Spring-A-Ding-A-Ling

Boing-oing-oing! That is the sound of spring, so I am told. My grass is green today where it was not last week. The grass is growing at an exponential rate, which will probably result in me firing up the lawn mower this evening for the first time this year. I have already sharpened the blade, changed the oil, and installed a new sparkplug. I am ready. My allergies won’t be, but I am.

Keeneland. What? Who said that?

Yep, next Friday is opening day at Keeneland. We will be there along with a few friends from work. I am getting excited for the upcoming Kentucky Derby. The Derby-prep races have been exciting. The Tampa Bay Derby I had mentioned before was a doozey. My pick, Any Given Saturday, ran neck and neck from the top of the stretch to the wire with Street Sense. Street won by a nose, but really it was a head bob by either horse for the win. This sets up an awesome meeting between those two in the Bluegrass Stakes in a couple of weeks.

The Bluegrass Stakes will probably be a better race than the Derby with the concentration of talent being nominated to the field. Street Sense, Any Given Saturday, Nobiz Like Shobiz, Hard Spun, Great Hunter, Zanjero, and Ketchikan are all capable of having a stakes-winning day. If there were some heat coming to Lexington from the west coast, it would be one of the best Bluegrass Stakes ever. My pick right now for the Bluegrass Stakes is Hard Spun. I watched him blister an average field of wannabe Derby runners last weekend in the Lanes End at Turfway. He motored on the pace for the first 7/8ths of a mile then shifted into overdrive at the top of the stretch. Even better than his move to win was that it was done on the polytrack at Turfway. Polytrack to polytrack is a good move by his trainer, Larry Jones, if his only aim is the Bluegrass Stakes. I am not looking for much from him beyond that.

The Florida Derby is this weekend at Gulfstream Park. This is the same taboo race that Barbaro came out of to win the Kentucky Derby. This race doesn’t produce a lot of Derby winners. The horseplayers accept the postulate that five weeks is too long to lay off before the Derby and it would take an exceptional horse to complete the task. Anyway, there is a ton of talent in this race, as well. I am standing firm Scat Daddy scat-daddling across the finish line first in that race. Stormello will probably follow him across the wire along with my long-shot pick, Birdbirdistheword. Got to love that horseracing.

Enough of that, how are everyone’s brackets doing? My brackets were going south after Louisville and Wisconsin were defeated in the second round. When Tennessee and UNC got beat, I knew I was finished. I had them in my Final Four and UNC winning it all. Tennessee in the semi-finals was for Uncle David and his boy Lofton. Better luck next year.

So, who is going to be Kentucky’s next men’s basketball coach? My pick is Billy Hicks from Scott County High School. If we could get him to bring along Matt Walls and Bud Mackey, the deal would be all right with me. Just kidding…or am I? How about Mike Anderson, former head coach of the UAB team that upset UK in the NCAA tournament a couple of years ago? Do you remember how he had the UAB Dragons flying all over the court that game? The UAB fans dubbed his game “the fastest 40 minutes of basketball”. He learned this style of play from Nolan Richardson when he assisted under Richardson at Arkansas from 1985 to 2002. He was hired as head coach of Missouri last year and lead them to an 18-12 record his first year. This is what Orlando had to say about him last year after his hire.

TUBBY SMITH - Head Coach, University of Kentucky
"Mike Anderson is a shining star. He is the total package. A man of high integrity, class, confidence -- a winner! I have battled Mike Anderson teams over the years and I can tell you that his style of play will make the Big 12 coaches feel uneasy. I have so much respect for him and when the team, the University and the fans meet him - they will too. Congratulations to Missouri on a blockbuster hire!"

You know Tubby knows what he is talking about.

You guys let me know what’s up. I’ll be cutting grass in a few. Sneeze ya later!