Golden Age

Here we sit in the veil of summer, the NBA season and draft are finally over and football is still weeks away.  Only baseball is our everyday friend.  Here in Kentucky it's never not a good time to think about basketball.  Fans are waiting impatiently for the start of another Kentucky basketball season and hopes are always at a fever pitch. 

Since John Calipari arrived nine players have gone to the NBA and a Final Four is still fresh in the minds of fans.  He has managed to recruit some of the best talent in years to play for the Wildcats and the pool seems limitless.  After years of Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie the Wildcat faithful are wearing a pride that has not been seen around these parts since the 1990's.  Most fans don't remember the great decades of the Adolf Rupp era, that's only a name that is attached to their favorite arena, much like famous leaders in history have their picture on our money.  Joe Hall was never appreciated for any of his accomplishments, and Eddie Sutton will remain an underachiever who squandered his chance at the apex of college basketball.

Which brings us to Rick Pitino.  No more affection and accolades could have been given to a Coach who led a once proud program out of despair and firmly stationed it at the pinnacle of success.  Wildcat fans were once again proud and content that they could brag about the accomplishment of a program that had been the source of so much enjoyment over the years.  Once again Wildcat fans were in the midst of a golden age at Kentucky.  Then he left.

For a decade the once proud program flirted with success only to fall victim to upset and disparity.  It seemed that they would never enjoy a golden age of basketball again.  In steps Coach Cal with his optimism and his stable of young stars, his Elite Eights, his Final Fours, and once again the wild ride of magical seasons restored the faithful.   Never mind that he infuriates the NCAA and all of the other coaches and fans, of every other team in the land.  What Wildcat fans are in the midst of is another Golden Age of Kentucky Basketball.  Appreciate it this time and enjoy the ride.

Color Radio

I grew up in rural Kentucky and my only connection to big cities was through their sports teams.  I remember hot summer nights sitting in the backyard with my grandfather, star gazing and listening to the Cincinnati Reds on the radio.  The radio became my eyes and ears for what was happening in the big leagues.  I imagined Ted Kluszewski, partly because I had seen pictures of him in the newspaper, strolling to the plate to perform some Herculean feat.  I fantasied about the blazing fast ball of Jim Maloney and the slick fielding of Roy Mcmillian.  I had been to very few baseball games so the sound of the announcer's voice painted a vivid picture in my mind of what it was like to be at Crosley Field.

To this day when I go to a game I think back to those summer nights in my backyard with my grandfather, learning about life and baseball.  Not all of my lessons where for the best like which beer or tobacco product I should choose, but the stimulation of my imagination from the radio are still with me today.

Now I complain because a game is not in High Definition, or that I have to push the DVR button between innings.  All of us seem to sit with a high tech device in our hands even while we are watching the game.  While I sit in my home looking at big screen television in full stereo, I wonder if this was ever as good as those summer nights, sitting in the backyard with my grandfather and my imagination, listening to color radio.

Front Runner

"Morning Glory" is a term in horse racing given to a horse that lights up your stopwatch in morning workouts but runs poorly on race day.  Many times these horses are gifted, super star athletes that wilt under the pressure of racing, and often times to inferior or less talented horses.  That expression got me to thinking about the Dallas Maverick's win over Lebron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. 

I will not call Lebron James a "morning glory" but I will call him a front runner.  Front runners are horses that have great speed and run like the greatest of all time,  as long as no other horse challenges them, but just as soon as another horse looks them in the eye, they wilt under pressure and fade back into the pack.  This is what Lebron did during the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.  Dirk Nowitski has nowhere near the athletic talent that Lebron possesses,  but when the game was on the line, in the fourth quarter, he looked Lebron in the eye and he wilted. 

What is it about less talented horses and athletes that give them the will to win when they probably should not?  Why do they call on an inner strength and leave the more talented foes in their wake?  Could it be that they have not had it as easy as the more gifted, anointed ones have?  Sometimes when these gifted athletes rest on their laurels they forget that all glory is earned,  not handed out like so much fan fare.  Front runners do occasionally win, but when they do, they better never forget that there is always a stalker of the pace, lying in wait, for a show of weakness, ready to strike with a vengeance on those that think they will  always have everything their own way.

The Belmont

Most thoroughbred racehorses are bred to only run a mile, some less, some more.  The "burn" is the expression when all athletes, human and equine, reach a point where stamina and desire have reached the limit and the proverbial "wall" is hit.  That's why the Kentucky Derby's one mile and a quarter distance is considered the best blend of speed and stamina, and often called the classic distance.  A mile and a half, that's how far the Belmont Stakes is, a quarter of a mile farther than the Derby.  These young three year olds will run a distance that certainly none have ever run before, and almost certainly will never run again.  This is why the Belmont Stakes has always been known as the "Test of the Champions."  It is easy for horses to give up when they have reached their limit, but those great ones dig deeper and courage is what carries them on to greatness.

This is why the Belmont Stakes is considered one of the classic races in all of horse racing.  There is no Triple Crown on the line this year but that doesn't diminish the fact that this race is still a "Test of the Champions."  The Belmont was first run in 1867, eight years prior to the Kentucky Derby, and comes with its on set of traditions.  A blanket of white carnations is draped across the withers of the Champion, as well as a statue of Secretariat located in the paddock area.  The horses enter the track to the tune of "New York, New York," and like the Derby,  where the mint julep is the drink, the White Carnation is the official choice of "New Yorkers."  It doesn't matter that these traditions of songs and official drinks fall a bit short of the fabled Kentucky Derby traditions, make no mistake about it the Belmont Stake is every bit as great a race.

Eight of the three year old colts that ran in the Kentucky Derby will try each other again in the Belmont.  New "shooters" who have marked their time will try and ambush these top contenders down that long, grueling stretch at Belmont Park on Saturday.   But one thing is for sure, which ever colt wins the Belmont Stakes, he might not be as fast as Secretariat, or even a Triple Crown winner, but when the "burn" kicks in, and he digs in a little deeper, he will always be considered courageous, and pass the test as  Belmont Champion.