I went to a school outside the Power 6 conferences (University of North Texas grad).  More people have than haven't I would assume.  Tomorrow Butler, once again, takes the banner for all of us into the Title game.  Milan's famous Indiana High school champion (immortalized as Hickory in the classic Hoosiers) did not actually win on their first attempt.  In 1953 they improbably made the state Final Four, before losing.  The next year, shockingly they returned and won the whole dang thing. 

As the famous quote in the movie goes "This is for all the little schools that never made it here."  Indeed.  I may be a Mean Green Eagle, but tomorrow I will cheer on the Bulldogs about as hard as I've ever rooted for any team in my life.

Go Butler!

Wichita State vs Alabama in the "Little Dance" championship tonight.  Can the Shockers take down the Tide in this year of the "mid major?"   They are the deeper team, and I suspect that may prove decisive this evening.

I must admit that I am a big follower of the NIT, have followed it closely for nearly as long as I've followed college basketball (which despite my relative youth still goes back over 20 years).    There's something interesting about the whole thing.  Teams that are arguably among the top 30-35 in the country, not being able to play for the National Title, but finding motivation to play for a prize nonetheless.  Until recent years, it also seemed to offer more chance for the "little guys" - though the ever since George Mason (if not earlier) we have had our share of success in the NCAA's.

(Also as a historian of the game - the NIT's legacy is pretty awesome.  I mean up until the late 50's it was arguably more prestigious to win and even into the 70's it was a really big deal.  I mean Al Maguire skipped the NCAA's for it back in the day!)

So, I will be tuning in tonight - a huge Shocker fan.  Let's go WSU!

The 2011 CIT Champions.  Arguably the 4th out of 4 postseason tournaments (with several schools declining bids because of cost), but nonetheless it's a good win for their program.  The WCC is way more than just Gonzaga and company these days.  Obviously you have Saint Mary's success the last few seasons, and now you're seeing other schools step up too. 

Next season the conference might take a big leap forward with the addition of BYU.  Obviously the Cougars won't be as strong without the Jimmer, but I still expect them to be very good, especially with that fantastic homecourt advantage they have.

Anyways, again congratulations to Santa Clara. 

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This morning I didn't have to work, and since Zenyatta is about to be shipped off to Kentucky my Mom and I decided to make it out to Hollywood Park to see if we could see her.  There have been stories of common folk making the trek to visit her for a few weeks now, so we figured what the hell. 

I probably can't afford to take off work on Sunday for her going away party - so this was basically my last shot.  The HP staff was kind and directed us how to get to her Barn.  The dirt track leading up to it has famously been renamed, but I wanted to get the picture anyways.

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And so there we were...just feet away from her people.  Sheriff's poked his head out a few times to look at the fans (probably around 25-30 of us) milling around.  I wanted to go say hello to him, but he was soon back in his office somewhere.  Nonetheless Mario and Steve were incredibly patient as the trotted her back and forth and let everyone snap their pictures.  I also have a few of Mom and I with Z - and lemme tell you how cool that was (and how soft she was) - but I don't wanna post the whole dang album here.  Hehehe

It was really a great experience and once again made me feel lucky to live in the place where she was based - & that I get to see her race so many times.

I don't think I'm getting over this one anytime soon.  Last year they held retirement ceremonies at HP and SA before they decided to bring her back this year.  I hope they do again so I can say goodbye.  I feel a bit ridiculous about this to be honest.  I've followed the game since 89, and really became fascinated by it about the last 10 years (and I don't claim to be as knowledgeable as yall, especially Matt).  But I've never been as captivated by a horse as her (like most of us, I can click off a bevy of favorites but maybe since I've seen her in person so many times she takes it), and I'm just gutted that she lost her last race. 

I follow all kinds of teams that lose, so I'm not immune to having disappointment.  And horse racing, a game where all but the best of us are lucky to do much more than break even given a long enough time at the track, reduces everyone to a mere mortal.  All greats get beat eventually (except Personal Ensign I guess) -- and yet as I woke up this morning and went to the office (yes on a Sunday, the Entertainment world never sleeps)  the race dominated my thoughts.  I must've read 57 different articles today about it.  Maybe I am a glutton for punishment...heheh.

At the end of the day, that's racing though.  We'll go out and try to find the next great one, and come May there's the Triple Crown chase.  Not sure I'll ever fall in love like this again though.

Being a California resident, I have been lucky enough to have seen Zenyatta run in person a few times the last three years.  I wish I had kept my programs on the earlier races, but she wasn't quite "Zenyatta" yet, even though I believe she was odds on everytime.

Anyways, with Hollywood Park being my usual track, and with Big Z running one last time in the Los Angeles area, I had to go.  My folks - who are somewhat casual fans of the sport, moved to LA a couple years ago, and Mom wanted to come with my girlfriend and I as we headed down to the Track of Lakes and Flowers.

We got there just a few minutes before the first race and the parking lot was just about as full as I'd ever seen it since moving to LA in 2001.  On the other hand HP has an absolutely massive parking lot, so it wasn't anywhere close to being full.  Nonetheless a good sign for turnout.  One of the more disappointing things for me is when I goto the track and only a few thousand folks are there (which sadly is fairly normal even on big stakes races). I believe the biggest crowd I ever was a part of at HP was during one of Lava Man's Gold Cup wins and the crowd was around 17 thousand if I recall.  

Anyways, we could hear the call of the first race as we were waiting in line to get in.  The track and Oak Tree had really pulled out a lot of stops as far as "stuff" on Saturday.  There were hats they were giving away, bounce back coupons for later in the meet, Secretariat movie memorabilia (and tickets), an equine artist with some astonishingly good work (though incredibly expensive!), as well as a whole gaggle of charity vendors hawking (or raffling) stuff  I thought about getting something, but I'm poor and needed to save some money for the day.  I was guessing about 10K people were there - which was pretty good for 1pm.  From my experience the place usually gets 2-3 times as crowded for the later races.

As the day went by (and I kept losing), HP slowly started becoming more full.  The buzz was growing - my girlfriend and I were in the midst of an amusing exchange in line for food around the 5th race when Ann (not a racing enthusiast, but a good sport) jokingly said she'd probably be friends with Z if Zenyatta were a human and the guy in front of us turned around and was like "She IS like a human isn't she?"  He and I then proceeded to rattle off our favorite Z stories (he was most impressed I was at the Breeders Cup last year).

Finally after losing more money on JP's Gusto (who I still believe in dammit!) my party of 3 hurried out into the paddock area and awaited the Queen. There was a longer than usual break between races - most likely for the benefit of television - so we actually got the see the march of all six horses into the stalls.  The first of many cheers went up when Z came into view.  I was guessing the crowd to be around 30 thousand people. 

(Official attendance was a shade under 26K, but I wonder if they only counted paying customers...there were a lot of kids there too)

I think the amount of people spooked Rintervall as she bucked in her stall (couldn't see it, but heard and the entire area shook) and was scratched on the advice of the vets.  Mike Smith rolled into the area (after his big win on Jaycito) and another huge cheer went up and he greeted the Moss's and Mr Sheriffs.  The horses were walked around and every time Z came near me people were screaming and taking pictures.  I had a decent sight line, even though I was about 8 rows deep.  Finally the jockeys mounted their horses and 3 or 4 good sized cheers went up as they made their way out of the paddock.

We hurried out to see the post parade and when Z's name was called, something just under a deafening roar erupted and there was a 10 second wait before Emmy Darling could be introduced to the patrons.  At this point as I gazed around it was kind of a goosebumps type of moment.  Hollywood Park was pretty much packed. I was standing about 10-15 feet from the wire about 25 feet from the fence - so a pretty fantastic spot.   Actually it felt like it was more crammed in than the Breeders Cup, although I knew that had more people (however many people were in the infield at Santa Anita, while Hollywood Park doesn't do that).  My girlfriend turned to me, a woman who had never been to the track before yesterday (and gently teases me about my "only vice") and said "I'm nervous." 

So was I.

FINALLY it was post time.  The horses were entered and away they went to a huge cheer.  I tracked them by a mix of watching the video board and peering over the backstretch.  I thought Z looked good and as they started the turn for home I could Z making her powerful rush as the crowd noise began to rise.  I was thinking she might gobble up the leaders any second honestly.  At the top of the stretch Switch seemed to gain half a length or so, and for a split send I didn't think Z was gonna catch her.  I even turned to Mom and said "she's not gonna do it".  Inside the 8th pole, Big Z started rolling like a freight train, and I'm not sure even Santa Anita was louder last year in the BCC.   I could not hear the PA system at all, the noise was so sustained.  Zenyatta passed Switch literally RIGHT IN FRONT of me and people were jumping up and down whooping like they'd just won the lottery.

(I might have been one of them)

The roar continued for at least another minute and then started again as they showed the replay on the monitor.  Just about everyone stayed where they were giving Z and Smith another huge round of applause as he cantered her up and down the grandstand for about five minutes.  The crowd slowly started thinning out to go see the horses for the next race, but most people stayed to watch Penny Chenery give the Moss's the winners trophy.

The girlfriend and Mom were tired at this point but we stayed for the next race to allow the place to clear out some.  It was still a Grade 1, but the show for many was over.  Hibaayeb threw an absolute fit as her jockey tried to take her onto the track and I immediately threw her out as a possibility.  Of course she won - oh well.  I kinda wanted to stay for the 9th, but everyone was tired, and i wanted to catch up on the day in sports (which was a huge day that I missed), so we took off before the Goodwood.  Since I had had a pretty lousy day I decided not to bet before we left - of course I had Richard's Kid as my selection. 

It was that kinda day.

But even so, it might have been my most amazing track experience.  Definitely right up there with the BC last year.  Really magical stuff.

Matt has a list of recommended reading on the site.  I've gone through my share of books on the sport (I like to read in general) and I'd really like to add John Eisenberg's  The Great Match Race about the 1823 duel(in 3 heats!) between Henry and Eclipse.  Incredibly engaging and really gives one an insight into the game as it stood nearly 200 years ago.

Maybe the best book on the sport I have read.

I just now came across this article.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/58272/hollywood-park-plans-to-race-through-2011

Acouple of things leap out.  First, is Santa Anita's seemingly militant expansion plans.  Of course the other is Hollywood Park continuing to stay open for what seems to be another year (at least).  This is great news for me as it's my track of choice.  It's been assumed for about a year now that 2010 would be its last year.  It's not as high scale as Santa Anita is (though it was not so long ago), but I like the vibe there.  I still hold out hope it can be saved, but I'll take what I can get.  The stay of execution is welcomed.

Jockey's have dangerous jobs.  The Australian study quoted in my link found that they have the 2nd most fatalities by percentage of any gig down under.  I'm sure the stats would show a similar trend in the states.

http://sports.yahoo.com/rah/news;_ylt=Ar0nd20fkzTccUQ7stAmAFEX47kF?slug=ap-australia-jockeys

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Interesting story I read on Yahoo today aboout studies done on breakdowns.

Yahoo!: Study: Male horses have greater fatal injury rate

Not sure what to draw from some of that info.  Some of it is exactly the opposite of what we've heard for the last few years (especially noteworthy to me is that 2 year olds have the lowest rate of fatal injuries).  I wonder what this is going to mean for tracks going to synthetic or not going forward.

(MattG: I bumped this one to the front because it's sure to be a big issue for the industry going forward.)