Skip to main content

The Sport of Kings, er, Pharoahs

Baffert's Moment (NOT Photoshoped)
On some other day I'll take on the sport of horse racing, but for today this photo says it all. Waiting, and waiting and waiting for the Belmont Stakes to post up there were many cut aways to the horses, the owners, the hats, the crowed and Bob Baffert wearing purple glasses and The Burger King IN THE BOX. The sport of  kings indeed!

The Triple Crown winner was not a king but a pharaoh - American Pharoah (sp) who beat all 7 challengers and left no doubt in anyone's mind who the true champion of the 2015 spring racing season is. NBC Sports was really excited because this was the first Triple Crown winner since the 1970's ensuring a ratings bonanza and lots of revenue selling clips and clops of packaged up video around the world. And I have to say, once AP rounded the last turn and started pulling away from the pack there was a feeling of exhilaration and admiration in the room - impressive!

But Baffert's horse is not the only American Pharaoh galloping down the track in a race to the wire - there is the man who laments the fact he's not a king (but has anyone asked him if he considers himself Pharaoh?) He's trying to open up a multiple furlong lead against his competitors with comments like this:
“Reality has rendered its judgment,” he added. “Trickle-down economics doesn’t work. Middle-class economics does.”
 "Reality" is a merciless judge, to be sure, but words do not measure reality in the same way numbers do so maybe, rhetorically, he's correct - time will tell. American Pharaoh has submitted a $4 trillion budget plan that no one seems to be taking seriously but that's a measure of respect not "reality". On that subject American Pharaoh said this:
"The United States is the most respected country on earth."
Prompting speculaton that American Pharaoh is either "lying, living in a bubble or just delusional" and that he needs "he needs a reality check." Umm, he's already had HIS reality check and "reality has rendered its judgment" - He's pulling away down the home stretch and there ain't gonna be no photo finish.

Normally, truly insane comments coming from the Commander and Chief of the most powerful nation on earth would be deeply troubling - not humorous, but in the case of American Pharaoh I don't think there's a single person of consequence, either domestically or abroad, that takes anything he says seriously. The nation and the world are waiting for next years Triple Crown to see who, if anyone, can pull us out of the mess we find ourselves in - the current "winner" is already yesterdays news.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson

She was "sexy", but "too much hard work." I'm a regular Fox & Friends viewer (mostly in protest of the other insipid morning programs like Today and Good Morning America) so over the years I've gotten to know Gretchen Carlson pretty well. Stuck between Steve and Brian she always seemed a prudish scold with an irritating, self-righteous demeanor that I simply put up with because I figured some people in the Fox audience actually liked her persona. It was obvious that Steve and Brian did not, but they were stuck with her like so many talking heads and had to make the best of it - which they did. Besides, she was no worse than any of the other women on morning show TV - I mean, you're only going to find a certain kind of person to do this kind of work and that kind of person is the Gretchen Carlson kind. Then, one day, she was gone and replaced by Elisabeth Hasselbeck and the F&F ratings began to climb, and climb and climb - in two months view
1 comment
Read more

Psycho Killer, qu'est-ce?

I came into this wicked world in the early 1960's and as a result I have born witness to America's 50 Years of Failure which includes the modern age of mass shootings by psychotic men who "go off" on a given day, for no reason at all (except "guns"), and kill scads of innocent bystanders. Back in August of 2019 a KOTCB blog post titled " Reciprocity City " explored a young  gunman  named Patrick Crusius  who drove 9 hours through the west Texas flatlands to shoot up El Paso, TX The KOTCB has commented on many of these shootings, bombings and knifings over the years -  The roots of the Boston Marathon Bombing ,  the Emanuel AME Church shooting ,  Syed Rizvan Farook and his bride Tashfeen Malik ,  Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooting ,  Nick Cruz lovesick Parkland shooting ,  the Iranian, PETA activist, Vegan Bodybuilder, YouTuber's attack on Google  and now this very oddly timed and placed "lone wolf" attack on Walmart shoppers. This list
Post a Comment
Read more

Who voted for this guy?

Who voted for this guy? It's been ten days since the results of the Maricopa County, Arizona ballot audit were released to the public and presented at a hearing held by the state senate. This exercise in democratic accountability had been going on for months and, if reports are to be believed, was completed well over a  month before the September 24th hearing where   overwhelming proof of an illegitimate election was presented to lawmakers . The audit showed multiple irregularities, fake ballots, duplicate counts, errors, omissions and egregious acts of sabotage and obstinance by the Maricopa County board of supervisors who did everything they could to withhold and destroy evidence of wrongdoing from the citizen sleuths. The misfeasance of Arizona's political leaders was clearly defined, shocking and (for some) beyond belief but somehow these facts were discovered, organized, packaged and suppressed for MONTHS by the Cyber Ninjas who were attempting to "get to the bottom&q
2 comments
Read more