My List

I dont know when the first child was tricked by the notion that you had to be nicer than naughty, or if any child has paid attention to that particular Christmas clause before mid December, but the photo to the left was taken mere minutes ago when someone asked me on which side I find myself as the year draws to a close.

Also I was eating snow.

Truth be told I might have dabbled in both this year and you might get a different answer depending on who you ask. Semantics, lets just assume I've been nice, and thus the list of items I expect Santa to be busy putting the finishing touches on up where he does such things.

An Atlanta sports team with a legitimate shot in the playoffs (not including hockey)

A dominate favorite coming from each region heading into the horse racing classics

All of the above staying healthy and giving a 4 year old campaign a shot

T.O. retires sighting the fact that nobody likes him

Scrubs airs double the amount of new episodes while networks stop creating shows based on a single event (Prison Break, the Ransom thing, etc)

CJ's Landing finds friendly bartendars

Bob Baffert and D Wayne Lukas return to prominence

Comedy Central finds a conservative host to run a parallel and equally entertaining show to Jon Stewart over at The Daily Show

Two SEC football teams meet up for the National Championship game while the Pac 10 does no better than the Meineke Car Care Bowl

Barbaro starts the long career of a champion at stud

Barry Bonds gets beaned more times than he homers

For whatever reason leaves stop falling on my yard

A shortage of moderately competant law students

A horse... nothing special, four legs, blazing speed, preferably alive (see the Criminal Type - Old Friends incident)

Cancel The View Santa, for the love of God cancel The View

Some UGA football night games - I like tailgating for a noon game as much as the next guy but come on, throw me a bone every once in awhile

I'd like a penguin

I'd like to hear nothing else about Paris Hilton, Kevin Federline, tapas, Borat, warm beer, reality television, Kurt & Kyle Busch, PETA, broken down horses, Michael Jackson, Laguna Beach, Rosie O'Donnell, the far left, the far right, Brangelina, labradoodles and merging delays

A short list next year

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Its hard not to love the holidays.

After spending the last month buried in the library I've finally turned in my last final and walked outside to notice that the holidays are upon us. Other than the overwhelming dread of last minute Christmas shopping, this means only good things for me. This year it means three weeks off from class, it means hosting the New Year's party to end all New Year's parties, and like every year, it means the Gulfstream meet is just around the corner.

Now, the favorite time of the year for most fans of the running horse is the five week span that holds the triple crown in the late spring. Others enjoy the late summer classics and the Breeder's Cup, which I do as well, but nothing compares to the hype and anticipation that kicks off at Gulfstream.

The Derby trail is in itself similar to a horse race. The yearling sales are the break from the gate as I believe the quality of a horses trip can be partially predetermined by its trainer/owner connections. Consider getting Todd Pletcher or Bob Baffert as a clean break while getting, say, me as a trainer, might read in the form as "bobbled start" or "lost rider early." After the break your speed horses are going to shoot to the lead and hope the pace is light so they can hang on. More often than not they cant (Stevie Wonderboy, soon to be Street Sense) and only a special class of horse can keep on the lead for such a long time. (Limehouse, Came Home) At this point we've passed the grandstand for the first time in the Juvenile and we've taken the turn where the early leaders get their pictures taken. But now we're starting in on the backstretch and we see which horses are laboring and which have found a steady stride. You cant win the race at this point but one stupid move and you can damn sure lose it. At this point I have my eye on the Pletcher Juvenile trio and Nobiz Like Showbiz who is threatening to put Albert the Great on the map as a sire.

I've missed a lot since the last post, which was pre Breeder's Cup. The happenings at Churchill have been much discussed since in the last month and a half but I would like to echo the sentiments of those disappointed to see the lose of Pine Island and the career ending injury to Fleet Indian. Its been an awful year for breakdowns in the big races and it scares me the the public who notices the sport 4 days a year might cast to harsh a judgment. The sport today, i think anyway, is safer than ever with the switch many tracks are making to the synthetic Polytrak surface.

Fair Grounds is back after Katrina. Glad to see it, the meet is always entertaining and it always brings a fun cast of characters in the spring.

Russell Baze breaks Pincay's record for career victories. A lot has been said about Baze's work ethic and Cal Ripken like approach to the sport, which is commendable. He's a great guy and I'm glad he got the record. At the same time, I cant include him in the same sentence as Pincay, Shoemaker, Pat Day, Gary Stevens and Jerry Bailey. Russell Baze is to Pat Day what Crash Davis is to Hank Aaron.

I still haven't found a jockey to follow daily since Day retired but I'm taking applications, so please keep them coming. I don't need a Crash Davis but a Nuke Laloosh could be fun. My finalists are Edgar Prado, Garret Gomez, Julien Leparoux and Jermaine Bridgmahon.

I'm hoping the best for jockey Craig Perret, whose Gulfstream meet will start in jail serving time for his 4th DUI. He's best known for his 1990 Derby win aboard Unbridled. I got to meet him a few years back in Louisville and he was an extremely nice guy. Here's hoping he comes out of this okay.