Secretariat and YouTube

"A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!" -Richard III, Shakespeare

I love YouTube, and thanks to that, I get to share something that's very hard to explain in person: Secretariat at Belmont.

For those who don't know, the Belmont Stakes is the last leg of the American Triple Crown of horse racing (the other legs being the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness). Despite being less prestigeous than the Kentucky Derby, it is universally regarded as the hardest of the 3 legs to win, since it's 12 furlongs, as opposed to 10 furlongs for the Kentucky Derby and 9 and one half furlongs for the Preakness (that's 1.5 miles, 1.25 miles, and 1.1875 miles for the rest of us humans).

Winning the Triple Crown is very difficult to do, only 11 horses have ever done so, 8 of them before 1948. By 1973, there was a huge amount of debate between journalists about whether it was still possible for a horse to win the Triple Crown, because not only does it involve the horses running the race of his life 3 times in the span of about a month. And on top of that, since each race gets longer, it becomes progressively more difficult to win. Many many horses have won the first 2 legs of the Triple Crown only to be defeated by the length of the Belmont Stakes.

This is where Secretariat enters. He won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness (his Derby time still stands as record today). So dominant was he that only 4 other horses entered the Belmont Stakes to challenge him. Still, it had been 25 years since a horse won the Triple Crown and by now, the publicity has skyrocketed and people turned out in droves to watch the race, both in person and on TV.

And this is what happened.



Thiry-one and one half lengths. It's hard to fathom just how big of a distance that really is. This performance is, without a doubt, the greatest physical achievement I've ever seen in an competition. It leaves me awe-struck and inspired at the same time. Normally, I really do not follow horse racing in any form, but something like this, somehow, just transcends. How do you compare this with anything else? The only thing that comes close in the athletic arena is Bob Beamon. I've attempted to explain to my friends just how amazing what Secretariat did was, but... nothing seemed to do it justice. So I'm grateful to YouTube for finally giving me a way.

Oh, by the way, the music in the background? From Rudy. One of my favorite soundtracks.

Bored and Procrastin'

"Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing oneself is enlightenment." ~ Lao Tzu

Just a couple ones that seem to be nail things right on the head.

Your World View

You are a happy, well-balanced person who likes people and is liked by others. You question whether many conventional views on morality are valid under all circumstances. You are essentially a content person. Sometimes, you consider yourself a little superior. You are moral by your own standards. You believe that morality is what best suits the occasion.

What Is Your World View?

You are a Self-Discoverer

You're not religious, but you've created your own kind of spirituality. Introspective and thoughtful, you tend to look inward for the divine. You are distrusting of all forms of organized religion. You especially dislike religious gurus and leaders, who you feel are charlatans.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

Your True Love Is a Taurus

Why you'll love a Taurus: Romantic and sentimental, a Taurus can provide you with the security you need. And you both share a fondness for the finest things, from great food to luxury vacations. Why a Taurus will love you: You have the honesty and direct approach that down to earth Taurus desires. And enough elegance to show a Taurus a few new decadent delights!

What Sign Is Your True Love?

Given my history, this last one is quite accurate.

"To thine own self be true." - Polonius, Hamlet

The Color Green

"[F]or he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way... he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock."

Gatsby had his green light, I have a moped. Kind of fitting, I suppose. His is abstract, distant, illuminating; mine is close, tangible, but devoid of deeper aspects.

I have this bad habit of pretending something doesn't matter when in reality it does. As if, somehow, if the others don't think it hurt as much, it won't. Why? The pain will be the same no matter what others might think. Is it a pre-emptive thing I do to make it easier to get away and hide?

"When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness....

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

-The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

La Ci Darem la Mano

La ci darem la mano,
La mi dirai di si!
Vedi, non e lontano
Partiam, ben mio, da qui!

*Sigh*

Why do I want to be in love so bad? Sometimes, I feel that if I have that, nothing else will matter anymore, as if, somehow, it would solve ALL of my problems. Or at least, render them neglegible. Who cares about them? There is someone for me! Am I looking for an escape? An excuse not to face any other problems that I might be facing? Or am I trying to look for an easy way out? That I'm in fact, not feeling true emotions but am actually desperately hoping that this one thing will somehow, magically, solve everything?

If so, then why does it hurt so much everytime my thoughts wanders to some dark place? Why does it feel so empty when that happens? So, incredibly, devoid of... hope, of... even pity. Whatever I'm looking for, this is definitely not the easy or the expedient way to look for it.

But is it too much to ask for? To have someone that you think is special think that you are special right back? To have someone who can make you smile sincerely just by a look? To have someone to hold in your arms as you two share a silent moment, and have that moment be MEANINGFUL because you are sharing it with each other? To feel like that she's an angel that was placed in this world to save your unworthy soul?

Maybe it is. "Be realistic." One of my friends say. "It's not like that at all, hate to burst your bubble." Another one says, after asserting that I'm just too naive. Maybe I am asking for too much. But I'm not even really looking and holding out for the situation in the paragraph above. I just... want to feel special to someone for once ya know? I'm tired of making overtures, trying to make someone happy by being myself and have it all be... ignored or taken for granted, or worse, accepted with a forced smile. Fuck, if you don't like me, tell me, if you do, tell me! I deserve to know THAT at least! Sure, rip my heart out if it comes to it, but at least be woman enough to actually do it yourself damn it. Sure it might feel bad for you too, but sorry babe, you broke my heart if it comes to that, the least you could do is actually have to face the guilt of being responsible for such a shitty thing.

Am I being selfish? Yes, probably. But it's one thing I haven't actually tried. And, it's the one thing I don't know I can actually be. But is it really too much to ask? I'm willing give up so much for this little bit of selfishness... Can't I just be... happy for once? Within the vicinity of contentment even? Happy with myself? Yes, but happy? There's more to this world, my world, than just me. I'm just tired of being the guy who "understands", the one who "copes". If wishing that, just for once, it was the other way around means that I'm unredeemably selfish, especially for someone who is apparently as unworthy as me. Then... I'm just... tired of waiting, so very very tired of feeling so alone.

*Sigh*

By the way, nothing happened to prompt that rant, I just... felt like ranting because I was in one of those moods. I get like this on some random nights, not so often, but it happens. God, to have someone to talk to on nights like this, to really really talk to...

*Sigh*

Vorrei, e non vorrei;
Mi trema un poco il cor:
Felice, e ver sarei,
Ma puo burlarmi ancor.
-"La ci darem la mano, from Don Giovanni, W.A. Mozart

Edit: on second thought, there's another Mozart song that would probably be more fitting. As opposed to the original selection, which is much more like the normal me, this one is more like this post, except I don't have bells, and I'd like to think my feelings are much more complicated than anything presented in this song, though some would disagree. To those who disagree: "Fuck you."

"Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen", from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute).
Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen
Wunscht Papageno sich.
O, so ein sanftes Taubchen
War Seligkeit fur mich!
Dann schmeckte mir Trinken un Essen,
Dann konnt ich mit Fursten mich messen,
Des Lebens als Weiser mich freun,
Und wie im Elysium sein.
Ach, Kann ich keiner von allen
Den reizenden Mädchen gefallen?
Helf eine mir nur aus der Not.
Sonst gram ich mich wahrlich zu Tod.

And the World Begins Anew

"Time begins on Opening Day."
-Thomas Boswell

Opening Day is upon us! For those of us who are so unfortunate as to not know what Opening Day is. It is the first day of games for the new baseball season. One curious thing is that Opening Day is different for every team, as it is defined as the date of the first home game. So it is possible for one team to have Opening Day tomorrow while another won't have it until a week or so later. Either way, this day, along with the Masters golf tournament (something I'll rant on in a later post I'm sure), is generally regarded around the US as the signal for the official start of spring. Which means.... no more snow! Yay!

Oh, not to mention how Champion's League is picking up again. So the best football/soccer is picking up too. All is good.

On a related note, I hate it when ESPN don't follow the general convention of listing the home squad first in football/soccer matches (instead, it lists the home squad second). So I was watching the sports ticker that scrolls through the scores one day and saw: Juventus 0 - Arsenal 2. I thought that meant Arsenal put 2 goals past Buffon at the Delle Alpi only to find out that it was the other way around.

Yet another reason to hate ESPN.

"A light exists in spring
Not present on the year
At any other period.
When March is scarcely here

A color stands abroad
On solitary hills
That science cannot overtake,
But human naturefeels."
- "A Light Exists in Spring" by Emily Dickinson