Historic JuJu

Weeding through Ashton’s twitters and life when the warranty needs to be renewed can compromise the best intentions. But brilliance is never compromised or ignored at the Yard. Yard Budget and DNA affords a narrow focus. With the Lakers losing Game one and the Dodgers winning game 26, there are bandwagons that need riders and stories that need to be told.

Last Saturday was a day at races, a night at the fights, and frigging history for a bunch of us. Horse Racing, Boxing and NASCAR are not usually in the Yard sweet spots for idle banter and clinical musings. It was a photo finish between Ricky Hatton and Mine That Bird. Mine That Bird raced to the wire in under two minutes while Ricky raced into Manny Pacquiao’s left hook in just under six minutes. Both outcomes were shockingly amazing in their poignant brevity before the nation.

A 50-1 shot, $9500 gelding, driven 21 hours to Churchill Downs in a trailer, ridden by an eight tooth, high school dropout to victory is historic in Kentucky Derby history. It is poetic in this nation’s history. Jockey Calvin Borel coaxed Mine That Bird from 30 lengths behind to win by three. The post race interview with trainer Chip Woolley was a lesson in “F--- you and yes this is the horse I came in on! You got a problem with that?” kind of moxie directed at the Kentucky Blue Bloods who were ripping their tickets in disbelief. In this country of long shots, we all cheer the underdog even when their nuts are whacked and they are tired from the drive. It is all about who rises above their situation to achieve greatness.

Ricky Hatton, England’s most recognizable sports hero since the colonies rode the shoulders of 25,000 screaming Brits storming into Las Vegas for a showdown with the next president of the Philippines Manny P. Hatton hit the mat with one second left in the second round. The 500 Limey’s that might have had enough money or available credit to see the knockout will most assuredly be thrilled with the 359 seconds of boxing that they witnessed. In this country, we like to see England’s ass get whipped whenever wherever and Ricky got wherevered whenever by Pacquiao Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

NASCAR is not a Yard sweet spot either but NASCAR Fan can not be ignored. When Carl Edwards scraped his car along the catch fence at Talladega going 180 mph on this same Saturday, the fans seated right against this fence barely flinched. If you study the footage on You Tube it seemed like five in the first row protected their beer first and three others scrambled to get metal shards for souvenirs. The rest just cheered. Any one of them can be a Yard wingman.

In the economic tidal wash where reality intersects with loyalty, the New York Mets christened Citi Field. Citibank subjugated with billions of Barack’s Benjamin’s paid the already committed $400 Million for the naming rights of the Met’s new baseball stadium. We all should take great civic pride in this grand conduit of baseball, beer and other related fast food that we will be paying for in the years ahead prior to the anguish of the impending senate hearings.

San Diego Padre Jody Gerut was the first batter ever at our new stadium. He homered. No human has ever done that in the home opener at a brand new stadium representing the visiting team in major league history. There is no scientific explanation for bad juju but that event is already featured on the bad juju Wiki site.

An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven't been done before.

Mark Twain