Kentucky Derby...Horseracing's Superbowl

I watched the Kentucky Derby this weekend and as usual it was quite the spectacle. While the race itself was quite exciting, it only lasts about two minutes, but it is arguably the most exciting two minutes in Sports. More than just the race, it's everything leading up to it that makes the Kentucky Derby the Superbowl of horse racing. For all intents and purposes, the festivities surrounding the race kicks off weeks before the race, leading up to the grand finale on the day of the race.

Celebrities of all types make their appearance at Old Hilltop to take in the scene. For those who have a vested interest in the race such as the owners, trainers, jockeys and horses themselves it is a make or break day. For the owner and jockeys they hope to garner horse racing fame and possibly a chance for horse racing immortality by winning the Triple Crown. But it is really the horse that attains that special place and not the jockey or owners. I can prove my point my stating that not more than one out of a thousand people remember who owned or rode Secretariat but they do remember that horse.

There's another benefit that comes to the lucky winner of any of the big three races, and that is the privlege of providing stud services to filly's in his leisure and retirement from racing. And it's not a bad deal for the horse either!

Rivals to the End

In Sports, there are few things more compelling and fun to watch then a good rivalry between evenly matched competitors and teams. In boxing, you had Ali-Frazier. In tennis, one of the great rivalries was McEnroe-Connors. Golf had Nicklaus-Palmer and it's the same with team rivalries. In baseball, there's no rivalry that can match the drama of a Boston Red Sox- New York Yankees playoff series. In football, you have tons of rivalries in college football, and in the NFL the Ravens-Steelers matchup is probably the best rivalry going at the present time.

After watching the Penguins-Flyers game today, I will have to add these two teams as another rivalry that is quickly becoming one of the best in Professional Sports. The war that these teams waged was brutal to watch, let alone be a part of. It has been known for some time that the players on these cross town rivals don't have a lot of use for each other, playing in the same division and from the two largest cities in Pennsylvania, but having the other as a first round opponent in the NHL playoffs has stoked the passions that much more. The only crime would be if this series only goes four games and with the way the Flyers are playing, it could happen. What a shame!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

If you're a hockey fan like me, it's the best time of the year, especially if the team you follow is in the playoffs. With the long regular season behind them, the teams in the playoffs play a seven game series, with the winners moving on to do it all over again in the next round. I have said it many times, that winning the Stanley Cup is the hardest championship to win in any team sport. The two teams that make it to the playoffs have to endure and win three...seven game series to get to the finals and then win another series to claim the Stanley Cup.

The playoffs have it all, the excitement of the bigger stakes, physical play and fights, the suddenness of victory or defeat in overtime, watching how the teams react to each other and the strategies employed by the coaches, all this plays out in a seven game series. It may not be the holiday season, but if you're a hockey fan, it may as well be.

Curbball, Wallball, Everywhere a Ball-Ball

Growing up in a poor working glass White ghetto in Southwest Baltimore during the 60's, there were no trips to places such as Ocean City, Cape May, or any other place for my family and most of the families in the area. If we were lucky, we got to take a trip out to Gwynn Oak Park, an amusement park that was quite popular at the time. However, even though we didn't get to go anywhere during those times, we somehow managed to entertain ourselves without trips or vacations by using our imagination to create silly games that cost nothing but time and a ball or two.

A couple of the games that most of the boys participated in back then were Curbball and Wallball. Curbball was a game that we played in front of our row homes in which one kid would take the ball and try to hit the top pointy part of the high city curbs sending the ball over the other players head onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street, that being a home run. Wallball on the other hand was a game that was played in a narrow alley with buildings on both sides where one player would take and throw the ball at the bottom of one wall trying to use the right Geometric angles to hit the other wall behind him where the opposing player would not be able to catch it as it came off of the second wall. Of course we didn't know anything about Geometry at that time, but we sure knew angles.

There were other games as well that we created to keep us busy during those long hot summer days, and while not all them consisted of playing ball, that inexpensive round object was never far from our hands back then.

Sports....To Everything There is a Season...NOT!

Growing up as a child, it used to be that one could tell the changing of the seasons in many ways. Like the seasons, we had our sports activity schedule and the way it worked was we would play baseball from March to September, then football up until the NFL championship game which was usually around the holidays, and afterwards we would play basketball until it was time for baseball again.

With Professional Sports nowadays, there really isn't any cutoff from one sport to another as they all overlap each other. For instance, NFL Football now runs from September to February concluding with the Super Bowl. NBA Basketball and NHL Hockey have a regular season that starts at the beginning of October and runs until April, and then has a two month playoff schedule before they finally crown the champ in June! Major League Baseball also has their marathon seasons running from the beginning of April until November, that is if the weather cooperates and lets them get the games in before the snow sets in.

Being an adult, I understand that it's all driven by money, but doesn't it seem just a little strange to be watching baseball in November and hockey in June?

Will Tiger Woods Ever Win Another Major?

It was only a few years ago when just about everyone had penciled Tiger Woods in to break Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 career major victories. With Tiger having 14 Major victories at the tender age of 32, it was a foregone conclusion that it was just a matter of time before he broke Jack's record and claimed the mantle of the "Greatest Golfer" of all time. But that was before Tiger's little incident down in Florida. Since that time Tiger has just not been the same dominating player. Since he is still a relatively young athlete at 36, it's difficult to believe that his problem is primarily of a physical nature.

By TheAgency (CJStumpf) 22:01, 6 April 2007 (UTC) (Own work)


In most Sports, a professional athlete peaks in his late 20's or early 30's, and soon after their physical skills decline quickly. Unlike other competitive Sports, Golf is a game that professional athletes can compete in up until their 40's's or older since the game doesn't place those kinds of physical demands on the body such as football, hockey, basketball, etc., but is as much a mental game. And that I believe is Tiger's bugaboo. Even though it's been a few years since the Woods scandal broke, one wonders if he is still carrying that incident with him every time he steps on the course.


Will he eventually get it together and break Jack's record? Needless to say, the longer he goes without a Major win, the more difficult it will be for him to reach that summit. With new blood constantly coming onto the tour, Tiger needs to get a Major victory or two in the next couple of seasons to have a reasonable chance to hit the target.