time.
We got there late and only stuck around for maybe five races and the only thing that could have made it more fun would be sharing it with friends. The admission cost is very, very reasonable, the facility is quite clean, new-looking and extremely family-friendly.
However, I will say this, horse racing is a lot more fun to watch when you have a rooting interest. Even as little as a $2 rooting interest.
I stuck to picking winners only because I wasn’t smart enough to figure out how to pick a trifecta on the automated betting machine. Plus, I didn’t want to be the jerk holding up the line while I tried to figure it out.
The guy working the counter wasn’t so friendly and kind of angrily mumbled at me when I went to claim my only winnings of the day, so I stuck with the automated machine. That’s not really a complaint because it didn’t ruin my day.
I did OK. I picked a winner on my first bet — I absolutely HAD to put my money on a horse named TakeItToTheBank — and then picked a pair of second-place horses.
The final race came off 8-1 and was my hope to make back the whopping $9 I had lost. Hillside Manor was looking pretty good coming around the turns in the 5.5 furlong race, but faded mightily down the stretch and race favorite Evansville Van ended up winning going away.
It was very affordable and pleasant and I look forward to returning with my friends during one of the graded stakes races Arapahoe Park is hosting later this summer.
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Yeah right
The adage is that if a professional sports front office person is speaking before the draft, you can almost guarantee that person is lying. So forgive me if I don’t believe Los Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser when he said there’s no guarantee his club will take Oklahoma standout Blake Griffin with the No. 1 overall pick in next month’s NBA Draft.
I might have believed him had he not shown up to last night’s draft lottery wearing a suit coat with a “No. 1″ Clippers jersey stitched under one side and Griffin’s jersey number under the other. If you’re not taking Griffin No. 1, Mr. Roeser, then why did you show up with his jersey number under your jacket?
If they’re speaking they’re probably lying.
Monday, May 18th, 2009
Hulkamania won’t run wild on the NBA playoffs
OK, brother, I know Hulk Hogan isn’t active in the World Wrestling Federation … I mean World Wresting ENTERTAINMENT. Still, there was a brief scheduling conflict with the Pepsi Center and WWE’s Monday Night Raw.
The WWE had the event slated for next Monday, but has had to be preempted because that’s also the night the Nuggets are slated to host Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.
The big hassle came because the WWE event is a live national television broadcast. Now Vince McMahon is going to have to find another venue to schedule that traveling freak show. Good luck.
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
At least he’s got a good excuse
In case you missed it, Roger Clemens went on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike program to combat the latest steroid allegations leveled against him in a new book “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime” written by four reporters from the New York Daily News.
At one point in the interview, Clemens said taking steroids would be suicidal because his family has a history of heart conditions. There’s just one problem with this excuse . . . aw, heck, I’ll just quote him directly:
“My brother had a heart attack in his late 40s ,” Clemens said. “My step dad died of a heart attack. I mean, it would be suicidal for me to even thinking about taking any of these dangerous drugs.”
You mean to tell me that your step father dying of a heart attack means you too are gentecially predisposed to the condition as well? Give me a break!
Just when I thought Clemens’ weakest excuse was that Andy Pettitte – who worked out with Clemens and his former trainer and steroid supplier Brian McNamee – had “misremembered” about Clemens’ steroid and human growth hormone use, he tops it with this humdinger about his step father’s heart attack.
Friday, May 8th, 2009
Different ways of doing things
More than five months after the University of Wyoming fired football coach Joe Glenn, we are still hearing about it.
Earlier this week former Glenn assistant coach Ron Wisniewski submitted a letter to the editor/guest editorial to media outlets around the state about an article written a few weeks back by ESPN.com blogger Graham Watson.
Wisniewski wasn’t pleased with some of the things Watson wrote about the program when Glenn and Co. were there.
He took exception to some of the things Watson wrote, and what some of the players were quoted in saying.
You can draw your own conclusions on who was right and who was wrong. I think both Watson and Wisniewski were both correct and incorrect with some of their points.
The bottom line in all of this is that people have different ways of doing things.
The way first-year UW coach Dave Christensen is running the program now is different than what Glenn did.
Does that make it better?
We will see.
When there is change there inevitably be comparisons to the past. That happens in anything you do. But dwelling too much on the past, whether its good or bad, isn’t productive for anyone involved.
The Glenn era at UW is done. Let it go and move on. There were good things and bad things that happened in those six years.
The Christensen era is just starting. Let’s see what happens. The Cowboys haven’t even played a game yet.
Thursday, May 7th, 2009
You’ve got to be kidding
In today’s print edition of the WTE, former University of Wyoming wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Ron Wisniewski wrote a very lengthy response to a column written by ESPN.com blogger Graham Watson.
Watson’s blog can be found here. Wisniewski’s column can be found here. I can’t say where I come out in this “he said, she said.”
What I feel compelled to blog about is one of the first comments at the bottom of the Wisniewski link.
One of the commenters points out Wisniewski took what they felt was an unecessary shot at quarterback Karsten Sween when Wisniewski said Sween was disgruntled because he’d frequently been benched for his “terrible play.” The commenter called Wisniewski classless and called Sween a 22-year-old kid.
Calling Sween a kid and implying he is beyond criticism is something I take exception with. Sure, college athletes are different than professional athletes because most aren’t any older than 23 when they complete their eligibility and they’re not drawing sizable paychecks.
That doesn’t mean there should be a hands-off policy when it comes to printing assessments of their play.
You’d be lying to yourself if you tried to paint a picture of Sween’s play over the past few seasons as anything but sub-standard. So calling his play since his redshirt freshman season “terrible” isn’t much of a stretch or a low blow.
Additionally, an athlete becomes a full-fledged adult and opens themselves to criticism when:
– They accept their primarily state-funded, full-ride scholarship.
– They become the face of the program and a jersey with their number on it is being sold inside the stadium and at sporting goods stores across the state.
– They get married to their high-school sweetheart as a freshman.
– They become the starter at the most visible position on the football field.
Sween is a good guy. With the exception of delivering a 43-second statement and bolting from the post-game press conference following UW’s loss at Colorado State in 2007, he’s been stand up about answering the tough questions.
But being a good guy and being 22 doesn’t make you exempt from criticism.
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
Pound-for-pound
Last night’s much ballyhooed Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton bout was equally disappointing and thrilling. I was disappointed it was over after just shy of two rounds. However, Pacquiao’s performance was absolutely amazing.
I was supposed to watch Pacquiao’s December bout with Oscar de la Hoya with the same group of friends I watched last night’s fight with, but circumstances beyond my control prevented me from getting there until about the time The Golden Boy’s corner threw in the towel. Long story short, I’d never seen Pacquiao fight live until last night.
The man absolutely dismantled Hatton. He landed more than half of the punches he threw, and he landed thunderous punches. None may have been more ferocious than the left hand that knocked Hatton out cold and sent him to the canvas in a heap.
Hatton was supposed to be more of a boxer than the straight-ahead brawler he’d come to be known as. He was supposed to be able to slip more punches. Pacquiao made it extremely difficult for Hatton to do that and delivered the blows in bunches.
Now that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has unretired (who didn’t see that coming), I’d love nothing more than to see a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout. However, we’ll have to wait until Mayweather steps in the ring with Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18. Marquez is considered by many to be the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter behind Pacquiao, so a Mayweather-Marquez match-up could be exciting, but I’ll pass on that and be holding my breath for that Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
Previously, I probably would have died holding my breath for that match-up. The recent Mayweather-de la Hoya, Hatton-Mayweather, Pacquiao-de la Hoya and Pacquiao-Hatton bouts have given me faith that group is dedicated to putting together the compelling fights fans want to see.
There may not be any compelling heavyweights (in most people’s minds that means contending Americans), but that doesn’t many boxing is dead by any means.