Derby Doings …

My record of meaningless and losing picks in the Kentucky Derby is still intact after Saturday’s race.  One of “my horses” did finish second; the others are still running.  However, there was a minor stroke of fortune with my picks – – or to put it more directly, things could have been worse:

• One of my key horses, The Puma, was scratched.  Therefore, my total of $100 in bets was reduced to $50 making my “loss” less burdensome.

In times of minor travail, my grandfather used to say that we must thank God for our small favors.  Scratching The Puma was a small favor.

Surely you know by now that the trainer of the winning horse, Golden Tempo, is the first woman to train a Derby winner.  Not nearly as widely or as prominently reported is another oddity from the race:

• José and Irad Ortiz are brothers and each had a mount in the Derby.
• The brothers finished first and second in the race.

Golden Tempo won the race at 23-1 and the third place finisher, Ocelli went off at 70-1.   That led to some stratospheric payouts on the tote board at Churchill Downs:

• Golden Tempo (23 to 1): Win $48.24, Place $19.14, Show $11.90
• Renegade (5 to 1): Place $7.14, Show $5.46
• Ocelli (70 to 1): Show $36.34
• $2 Exacta (19 and 1): $278.86
• $1 Trifecta (19 and 1 and 22): $11,250.78
• $1 Superfecta (19 and 1 and 22 and 12): $94,489.95

Moving on …  Gout Gout is an 18-year old Australian sprinter.  Last weekend he broke the record for any teenager running the 200 m dash at 19.67 seconds; what is noteworthy about that feat is that the record he broke had been set by Usain Bolt.  A year ago in Perth, Australia, he ran 100 meters in 9.9 seconds.  Obviously, it is too early in his career to suggest that he will eclipse Usain Bolt in the pantheon of sprinters, but that is a talent that should be watched.  And of course, I have to note that it would not be good for Gout Gout to come down with a case of gout…

Switching gears …  A couple of weeks ago, The Athletic had a report that I hoped would be the spur needed to resolve a potential problem for US sports fans.  Here is the headline from that report:

NFL begins onboarding potential replacement refs before negotiations resume

 Sometimes, no news is good news.  In the case of the standoff between the NFL and its officials, no news about a new CBA is not good news at all.  The Athletic says that the league has already completed security background checks on some officials and that physical exams for some potential “replacement referees” are already scheduled.  Here is a paragraph from the report that does not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling about all this:

“The NFL planned to begin conducting training sessions with officials previously employed on the Division I, Division II and Division III college ranks. The plans call for online and in-person sessions throughout May, so the replacements could hit the field on June 1 and begin working offseason practices to continue their training.”

There are new officials added to the NFL cadre every year – – but the league does not replace the entire roster and when crews are assembled, they do not create officiating crews entirely made up of “rookies”.  Without a new CBA with the referee’s union, the league will have every crew made up entirely of “rookies” and we saw how that worked out about 15 years ago.  Go to Google and search on “Fail Mary” or “Inaccurate Reception” to jog your memory of that fiasco.

Finally, Dan Gilbert is the founder of Rocket Mortgage, and he provides today’s closing thought:

“Anybody who dies with money in the bank is a failure.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………