The Day After
The day after the first Saturday in May is usually a day for Louisville and Louisvillians to recover from a day of over-indulgence. That may be a bit less of a problem this year, though I do know many took the opportunity of some of the best Derby Day weather in about a decade to enjoy the day, including with some "adult beverages."The day wasn't without some racing, however. Oaklawn in Arkansas is having real racing, albeit without fans in the stands. You can see how you might have done if you had followed Paulie's guidance over at Paulie's Picks. He gave out some nice winners, according to his latest report.
"Virtual" Kentucky Derby
There were two other Derby Day homages. The first, and the one that got the most attention, was a "virtual Kentucky Derby". Hosted by NBC Sports, much like they would've shown the real Kentucky Derby, this race was a computer graphics version of a Kentucky Derby as it might have been run by a field of historic Derby greats. Including Seattle Slew, Secretariat, Whirlaway, Affirmed, Citation, and more. A great call by long-standing Kentucky Derby track announcer Larry Colmus, who was seeing it for the first time, along with the nationwide TV audience.
The race was a close one, with Seattle Slew leading much of the race, but with Secretariat edging out Citation and Seattle Slew in the final lengths for the win. The video can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgP1I6VChg8
Kentucky Turtle Derby
There's a little bit of a history lesson in this one, as this is only the second running of the Kentucky Turtle Derby. The last running was in 1945. Why 1945? That was the only year, since the creation of the Kentucky Derby in 1875 that the race had been postponed from it's originally scheduled date due to a World War II ban on horse racing. The 1945 edition of the Kentucky Derby was run on June 9th, 1945, a month and a day after V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, the day Germany surrendered to the Allies.
On a side note, early Kentucky Derbies were run in mid-May, before the current "first Saturday in May" timing was established in 1932.
The field for the Kentucky Turtle Derby consisted of eight Turtles: Seattle Slow, Green Mamba, Sir-Hides-A-Bunch, Galapa-Go, the longshot What the Turtleneck (that went off at 86-1 odds), Rocket to Nowhere, Steve, and American Tortuga.
In a neck-stretching finish, the longshot What the Turtleneck took the victory in a ponderous 1/4 mile per hour pace, with Galapa-Go (8-1) placing, and Rocket to Nowhere (15-1) for the show. Larry Colmus called this one also and we even got Churchill Downs bugler Steve Buttleman for the call to post!
You can check out the racing at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1cFQpl_qkwCardinal Couple Radio Hour
And once again, the CCRH quartet was "on the air" with the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour. We got started without Paulie, who's system crashed right before air time, but he battled through and came in clutch down the stretch. Case, Jared, and myself also joined in the fun.
The Louie Awards and WBB transfers were the material for most of the show, and we also played the audio of the virtual mass marching band, that our very own Jared Anderson was a part of, playing "My Old Kentucky Home" for the Derby Day that wasn't. Apologies for some confusion around the start of the "My Old Kentucky Home" recording as due to the audio settings on my computers Case, Paulie, and Jared could not hear the audio as it was playing. Including this was a bit of a spur of the moment decision, so I couldn't get the audio setup correctly for them to hear it.
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JMcA
Great parodies and virtual clips of the Derby spoofs, guys!
ReplyDeleteA weird Derby Day for me, I did the early shift and went home, cleaned up and attended a "porch party" being held at my apartments. A dozen or more that participated, sitting on their porch balconies, social distancing, and drinking, listening to music, a few people grilling out and we had some fun shouting to each other. We even tried to sing "My Old Kentucky Home" together at some point in the afternoon. I'm not sure when.
I got a bit "hammered" to be honest with you. I don't drink very often and I was sipping on a bottle of mint julep and bourbon mix I got at the liquor store Friday. It wasn't bad. I finally staggered back into my apartment around dark and ate a can of beans and some bologna. Yeah, big meal.
I fell asleep on my couch, but was awoken a few hours later by a loud commotion in our apartment parking lot. A neighbor and his wife were "having it out" with another couple. They were probably drunk, and it turned into fisticuffs between the guys. It was a quick "punch 'em out" and the guy laid there for a bit while the others went back into their apartments. Finally, the local police showed up, looked at "Mr Punchy" and talked to him a long time, at a distance, before helping him to his feet. He staggered back into his first floor apartment.
Weird.
Anyway, have a great Sunday and keep on believing.
Curtis "not down for the count" Franklin
Wow that's different reminds me of my days in Philly never a dull moment.
ReplyDeleteMerv