The Kentucky Derby awakens a sense of nostalgia. Horse racing, we are told, used to be a big deal in this country. Horse racing and boxing. Those were mainstream sports, once upon a time. We’re told. I don’t know how true this is for horse racing. I understand it was true of boxing.
If it is true, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing that horse racing has faded in popularity. Especially because it will never completely fade away, at least in our modern time of sport. In our modern time of sport, we will always have Derby Day, and we will always then have one or two more meaningful races as we watch a horse take a shot at the Triple Crown.
I don’t perceive myself to have a particularly strong affinity for the Kentucky Derby, relative to the affinity other sports fans hold for the event. I think I’m fairly average on it, which is to say: I’m excited! I’ll make time to watch it, with no other commitments at that hour. I’ll likely enjoy it. I usually do. Horse racing is among the most impressive physical sports out there, since horses are capable of running so much faster than man and it’s the most widely-consumed sport of any in which the competitors are not strictly human. Add in the pomp and the circumstance and the simultaneous elegance & debauchery of Churchill Downs, and it’s a great day. It’s also one of those events where it is the day for a certain mid-sized city. Like the Indy 500 is to Indianapolis or the College World Series is to Omaha, the Kentucky Derby is the day of days for Louisville (yeah, the College World Series is more than a day—even better). That adds something too.
Gelo Stumbles
We heat-checked Gelo last night, adding an extra over/under. We missed that extra over/under. Not a problem, we’ll retreat, but we have now put ourselves in a boat where our daily bets will go negative if we lose both today. Not all that likely, but a real possibility, and if it happens, we’ll consider getting rid of moneyline bets, at least for the moment. We’d really like to not lose units on NHL bets with our MLB futures tasked with digging us up out of the ash heap and plenty of other longshots on their way.
Darlington Throwback Race vs. Miami Grand Prix
Speaking of longshot experimental bets, we’ll have ours for NASCAR and Formula 1 tomorrow. It’s a fun day of racing if you’re into that, but on very different ends of the spectrum.
Darlington hosts NASCAR’s least-mainstream “major” (the old Winston Million included the Southern 500), and while it’s a fall race, that still speaks to what happens at the track. It’s not the dessert to the Indy 500, like the Coca-Cola 600 is. It’s not chaos on wheels, like the Daytona 500 and the Talladega spring race. Darlington is a NASCAR fan’s speedway—not a superspeedway and not exactly a short track, rich with history and a little low on excitement for the more casual of fans. It’s not a boring track—it’s not a 1.5-miler (though those are getting better with the new car). But it’s a very NASCAR race, and the throwback element adds to that.
Miami’s race, meanwhile, could be argued to be the most “F1” of the soon-to-be three American grands prix. It’s extraordinarily manufactured—the thing’s basically taking place in a parking lot—it’s in an international city, it’s in a city that’s among America’s most authentically itself (I’d guess Miami gets a more positive median reaction than Austin or Las Vegas right now, though I’m less confident about Austin than Vegas). It’s also new, which is important for F1 fans in America right now, nearly all of whom are very new to the sport, even those who’ve been watching for four or five years.
Can the Cubs Steal One?
The Cubs are underway against the Dodgers, and we’ll see where it goes. It’s a hard set of matchups—the Cubs’ best shot is tonight’s game, opposing Tyler Anderson rather than Clayton Kershaw or Walker Buehler—but this is baseball, and if you’re looking for an example of how the Cubs can beat the Dodgers, look to last spring when they swept the NL’s best team over three games in two days. Winning this series would be enormous. Getting swept would be enormous in the other direction, and is fairly likely.
***
Viewing schedule, today and tomorrow (second screen rotation in italics):
Saturday
- 1:00 PM EDT: Panthers @ Capitals, ESPN
- 1:05 PM EDT: Dodgers @ Cubs, Kershaw vs. Smyly (Regional TV)
- 2:10 PM EDT: Blue Jays @ Guardians – Game 1, Gausman vs. Bieber (Regional TV)
- 3:30 PM EDT: Celtics @ Bucks, ABC
- 4:05 PM EDT: Mets @ Phillies, Scherzer vs. Gibson (Regional TV)
- 4:30 PM EDT: Avalanche @ Predators, TNT
- 6:57 PM EDT: Kentucky Derby, NBC
- 7:00 PM EDT: Rangers @ Penguins, TNT
- 7:15 PM EDT: Cardinals @ Giants, Matz vs. Webb (FS1)
- 7:20 PM EDT: Brewers @ Atlanta, Burnes vs. Fried (Regional TV)
- 7:40 PM EDT: Dodgers @ Cubs, Anderson vs. Norris (Regional TV)
- 8:30 PM EDT: Grizzlies @ Warriors, ABC
- 9:30 PM EDT: Flames @ Stars, TNT
Sunday
- 12:30 PM EDT: Hurricanes @ Bruins, ESPN
- 3:30 PM EDT: Suns @ Mavericks, ESPN
- 3:30 PM EDT: NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington, FS1
- 4:25 PM EDT: F1 Miami Grand Prix, ABC
- 4:30 PM EDT: Wild @ Blues, TBS
- 7:00 PM EDT: Dodgers @ Cubs, Buehler vs. Stroman (ESPN)
- 7:00 PM EDT: Maple Leafs @ Lightning, TBS
- 8:00 PM EDT: Heat @ 76ers, TNT
- 10:00 PM EDT: Oilers @ Kings, TBS
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.
