You go, girl!

I'm not a very sports-oriented person. I've always enjoyed watching my kids play but put me in front of a ballgame (any kind) on TV and I'm ready to scream in about two minutes. The only thing I make it a point to watch is the Triple Crown -- and one of my dreams has always been to attend the Kentucky Derby. A few years ago, on a trip back from visiting a friend in Indiana, we went through Louisville and I got to tour that hallowed ground -- funny, though, how things don't always look the same in person as they do on TV.

Anyway, yesterday, I was very excited to watch the Preakness Stakes -- Mine That Bird, a longshot, had won the Kentucky Derby (always fun when there's an upset -- unless you're the owner/trainer/jockey of the one that got upset). Adding to the drama was the fact that the jockey who'd ridden Mine That Bird had swapped mounts and would now be riding Rachel Alexandra -- a filly who he'd ridden to the winner's circle in the Kentucky Oaks (she did not run in the Derby -- I'm not sure why -- Google, here I come). Anyway, he made a good choice because Miss Rachel A. ran away with it, no pun intended (yes, it was).

Anyway, yesterday, just as the announcer said, "they're off!", a severe weather advisory came on -- not one of those that scrolls leisurely across the bottom of the screen but one that went to black screen with that terrible honking noise which makes you jump out of your skin because, surely, life as you know it is over. Now, I'm all for being warned but it was for a thunderstorm. Anyway, the warning lasted about two minutes which, guess what, is about the time of a horse race. So, I got to see them leave the gate and then I got to see them as they cooled down around the track. Fortunately, they did run a replay but it's not quite the same. But, whatcha' gonna' do?

Anyway, Rachel Alexandra is the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924. 'Bout time. I wonder if the Augusta National would let her join...nope, not unless she attends with a male member...and she ain't got a male member...