I love the conspiracy theories flying over Big Brown not only losing the final leg of the Triple Crown but coming in dead last. He was supposed to win, don’t you know?! Obviously if he lost there must be some dark secret behind it!

Some of the theories I’ve heard:

• Gamblers had the fix in so they could win.
• Bookies had the fix in so they wouldn’t lose big.
• The other jockeys conspired to box out Big Brown, not caring who won so long as it wasn’t him.
• The horse was suddenly taken off steroids, thus explaining away both his previous good performances and his last dreadful one.
• The horse just didn’t give a f**k.

On and on it goes.

Come here, I’m going to tell you the real reason Big Brown lost. Get close, I need to whisper, we wouldn’t want the conspiracy theorists to know the real reason, would we?

Big Brown lost because… he lost.

Simple, isn’t it? There’s a saying in football that on any given Sunday anyone can win. What that means is, it doesn’t matter who is supposed to win, it doesn’t matter who is better on paper, on any given Sunday it is up for grabs and anyone can walk away with it.

Big Brown lost because… any given Sunday, baby. Any given Sunday.

You need to understand: There is no such thing as a sure thing. Nothing is absolutely, 100% guaranteed.

If Big Brown had been the only horse running the Belmont Stakes, a Triple Crown win still could not be guaranteed. Even a horse running without any competition could break its leg right out of the gate, its heart could explode half way around, it could suddenly develop agoraphobia and refuse to set hoof on the track. Even in that seemingly guaranteed situation, there is still the element of doubt, no matter how slight, that the horse will never get to the finish line.

Though something seems 99.9999% locked up and assured, there’s still that .0001% likelihood of it not happening, and sometimes that .0001% will hit. Playing the percentages just means you’re likely to win, it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to win. There’s no such animal. Take it from someone who’s seen that .0001% come up more times than would seem possible.

Any given Sunday, baby. Any given Sunday.

Posted: June 10th, 2008 under Horse Racing, Success.
Comments: none

I grew up in the era of the great rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. I suffered through Final after Final of Boston trouncing the Lakers, and I reveled in the Lakers first triumph which led to their dynastic ascendancy and the fading into obscurity and (deserved) shame of the Celtics. Thus, it is with great shock and heavy heart that I say…

Go, Boston!!!!

 
I can’t believe I said that. I hope all my friends still back in L.A. don’t disown me for it. But I have reasons. Yes, I do.

I hate Kobe Bryant. I don’t want the punk to ever get another championship ring, but especially not with the Lakers. For all the talk of how much he has “changed” this year and become a team player, he is still a petulant, self-important brat who thinks the team he plays for is the L.A. Kobes. I will never understand why the team owner and management thought him so important they shuddered at his every threat and kowtowed to his every whim. Sure, he is a fine individual player, but this ain’t tiddly-winks!

Since dumping Shaq by Bryant royal decree, the Lakers have been nowhere near the championship. That’s the way it should be. I hate that they’ve gotten this far. I hate they are close enough for Kobe to be out getting his ring finger sized. (When he walked into the jewelry store, the owner said, “Oooo, another affair, Mr. Bryant?”) I hate that they ended up playing Boston. And for all the myriad reasons I hate Kobe Bryant I think the most damning and egregious of all is that the bastard made me root for the Boston Celtics.

First I move from Los Angeles. Then I cheer on the Celtics to defeat the Lakers. What’s next, buying a skybox at Yankee Stadium?

Damn you, Kobe. Damn you and the spineless corporate honchos you rode in on.

Posted: June 9th, 2008 under Basketball, Sports.
Comments: none