Sunday Morning Coming Down

A UFC combatant last night had his leg snapped in two pieces last night.  The guy on the radio described it as horrifying, nauseating, traumatising, beyond gruesome...  He then went on to predict that the next UFC match up will generate more pay per view eyeballs and ultimately benefit the sport, even though the MMA guy's career is over. Call me a wimp, soft, unmanly or what ever you want.  This is one replay I hope I never see.  Beyond the Rocky movies I could skip boxing.  Football with its short term and long term injury issues is troubling and I don't find NASCAR crashes as entertaining as I once did.  There are lots of sports and games that can turn into blood sports and I think rules that promote the safety of the participants should not be ignored. I think my attitude is changing because I'm getting older and probably feel vulnerable in ways that never would have crossed my mind before.  I've fallen and I can't reach my beer used to be funny...

The  6th race at Hialeah Park was a tough one.  Stolicknaya who had won his last was moving up in class.  This was like a stakes race we would have entered if he had won his last race in Iowa.  People who missed his last race showed up this time.  People who I've had a beer with were kind of intrigued that they actually met someone who owned (a part of a) horse.  A few wrote down his name, being a holiday weekend it is possible they and the connections would be betting on the horse. The morning line said 20-1.  I thought that was a fair price, if he broke well, ran in a straight line, and ran like crazy, he might have a chance. Arriving at the track, there had been a jockey change, I kind of figured that the original jockey had too much to eat on Christmas.  His plate of turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffing and a beer did not bode well for making 126 pounds and unfortunately middle age jockeys have difficulty cutting weight.  Some bitch about ...

It once was that Christmas Morning was early.  As of 2013 and from now on I guess I'll be able to sleep in.  Whatever Santa brought got here by way of Amazon Prime late last week. The parking at the Malls has been crazy and I don't even care if I have to walk a lot.  Just finding a space has been a challenge and to those folks that like to bird dog spaces of shoppers that are about to leave and feel entitled to block the road, a big lump of coal. This morning it is in the low 70's.  Last night I dreamt about fresh Cuban Bread toasted and flattened on la plancha with butter.  The bread is about as far away from whole grain as possible and very airy until mashed down in one of those sandwich makers. The Miami Herald was late.  I could be an early morning hero, buy some bread and catch a few last minute items that were missed on the last trip to the market and get donuts for the late risers. Publix gives their employees Christmas da...

About 4:00 pm yesterday as the horses came out on the track there was a lot of anticipation.  Zoominthe wind had looked good while being saddled. The jockey had already had a winner on the program and I was on my way to the window to bet on the race.  The owners of the horse were watching the race on their computer and a young couple had their hopes up.  A live horse in an big race that would be almost $39,000 to the winner would be very good for business. I had high hopes also for Randy and Lindsey in this race.  Six months ago escaping the Moore, Oklahoma Tornado with the clothes on their back to winning this race would have been quite a journey.  In hindsight just getting into the race is a big deal of sorts. And they're racing.  350 yards is not a long race, it's over in a little over 17 seconds.  For Zoominthewind, sadly the race was almost over with the first step she took out of the starting gate where she stumbled slightly and then took a d...

The Hialeah Moose Lodge had a Latin dinner last night.  Pork, black beans, rice and yucca,and plantains, beer, soft drinks and door prizes.  The food was good and I sat at a table with a few horse people from Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, and Maryland. Try as I might to explain the yucca with mojo did not go over well as a side dish.  I've lived in Miami so long that rice and beans or yucca have almost replaced potatoes on my plate.  This is Hialeah but in some ways I think the lodge is sort of an Alamo for folks making a last stand on a lot of fronts. The place is a corner bar, it's private but if your heart is beating and you can reach the buzzer you're in and you will probably recognize someone if you have been in the neighborhood for a while. Bingo on Wednesdays and Sundays, poker other days and a fish fry on alternating Fridays.  Back in Illinois this place could have passed for Jerry's, Del's Tap, or more than a few between Wood Dale and Bensenville. ...

Just some pictures from Hialeah Park this morning.  This is a cool place to hang out.  #1 is a shot from under the tote board looking at the walking ring.  Horses go from the backside out to the track. #2 Is a picture of the track next to the winner's circle.  Hope to visit the WC on Sunday with Zoominthewind.  The 2yo. is running in the feature race.  Florida Stallion Stakes. #3 This is a statue of Citation.  He wintered at Hialeah and was the first horse to win $1,000,000.

This is still sort of a dream.  Really.  Stolicknaya won the 8th race at Hialeah Park this afternoon.  I almost wore a Kentucky Derby shirt I bought on the internet in 2005 to the races, I almost wore a cowboy hat, I almost wore a pink shirt in honor of Hialeah Park. I'm going to retire the West Virginia University Cargquest Bowl T-Shirt that made it to the races.  Mountaineers Never Say Die, win or lose this was an in your face deal.  You play the game to win, although I just really wanted the horse and rider to get back to the barn safely.  Anything beyond that a bonus. He broke clean and ran them all down.  The race was 350 yards and shortly after the break he started picking horses up one after the other.  With each stride as he got going, I started yelling he going to win and he did.  Two folks that came to the track with me had never ever been to the races.  The trainer bet the horse, my friends bet the horse, and I bet th...

Some folks sleep in on Saturday Morning.  I've been getting up early to watch horse workout and this Saturday was something I've never seen before.  The horse gets saddled up, the rider gets to the barn, rider up and then we ran to the car to drive over where the starting gate is.  On the way the trainer says he hope the rider doesn't fall off between the barn and the gate.  A loose horse can be a scary proposition. This morning The Beaver is going to stand in the starting gate, practice for Sunday's race.  If all goes well this should take about five minutes.  If the horse goes berserk, they may need to repeat the process and the guys that work the starting gate and the rider will have earned their money. Randy Weidner was happy and relieved all went well.  The horse knows the drill, and hopefully he will remember to behave professionally on Sunday.  Off to the racing secretary's office to see who is entering horses for Friday, the d...

I eat at the same McDonalds every Thursday Morning.  I usually eat off the $1.00 menu. Sausage burrito and a small diet coke.  Once and a while I have an order of hotcakes. This McDonalds is a franchise.  The staff is almost the same every week.  All adults a little bit younger than me.  It's almost fast food most of the time.  Sometimes the line is a little bit long, but I usually enjoy the break and during the summer it's a welcome stop. Thursday, management was taking orders everywhere, drive in and at the counter.  The store was short staffed and I can only guess a couple of people called in sick of working for less than $8.00. I'm sure that raising the minimum wage in Florida would be a cause for fewer people to work for the minimum.  I'm sure I own McDonald's stock as part of a mutual fund or two.  I'm sure that I would still eat fast food if the minimum wage went up.  But I might eat more peanut...

According to reports this is the very first time ever that the Icelandic Police killed anybody. (Since they started keeping records of this.) Bloomberg News calls Iceland a weird place. there is a registered gun for about 33% of the population and yet the police just don't shoot people, at least not until yesterday. Being of Icelandic descent I can only imagine that going for a gun to settle something is not on the radar.  Maybe because of living on a small island it is clear that you can run but you can't hide. The homicide rate is a fraction of the rate in the U.S., buying a gun is difficult and time consuming.  About all I can add to the discussion is the homogeneous nature of the population ethnically, racially, and economically.  Maybe people don't feel entitled to kill someone if they get pissed off, because your neighbor is more or less just like you.

Stolicknaya will be running from the #10 position in Sunday's 8th race at Hialeah Park.  I'm reminded of The Rolling Stones, "You Can't Always Get What You Want".  On one hand the race might be a little bit shorter than desired, but if the Beaver can get out of the gate without any problems, he might be alright.  Sixty percent of $8,000 will pay the feed bill and the trainer for a while. The horse looked good the last time on the track.  There is money for new shoes and a last minute checkout by the vet, and the jockey knows the horse.  I'll be visiting the horse on Saturday in the PM and hope all goes well until I see him in the paddock on Sunday.  It's only Tuesday, this might not be like jumping the shark, but I'm already getting psyched.