DK Slayin' Em with the Magical Sewed-On Winky

After taking two days off of work at the beginning of the week, the weekend is already knocking on the door. And you are darn tootin’ I’m going to let it in. Memorial Day weekend means a three day weekend for me and that's allllllright! Maybe, I can hit up a few cookouts this weekend. You guys know how much I’m into cookouts.

The fishing trip was uneventful. It was your run-of-the-mill May fishing trip. There was a little bit of fitching, little bit of goofing, and a little bit of cold beerin’. Joel, how many beers did we drink? A couple a piece? Yeah, that’s about right. Joey Joe and I successfully managed to be the only two people at the Parkview Cabins other than the chronic golfers to not catch fish. But, it was not for lack of trying. We really gave it the old Island Pond try. One night I thought we were going to be eaten by a three-toed, green-eyed wook-a-lar. We heard it coming for us. We quietly reeled our lines in, ran up the bank, and hid in our cabin.

We even tried a little boat fishing. No soup. We threw our arms off with no results. Our catch to cast ratio wasn’t as high as Wild Will’s this time. We saw fish, but we just couldn’t catch them. I might take dynamite for bait next time.

The Preakness really made me sick to my stomach. I just knew Barbaro could be the right nag to win the Triple Crown. It was a really rough for me to see him break down in the opening eighth of the Pimlico dig. He was dying to run that race and had it not been for jockey Edgar Prado, Barbaro would have died running that race. Prado, being the veteran jockey, knew what was best for horse and handled the situation without a blink. I give a tip of my hat to Prado for his quick thinking.

Some good from the Preakness came in the form of an excellent coming out party for the Grade III Withers Stakes winner, Bernardini. I had this lightly raced horse in my “all horses starting with ‘B’” trifecta box. He looked really good coming down the stretch and won going away. I look for some good things to come out of this A.P. Indy colt this fall. You will probably see Bernardini in the 2007 Breeder’s Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend. If you go to Lost Creek, you will be there in time to get in on some fresh strawberries from the garden. Thanks for dinner and the fresh strawberries Tuesday afternoon, Mom. I’m off to Wing Zone tonight to try some new wings. It’s too bad I have to drive all the way across Lexington to cash in my *20 free wings certificate I won from the Chis Cross show on WLXG 1300 AM. Hasta luegos, chevatos!

*The question was, "Name two of the five female jockeys to ride a horse in the Kentucky Derby."

Anyone want to give it a try?

Yes the title of the post was very vague, but if you call me I will explain.

Barry Bondseotypes

I really am sick of everyone obsessing over Barry Bonds and his attempt to surpass The Babe on the career homerun list. Every sports talk show you see devotes at least 5 of 30 minutes of their programming to discuss every angle of the situation (i.e. Mike and Mike in the Morning, Pardon the Interruption, Four Quarters, etc.). The more they talk, the more hoopla is created--you know, the snowball effect. If everyone would just quit discussing the subject, the whole situation would come and go, just like Christmas.

“How does JDeezy feel about the situation?”

JDeezy does not condone the use of illegal, performance enhancing drugs. Not now. Not ever. This includes the Babe’s use of amphetamines to help him recover from his notorious all night benders and Hank Aaron’s use of greenies, also known as speed balls, to get him up for the game. For all three players, I will say this: Strength does not necessarily hit home runs. All the steroids and speed one can ingest will not help the individual see the baseball, nor does it help the individual put the bat on the ball.

While I participated in organized baseball and softball leagues, I remember even the smallest guys with excellent eyes and great bat-speed had the best batting averages. They were also proficient at swatting the long ball. Just take a look at Barry’s strikeouts relative to his at bats and home runs. You will see an extraordinary amount of base hits. It is very impressive. His ratio of career hits to career strikeouts is almost 2:1. During the span of his 20 year career, Barry has averaged a hit a game. There aren’t many players or former players who can say that about their time in Major League Baseball. Just think what his numbers would look like if teams would actually pitch to him...and pitching, that’s another thing. The pitching today is far superior to pitching earlier than 1960.

Once again, I don’t excuse the use of illegal drugs, but I do like to see records broken and history made.

Okay, we have had enough on that subject. I have one last rant to get off my chest. Why do stereotypes always seem to hold true?

Example: On my way to work, there are around three cars that I see every day that I know to either go ahead and pass them or just slow down and let them go. Today, another vehicle was added to the list. All of these vehicles have something in common—the drivers are Asian descendants.

Example: In college, going to fraternity parties, I saw a whole bunch of dancing. With Morehead having around an 85% Caucasian population, I saw a bunch of shoddy dancing--myself included.

Example: Every old, rusted-out Chevrolet Astrovan or Ford Econoline I pass in Lexington is full of Hispanics.

Why is the majority of the crime in Lexington committed east of Winchester Road and inside of New Circle Road? Why must it always fall into place?

This weekend, you guys have a good time. I am going to try not to worry about who is driving feebly and/or with how many in tow, who is dancing poorly, or what red-heads are getting their fill of the ale. Here’s to Barry Bonds and hopefully his record-advancing weekend! Go see your mother!!!

The Bottom Line

You asked for the final Derby picks and I promised to deliver. Behold!

I don't like the fact that there isn't any speed in either hole beside Sinister Minister, or do I? I don't think Brother Derek, Lawyer Ron, or Barbaro will try to hang right on his heels. I hope Bob Holthus, Dan Hendricks, and Mike Matz are smarter than that. Dale Romans has been making noise about Sinister Minister being a gimmick horse and his Sharp Humor will be the pace.

I think Lawyer Ron is the horse to beat. He decided himself on how he would win the Arkansas Derby. Before the race jockey John McKee said he would sit back about 3 or 4 lengths from the pace and attack at the 3/8ths pole. The horse took off right before the half and never looked back. McKee said if he tried to rate him any more than what he was, he would have choked him.

Brother Derek looks like he is just climbing the ladder. Solid horse and I think he will stalk the pace nicely. He'll probably be the scratch, but even the scratch pays well in the Derby.

I also like Barbaro for the front end. He appears to be a solid horse. My only problem with him is that coming out of Florida this year, he hasn't faced really strong competition and is on a 5-week layoff. They might have given him too much credit at 4-1 odds.

I like Point Determined in the money. He is a late closer that always seems to gain position down the stretch. He’s the son of Point Given (who should have won the Triple Crown in 2001) and is a big muscular horse like his sire with Raphael Bejarano up. You gotta like the jockey.

I've also been looking really hard at Cause To Believe as a mid-field stalker. He likes to hang within the middle of the pack and from his charts he seems to have a great turn of foot at the 3/8ths pole. At 50-1 odds, I am really digging him. And...he is a gray horse with an old pro Russel Baze up on the mount. And you know what they say about gray horses.

My bets:
$2 across on Cause To Believe
$1 Tri part wheel
Lawyer Ron, Barbaro, Brother Derek with
Lawyer Ron, Barbaro, Brother Derek, Point Determined with
Lawyer Ron, Barbaro, Brother Derek, Point Determined and Cause To Believe

…and maybe some more if I do well on the earlier part of the race card. What are your picks? See you at Clocker’s Corner Bar!