As a rule, when I go to the track, I always make the same bet, irrespective of the race or the horses, a 2-3-9 Exacta Box. I've hit it twice this year in as many outings, once at Keeneland, once at Churchill. My Derby bet on Saturday, in addition to the normal 2-3-9 Exacta Box, will be a 4-12-19 Exacta Box. Go ahead and mark your Racing Forms.
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This from a Facebook entry of Curtis Morrison, a fellow blogger at louisvillecourant.com and who I should point out is a friend of mine who I'm not supporting in his race for the state senate, recently offered the following statement in a status update:
"I accidentally just heard Bill Lamb share his point of view on Trayvon Martin. If my TV is on fire in the street in the new few minutes, it has nothing to do with basketball."
Y'all should have all thrown your TVs out years ago even without Bill Lamb. But he helps my argument, no doubt. Being a Libra, though, I must offer that "on the other hand" argument. I've seen Mr. Lamb a few times and never agreed with him. But his editorials and 89.3 WFPL Louisville's news staff, along with Joe Sonka from LEO is about all that is left of the local news and editorial scene. The C-J is, like most larger newspapers, (not) enjoying a long slow death. Other local media offer talk shows with ideologues but little content. At least WDRB and Mr. Lamb are offering us something to think about, even if we constantly disagree. Louisville is no longer the news-town it was once. While most everyone who was around for the '37 flood is gone or going, there is little question that the C-J, WHAS, and WAVE played crucial roles in the lives of Louisvillians at that most unfortunate time. I'm old enough to remember Dick Gilbert in "Skywatch84" covering the tornado 38 years ago today. News outlets no longer want or seem to need to fill that role. So again, in that respect, there is something to be said for Mr. Lamb and his ill-reasoned editorials. And thanks be to God for WFPL and LEO.
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No, they aren't all related.
It has been almost a month since I've made an entry. A lot hasn't happened in that time. The two biggest things that didn't happen - at least in many Kentuckians minds - were part of the Madness of March. Louisville didn't beat Morehead State and Kentucky didn't beat Connecticut. Also, the Federal government didn't shut down, much to the chagrin of people on both sides of the aisle, all of whom said they didn't want it to, but many of whom would like for that to happen for one reason or another. What else hasn't happened?
For one thing, people didn't stop reading the blog, despite the lack of posts. According to the people-watching counters we're still averaging 34 hits a day. Woohoo. And, while I've been away, we crossed the 80,000th visit-mark. 80,000. That apparently happened on March 15 but I can't quite determine who it was.
But, let's move on. Item #1 above is Bhatraju. That's the surname of a dear friend of mine, Kiran Bhatraju, presently residing in Washington, D.C., but a native of Pike County, Kentucky, home to Pikeville University, one of the two local colleges which did win a basketball tournament last month. The Pikeville Bears defeated Mountain State University 83-76 for the championship of the NAIA Division I. Congratulations, Pikeville. The other college which was a championship was Louisville's own Bellarmine University Knights. Bellarmine defeated Brigham Young University-Hawaii 71-68 to win the school's first NCAA Division II title. Congratulations to Coach Davenport and the Knights. But, I digress.
I was speaking of my Pikeville friend Kiran Bhatraju. Today is his birthday. I ran into Kiran while I was in DC a few weeks back. We had a wonderful night out on the town at a place called Vinoteca, a wine-and-meat-and-cheese bar at 9th and U streets NW. It was Mariachi night, so all the Spanish wine bottles were half-off and we indulged our Castillian urges with some vino y carne y queso. If you were following my trip to DC on Facebook, you would already have this knowledge, as I "Facebooked" the whole trip.
That brings us to Item #2, Facebook. Lately, I've written quite a few updates on my Facebook, causing a serious deficit over here at the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. I need a more balanced way of writing, but as yet, I haven't stumbled upon it. In lieu of that, I am copying below a few of the entries for you perusal.
To wit,
Bourbon, for me, is usually reserved for one of three events - 1) Horse racing, 2) UK Football, or 3) Election Night.
Remember, before the Brown Bag was the Brown Bag, it was the Zanzibar. After the Brown Bag was the Brown Bag, it became the Zanzabar.
Here is the trivial matter: Elstner, Engle, Hill, Horton, McPherson, Philpot, Saint Clair Morton, Karnasch, Clark, Saunders, and Southworth. What's their significance to Louisville? No Googling.
The island where Baxter, Main, and Story intersect. Three US highway routes meet here, one of which ends. Can you name them?
And finally, We could all probably use a FB shutdown - maybe have time to check our regular emails and vacuum the living room. Maybe.
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When I woke up this morning it was, as forecasted, raining. The National Weather Service had forecast a very wet Derby Day although they did not forecast a rainy Derby. Throughout the day the forecasters watched the radar stretching back to the southwest from Louisville to Owensboro and Evansville and into northern Missouri. As the storms moved throughout the day, everyone was holding out for the sun to shine on Churchill Downs for the 136th Kentucky Derby, which was scheduled to go to the post at 6:28 pm.
I remember Derby Day 1977. I was at the track in my jeans and a Durrett High School t-shirt. The race went off an hour earlier in those days. It had been a mostly sunny day but clouds did gather to a drizzling point sometime around 4. An older gentleman, probably around 40, joined me as I stood along the old Paddock fence line. He asked me if I thought it would clear up for the Derby and I assured him it would - based on what I have no idea. Everything I knew about weatherforecasting I had just learned the year before in Mr. Shield's 10th grade Science Class. It did, in fact, clear up and my new friend rewarded my forecasting skills with a very nice afternoon, seeing horse racing's second most recent Triple Crown champion win the first leg of that three-legged series - Seattle Slew. Seattle Slew was foaled on February 15, 1974; won the Derby on May 7, 1977; and died twenty-five years later on May 7, 2002; and remains my favorite Derby winner.
Today's weather was unlike that day in 1977. It rained all day - 1.62 inches as of this writing. But, miraculously, the rain abated about 5:30 pm. The Churchill Downs race crew furiously went to work getting as much water off the track ahead of the big race, although the track was still muddy when the Derby was ran. Then, as the horses were being led to the Starting Gate, sometime around 6:25 pm, here came the Sun in all its glory. A round of applause went up from the nearly 156,000 people in attendance. It was the first time all day the sun had peered through the clouds. As the twenty horses were loaded into the gate, the sun came out full and broad, shining bright on Kentucky.
The race went off at 6:32 pm. For the second time in two years, and the third time in four years, a Louisville-based jockey, Calvin Borel, rode the Derby winner. Super Saver ran the race in 2:04 and 2/5, a slow time on a muddy track. Borel had won two races earlier in the day, riding the inside rail in each of those victories. And that is how he won the 136th Kentucky Derby, riding the rail, running ahead of Ice Box and Paddy O'Prado.
I had bets on Noble's Promise, Stately Victor, Jackson Bend, and Homeboykris, the latter just for fun. They placed 5th, 8th, 12th, and 15th respectively. Continuing the trend of most of today's winners, Super Saver made for a decent return on a $2.00 bet, paying $18.00, $8.00, and $6.00.
Thus another name is etched into the annals of Louisville and Horseracing history - Super Saver. And Calvin Borel's stock climbs in like manner. Happy Derby.
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We ended the last entry with a song sung in the 1950s play Guys and Dolls. Staying with the theme, today's entry reminds us of a song performed in the 1955 movie version of the play. A very sultry and handsome Sky Masterson, portrayed by a 31 year old Marlon Brando, sang Luck Be A Lady. That was the story in today's running of The Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
A record crowd of just over 116,000 watched the favorite Blind Luck (on the left in this Courier-Journal photo) win her race over Evening Jewel by a lucky nose's length on what could only be described as one of the prettiest days weatherwise in many years here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. Rafael Bejarano rode the filly to a win in the 136th renewal of the classic race for fillies. A winning two dollar ticket paid $4.60, $3.60, and $2.80. Blind Luck ran the 1 1/8 mile race in 1.50.70 according to the Courier-Journal.
Tomorrow's weather promises to be wet and windy. If the sun is to shine bright, let's hope it does so late in the day for the 136th running of The Kentucky Derby. I placed my bets today on Stately Victor, Jackson Bend, and Noble's Promise. Odds at the time were 30-1, 15-1, and 12-1 respectively. As is my wont, I rolled some perfecta and trifecta boxes, hoping for a payoff worthy of today's weather. We'll see. As Sgt. Sarah Brown of the Save-A-Soul Mission sings in Guys and Dolls, come tomorrow night, I'll know.
Happy Derby.
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A little over two days and five hours from now will be the 136th running of The Kentucky Derby. I've got plans to bet on three horses - rolling them together in a perfecta box and a trifecta box. The horses are Jackson Bend, Stately Victor, and Noble's Promise (in the photo at right).
Below are the words from a song sung in the 1950 musical Guys and Dolls. It is called Fugue for the Tinhorns. It's about a horserace.
Happy Derby.
*****
NICELY NICELY
I got the horse right here
The name is Paul Revere
And here's a guy that says that the weather's clear
Can do, can do, this guy says the horse can do
If he says the horse can do, can do, can do.
(Benny starts singing his part at this time, while Nicely continues:)
Can do - can do - this guy says the horse can do
If he says the horse can do - can do, can do.
(Rusty starts singing his part as the time, while Nicely and Benny continue:)
For Paul Revere I'll bite
I hear his foot's all right
Of course it all depends if it rained last night
Likes mud, likes mud, this X means the horse likes mud
If that means the horse likes mud, likes mud
Likes mud.
I tell you Paul Revere
Now this is no bum steer
It's from a handicapper that's real sincere
Can do, can do, this guy says the horse can do.
If he says the horse can do - can do - can do.
Paul Revere. I got the horse right here.
BENNY
I'm pickin' Valentine, 'cause on the morning line
A guy has got him figured at five to nine
Has chance, has chance, this guy says the horse has chance
if he says the horse has chance, has chance, has chance
I know it's Valentine, the morning work looks fine
Besides the jockey's brother's a friend of mine
Needs race, needs race, this guy says the horse needs race
If he says the horse needs race, needs race, needs race.
I go for Valentine, 'Cause on the morning line,
The guy has got him figured at five to nine
Has chance, has chance, this guy says the horse has chance
Valentine! I got the horse right here.
RUSTY CHARLIE
But look at Epitaph. he wins it by a half
According to this here in the Telegraph
"Big Threat" - "Big Threat"
This guy calls the horse "Big Threat"
If he calls the horse "Big Threat",
Big Threat, Big Threat.
And just a minute, boys.
I've got the feed box noise
It says the great-grandfather was Equipoise
Shows class, shows class.
This guy says the horse shows class
If he says the horse shows class
Shows class, show's class.
So make it Epitaph, he wins it by a half
According to this here in the Telegraph.
Epitaph! I got the hore right here!
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Normally, by the Sweet Sixteen Round, my brackets have done what I'd like to do - flown south - usually well south of any opportunity to win. If that wasn't the case this year, I wouldn't be penning an entry called "NCAA Brackets." But, I'm not doing too bad - not too bad at all. But today the madness begins again.
My Final Four teams are all still playing: Kentucky, Syracuse, Duke, and Tennessee. And Tennessee is the reason I'm still alive and doing comparitively well. I'll be wearing my John Yarmuth Orange tomorrow night to bring in the sixth seeded Volunteers over second seeded Ohio State. That Midwest Bracket has proved the most difficult for me. I lost on UNLV, Michigan State, Georgetown, and Oklahoma State back in round 1. And it never got much better. But I do have Tennessee. Go Orange.
The East Bracket, wherein resides my 2010 NCAA Champions, has seen four games where the winning team's name did not match the name I had on my brackets. Temple and Marquette in Round 1, Wisconsin and New Mexico in Round 2. I have Kentucky and West Virginia advancing there, with Kentucky continuing the dance into the Final Game.
The South Bracket is my second worse. The University of Louisville is part of the blame along with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. And while I had St. Mary's in the first round, instrad of Friday's matchup between Baylor and St. Mary's, I had the more traditional one between Villanova and Notre Dame, both of whom will be back home enjoying the first week of Spring. Duke emerges from that bracket into the Final Four.
The West is best - at least in racking up points for me. I've only lost two games, both in the first round where I picked Florida State and Florida, neither of which proved a good choice. But the bracket is otherwise intact. In tonight's games, I have Syracuse and Kansas State winning, and although it would hurt my scores immeasurably - ok, in fact it will measurably hurt my score - a Xavier win would be cool. But, I'm for K-State. I have Syracuse, alma mater of my friends Stuart Perelmuter and Michael Nordmann, waltzing into the Final Game on April 5 in Indianapolis. So, again, go Orange.
But, I don't have them waltzing out as a winner. There is where my truest color bleeds through. I bleed blue. Go Kentucky. Make me a winner.
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Over the years since I've been voting (1978), a number of amendments to Kentucky's Constitution, last fully rewritten and readopted in 1891, have been placed on the ballot for an up-or-down vote by the good and bad citizen-voters of the Commonwealth. In nearly every instance, I voted NO like a good Kentuckian, many of whom voted NO with me on most occasions, at least until recently. I know I voted YES on the Constitutional Amendment to allow the lottery back in the 1980s. I was a supporter of Wallace Wilkinson's campaign to be governor and this amendment was part and parcel of that campaign. Other than that I cannot remember voting YES which isn't to say I didn't; I just don't remember having done so. I voted NO in 2004 on the Anti-Gay Marriage and Civil Unions amendment; I voted NO on doing away with the extra Constitutional Officers, I voted NO on the creation of Family Courts, and I voted NO on having annual sessions of the General Assembly. I remain contented that in each of my votes, I was right even if a number, and sometimes a majority, of my fellow citizen-voters of Kentucky voted in a manner different than me. They will have an opportunity to explain themselves someday to Saint Peter as part of their "let me in" soliloquys to gain entrance inside the Pearly Gates.
That last one mentioned, sending the General Assembly into Regular Session at Frankfort every year (and for most part, for some additional Extraordinary time each year between those annual Regular Sessions), is the one I am most satisfied with. I will here note I voted on the losing side. I will also note I believe I voted on the right side. More people are crossing over to my way of thinking with each gavelling of a new Session, whether Regular or Extraordinary.
My belief then, and now, is that the real basic purpose of a legislature, is to come to the seat of government now and then and pass a budget for the Executive Branch to execute, and then pass those (hopefully few) laws necessary to keep some law and order, peace, good wealth and health, and a degree of tranquility within the confines of those budgets. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, based on the earlier writings of George Mason, who may have based his on John Locke, called it "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
We used to pass two-year budgets which allowed our Executive Branch some ability to execute (run) the government for an extended period of time (ideally two years) before the citizen-legislators interfered by coming to Frankfort and commence to moving money from here to there; eliminating new and old forms of reliable revenue streams by exemptions, incentives, and lowering taxes; and more or less confounding the operation of the government every time the Speaker of the House and a group of Representatives or the President of the Senate and a group of Senators, or the governor who needs no help, thought it wise to do so, which is way too often.
Thus it is that we are now in the habit of passing biennial budgets knowing full-well that we will be changing them half-way through the biennium of which they are passed. It is a seriously deficient way of operating a government. But that isn't the worst of it. What is the worst of it is the way the legislature proposes to continue funding those proposed paths of life, liberty, and the pursuits of happiness, something they are charged with doing for all the citizens of the Commonwealth.
Governments are funded in a variety of ways, mostly through taxes, fees, and fines, the three of which tend to hit some one of us in some way, and thus hit most of us in some way. The idea of a government is for everyone to pitch in for the common good, the commonweal, of those others within their same jurisdiction, whether it be a town, city, county, or Commonwealth. This was the way it was done for most of the history of our Republic. There were exceptions. Along the way there were lotteries for the common good, such as the one created to fund Louisville's original public library in the late 1800s, although more of the proceeds didn't help the library than did, but that is a different story.
It is a widely known secret that I am more pro-tax than anti-tax. I believe governments have much to offer and I believe the people should fund the government to make those offerings available. And I believe, as it is written in the Holy Scriptures, that those who have more money should pay more into the system. [For the anti-tax Grover Norquist-type pseudo-Christians (usually also Republicans but not necessarily in Kentucky) who might be reading, this is taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke, Chapter 12, Verse 18, a part of which according to the King James Version reads, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."] I take that to mean that the rich, at least according to the Bible, should be paying more taxes than those who are poorer than they. The rest of us, the part that are poorer than the rich, do our part by paying our repsective taxes, parting with a dollar here and another there to pay this or that fee or that or some other fine. And that is all good.
As I said above, I supported the amendment which gave us the Kentucky Lottery, which I dare say, is funded more by poorer folk than richer folk. I've bought and not cashed enough tickets to fund the four-year educational expenses of several Kentucky students at a Kentucky institution of higher learning. Honestly, it isn't the best way to fund a government. It is as Social Security was meant to be, a supplement to other means, other means meaning the levy of taxes. But we have come to rely on Wallace Wilkinson's sin tax - the lottery - as a regular recurring funder of our governments. I call it a sin tax out of deference to a number of Kentuckians who are keen on anything related to sin or sinning unless it pertains to themself or one of their kind.
Admittedly, I have, like everyone else, sinned. The Bible says that all have sinned. It is likely I will do so again. I'm reminded of a letter I sent to then-Congresswoman Anne Northup about ten years ago complaining of her defense of a colleague, the late Henry Hyde, of Illinois (naturally), who had been caught many years earlier with one woman whilst being married to another. Hyde didn't call it sinning; he euphemized it into a youthful indiscretion. He was 41 at the time of his youthful indiscretion. At the time I wrote the letter I was 38 and was happy to know I had at least three more years to commit youthful indiscretions, at least by Republican congressional standards. Now at 48 I have to call it by its real name, sin. Damn.
But, I digress.
Kentucky has in the past year decided the way to raise taxes is by penalising those of us who sin through our use of alcohol and tobacco. I gave up serious drinking twelve years ago and, although I have never smoked a cigarette in my life, I have been known to enjoy a good and sometimes expensive cigar now and then, as I did last week up in Madison, Indiana. I did enjoy a bottle and a half of a Brown-Forman bourbon product made right here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606 the night my congressman was first elected, but that was special. But those upon whom these taxes fall the heaviest are those who can least afford it, while for those who can, the group referred to in Saint Luke's Gospel, it is but a small part of their income. I believe the sin taxes passed earlier this year were, frankly, sinful.
Now we are at another crossroads, with the General Assembly convened to fund even more of the government by means of an additional sin-type of tax, but in a different form. This time we want to add slots to our means of raising taxes from those who like to gamble. And we have the Attorney General's blessing to do so under that Constitutional Amendment for which I voted back in the 1980s. But, there is a catch. The slot machines will be limited to Kentucky's race tracks. Maybe there will be betting in some off-track betting parlors; I don't know. I do know we have race tracks of some sort in Louisville (Jefferson County), Lexington (Fayette County), Paducah (McCracken County), Prestonsburg (Floyd County), Evansville (Henderson County), Florence (Boone County), and Franklin (Simpson County). I mentioned the counties for a reason. Our Commonwealth is organized into political subdivisions known as counties. We have 120. I've listed seven. Race tracks in seven counties will be able to operate the slots and receive commissions of some sort from them I suppose, commissions which will hopefully go toward a reversal of the races tracks' collective fortunes, which according to all reports, are failing. Little has been recently written about the disagreement the tracks collectively had with the backside trainers and others over commissions from off-track betting, which may have something to do with trainers and others up and leaving from the rich soil of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and taking their horses to the richer purses of other states. Maybe that is part of their failings, maybe it isn't.
What I do know about the current legislation is that is seems to me to offer special legislation to a single classification of business and that is problematic for me. I do not wish the tracks not to have slots. I'm all for protecting one of our signatures industries, something we remarkably didn't do earlier this year with alcohol and tobacco. And, truthfully, I'm all for it expanded sinning - I mean gambling. As I said, I do both. But as my six faithful readers know, I like to travel about the Commonwealth, taking the backroads to destinations where many will never travel, and some of those who are there will never leave. I particularly like to play the Three-Line Lotto game of the Kentucky Lottery. It is played on Tuesdays and Fridays. If I am out and about over a given weekend, chances are I will buy one ticket in, say for instance, Trimble County at the little market where US421 and US42 fork just east of Bedford. Then a few hours later, I may be in Lawrenceburg in Anderson County where I will buy another ticket at the BP along US127 just north of its intersection with the Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Parkway. As I head back into Louisville, I might buy a third ticket in Mount Washington in Bullitt County at the market next to the Walgreens on KY44, just east of the US31E ByPass. (You can follow this course - it is a logical circle out of Louisville to the northeast, south, then west back into town). However, none of these counties, Trimble, Anderson, or Bullitt, have a horse racing track, ergo, there will be no slots to play here. Neither these three nor the 110 others, other than those seven mentioned above will have the luxury, used ever so contrarily, of additional gambling opportunities, opportunities first afforded by the Constitutional Amendment which does allow all 120 of them to sell Kentucky Lottery tickets.
I'm all in favor of allowing slots at the tracks, especially if it helps them as otherwise apparently failing business ventures. But I am also in favor of helping all the local franchisees of BP stations, and the Mom-and-Pop grocery stores in little cities and even littler country crossroads. If this government subsidy is good for the big racing corporations, wouldn't it be that much moreso for Joe and Jane Doe on Main Street in Smalltown, Kentucky?
Incidentally, as a small-time gambler, I think the odds are good the measure now passed in the Democratic House and before the Republican Senate will, with a little asphalt here and some schools there, along with an tax exemption here and a lower assessment there, pass and get signed by the governor. And that isn't all bad. It just could be better.
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. . . . a Fifty-To-One shot might win The Kentucky Derby. Today, that happened. Mine That Bird, with Calvin Borel aboard, won the 135th Running of the Kentucky Derby, by riding the rails on a muddy track, before 154,000 or so fans, winning the race in a little under 2:03, a slow race. A $2 winning ticket paid $103.20. (The above picture is a copyright of the Assocaited Press).
For most of the year, most Louisvillians know or care little about horseracing. Every year though, about this time on this Saturday, a new memory is etched into our collective memories, and this year the memory's name is Mine That Bird.
Yesterday, the same jockey won what was one the best horse races ever ran, winning the 135th Running of the Kentucky Oaks on the filly Rachel Alexandra. Around 105,000 fans saw Borel lead the favorite on a 20-length victory a few thousandths of a second off the record time. (The picture below is by Michael Clevenger of the Courier-Journal).
This is a good ending to this year's Kentucky Derby Festival.
Congratulations Mine That Bird, Rachel Alexandra, and Calvin Borel.
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One of my Final Four are no more. I am speaking of course of perhaps the favorite . . . Purdue. They were beaten by a bunch of upstarts, the University of Connecticut. As if the University of Connecticut has a storied program or something. If they did, you'd think they'd have the decency to have an NCAA violation now and then like Kentucky does. And perhaps they shoud have storied coaches like Billy Gillispie.
I wonder if they even have a decent women's team?
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Wow Wisconsin. I have Wisconsin on all of my brackets. On Wisconsin as the song goes. 
But the real game was Siena - Ohio State. Unfortunately, I did not pick Siena. But by the end of the game, I was almost cheering for them. And they won in Double Overtime. The first half was a sloppy game, but the second half, along with the OTs was some of the best basketball I've ever seen.
The Saints went marching in. Their next opponent? Louisville on Sunday at 5:20 pm.
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At 9:18 am this morning local time, the 50,000th - fifty-thousandth - visitor arrived here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. I'm not sure who they were or from where they arrived as the information on their address is incomplete. All I really know is they (may) have a bellsouth.net address. So, whoever it was, thank you. Fifty-thousand people is the approximate population of the cities of Bowling Green or Covington or the counties of Boyd or Franklin. Thanks also to the 49,999 who arrived before our unknown visitor, and to those of you reading this now and in the future.
Unrelated, on one set of brackets, I've lost five games, including one team I had advanicng at least one more round. On the other two, I've lost three. For the record, I got WKU on two out of three. And all my Final Four team are still in the mix. Let's see how I fare this afternoon.
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As part of an effort at collegiality, today at work we who work on the 3rd floor (all Democrats) treated those on the 2nd (all Republicans) and 1st (three Democrats, one Republican) to a Chili Luncheon. The idea was spawned two months ago when the Council Clerk's staff, also on the 1st floor, treated all of us to a Soup Day, which proved to be very popular. The idea arose that each floor should do this for the others and we could all break bread together and be civil for an hour. It works.
So, as I am not much of a cook, I was pleased that the Social Committee, in this case one of the young ladies at the other end of the floor, said we'd make chili. This decision was made back when the daily temperature was having problems edging out of the 20s and warm and bubbly chili on a cold windy day sounded pretty good. Today, it was 78 degrees, but we're having chili nonetheless. I make a pretty good pot of chili. The truth is I can make very little else. Fortunately, I have friends who not only love to cook but also like having me (and others) over to taste whatever they've concocted for the meal.
Some people volunteered to bring pop, others desserts (the cheesecakes were delicious - I had a little of both), others brought paper plates, and so forth. There were four offerings of chili - two veggie style [is that really chili?] and two others. At the table, I tried all four but admittedly liked the two non-vegetarian styles better than the vegetarian ones.
My chili is the basic recipe: meat, beans, tomatoes, onions, and spices - since this is Louisville the spice packet of choice is Bloemer's, made and packaged on S. Seventh Street, right here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. I use a packet per pound of meat which means I used five packets. I also use a heaping amount - actually the measurement is far from certain - of ground Cumin Seed Powder. I use the Ahmed brand of Cumin Seed Powder which is usually only found in ethnic type food marts. Ahmed Spices are made and packaged on the other side of the globe in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, according to the label.
I'll be honest; I don't really have a recipe. I just open cans and pour them in a pot. I do like to buy whole canned tomatoes in juice and them squeeze them myself into the mix. I also cut my onions, bought fresh, in fairly large pieces and today one of the diners asked me about that. I'm not sure why I do that, but I do. As for the meat, I buy a high grade of grund chuck, nothing fancy, but not the stock stuff I usually get. That's it. Brown the meat, saute the onions, then throw it all in a pot and bring to a boil. Once it has boiled, I cover it and put it in the fridge. Chili is always better after having set overnight. One other thing - no spaghetti.
The other meat-based chili was offered by Kevin Triplett, who used deer meat as a base. I do not know where Kevin acquired the deer meat. I used to be privy to deer sausage and jerky several years back. The younger brother, Shawn, of my friend Rob, and Shawn's older brothers, used to go deer hunting in season, and their mother and grandmother would process the meat and I always managed a care package from each one. Sadly, Anne (the mom) and Mrs. Thomas (the grandmother) are deceased and I've lost track of Rob's half-brother and step-brothers. Years before that, I'd usually manage a pound or two from friends and family from up in Frankfort, or from the Benton family at my (soon-to-be) former church. Kevin made a joke about having harvested the deer with the front quarterpanel of his truck somewhere along Dixie Highway. I doubt this is true. He is from the south side of town and worked for several years out at Otter Creek Park in Meade County. My thought is he probably knows the rules about when to hunt (November 8th through 23th last year for guns), which licenses to buy whether it be the Sportman's ($95) or just a combination Hunting and Fishing ($30), whether one needs a deer permit ($30), the Bonus Antlerless Permit ($15), or any of the special licenses needed in certain areas such as Fort Knox ($5) or the Land Between the Lakes ($20). And, by the way, it is the time of year to renew your license as they run from March 1 to February 28. A true Kentucky sportman or sportswoman knows all of these things. Their meat is harvested using the right equipment, in the right season, with the right permit or license.
As for the meat in my chili, it was harvested at the local Kroger - Miss Rose checked me out - no license needed.
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Briefly, my final four: Louisville, Purdue, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse.
How I arrived with these four I'll leave to your imagination at least for the moment. I know graduates of three of those four universities so I wish them all well. My alma mater, the Spalding University Fighting Pelicans, the pride of South Fourth Street, didn't make it through Selection Sunday.
On a different note, I also know graduates of Morehead State University, located about 135 miles due east of here just off I-64. The college is set in the side of a hill facing down upon East Main Street in downtown Morehead. At the top of the hill is University Lake, a dammed-up body of Evans Creek whose overflow emties into Triplett Creek, which creates the eastern edge of the little burg below the college.
If Morehead State, the Ohio Valley Conference champs, can beat Alabama State, this year's titleholder for the Southwestern Athletic Conference, in tomorrow night's game in Dayton, Ohio, they will advance to play the local favorites, Louisville.
So, for my friends from/for Morehead State, Go Eagles!
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Don McNay is a financial analyst, counselor, and writer in a city back east - east of Lexington at least, which for many is a great line of demarcation for many things. McNay is from Richmond. You can view his website at www.donmcnay.com. I am on his email list and very much enjoy his columns. Now and then I respond, as was the case today. So, first I reprint Don's column, and follow it with my response, which admittedly wandered a little from Don's original premise.
*****
Don wrote:
2008 is a turning point in my life. I quit watching pundits and rarely look at political polls. I have the answers, long before political "experts" do.
I track who is betting on political races.
A futures trading website called www.intrade.com allows you to "buy" futures contracts on the outcome of the presidential race.
There is supposedly a difference between betting and buying futures contracts. I have no idea what it is. It looks like gambling to me.
I grew up around bookmakers and the people at www.intrade.com figured out how to make it legal.
I've followed www.intrade.com for the past year and found it to be amazingly accurate. Look at it and see.
By going to www.intrade.com you eliminate the television blowhards and avoid polls like the one that picked Obama to win the New Hampshire primary.
I have not sent www.intrade.com any money. I have no idea who is behind it or where they are. I don't like to bet but want to know how other people are betting.
The political futures market is a great example of an economic theory called "the wisdom of crowds." Following money movement is a great way to predict outcomes.
When many people put their money up, sentiment and emotion are minimized as factors.
The www.intrade.com numbers are an interesting mix. The bettors favor Brack Obama to win over John McCain, but if you look at the betting on a state by state basis, McCain has a slight lead in the electoral votes.
Al Gore will tell you that winning the popular vote doesn't mean anything unless you get the electoral votes.
Looking at the state by state breakout, I'm stunned at how many states has already been "decided" one way or another.
If the odds are 90% in one candidate's favor, 60 days out, they are normally going to win an individual state.
Barring something extremely weird, a vetted candidate is not going to screw it up.
According to the trading, most of us are sitting the 2008 election out. If you are an Obama supporter in Kentucky, the odds are 98% to 5% (there is a margin of error) against your candidate. If you are a McCain supporter in Maryland, you are also out of luck. Obama has 93% there.
Most of the states that were for Bush in 2004 have a 90% or better rating for McCain. The Kerry states are generally going for Obama.
Virginia, Nevada Ohio, New Hampshire and Colorado are where the battle will be fought. Virginia, Nevada and Ohio have small leads for McCain and the other two slightly favor Obama.
All five states went for Bush against Gore and all but New Hampshire went for Bush against Kerry. If Obama is going to win, he needs to get all the states that Gore won in 2000 and add one.
Any one will do.
The good news is that we won't care about Florida. The betting favors McCain by about 65%.
Every now and then, I fall into the trap of political gossip and I wonder where some people get their information. I read that some Democrats were worried about California. 93% of the bettors disagree with that concern.
I thought that Obama would have a hard time winning Pennsylvania because he struggled against Hillary Clinton. 74% of the futures traders think otherwise. Just last week, I argued that Pennsylvania was in play. The futures traders have smacked down that notion.
A prediction does not mean that results are locked in stone. Someone can screw up or have a scandal break.
I doubt that McCain or Obama have a girlfriend (or boyfriend) on the side. On the other hand, I never dreamed that John Edwards had a mistress.
If Edwards had still been a viable candidate, his bettors would have lost big time.
For every person that wins a bet, there is another person that loses. Just like an election.
With tools like www.intrade.com, we have a better idea as to will be victorious.
As the late Mayor Daley of Chicago would say, "don't make no waves, don't back no losers."
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That's the final score for the season opener for Kentucky's two flagship schools. I'm a Big Blue Fan. For the second year in a row, we won. 27-2. It might be a long season for Coach Craigthorpe.
On, on, U of K, we are right for the fight today,
Hold that ball and hit that line;
Ev'ry Wildcat star will shine;
We'll fight, fight, fight, for the blue and white
As we roll to that goal, Varsity,
And we'll kick, pass and run, 'till the battle is won,
And we'll bring home the victory.
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1. The Jeffersonville/George Rogers Clark Little League game was postponed last night in Pennsylvania due to rain. It will start at 10:00 am today. Go Jeff.
2. Congratulations to my longtime friend and now former boss Irv Maze upon his appointment to the Jefferson Circuit Court bench. Best Wishes Judge Maze.
3. Congratulations to my longtime friend and now current boss Michael J. O' Connell, who was appointed to fill the vacancy created by Judge Maze's elevation to the bench. Best wishes, boss.
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