Unitas

Tweet I am considering entering the TwinSpires Delta Downs Challenge on Saturday so I found myself perusing the entries on DRF today and I came across an interesting entry. Unitas. Race 9. Louisiana Legacy Stakes. This automatically had me thinking about my childhood hero. Of course that led me to start visualizing all of my heroes growing up.

I'm going off the board tonight and posting a list of my childhood heroes and why they were my heroes. Athletes (non-equine) are tough to grow attached to these days. I was a huge Mike Vick fan while he was with the Falcons. Now.....not so much. I wonder what heroes the Space Kid will have as he gets older...I pine for the good old days when these guys were the toast of my sports fanaticism....

1. Johnny U. He was mesmerizing to watch. He quarterbacked my Colts (at the time) to a Super Bowl V victory when I was seven and just getting into sports. My dad took me to Buffalo (ironically) on a train from Syracuse to see him play the Bills at the old Rockpile where he led them to a 17-0 victory in 1973. I remember the man sitting next to us giving me his binocs so I could zoom into seeing Unitas at work. I'll never forget it. Add the unbelievable battle with Namath in 1972 to games that will always stick with me.

2. Brooks Robinson. The human vacuum cleaner. Won the World Series in 1970 against the Big Red Machine (man, that was a good year for me) claiming MVP honors. I never saw him play live, but did get his autograph at a Genessee Beer Sports Night in Syracuse in the 70s that my dad brought me to. Hank Aaron also received an award that night. I sure wish I could find those autographs...haha.

3. Arnold Palmer. My dad and grandfather loved watching golf, so naturally I would watch too. Something about his unorthodox swing and the fact he loved to go for gusto attracted me to becoming part of the Army. Never saw him live. Loved watching him beat guys like Orville Moody and Charles Coody on Sundays.

4. Notre Dame Basketball. With the UConn women's team approaching the 88 win mark, it brings back that magical afternoon in 1974 when Dwight Clay broke UCLA's back at the Athletic and Convocation Center, snapping the streak. John Shumate, Austin Carr, Kelly Tripucka and Orlando Woolridge. Guys I loved to watch play for the Irish. I'll never forget that game, I was literally in tears with 3 1/2 minutes left and the Irish down 11. The comeback was epic. (my apologies to SU hoops)

5. John McEnroe. Hey, they all couldn't be good guys. I used to love when he challenged the officials with that look of disgust. The man could flat out play tennis though. His matches with Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg were incredible. I can't see myself sitting down to watch tennis today.

6. Bobby Clarke. Growing up in hockey-less Syracuse, I gravitated to the Philadelphia team since most of my family is from there. Schultz, Dornhoefer, Bernie Parent and the Broad Street Bullies were my team growing up. (I didn't adopt the Bills and Sabres until moving to the B-lo in 1985...and have been hardcore since then).

7. Cassius Clay. I can't really say I was a big fan of Ali, but he mesmerized me and like coming across a train wreck, you can't take your eyes off of him. I'd never miss his fights, back when the Wide World of Sports was a weekly ritual. Listening to Howard Cosell calling the fights or interviewing him was entertainment in itself. I rooted for Frazier in all three fights. I think Ali-Frazier I was the first sporting event I could really remember gambling on, and I was only in first grade!

8. The Big O/Pistol Pete/Earl the Pearl. Three way tie for my hoops hero. The Big O had it all and I was a big Bucks fan (poster in the bedroom and everything). Pistol Pete had incredible moves that every kid tried to emulate and who could forget those gray socks. Earl the Pearl just rolled off the tongue so nicely that you had to love him.

Honorable Mention. Steve Carlton & Greg Luzinski (Phillies), Lew Alcindor (Bucks), Ken Norton (Mandingo), Bert Jones & Roger Carr (Colts), Jim Palmer (Orioles), the Louie and Bouie Show (SU hoops) and last but not least, Seattle Slew.

Let's just say I'll be making a certain hunch bet on a 2yo horse named Unitas this weekend.

We will now return you to your regularly scheduled racing blog.....

Just Horsing Around

Tweet With the opening day pilgrimmage to nirvana (toga) just a couple days away, it's amazing that summer is starting to come into full swing and that Bills training camp starts Friday in Rochester. E'gads it's football season already? I thought I would list some wishes and thoughts that have been awash in the far reaches of my cerebrum. Today we'll let the lobster loose...here goes:

- I'm really excited about the Toga opening day card drawn by NYRA yesterday, consisting of five turf and five dirt races including two stakes and there will be a Spooky Mulder sighting in Race 10. One is a non-graded state-bred turf sprint for 3yos and upward and the feature is the Schuylerville (G3) for juvenile (2yo) fillies. Ashado won this race in 2003.

- If you haven't made your progostications for my little Toga contest go here. NYRA listed probables for this weekend's Whitney and Jim Dandy here as well as for Saratoga's other opening week stakes races.

- It's unfortunate that GoGo Garrett Gomez decided to stay out west for the Del Mar meet after having an excellent go (no pun intended) at it the last two summers in Toga. He's one of my favorite jocks and will be missed during the meet. Not that he won't be busy shipping around the country on weekends to ride some top mounts and you're sure to catch a glimpse of him at the Spa.

- The Alabama is looking to shape up as a rematch between Mother Goose and CCA American Oaks champ Music Note and Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell. Here's hoping EquiSpace favorites Sweet Vendetta and Bsharpsonata join the fray what should be a nice preview of who will be the main challenger to Zenyatta and Hystericalady in the BC Ladies' Classic.

- I've been pretty quiet on the Curlin front. I voted for him to continue the Turf campaign in the various polls you can find out there nowadays. He is currently stabled and training at Saratoga and it sure would be nice to see him in the Sword Dancer on Alabama Day from a completely selfish standpoint. I just don't think it will happen. His trainer has said in the past that they call it "the graveyard of champions" for a reason and there's more money to be made elsewhere. I don't see them shipping to France for a prep and then having to make the walk of shame if he doesn't deliver and thus bypasses the Arc.

- I've heard so much about Hialeah Park in Miami, which has been dark since 2001. Reports by the Palm Beach Post say that CNet founder Halsey Minor is interested in buying the racetrack from the former owner who shut it down seven years ago. Minor also sold GrandCentral to Google last year (translation: the dude is loaded). If they could structure a meet before Gulfstream's winter meet (hurricanes withstanding) with some slight overlap so they could regenerate the Flamingo Stakes, long a Derby prep, ending in February it might just work.

From the old guy front......

- I'm starting the Brett Favre to Buffalo Campaign. Out of the 25 Hall of Fame quarterbacks only my boyhood idol Johnny U played past age 40. Favre turns 39 in October. Let's take a look at some common sense stuff that only makes it a natural for him to join our beloved Bills: It's cold in Buffalo (check). We have frozen tundra (check). We need a veteran quarterback (check). This town would adore him. (check). We are well under the cap (check). Nice cheese factory less than an hour away (check). Roswell Park, one of nation's largest cancer centers located here, could use a celebrity booster who supports breast cancer research (check). Team is on the rise (check). Brett Favre, come on down to the City of Good Neighbors!

- I followed Greg Norman last month at the Senior PGA (with his new bride Chrissy Evert within spittin distance) and I thought his game looked very sharp. The Shark is battling right now to stay atop the leaderboard at Royal Birkdale and become the oldest winner of a major at the spry age of 53. Hell, I'm rooting for him. He'd also become the first man to win the same major in three different decades. What do ya know....

- The venerable Lava Man takes to the turf today at Del Mar in the Eddie Read Handicap. Hope this former champ has some gas left in the tank. The Norman/Lava Man double sure would make today one of those days for the old guys. Maybe he can take a cue from 10 (!) year old Evening Attire winner of the Greenwood Cup at PHA yesterday setting a track record nonetheless in his eight length win!