Angry White Dude: The Belmont's Stakes Are High at the Preakness
I'm a here and now dude.
And here's what I know for a fact right now:
There's still a chance we'll have a Triple Crown winner for the second year in a row.
The next jewel in that crown -- The Preakness -- is drawing for post positions today at 5:00pm edt, and if you're bored to death or a true horse racing fan, you can catch the livestream on DRF.com.
Post time is 6:45pm edt this Sat 21 May from the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
Even the most casual horse racing fan is certainly pulling for Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist to get the victory.
I can guaran-damn-tee to each and every one of you out there in sportsland who will and should be cheering the loudest: those fine folks who run the Belmont Stakes.
That, of course, is the third leg of the Triple Crown.
If Nyquist picks up the win this Saturday, that means everyone will be watching the Belmont, waiting to see if history will be made.
Thousands of reporters, photographers, and TV types will swoop down upon the race track to cover the biggest Belmont Stakes race since last year's Belmont Stakes. What a grand event it will be!
Unless the unspeakable happens.
If Nyquist falls to be the first under the wire on Saturday, the Belmont Stakes will be an afterthought to practically everyone and certainly to a casual observer like most of you.
Oh yes, the diehards will attend and watch. The winner will be a big deal to some. Certainly the owner, the trainer, the jockey, and those who bet on the winner will find joy at the track.
It'll be sad to say that the big story this weekend will probably not be about the winner, but instead about why Nyquist lost.
If you think I'm wrong, just look at the coverage when Tiger Woods played and lost, even when he wasn't Tiger Woods anymore.
Keep your fingers crossed for Nyquist on Saturday if you really care about horse racing.
The derby winner has 10 other equines trying to get the win.
If you want my pick, come back on Sunday.