…So this is what my life has come down to. While my friend Paul and wife Tracey were shopping their butts off in old town Scottsdale I find myself watching the Kentucky Derby – my all-time favorite sporting event in the world – at the Rusty Spur Cowboy Saloon, listening to some C&W music played buy a guy with his electronic drum machine and an 80-year old stage prop who had trouble keeping time to “You Are My Sunshine”, surrounded by two mid-50s-ish women trashed out of their gourds trying to decide how many “Jesus Loves You – Everyone Else Thinks You’re An Asshole” bumper stickers they wanted to purchase. Let me tell you – I’ve watched the Derby in a variety of places (including finish-line bleacher seats at Churchill Downs), but after this year I draw the line: no more crap, no more idiots – from now on I only watch this race in an environment where one can appreciate all the pagentry and sportsmanship it represents.

And, congrats to Barbaro and his jockey Edgar Prado for their fine victory. You could tell Prado knew his ride didn’t like having horses in front of him, so he skillfully worked out positions all along the route that worked to his horse’s liking, and thus to his advantage. It was a beautiful race and an exquisite piece of jockeying.