DEGENERATE GAMBLERS UNITE!!!

There are just about three days in America where drinking and gambling are not only allowed, they are encouraged. The Super Bowl is of course one of the days where you call your bookie and place a larger than usual amount of money on a game between two teams who haven't played in two weeks. You make an obsurd amount of food and then drink an absurd amount of booze (my favorite was the 40s of Budweiser for Super Bowl 40). Another day is New Years Day. Sure, everyone drinks on New Years Eve, but the real troopers are up and ready to go by Noon with a bowl full of chili, an icy cold beverage for a little hair of the dog action, and a sheet full of college football bowl spreads and the money you've wagered on each game. I would also say the BCS National Championship game is another day where drinking and gambling are allowed but not on as big of a scale as the New Years Day bowl action. The opening weekend of the NCAA tournament is usually considered a four day attack on one's liver and bank account.

However, to degenerate gamblers and borderline alcoholics world wide, the Kentucky Derby is the biggest day of the year. The Derby used to be considered a more uptight affair than it is now. It used to be a very buttoned up tradition with giant hats and rich people in suits gambling thousands of dollars of disposable income on a horse and if they lost it wasn't a big deal they just drank their mint juleps and talked about well...I don't know...rich people stuff?


Today, the Derby is an all out celebration of drunken debauchery and ill advised gambling. And I love every idea of it. Of course, I've never been there but I do have a buddy down there who has given me a quick blow by blow of yesterday's activities. "Dude, I've been drinking beer and whiskey all freakin day!! This place is awesome!!! I've only lost 100 bucks so far so I'm calling that a win! Mint Juleps all day tomorrow baby yeaaaaah!!" and the phone goes silent. RJ Stanley everyone! Our man on the inside! He's promised to call today just before and just after the big race but I'm not exactly counting on that one as he's kind of a light weight and I full expect him to be passed out on the Churchill Downs lawn no later than 4 o'clock this afternoon.

As for betting on the ponies, Jackson Harness Raceway has dollar days every Saturday night starting next Saturday and going through the middle of July. Dollar Day means dollar bets, dollar hot dogs, dollar pops, and most importantly dollar beers. The dollar beers can usually mean some poor betting choices in the later races but I'm always sure to only bet a dollar after 10 or so beers. You gotta have some sort of self control right? My own personal betting strategy is this...I wait until the last possible moment to place my bet on a race. I like to stand with my friends down on the rail and watch the horses and jockeys go around the track during their warm up and I usually bet on the biggest horse with the smallest jockey which seems to make the most sense. If there is a HUGE longshot on the board, I will throw a dollar on that horse to at least show which can potentially buy beers for the boys after the race. Every once in a while I'll get greedy and try to hit a superfecta or trifecta box which still hasn't worked out for me but what the hell right? It's always worth a shot and when I don't win, it's easy to drown my sorrows with a dollar Labbat's Blue. Going to the races at Jackson Harness Raceway is worth a post all of it's own and as soon as I make my way there, you will get that post.

RJ is in love with Pyro to win the Derby this year instead of the favorite Big Brown who won't win mainly because he's starting in the 20 hole which is seemingly impossible to win from. I on the other hand am going to choose RecapturetheGlory to win it this year, mainly because of his sweet name.