I Forgot to Tie My Shoes on Thursday

Yeah, that's how busy I have been. How goes it ladies and gents? I think I saw all 5 of my faithful readers some point and time over the past weekend. I think the problem was that not all of you were together at the same time. I will give you a quick rundown what events transpired over the past week.

Last Thursday, I broke out the grill for some chicken and ribs and such in preparation to watch the UK/South Carolina game. It was a not-to-often SEC Thursday night game. Sam came over to handicap the races at Keeneland the next day and to watch the game. Since my in-laws were going to Keeneland with us on Friday, they were on their way to Lexington from St. Albans. Game time.

The food was on. The game was on. The Cats weren’t on. They looked ragged. Andre’ Woodson looked ragged. For the most part the entire offensive unit looked like trash. The O-line was missing blocking assignments and they were letting SC’s defenders pour through like a sieve. The defense on the other hand looked like it could hold its own. They looked like a potential top-10 defensive unit, especially in the third quarter.

For the offense, it was turnover after turnover. Two of which were returned for touchdowns by SC’s Norwood. It was embarrassing to say the least. Woodson helped the most in making the team look undeserving. Of course, I always said Kentucky’s top-10 ranking wasn’t accurate, but my statement was based on the misgivings of the defensive squad, not UK’s effective offensive unit. They went flip-mode on me. I guess that shows us was UK could be capable of if both sides of the ball were on their A-game.

I am still optimistic about the team. They have actually over-shot my goals for them at this point in the season. I wanted them to be at least 4-2 going into this three game homestretch with LSU, Florida, and Mississippi State. They are 5-1. I wanted them to be close to the top-25 in ranking, if not in the top-25. They carry a 17 ranking. I think we can go 2-1 over this 3-game stand. LSU might pack an arse whooping back home to Baton Rouge with them. Florida definitely needs to take one back to Gainesville. Mississippi State…if we don’t give them one, it will be all for naught, anyway.

GO CATS! Tailgating starts at 8:30 a.m. I think we are going to do some pancakes and sausage on the grill. Oh yeah, I knew we would have some takers.

Sorry to digress. Friday morning, I introduced the heaven that is Chick-Fil-A breakfast to Dennis and Jo-Anne. They were not disappointed. We cleaned up and rolled over to Keeneland. It was a little rainy until about the time of the first post. We had a great time playing the ponies. We didn’t have any big winners, but we turned in a few tickets. I won a couple of times at Clocker’s Corner Bar. The Crowns and Coke were outstanding. Darley let us down on the free gifts this year—cheap plastic tumblers with a really dark picture of a horse on the side. Yeah, not as cool as the chairs we scored last year.

Since Beth and her parents left a few races early, I stayed at the track with Sam since he would give me a ride to the house afterwards. On our way out of Keeneland walking through the barns, Sam remembered that he read in The Daily Racing Form, Curlin, winner of the Preakness and Jockey Club Gold Cup(both Grade I’s) was stabled there. We decided to go looking for Steve Asmussen’s barn. We found it in no time. There was a big guy sitting in front of the entrance to the barn. Sam asked if this barn was Asmussen’s and the barn bouncer(?) said it was. We asked him if we could see Curlin. His reply was that Curlin was eating. Sam asked him which horse was Curlin. He nodded to the horse directly behind him. It was a tremendous looking horse, a muscled, chestnut colt with a white blaze running down his nose.

I still wasn’t sure that it was Curlin since we couldn’t see his nameplate on his bridle. When Sam dropped me off at the house, he said he would look him up on the old world wide interweb. I got a call from him about an hour or so later. Curlin confirmed. The day was already a great day. That call made it an excellent day for a horseracing fan such as myself. Goodtimes.

We killed some NY Strips and ribeyes on the grill for dinner with baked potatoes and baked beans. Yes, some of the baked beans I made for the family reunion. And speaking of that, what a great time we had. I think it was the funnest reunion I have ever been to. The food was great. There were some great cornhole games played and yours truly along with 899’s help started the largest wiffle ball game ever played, I’m sure. I just wished that I wasn’t out-drafted. My Uncle David was getting three picks to my one pick. This was evident after the top of the first when they took the field. Where we had about 6 outfielders, they had 12. I figure they had to overload if they wanted to beat us.

Later that night, Joel, Alex, Laura, and Adam came over to hang out. Joel even talked Aaron Epperson into coming over. We had a great time garaging it. It was a nice night after the heat of the day. According to T.G. Shuck, that was probably going to be the end of the heat for this year. Joel and I tried to save the world of the uninitiated, like Jonathan, from the evils of the Covenant and the Flood, but it got too late. Don’t worry, we saved the world the next day.

I have committed myself to the fall fishing trip even though this almost guarantees me no chance to bet on the Breeder’s Cup races that weekend, let alone watch them. I will be heading down to Cherokee Lake on the 26th, which is the Friday of that week. Give me a shout if you need a ride. Remember to cheer for the Cats on Saturday. 3:30 p.m. on CBS if you don’t have a ticket. Werd.