NO TRIPLE CROWN WINNER THIS YEAR; COSTAS RELATES TO JOCKEYS BY HEIGHT

Horse Racing, aka “the sport of kings”, was on center stage on Saturday with the second leg of the famed Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, being run at Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore.


Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver just didn’t have it, while the Derby favorite two weeks ago, Lookin’ At Lucky, rebounded at the Belmont to win by two heads. The most significant note coming out of this race is the fact that for the 33rd straight year there will not be a Triple Crown winner. For those of us old enough to remember (yes, I do), the last super horse to sweep all three races was Affirmed in 1978.

Aside from the exciting, highly competitive horse race which was run in ideal conditions in Baltimore, another note became apparent to me. It was during the lead up to post-time, when NBC was running several different feature stories and interviews. In the area near the jockeys’ quarters NBC’s Bob Costas was interviewing jockey Kent Desormeaux. Jockeys are not big people. In fact, they are rather diminutive. I really like Bob Costas and have always enjoyed his work. I also know that he isn’t a man of large physical stature. But, unless jockey Desormeaux was wearing lifts in his riding boots, or 1970’s disco platform-style shoes, he and Costas were looking at each other eye to eye. You could have balanced a 2 x 4 level across their heads. I couldn’t believe it!

All 12 Belmont Stakes jockeys weighed in around 126 pounds. Not that Costas is heavy, by any means, and even though he may have jockey height, he doesn’t appear to tip the scales as low as 126. So, Bob will have to stick to announcing, which he does exceptionally well, and for which he is very well-compensated. But, he doesn't get to wear those cool, colorful silky jockey uniforms.

Quick Hits From Early Days of Winter Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics began this past Friday night with the pageantry of opening ceremonies in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. Here are a few quick hit observations which I noted while watching it in vivid, crystal clear HD.

THE BROADCAST--Is NBC's Lester Holt the hardest working man in TV journalism? The poor guy usually gets morning Today Show weekend host duties, then doubles back to host the evening news. Now they have him in Vancouver providing whatever is needed, including live morning reports as part of Today, which clocks in at 4 AM Pacific Time (7 AM EST). I know TV is a visual medium and looks are important, but Bob Costas looks younger now than he did 10 years ago thanks to some touch up work. The much darker than natural hair color he is using is just not believable. It doesn't take away from his quality work, but it certainly is distracting.

ALMOST "OH NO!" FOR OHNO--Saturday night short track speed skater Apolo Ohno was the beneficiary of some over-aggressive Koreans as he picked up a silver medal in the 1500 meter event, thus putting him in position to be the most decorated US winter Olympian ever if he earns one more medal. Heading into the final curve/home stretch Korea owned the first three places. But, the two battling for the second and third spots got their skates tangled and both went sailing into the protective padding as Ohno and fellow American, 19-year old JR Celski, crossed the finish line in those silver and bronze places.

MOGULS ANYONE?--This downhill skiing event, which combines speeding over almost 900 yards of bumps (moguls), two big aerial jumps, and subjective grades on technical execution from the judges, is growing on me. If you have seen it, you might agree how shocking it is to see the athletes navigate their way through the middle of this downhill speed-bump course, trying to safely kiss off the small, back-side of each mogul while not sacrificing time or speed. Their upper bodies must remain relaxed, yet still locked into the proper upright position, while the tremendous strength in the ankles, knees, hips and lower back absorb the shock of each mogul. The fury takes less than 30 seconds, but the entire journey is hair-raising. Count me as a new mogul fan. By the way, Hanna Kearney from Norwich, VT won gold for the US, defeating the favored Jen Heil of Canada.

PAIRS FIGURE SKATING--I just couldn't help but think of Chris Farley and his classic Saturday Night Live routine when I began watching this on Sunday night. There was the great orchestral music accompaniment blaring over the PA, the three-person broadcast team at rink side providing information and commentary, and the roar of the crowd. All we needed was Farley in his sparkly, sequin shirt--unbuttoned to show his chest hair--flashing a passionate smile while tossing his partner across the ice. We all know the real darlings of the ice skating world are the ladies in the women's competition, and that is usually saved until much later in the games' schedule. So, until then we have to be patient.

METEOROLOGY--While a good portion of the United States was suffering through cold temperatures that reached into the far south, the meteorological tidbit for the day was that the relatively mild temperature in Olympic host city Vancouver was 2 degrees higher than what we woke up to in the Tampa Bay area of Florida on Sunday.