Bobby Flay Announced the 8th Race at Saratoga on Sunday

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

Daily Racing Form's Steven Crist summed it up pretty well on his blog-

"5:00 pm: Which was the most surreal part of the 8th race? The skies opening the moment the field started loading into the gate? The race's being called, and not very well by "guest announcer" Bobby Flay? Or the victory after an agonizing nine furlongs in 1:53.07 by 32-1 Freddy the Cap, trained by Finger Lakes-based Oscar Barrera Jr.?

Maybe none of the above. If you watch the replay carefully, coming out of the first turn, it appears winning rider Sebastian Morales is hit in the head by an unfortunate seagull, who bounces off him and then hits Julien Leparoux, (TR Slyder's note: that means from the 7 horse to the 9) aboard A Zero Trap, also in the head. At this time I can not determine the further fate of the seagull. "


The seagull strike is right at :39 seconds when Bobby is saying "the club sandwich turn". It hits the horse in the lead right as they pass the 8th pole (I think it's the 8th)- The white pole with black and white stripes and a gold ball on top. You can't see it flying in very well, but you can see it flop after impact and go from the 7 to the 9. Once Bobby says "they go around the club..." lean in and really stare and it's fairly easy to see.

P.S. When is Bobby gonna get a show called "The Bobby Flayshow"? (If you didn't get the joke, don't ask a co-worker to explain it).

I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Wow.

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter


Just read this headline: Woman Sets Fire to Man's Genitals.

That maneuver is known is some intellectual circles as "The homeless man's alarm clock"









I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

I Basically Got Plagiarized by the LA Times

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter


I thought I was the only one who ever dreamt of seeing Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra racing against eachother. Either I am not, or I was plagiarized. I'm going with the latter.

It's a good article though, not just because it plagiarized a good article or 3 by me, it's good on its own merits.

The article came out today in time for Zenyatta's race in the Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar. Thank god it won't be televised nationally, enough with seeing all of those 11-for-11 horses already.







I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

500 Pounds of Awesome: The Nelson Mandella of Gun Smuggling Undernearth Flaps of one's own Fat

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter



No offense everybody reading this, but George Vera is way, way, WAY better at smuggling a gun into prison under rolls of his blubber than you are.

I've been trying for years and just can't seem to do it. This guy is a very talented gentleman and a credit to good ol' Texas Ingenuity. Everything is bigger in Texas. Namely: Fat Rolls and talent levels of gun smuggling using them.

It is like the most pathetic version of Li'l Wayne chronicling his drug smuggling talent in the ballad, "Stuntin' Like My Daddy" featuring one, Brian "Birdman Williams" when Weezy boasts (it's at the 3:08 mark of the linked YouTube Video):

"What you know 'bout putting bricks in the spare, man? I can stuff coupe like a mother fuckin' caravan"

Maybe Vera should counter with a mixtape, slamming Li'l Wayne and boasting,

"When it comes to that smugglin' game, I leave other brothers hurtin'/Shit, I once smuggled a Glock in my meaty, diabetes curtains".

The name of that mixed tape should be "George Vera- The Truth, Like Verdad"

Y'all share dat.







I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Some Rhetorical Questions About ESPN

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter


If ESPN's Chris Mortensen found out that Roger Goddell, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson were running a drug-smuggling operation, do you think he'd actually report it? Or, do you think ESPN would even allow him to run it?

Who do you think would go after that story more tenaciously- ESPN or the New York Times?

Would you be more likely to trust the reporting of a sports company that reports news as well as films commercials with the very same athletes that they interview, or a company that is an independent news agency and does not broadcast any athletics?

If ESPN.com runs a story promoting the virtues of Player X, and SI.com runs a story promoting the virtues of a Player Y, would you be more likely to question the motives of why ESPN.com wrote a puff piece about Player X?

In July, when baseball is the only game in town, and SportsCenter mentions an NFL offseason trade rumor before they report the outcome of that day's Kansas City Royals game versus the Seattle Mariners, do you feel that ESPN truly believes that possible-news is better than definite news? Or do you think that ESPN's profiting from the NFL far more than it does from the Royals and Mariners is why they have subjugated those fan bases?

ESPN pretended to address this problem by hiring and Ombudsman years ago. Their findings get buried at the bottom of ESPN.com, but all the ones I have read were outstanding and spoke my grievances flawlessly. So what change came of that? Absolutely none. It's just a charade. If you acknowledge that you have a drug problem to your friends at family during an intervention, thank them for their support, then go use again 9 minutes later, your apology is meaningless. As meaningless as ESPN having ombudsmen.

Don't you think that ESPN is aware that no one actually likes ESPN, but that all sports fans simply tolerate it? Do you know anyone who actually enjoys SportsCenter anymore? People certainly did 15 years ago, but now people tolerate it. In the era of ESPNEWS, and the internet, no one has time for all of the fluff and pomp on SportsCenter.

I haven't read one positive piece about ESPN as a whole, in over a decade. I've that people like PTI, Bill Simmons or certain analysts, but never the network, its ethos or the shtick of SportsCenter. If news dissemination and fan satisfaction came before profits, and you ran ESPN, would you keep the status quo as is? And, no offense, but don't you think that their CEO is probably better at running ESPN than you would be? So doesn't that tell you that they're only concern is profit?

I'm not the first person to ever ask this rhetorical questions. And I hope I'm not the last to ask why no other media people have opted to challenge ESPN. If a rival sports news network started, that dealt only with news and not broadcasting sporting events, thereby creating conflicts of interest galore and injuring its credibility, wouldn't you prefer their news over ESPN's? You could watch the game on ESPN, then click over to get the other network's analysis- which you'd trust much more. Who would you trust to be critical of Peyton Manning's performance- an independent news company, or Chris Berman- who is hoping to have Manning headline his charity golf outing this summer? Furthermore, if a New Sports Network (we'll just call it NSN for now) started, don't you think the approximately 6 ESPN personalities with actual journalistic dignity would gladly jump ship? ESPN would keep the soulless Berman, Linda Cohn, Stu Scott, Kenny Mayne, Skip Bayless, and the newest incarnations of screaming-heads like Stephen A. Hole Smith (like Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Irvin). Meanwhile NSN would most likely get at least a few integrity refugees like Peter Gammons, Tim Kurkjian, Ric Bucher, Bill Simmons, Buster Olney and other newsmen who do not wish to be associated with the network of Skip Bayless, Stu Scott and Chris Berman. When Bill Simmons jokingly refers to the future, when he runs ESPN8, he's really talking about NSN. NSN could enlist many of the reputable sports bloggers that have proven to be a valued counter-weight to ESPN's PropagandAdvertisements (I just made that word up). Heck, if they had a Daily Show-like show that lampooned ESPN, everyone I know would watch that show every single day.

ESPN has gotten fat and lazy. Not only are they ripe for a competitor, they are ripe to be bloodied by their competitor.









I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Get Ready for an Awful(ly Awesome) Pun

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter


Do you think this dog learned to do this from a Hand-nibble Lecture? HELLOOOO











I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Sip it and Tip it: John Hughes Edition

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

Sad day. Big Loss. But, everytime baby Jesus closes a door, he opens up another. Now I have another chance to show this awesome picture taken by Keith Boadwee, entitled, "Molly Ringwald". I altered Keith's Original vision so that it is nudity-free. You have been warned. Scroll down for the picture before it is too late.




















TR Slyder scholars may recall this photo was actually the answer to a question I posted about the 2008 Olympics. That was the first ever posting at Where Awesome Happens. I've come a long way, baby.






I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Lookalikes v. 25.0- Mr. Mackey from South Park and Richard Wolffe

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter


Hey, Wolffe, Dick- your ethics are bad, mmm kay?




























Other journalist lookalikes:

Jane Velez-Mitchell and Nicholas from Eight is Enough

Dana Bash and an Afghan Dog






I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

The Latest on the GE/Newscorp, Olbermann/O'Reilly Censorship

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter



I'm just glad that Richard Wolffe won't be on Countdown. I hated that smarmy nutbag and his Mr. Mackey head. (that gives me an idea).

Three articles.

David Sirtoka in the HuffPo

Glenn Greenwald in Salon

Jane Hamsher in Firedoglake








I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Vladimir Putin Looking Fabio-tastic.

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

These pictures are awesome. Vlad is the man.
























When I finally write my Socialist Romance Novel, that is totally gonna be the cover. Call me hetero, but I didn't find them to be as entertaining as I did the equine pictures below from Rolling Stone with Angelina Jolie.

























Oh and Vladimir, you can never outdo this world leader picture.




























I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Tip of the Hat

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

To Cubs Catcher Koyie Hill. The Cubs needed you to be come up huge and be available every single day until Soto got back. You have done that. While I have seen players hit the ball with more consistency, you excelled defensively, took zero days off and did your job. When Soto went down the Cubs just started getting hot and that did not change during your tenure as a starter- the precise job description of a substitute; you didn't disrupt the rhythm. As it turns out, you didn't make a case to replace Soto, but that's ok. You made a great a case for being a solid backup during a crucial time of the Cubs ascendency to the lead in the NL Central.

To further my point: I lifted this from here

Hill has caught 207 innings since Soto was hurt. That's nearly three games more -- 27 innings -- than any other catcher in baseball. The Dodgers' Russell Martin is next, at 181 2/3 innings, followed by St. Louis' Yadier Molina (179 2/3 innings) and Milwaukee's Jason Kendall (174).

Job well done.





I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

A Cutesy Story

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

I won't get mad at you if you don't click this link and read the story, but if you need a pick-me-up or are skeptical about why I like horse racing, then check it out.

I'll ruin the story for you anyway- a little girl got to pet Rachel Alexandra while Rachel was in her stall at Saratoga. That's pretty much it.

That's what's neat about horse racing. Human athletes can rebuff kids for autographs, or get arrested with a DUI, say something stupid in the media, or hold out for money and leave your town and break your kid's heart. But when your kid likes a horse, they get to pet its nose and maybe even feed a carrot or peppermint before it goes to sleep on it's pile of hay.








I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

I bet I saw Something More Bizarre on the Northbound Brown Line Tonight Around Midnight than you did

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

I'm on the train tonight, the Brown Line, which, I find, has the most tame passengers of any train line. Anyway, things are fine and then a guy started talking to himself. Not a big deal, you see that all the time and it seemed pretty mumbley, so whatever. Then he stands up and walks to the doorway to check out the map of the system above the door. Not a big deal. He looked either drunk or a little slow- younger guy, out of shape in the way that slower people often are, wearing a pair of grubby, untied Air Jordans, grubby carpenter jeans and some kind of t-shirt. While looking at the map he was touching it with his fingers and pointing to different stops, like he was counting the number of stops until his destination. What made that more odd was that he was pointing to a lot of different lines, almost like he had no idea where he was going or what line he was on. He was also missing a digit on his right middle finger, which seemed to make sense for a gentleman like him.

He was right in front of me, so I was watching him I guess. I had nothing better to do. After his Magellan-like map reading exploits he was leaning on the door, which is not a safe thing to do, but didn't seem like a huge deal since I thought he'd probably go back to his seat in a minute or two as he seemed fidgety and always moving around. Then I see he was reaching above his head at the emergency door open latch. In Chicago it's basically in a little hole above the doorway, and it's a red ball on the end of a metal latch, that you just pull down. So in the middle of the train ride, he reaches up and pulls it down. Being on the Brown Line and on elevated tracks, that's really dangerous, especially for a guy that didn't seem to have the best balance in the world. He seemed drunk, or at least a stumbly as a drunk person- he had been doing a lot of leaning on the pole next to the door. So he pulls the latch and the door opens about two feet wide, and he's seems curious about it. Meanwhile the train is still moving and I'm like, "Ok, this is dangerous." So I get up and rush over to him and tug on the back of his shirt to get him away from the opening. I didn't think he'd be violent or anything, but I had hoped he wouldn't resist my firm suggestion when I said, "You don't want to do that". So I pulled him back as the train stops, and I manage to squeeze the door shut. After I told him that he said in a really docile voice, "ok", and went back to leaning on the pole while I shut the door. He sounded to me like a little kid getting disciplined and understanding why he was being disciplined. I didn't feel like getting in a fight, so it worked out well for everybody.

We were in the first car of the train and the train operator came out of his cock pit thingy and fiddled with the door for a second, then went back to the cock pit and we started going again. Then it was over.










I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Queezy Reezy won the Amsterdeezy

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

Quality Road won the Amsterdam Stakes on Monday at Saratoga. TR Slyder scholars will doubtlessly remember that he was my pick for the Ky Derby before a recurring hoof injury sidelined from then until this race on Monday. Most people felt that Quality Road would need a race or two under his belt before he could be expected to be at his best. It appears that he was at his best today because he set a track record- not too bad considering that horses have been running at that track for 141 years.





Did the jockey's silks on the #5 horse look familiar? They are the same ones as Rachel Alexandra's jockey wears (as seen below with Calvin Borel up). They're the silks of Stonestreet Stables, who own the #5 and Rachel.






I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Are we Positive This Is NOT a Joke?

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter


1) Shockingly people aren't buying newspapers anymore. Hmmm. I don't understand why.
2) Is not writing on your face really a "rule"?








I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Some Context for Rachel Alexandra's 116 Beyer Speed Figure

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter




I'll try to put the 116 in context a little. First, it's the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of the year so far. Second, Big Brown's highest career Beyer was 109. I pulled out the lifetime past performances for every Kentucky Derby winner since 1992 (Lil E. Tee) and checked out their Beyers- so every race by every Derby winner in the last 17 years. Of all of those races, only three horses have earned BSF's of 116 or higher (the 1992 winner, Lil E. Tee ran a 116 Beyer in the 1993 Razorback Handicap, 1997 Derby winner Silver Charm ran a 118 in the '97 Preakness, a 123 in the '98 Kentucky Cup Classic and a 118 in the '99 Santa Anita Handicap, Monarchos won the 2001 Derby with a Beyer of 116, and 2004 Derby winner Smarty Jones won the Preakness that year with a 118 BSF. That's the entire list- 4 horses, 6 times total.

I was looking over some other Past Performances I had laying around and came across the PP's of the 2006 Breeder's Cup Classic. That race featured notables such as, Bernardini, Brother Derek, Flower Alley, George Washington, Discreet Cat (he scratched from the race, but his PPs are still here), Lawyer Ron, Perfect Drift, Suave, Sun King, Perfect Drift and eventual winner, Invasor. That's a nice group. Here is how they fared in a similar evaluation (based on their career PP's up until the Classic)

Bernardini- 117 in the 2006 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and a 116 in the Travers that year.
Brother Derek- Career high of 108
Discreet Cat- Career high of 115 (at that point)
Flower Alley- Career high 112
Lawyer Ron- Career high 105
George Washington- raced in Europe where they don't use BSFs. But received a timeform rating of a 132 and one of a 129, which translate to right around the 116s BSF mark. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Perfect Drift- 117 in the 2003 Stephen Foster
Invasor- career high 113
Lava Man- 120 2005 Hollywood Gold Cup

The 2008 Whitney Handicap featured exactly one horse who has ran a 116+. Commentator had topped that figure 3 times up to that point. The career Beyer high for the field in the Travers of that year was 106 (Harlem Rocker). None of the horses in the 2008 Arlington Million have come close to a 116.

Oh these are all male horses by the way. None of the horses listed has been female. To mix in some gender-based perspective: the high BSF for the (female) horses in the 2006 Breeder's Cup Distaff was Fleet Indian's 112. No other filly or mare had topped 105, and the highest BSF for a horse in the 2008 Beverly D. (also a race for fillies and mares) was 108.

Female horses just do not run 116's.






I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

It's Awesome how MSNBC has no Idea That it Shouldn't be Taken Seriously

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

That network gets more biased every day. I used to enjoy it, but now they are as agenda-tastic as Fox News.

Here is some more evidence of their stinkitude.

The article is good also because it talks about how Newscorp and GE got together to agree to silence Keith Olberman and Bill O'Reilly's jawing at eachother. It's funny how few media outlets are reporting on that story that essentially says, "yes corporations control the news when they feel like it". Funny how that works.

update: this is a good artcile about that as well






I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Rachel Alexandra got a 116 Beyer Speed Figure for her Haskeel Effort

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter


That is HUUUUUUGE. My first instinct was to call that figure "outlandish", or, "ridiculous" but I didn't want to convey that I don't believe in those figures' credibility. I believe in them. And I was expecting a a big figure, but closer to low 110's. I guess therein lies why I feel that Rachel Alexandra really demands me celebrating her, I've never said thought this about another horse before- Rachel Alexandra shocks me every single time I have seen her run.

I don't get called stupid very often, I'm rarely shocked, and I am very familar with the adage, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.". But I am happy to be shocked and shamed by her (does that make me a masochist?).

The list of other horse that have almost kinda nearly shocked me more than twice? Ummm. Off the top of my head? Ummm. Ghostzapper and Smarty Jones shocked me about twice each,but then retired. Other horses have shocked me twice, but for the sake of brevity their names were excluded. But Goddamn, my hat, shirt, pants and underwear is off to Rachel Alexandra. She is the best.












I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

A Feel Good Story. Seriously.

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

This is a really nice story that I thought I'd pass along.

Although it's not 100% feel-good in the sense that it makes me feel like a dick for not doing anything remotely similar. But the story is objectively very heart-warming.









I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.

Jay HOVA is the Male Rachel Alexandra of Rapping

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter

Our Boy, Jay-Z, just headlined some festival in place of the Beastie-Boys. He opened with this badass cover of No Sleep Til Brooklyn. He covered the parts of the song sung by MCA who just announced he has cancer (I forget of what, and I'm too lazy to look it up right now), which is why the band dropped out of their gig at the festival.

Great song, great cover song. You're crazy for that one, Rick.









I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.