Big Brown (Blue & Green) Busts

Friends,

Well, I am certain that there are several million reasons as to why, perhaps, this many people would like to scream at the last place finisher of the Belmont Stakes...i.e. Big Brown. Yet, this is a funny thought...as, would the (a) horse really care? It would surely be much easier if these folks could take out their frustration on a human. But, after all, it is just a horse race, right? Not when there is so much at stake, literally (which makes me think again...). This is not easy, as I was pulling for the pride of the UPS to be the horse to end the thirty year Triple Crown drought. He had it all in the palm of his hoof, all he had to do was claim it, right? He had been anointed the next Secretariat, even before the race was run (such was the foregone conclusion that he would simply romp over the other eight horses -- the question was, by how many lengths)? Truly, I still have not recovered from Real Quiet losing (the Belmont and therefore the Triple Crown) by a nose to Victory Gallop in 1998...so, I am just a little bit more numb and apathetic as this point. After all, it has been thirty years (since I watched Affirmed's famous duels with Alydar for the Triple Crown)? Makes a person think that they should go back to feeding the current horses the "horse Wheaties" they were feeding them in the 70's. Oh they are? (I am skeptical). 11 horses to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness since 1979, 0 to win the whole ball of wax...seems like a trend, or perhaps just dumb (bad) luck :-).

Concerning the Mariners (the blue and green), this will be brief -- clean house. Bavasi has had plenty of ops to turn this team into a consistent winner and it just hasn't happened. It's not that the Nintendo folks don't have the money. The M's are in the upper echelon of teams that spend money (but we see how this works many times -- see '08 Yankees, to this point...hallelujah :-).
The decision to stick with the current manager (to make the interim...permanent) after Mike Hargrove's departure was not the right move, and was viewed with suspicion at the time by many a writer. Where is Lou Pinella, anyway? Oh, that's right...he's in first place with the Cubbies. ;-). Go Rangers...something to cheer about (sort of), at last!

Don