Visionaire should be your pick for the Derby

May 2nd, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

Big Brown is the favorite for tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby. But he’s got to bust over from position 20. And he’s never faced any competition in the three races he’s competed and won in.

So do you pick the flashy newcomer still, then? Or perhaps a cagey veteran with more experience? Or do you just get bombed in the infield and go talk to random strangers? OR do you pick someone you know will have the grit, the fire and the passion? Of course you do. Yes, friends put your money on Visionaire. After all, he’s got Barbaro ties. From Joe Sports Fan:

Bet Visionaire if… you’re the sympathetic type. His trainer is Michael Matz, the same trainer for the almighty Barbaro.  But Barbaro fans remember that if Visionaire wins there’s no need to send him any congratulatory cards because…horses can’t freaking read.

Well that settles it … his 20-1 odds be damned. You may say it’s a waste of money for me to throw down on a horse purely for emotional reasons that don’t make much strategical sense. I say at least I didn’t pick the horse because of its name.

Case of the Mondays: Touch ‘Em All

May 7th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Now that that’s over (I would use a tear emoticon here if that weren’t so emasculating), we can take a look at the weekend that was. I didn’t actually see some of these things thanks to the alcohol and family and friends and really basically just the alochol, but I heard they happened, which means we should talk about them. On we go:

The Bulls got it handed to them: Talk about a different beast. I thought Chicago would have a chance to outpace the Pistons in a manner similar to their demolition of the Heat, and boy was I wrong. I’ll let Matt from Blog a Bull take it the rest of the way here:

It’s tough to believe this Bulls team has a ton of weapons and can survive off nights from some of them. Maybe they can against some squads but not against a team like the Pistons. If Ben Gordon puts in a few more stinkers they’re toast… Nocioni was aggressively awful. In three and a half minutes he had 2 turnovers and 2 missed shots (one was a joke of an attempt that got thrown back into his face by ’sheed), and during that time the Bulls also managed to give up 3 offensive rebounds. Duhon was predictably bad, and the rookies played as such. But while this may just be bias towards the lure of potential, I’d rather see Tyrus and Thabo make rookie mistakes than Noc and Duhon just looking too undersized to do much at all…

Um, not good. Glad I was at dinner during that, and more than happy to delete it from the DVR queue without watching it. I think the best thing to do is just pretend it didn’t happen, and be utterly confused when the Pistons end the series after only three wins.

Dirk Nowitzki Had a Really Bad Day: Speaking of convincing victories, how about the Warriors not just upsetting the Mavericks … but doing it by 25 points? That third quarter absolutely sank the Mavs, cemented the series as the upset of the year, ruined Dirk’s MVP justifiability, and scheduled both Mark Cuban and Avery Johnson for about three years of psychiatry after they wake up every night seeing Nellie in their dreams. Is that on the company insurance, Mark?

The Rockets Got the Early Boot: A shame, because for some reason I can’t really stand the Jazz and I love Yao Ming. (A Sports Illustrated story from a while back - which, of course, I can’t find now - settled it for me.) Also, it’s unfortunate to see Tracy McGrady mired in the “can’t win in the playoffs” muck. Here’s hoping the Rockets go and get some help and McGrady shakes off that title next May.

Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya Struck Each Other Repeatedly: I saw the last two rounds of this fight at the bar Saturday night, so I can’t really comment, but everyone I talked to that watched the whole thing through said these two things: 1) Mayweather, without a doubt, should have had a unanimous decision, and 2) No wonder boxing is totally lacking in relevancy; the fights usually disappoint. Anyone want to add to that critique?

Fury, But No Sound: Right in the middle of the Kentucky Derby - which Street Sense came from way behind to win - the sound on NBC totally cut out. They didn’t figure this out until after the race, so no one I was with had any idea who won for a decent while after the race was already over. Talk about a sport that absolutely needs sound; for the casual viewer, every horse looks exactly alike. Here’s betting some engineering intern at NBC took a ripping from his superior Saturday.

Best Graduation Gift: Well, besides a very nice new wallet from the girlfriend and money and such from the parents, my roommate can through in the clutch with two incredible selections: The Best American Sports Writing 2006, and To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever, which I’ve been sort of thinking about reading for quite some time now. Here’s to graduation presents, the best thing about the entire process. Well, that, and future earning potential. I suppose that’s OK too.

Revisiting my horribly edited Kentucky Derby video

May 5th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanR

I debated whether or not to re-blast this video on the site. It was made with Microsoft Movie Maker; I didn’t have access to iMovie. Therefore, the titles are cheesy and overall, it’s just kind of um, bad. The word embarrassing also comes to mind. It was back when this site was in its infancy — before we really knew what we were doing. (We’re still trying to figure out what we’re doing; we just aren’t quite as clueless as before.)

But, in honor of today’s Kentucky Derby and my own personal disappointment in not being able to attend the event this year, here is the short clip I made from video I shot at last year’s Kentucky Derby.

At least somebody seemed to like it, right?

I suppose I have to mention this

January 29th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

R and I don’t usually swing to the tune of an injured horse, but when the poor fella gets euthanized, it probably deserves something of a mention. For that very purpose, here you go: Barbaro’s off to that big fake horse vagina in the sky.

For posterity’s sake, I’ll tell the one story I have about Barbaro that made me realize that a lot of people - reasonable people, even - actually did care about the horse beyond his potential for stud jokes….

My girlfriend’s family is from Louisville, and her father had the opportunity to view Barbaro up close on race day. A couple days after Barbaro’s now-fatal injury, she and I met her father and stepmother for dinner and, knowing that I needed a topic of conversation we all could relate to, I brought up Barbaro.

“It’s too bad, because he could have won,” I said. “But I don’t feel too bad. After all, the rest of that guy’s life is going to be pretty much unbelievable. As much sugar as you can eat, and mares all day - that’s livin’ the dream. Plus, he’s got a sweet online message board full of messages he can’t read. It’s brilliant.”

“It’s not funny,” the stepmom said. “He was the most beautiful horse any of the riders had ever seen. Everyone who saw him up close before the race said he would win - he was truly something special. He could have been the best. It’s really sad.”

She looked a little like crying, and right there I realized: a lot of people take this Barbaro thing pretty seriously. Sure, I still think the outpouring of internet support is downright ridiculous … but I also get that today is probably pretty bittersweet, at least for the horse racing and breeding community and even for smart, reasonable people who just happen to take a special interest in horse racing. For them, I’ll stuff my cynicism away, at least for a little bit.

Just so you know, this is difficult for me; the Barbaro message board soldiers on, and I’m stuck fighting the urge to copy and paste a few kooks’ comments for the sake of a cheap laugh. Damn conscience, always causing problems.

(UPDATE: Predictably, ESPN is already making it difficult for me not to make jokes. To wit: ESPN’s Barbaro correspondent, some woman whose name I didn’t catch Bob Ley mutter, just said the following words: “To many, it seemed (Barbaro) represented goodness and strength and innocence … He wasn’t a foul-mouthed, spoiled athlete running around getting into trouble…”

Ugh. You’re right, reporter lady, he wasn’t. BECAUSE HE WAS A HORSE. The most “trouble” he could run around and get into is maybe, I don’t know, kick one of his caretakers or something, and with two bum legs, that seems a bit of a stretch. Thanks for the moralizing, though.

Can’t…stop…cynicism…overtaking me…)

The Derby video has finally arrived

May 9th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

Sometimes in life, it’s much easier to express something through moving pictures than words. Such is the case of the 2006 Kentucky Derby infield.

It may be a bit choppy and amateurish, but the video is finally done. We hope you enjoy it. If you don’t get the Notre Dame reference, read/see this.

Getting ‘Derby’ with it

May 5th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

This weekend will serve as a transition period for us here at the Postmen. With finals week coming to a close today, school is officially out for the summer. Matt and I will be heading back up to the west suburbs of Chicago while E is staying down here at IU for the summer and will be editor in chief at the Indiana Daily Student.

We’re tentatively planning on each taking over the site one day a week during the summer and updating throughout the day. So if you like the way one of us writes, you can check us on our day.

I’ll be heading down to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby bright and early tomorrow morning and will be back with a full report Monday morning. (I’ll be bringing my video and digital cameras along for the trip.)

I’ve heard stories of mullets, crazy hats and all around debauchery on the infield of storied Churchill Downs during the Derby.

I just hope O.J. Simpson isn’t around to ruin any of it.