Walking around, paying attention

Our 15 minutes of fame

2011-07-13T15:11:00.001-04:00

The next day (July 12) the article below appeared in Seacoast On-line and in the Portsmouth (NH) Herald.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110712-NEWS-107120386

Many thanks to Ariella!

Seven: "Roll, thou deep and dark blue ocean"

2011-07-11T20:08:00.006-04:00

Beach Number Seven: York, Maine. Seven in Eleven--Hurray!-- and just in the nick of time. It's about 8pm. In another half hour there would have been no beach at all. And the sun is going down.

In York, the Adventurers were met by reporter Ariella Coombs and a photographer from the Portsmouth, NH newspaper. A wonderful ending to a long and wildly successful day.

End of the day, and the Adventurers have left the beach to share a celebratory meal--and a well-earned victory drink.

Six: "I must down to the seas again. . . "

2011-07-11T19:46:00.004-04:00

Beach Number Six: New Hampshire has been achieved. For Ned, Betsy and Cindy this ties last year's Quick Six swim. For Monica, Brian and Angel it's a personal best--but their record is soon to improve. It's around 7pm which means it's been 14 hours since Beach Number One in New Jersey. Only one more beach to go. Onward to Maine!

Five: By the Shining-Big-Sea-Water

2011-07-11T19:39:00.001-04:00

Beach Number Five: Salisbury, Massachusetts. Lookin' cool in the lengthening shadows of the afternoon sun.

NB: Itinerary Changes

2011-07-11T16:52:00.000-04:00

The MA beach will still be in Salisbury, but it will be off North End Blvd.

The NH beach has been changed from Wallis Sands to Hampton Beach.

Onward, Adventurers!

Four: Sea Fever

2011-07-11T14:47:00.002-04:00

Beach Number Four: Rhode Island, and past the halfway point.

Special mention: Really Nice Guy Ryan, the gate attendant at Misquamicut State Beach and a big Seven in Eleven fan.

Refueling

2011-07-11T14:09:00.001-04:00

The Adventurers enjoy a break and a Summer Shandy before setting sail for Rhode Island. Angel is the Official Photographer.

Three: Water, water everywhere

2011-07-11T11:53:00.001-04:00

Beach Number Three: Connecticut. As the morning progresses, other beachgoers begin to make an appearance on the sand, but the Adventurers, of course, have braved the water.

Two: Here comes the sun

2011-07-11T08:55:00.005-04:00

Beach Number Two: New York has been conquered, and it's not even 9 am yet. Swimmers are at Rockaway Beach near the surfer's beach at 90th Street. This is Bell's Beach, named for a firefighter who lost his life on 9/11.

And this is Good Samaritan John of Beach 92nd Street who generously provided the Adventurers a parking space while they took their ocean dip. Who says New Yorkers are unfriendly?

One: By the dawn's early light

2011-07-11T06:09:00.006-04:00

Beach Number One: Awake, wet, smiling (and looking awfully good for 5:30 am!), the Adventurers cross New Jersey off their list. The photo credit goes to Angel L. Colon, Jr.--who else would be on the beach at this hour????

To boldly go . . .

2011-07-10T12:24:00.002-04:00

First photo of the valiant Seven in Eleven adventurers, currently enroute to New Jersey where they will attempt a good night's sleep before tomorrow's Aquatic Challenge.

From left to right: Angel, Monica, Betsy, Ned, Cindy, Brian.

Seven in Eleven

2011-07-08T15:52:00.002-04:00

Seven in Eleven

A Littoral Adventure

On Monday July 11, 2011 a group of adventurers will attempt to swim at seven salt water beaches in seven different states between dawn and dusk. With the support of several chapters of The Surfrider Foundation, Seven in Eleven celebrates the beauty of the coastal Northeast and proves that age is no barrier to having fun outdoors.

The event begins at sunrise (5:36 a.m.) at Long Branch, NJ. Subsequent stops will be at Rockaway Beach (Beach 90^th Street) in New York City,

Sherwood Island State Park (East Beach) in Westport, CT,

Misquamicut State Beach, Westerly, RI,

Salisbury State Reservation, Salisbury, MA,

Wallis Sands State Beach, Rye, NH,

Ending before sunset (8:23 p.m.) at Long Sands Beach, York ME.

The Seven in Eleven builds on last year’s Quick Six – six beaches, six states, one day. The Quick Six was featured in the Travel Section of the Boston Sunday Globe. http://articles.boston.com/2011-02-27/travel/29337013_1_ocean-beach-park-new-england-three-people

This year’s participants, most in their 50’s and 60’s, are expected to include a registered nurse, a computer security expert, a former Coast Guardsman, a van driver, a veteran long-distance swimmer and runner, and a retired city planner.

For additional background, see

http://walkingaroundpayingattention.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

Live blogging begins right here on Monday July 11, 2011 at 7 a.m.

Santa Anita Trip Notes

2011-04-05T17:53:00.008-04:00

March 17-20 2011

Thursday

Saw one of my Starbucks regulars in the departure lounge for Virgin America Thursday morning. Virgin America is no great shakes of an airline, especially in Coach. Can’t see what all the fuss is about. I followed the website directions from LAX to the park. Someone made a nice choice to have folks get off on Orange Grove in Pasadena. This is the kind of street where you can find yourself stuck behind a van with the sign “Architectural Tours of Los Angeles by an Architectural Historian.” Sets a very posh tone.

I had made prior arrangements with Mike Willman and Debbie Olsen of the Publicity Department for a media credential. The helpful guy at the gate directed me to park by an orange tree. None of those where I come from. Bird of paradise flowers in the parking lot. Not a lot of those blooming in March back home either. The big fountain by the statue of Seabiscuit was flowing green for St. Patrick’s Day. Not exactly like dyeing the Chicago River for the day, but a kind of cheesy reminder I was at the racetrack, not the Norton-Simon Museum.

Now this is a real racetrack. When I got inside I found the elevator to the press box. This was manned by a charming guy who did not want to admit he drew the short straw and got stuck working in a little box all day with the beauty of California right outside. Are the last elevator operators in the world working the press box elevators at racetracks? Maybe the White House.

Mike Willman was busy and distracted, but Debbie Olsen was charming in providing the credential and inviting me to make myself at home. In my limited experience, this is a first-class operation. They had hot food in the press box!! Sat in Jay Hovdey’s seat. There were actual working press guys there - talking about the NCAA Men’s. Best ever.

My impression throughout was that the crowd was surprisingly bland. Not as “cowboy” as I would have thought. Not very Mexican either Maybe it is because it was a Thursday. My companion suggests that those folks have to work for a living. Later it seems all of this area is like that. Hollywood and San Diego, too. Maybe I just can’t get off by myself enough, but the whole region seems bleached out, corporate, branded. I haven’t been back for almost 25 years and my existence when I lived here more than thirty years ago was pretty marginal. Maybe more marginal than I ever realized.

One nice touch is the South African (Thanks Ron Z.) track announcer, Trevor Denman, with his very plummy accent. An off note is the use of the word “hornblower” to describe the guy who plays the call to the post. It just sounds weird. The only references I can find for this usage are at here at Santa Anita and in cites for the Marx Brothers movie, “A Day at the Races” (1937). Saratoga, Woodbine, even the races at the Northern California fairs call him the “bugler.”

What began as a cool and foggy day brightens. It seems like I can see the race along the backstretch extraordinarily well. My companion says it may be the cool green of the mountain backdrop. Make a note to check with my long-suffering and ever more beautiful artist wife when I get home.

Lost $5, despite cashing 4 tickets.

Friday

The Workouts

Mike Willman had said that if I wanted to see the morning workouts I should get out by 7 a.m. Drove by a bar in Arcadia called “The Drinker’s Hall of Fame.” Serious question about what I would have done if I had seen that sign last night on St. Patrick’s Day. The only thing I remember about my last St.Patrick’s day in LA was running out of gas on the way home.

Arrived at 6:45 in darkness to find the workouts in full swing. Sun just about to come up. It smelled like horse shit. I took this as a very good sign. The workouts are advertised and are open to the public for free. I actually saw a clocker with a stopwatch as I walked over. Again, this is the real deal.

The workouts are big. They have a coffee shop with hot meals, waiters in bow ties, guys drying the dew off the seats, freestanding gas heaters (ubiquitous now in Southern California apparently). Could have had breakfast there instead of wasting my time eating at Denny’s. Got a cup of coffee and sat down to watch the action. They have two tracks working simultaneously – the main dirt track and an inner training loop inside the turf course. This appears to have a different surface – grey in color as opposed to the sandy brown of the main track.

The sun JUMPS up over the San Gabriel mountains over by the first turn. Some minor excitement over a loose horse. A small crowd of professionals and gawkers. A family on vacation from Boston, some older folks. I am NOT the only guy there wearing a suit and tie. The ubiquitous Bob Baffert. The sun begins to warm the air and a waiter offers to warm up my coffee. I wonder, “Is this the best breakfast I ever had?” Ranks right up there anyway.

Hazy blue sky, folded hills with some steep declivities. A small residential community appears perched on the lower slopes. Wonder if they can see in? My old firm once rented an apartment in Chicago with an obstructed view of Soldiers Field, but I never stayed the weekend to see the Bears play. Maybe it is like the folks in Chicago who rent their rooftops to folks to watch the Cubs.

Still way less cowboy and less Mexican than I could have imagined, even with a high percentage of professionals. Several people with dogs. Do dogs act cool around horses?

Things stop for reconditioning the track surfaces. When workouts resume, there are far fewer horses out. Earlier there was a pleasant blur of activity. There is no way for a novice like me to know what is really happening, not even which horse is which.

The Races

I meet a guy at the paddock who declares it to be his lucky day. It is his name day – Sandor from Hungary. Seems pleased to meet someone who knows not only that yesterday was St. Patrick’s, but that tomorrow is St. Joseph’s.

I wander around this BIG plant and discover the basement. On a sunny day in March in California, the basement of a race track is for true degenerates, but like the rest of the place it is clean and neat and the crowd looks respectable. Pitiable, but respectable. Part of the interior of the grandstand is cordoned off for a blood drive and in another part (I told you it was big.) there are signs announcing that a TV show (The HBO drama "Luck.") is being filmed and that we have all consented to the use of our likenesses. I scram before they find out I am 32 years in arrears on my AFTRA dues.

Just out of the gate for Race 1

Gilligan, with Joe Talamo up wins Race 1

Chantal Sutherland up on PowerofVoodoo before Race 2

The break in Race 2

Living Our Dream with Rafael Bejarano up wins Race 2

There are a couple of fancy horse and carriage rigs ferrying folks around the main track between races. Again that Old Pasadena/Tournament of Roses feel. I thoroughly enjoy the day, especially the sunshine.

Star Billing in the walking ring. The winner of Race 3.

Lord Avalon with jockey Martin Garcia wins Race 4

Even with no distractions, I manage to lose $10.

Sunday

Back after a short trip to San Diego to air out the Old School Tie. Got a very late start and felt a little bad because I had a loose agreement to meet an “internaute” (as the French would say) friend at the track. A little cool and cloudy down south, more moisture as I hit Pomona, teeming when I get to Arcadia.

I found my contact and we watched some horses in the saddling paddock and one race from the clubhouse walkway. We both had some things to do and different ways to do them so I watched the last two races on my own from the doorway of the grandstand. There were, surprisingly, some folks actually in the infield in the pouring rain. All in all a very sparse crowd and very quiet.

On a recommendation from a website I am starting to follow, I bet a longshot for $2 across the board and the $22.20 Show payout got me even for the weekend. Pretty good time to zip up the wallet and go to dinner.

Do the L Street Brownies have a new patron?

2010-12-29T17:22:00.000-05:00

The renowned L Street Brownies are preparing for another New Year’s Day dip in the gelid waters of Boston Harbor. With a weather forecast for air temperatures in the 40’s and water temperatures about the same, I am thinking about joining them.

This prompted me to get some details about what used to be called the L Street Bathhouse and is now known as the Curley Community Center.

This prompted the following email exchange.

From: "Ned Daly"

To: "admin curley" <admin_curley@comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 5:55:17 PM
Subject: Your home page

Hasn't any one noticed that you have the Mayor's name wrong.

Your website says he was "Michael J. Curley."

No one by that name was ever the mayor of the City of Boston.

You could look it up.
--
Ned Daly

Walking around, paying attention.

From: Curley Community Center Updates

To: "ned daly"
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 7:53 PM
Subject: Re: Your home page

To answer your question: apparently not. It was a simple typo mistake. No need to look it up. Rest assured that we do know what his name is and the mistake has been corrected. Please note it can be found on the About Us <http://lstreetcurley.com/about_Us.html> page.

Best wishes for a safe and healthy New Year.

http://www.lstreetcurley.com
Boston Centers for Youth & Families/Curley Community Center

2002-2010 Graphic Traffic

Now, now, boys. No need to get huffy, even though I would gauge it to be something far different from a “simple typo mistake”. Getting the name James Michael Curley wrong on the website of the Curley Center is a pretty major lapse in this town.

What fascinates me is the fact that the site seems to have been up for eight years now. Have they had thousands of visitors who really did not notice, or don’t they get any traffic?

Is horse racing merely unpredictable or really non-predictable?

2010-11-28T12:21:00.001-05:00

One of the things I like about Thoroughbred horse racing is handicapping, or trying to predict the winner in advance. This is a tough business. Just ask anyone who has tried.

As a rank novice in this game, I have a pretty low bar and a lot to learn. I go to the track as often as I can. I talk to anyone who will engage with me about horses and racing. I read the classic literature. I watch races on TV. I study The Daily Racing Form. I download past performances and result charts both for races I attend and others I have an interest in. I even (sometimes) risk my own hard earned money at the mutuel windows.

As an antidote to my natural urges toward self-deception, and as a more advanced learning tool, I also participate in two on-line handicapping contests. Both are pretty straightforward, asking the participants to predict the outcomes of between one and four races a week. The one I like best is run on Dan Illman’s handicapping blog on DRF.com.

http://www.drf.com/blogs/dan-illman

While my results over the past year or so have been dismal, I have learned a lot from the other participants. These folks include owners, trainers, pedigree analysts, lifelong aficionados, degenerate gamblers, and novices like myself. The blog and its comments cover a number of racing topics each week, but the focus is usually the contest – take a mythical $100 and wager it to the biggest payoff on a race chosen by the winner of last week’s contest. Illman weighs in with his analysis and so do dozens of commenters. Very few of them are the kind of get-a-lifers you might expect. Everyone is free to enter and encouraged to offer some thoughts on the race. The prize is some free DRF downloads, bragging rights, and the chance to choose the next race in the contest.

This week’s race and blog contest results made me really stop and think. The race was the Grade 1 Hill ‘N’ Dale Cigar Mile from Aqueduct with a purse of $250,000. A top ranked race at a top racecourse featuring some of the most widely known Thoroughbreds in America. These included some rising three year olds as well as veteran four, five, and seven year old runners. Three of the horses had won over $1 million in purses. The result? The highest odds horse, Jersey Town, won paying $71.50 for a $2 win wager. Another way to say this is that the horse chosen by the fewest number of bettors (by far) won the race.

So we have a group of enthusiastic, experienced analysts looking at a field of nine well-known horses. The standard past performance data contains thousands of data points for the field. Statistical summaries and “expert analysis” are available for free all over the place. How did we do?

Not one of the eighty DRF contest participants predicted the winner. No-one would have cashed a ticket of any kind if they were playing with their own money. If we were choosing the winner at random, then eight or nine players should have chosen correctly, but none did.

Jersey Town was not some dark horse. He has good breeding and is trained by a well-respected veteran. He is a four year old who had raced eleven times previously, finishing in the money all but one of those times. He raced in New York less than a month ago, finishing second. The first and third place horses in that race were also racing in the Cigar.

The racing press sees it as an upset, but no more. These things happen.

It makes me think hard when a race that should have been formful winds up like this. Is this why racing is dying? Is it that gamblers really prefer the predictability of losing at the slot machines and roulette wheels to the non-predictability of the pari-mutuel windows?

Media Criticism #5

2010-10-13T16:05:00.002-04:00

The Boston Globe ran the following story last week -

US Marshals Service joins international hunt for Bulger

By Shelley Murphy

Globe Staff / October 8, 2010

For the first time since South Boston crime boss James “Whitey’’ Bulger fled 15 years ago, the US Marshals Service has joined the international manhunt.

The agency, perhaps best known for tracking fugitives, recently assigned a deputy US marshal to work full time on the Bulger Task Force, an FBI-led team of State Police investigators, FBI agents, and state Department of Correction officers that has been searching full time for the 81-year-old gangster.

US Marshal John Gibbons said in a statement yesterday that the agency “has a long-standing reputation as being expert fugitive investigators, and we look forward to providing the FBI with our assistance in this matter. It is our hope that this joint initiative will ultimately lead to the arrest of Bulger so he can face justice.’’

FBI agent Gregory Comcowich, a spokesman for the FBI’s Boston office, said marshals have exceptional expertise in hunting fugitives and “they will bring local, state, and international contacts that we hope will assist us in catching Bulger.’’

Bulger, one of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted, fled just before his January 1995 federal racketeering indictment in Boston and was later charged with 19 murders in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a longtime FBI informant, and the bureau has said his capture remains a top priority. The FBI is offering a $2 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

The last confirmed sighting of the aging fugitive was in London in 2002.

He is believed to be traveling with his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, 59, a certified dental hygienist.

In the last year, the FBI has launched creative initiatives in an effort to capture Bulger, including posting an ad in Plastic Surgery News in May, asking plastic surgeons worldwide to be on the lookout for Greig.

According to the bureau, Greig had breast implants, a face lift, liposuction, and eyelid surgery before she went on the run with Bulger, creating speculation that she might look for additional surgery.

I was extremely disappointed in The Globe and wrote an email to Ms. Murphy.

Ms. Murphy,

I think you have entirely missed the story in your piece on the US Marshals and Whitey Bulger in today's (October 8, 2010) Boston Globe. You report that the Service recently assigned a deputy Marshal to the Bulger task force. You quote federal officials as to the Service's "reputation as being expert fugitive investigators" with "local, state and international contacts." This would have been a story 15 years ago.

The story today is that a wanted fugitive, charged with 19 murders, one of the "FBI's Ten Most Wanted", has NOT been the target of the federal agency "best known for tracking fugitives" since his flight in 1995.

Did you ASK the FBI or the Marshals Service what took so long? Did you wonder who stood to gain by the delay or omission? If you did, the Globe did not print it. I can get all the press releases I want for free. I PAY for journalism.

I felt even worse when I did a web search on the story. Your piece in the Globe has been picked up by all the local media, the AP, and outlets as far away as India and Ireland.

Ned Daly

After several days of silence from Ms. Murphy of The Globe, I thought, Well you are a journalist (of sorts) and you have a media outlet (this blog), why don’t you just ask the Marshals what gives?

So, I e-mailed the “Wanted” address of the USMS as follows on October 11.

Subject Line: Bulger Task Force

To Whom it May Concern

I am a freelance writer and I am following up on last Friday's (October 8, 2010) story in the Boston Globe.

My questions are:

Why did it take fifteen years for the US Marshals to get brought in?

Why is now the right time for the Marshals to be involved?

Why only one deputy Marshal on the Task force?

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks.

Ned Daly

I have not heard from the Marshals and don’t expect to.

So, the public can either believe (along with The Globe) that it is newsworthy that the Marshals have joined the hunt for Bulger, or they can continue to wonder (along with me) why the Marshals are unwilling to explain their long-overdue and tepid involvement.

An Impressionist Visit to Auteuil

2010-10-04T19:19:00.001-04:00

I interrupted a recent attempt to eat at every pastry shop in Paris to attend the races at Auteuil. The Hippodrome d’Auteuil, to give it its full name, is on the outskirts of Paris next to the Bois du Boulogne. The course is run by France-Galop, the entity in charge of all horseracing in France. Interestingly, France-Galop does not run the parimutuel system at any track. This is all done by Pari Mutuel Urbain or PMU, both at the tracks, by computer, and in off-site betting parlors like OTB.

I found it very easy to get to by Metro. Easier than going to Aqueduct on the subway. A dozen short stops from the heart of Paris. This is an all-turf course devoted to the jumps, both steeplechase and hedges. The massive course is a rough figure of eight, allowing for multiple starting locations for both race types. As you enter the course from the Metro side, you walk through a long concrete tunnel and then across one of the infields. It was a little disconcerting to note that most of the time this infield is a driving range. Turns out the other one has a little pitch and putt setup.

The Grandstand/Clubhouse are divided into three free-standing “tribunes,” two newer and one older and abandoned. The abandoned tribune is very elegant and reminded me a little of the remains of Hialeah.

I went into the “Centre de Press” and presented my credential. This was all I needed. There was no physical pass or credential to hang around my neck like at other venues. I followed a man into the elevator up to the press box. His very pointy shoes made me think of the guys I had been seeing all week on the ubiquitous Parisian motorcycles. Most of them had pointy shoes too. Nice view from the “press box” (actually an open section of the stands), but it is the least interesting part of any racetrack as far as I am concerned. No human interest and it is very far from the horses. The superior view hardly makes up for the limitations.

The paddock and walking ring are behind the stands and interestingly both have only hard paved surfaces.

Le Premiere Course (Race 1) was the Prix le Gourzy, a 22,000 Euro (roughly $30,000) claimer for three year olds. Boy, do these three year olds have legs. Big, thick, sturdy.

There were a total of eight races on the card with as many as seventeen starters each. The feature was a Group III – Le Prix de Maisons-Lafitte worth 130,000 Euros.

The wagering system was and remains impenetrable to me, not that it made that much difference because I found it impossible, given my time and abilities, to do any handicapping. There are published PPs, but they are so very different from ours as to be of little use. I did find a UK website that listed the leading jockeys, trainers, and owners which might be an angle for some. I could not find a morning line anywhere. The biggest difference is that the current odds are really hard to find. They have TVs at the betting windows and in some odd places around the facility, but there is no infield tote. The infield board announces that the horses have entered the course, that they have started (I actually saw a false start in the first race!), and that the race is over. Then it shows the first seven finishers. No odds and no payoffs displayed.

Later, an announcement about payoffs is made, but the bets are not exactly the same as in the US and my French was too poor to make sense of the announcement. I tried to find payoffs later on the France-Galop website but was stymied. The time of the winner and the beaten lengths of the other six top runners is displayed on a board in the Winner’s Circle. It took me a while to find this, because the Winner’s Circle is the paddock.

The stands were very quiet all day. Very few ordinary patrons. There were some small betting parlors for the lifers, but the bars and public restaurants were quiet. I held myself back from things like the $30 Euro ($41) plate of smoked salmon in the fancy restaurant. I had a beer instead. The regular patrons seemed very subdued. Way more excitement about betting and the race itself on a rainy Monday at Suffolk Downs than on a Saturday at Auteuil.

It was a little different among the owners and their friends. This really seemed like a meet just for them. They pretty much have a tribune to themselves, though it is located up the stretch in the location Americans would associate with the grandstand.

This tribune is located just across from the paddock and folks would stream back and forth all day. This crowd is very BCBG and very “familiale.” This part of the show has a very hunt club feel. Even the jockeys look like they went to the Sorbonne.

One of the grooms made Travers Manley look like Methuselah.

Not that North American patrons would feel totally lost here. I thought it had a kind of Belmont feel, but with some Saratoga echoes. I saw stoopers and quiet old Chinese guys. If they sold Members Only jackets in Paris, some of my fellow punters would surely have been wearing them.

As to the races, I am still a very rank novice. The course looked beautifully maintained; almost as pretty as the horses. There is no starting gate. The horses come on to the course without ponies and simply walk up to the starting line which is a set of cords across that part of the track. Degas has a well known painting of this, but it is of Longchamps.

These are very long jumps races, as long as 19 furlongs over as many as 19 “obstacles” including combination hedge/water jumps. No surprise that winning times can exceed four minutes. Obstacles mean lots of lost jocks. No significant injuries that day as far as I could tell.

Later I went back up to the press “box” to see how the races played out. Only a couple of guys there. On my way out I saw that most of the French racing press are the same lazy stenographers we have in sports departments here in the US. Almost all of the journalists actually watching the races were the photographers, the rest watched the events on TV from a room that had no view of either the paddock or the racetrack.

The Victory Feast

2010-08-23T19:35:00.001-04:00

A well deserved repast in a warm, dry, well-lighted shelter for The Valiant Three. Then homeward bound, where doting followers and (paper) crowns of laurel leaves await them.

Victory is Achieved!

2010-08-23T17:38:00.005-04:00

Dusk coming on, cold rain falling, the day waning, but once again the Avid Adventurers take their last dips in the now frigid Atlantic. Six ocean beaches, six states, one long day. Glorious, one-of-a-kind, never-done-before, one-for-the record books Victory!

Unfortunately, the weather's nastiness has only intensified over the past twelve grueling hours. Amid the raucous shouts of victory, one Adventurer exclaimed, "It was wetter putting on supposedly dry clothes in the parking lot than it was standing in the Atlantic Ocean!"

Weary but basking in the glow of glory, the three Adventurers now make their way to a warm meal and a stiff drink before the drive home.

News Flash

2010-08-23T16:50:00.000-04:00

The Adventurers have safely driven past the site of last year's attack, the car crash which destroyed their dream. They are closer to victory than ever before, and heading toward the last beach, #6 in Rhode Island.

New London, CT

2010-08-23T16:23:00.003-04:00

The sea traversed again, the #5 dip taken in state #5, the ever-youthful band of merrymakers are proceeding cautiously onto the most dangerous leg of their journey--the dreaded drive to Rhode Island, site of last year's heart-breaking disaster. Five beaches in five states--they have come this far before. Will they make it to number six? Adoring fans can only wait and hope.

Despite the fact that the Adventurers have met with technological troubles at this most critical time in their journey, they have managed to send photos from a second cell phone. Ah, they are so resourceful--and on this day of wretched weather, they are still smiling.

Orient Point, NY

2010-08-23T14:06:00.000-04:00

Phone call update at 1:58: The New York water immersion has been accomplished and the Merry Band are back at sea, though it is still a rough and windy one, crossing on the ferry back to the CT shore.

Message from the Photographer Adventurer: "yoot yoot!!! 4 down!!!"

Delay

2010-08-23T14:01:00.001-04:00

The Faithful Follower somehow missed a phone update when the Adventurers were delayed docking at Orient Point because of rough seas. The wind had picked up and white caps threatened our intrepid travelers, but they faced the unknown with their usual courage.

The Adventurers at Sea

2010-08-23T12:22:00.001-04:00

News flash: "We're on the Cross Sound Ferry - headed for Long Island. Having tuna sandwiches and Chardonnay for lunch."

Ever onward, Merry Band of Adventurers!

Mid-morning Report

2010-08-23T10:06:00.000-04:00

No photos. Everyone in warm dry clothes heading down the 4th Interstate of the day to the 4th state of the day where they will find the 4th beach of the day, and wondering if they can catch the early ferry to NY.

Salisbury Beach!

2010-08-23T08:11:00.000-04:00

The intrepid travelers arrive at the halfway mark--three beaches! It is 7:47 am. It is now late enough in the morning for the weary world to begin catching up with our troupe. Our hero and heroines finally find an obliging stranger to take their picture.

The Faithful Follower admits to a frisson of concern for the Adventurers when she received this photo. Has Doubt joined the fearless party? We can only hope their hearts remain strong and devoted to the challenge, and the future smiles upon them.

Hampton Beach, NH

2010-08-23T07:51:00.001-04:00

Two beaches down! They hope for three beaches before 7:30 am. It's cold, it's sunless, the tide is out, the sand is far, they have to walk for miles to reach the sea. And yet they persevere! They tumble their chilled selves back into the car and continue courageously southward.

York Beach, Maine: Dawn

2010-08-23T07:45:00.000-04:00

Stage One has been accomplished. Wet and still smiling they enjoy their triumph. It is 5:17.

The Quick Six II: It begins

2010-08-23T07:39:00.002-04:00

Our intrepid and perhaps insane adventurers met in the wee small hours (4:15 am) to begin their second attempt at the Quick Six. Their number is sadly reduced by one this year, but life and schedules do not always mesh. Three adventurers now face the frothing waves together.

First photos, first report: "It is hard to tell the nighttime from the day." Still, their brave faces are smiling.

One adventurer, the photographer, was the first to leave her home under cover of darkness with only the moon to accompany her to the first meeting place. Then adventurers One and Two met the third brave member of the company at the rendezvous spot, and the Quick Six was under way.

Saratoga Jumpstart 2010

2010-07-21T15:43:00.000-04:00

Each year, on the weekend before the meet opens at Saratoga, NYRA and the local community put on an open house. While it is mostly a chance for local non-profits to do some fundraising, and for families from the area to enjoy a day out in the sun with pony rides, face painting, clown shows and the like, it does feature some racing. The clowns here also have the good graces to actually wear red rubber noses and size 36EEEE shoes, unlike the clowns I see at other tracks.

The National Steeplechase Association (NSA) sanctions a series of steeplechase races, giving a further layer of meaning to the event's official name - Saratoga Jumpstart. These races are what attracted me back for the second year in a row.

The track looks great, as always. This place is like the Fresh Air Fund camp for Thoroughbreds. Some new construction of what I gather to be food service concessions over by the paddock, but otherwise not much changed.

After the races I drove around the town a little. Many, many For Sale signs. Hard to tell whether this happens every year before and during the season, whether it reflects the general economy, or whether folks in Saratoga know something about NYRA's future the rest of us don't. Looks like a healthy Pick Six could get you a nice Victorian of your choice.

Final Straw, a 4yo gelding, in the paddock.

Leaving the paddock on the way to the track.

View of the Winner's Circle.

The field approaches the second fence in Race 1.

The field taking fence #2 in the second race.

Quiet Approval winning the fourth race, a $25,000 Allowance.

Danielle Hodsdon up on Parker's Project in the Winner's Circle after Race 3.

Winning jockey Danielle Hodsdon and a young fan,

Jockey Roderick Mackenzie looking a little grim - before the race.

What the real journalists were wearing. Noted author Bill Heller. See the Weekend Getaway post (February 10, 2010) for what he looks like in Florida.

The 2010 Intermodal Beach Expedition

2010-06-28T17:41:00.008-04:00

All aboard!

I have been obsessed with beach adventures for a couple of years. How many, how different, how unique. Not the fantasies of the Seychelles or Bora Bora that I had in my youth, but fun things I could do on the spur of the moment. Followers of this blog will recall last year’s attempt at The Quick Six.

At the time that jaunt was percolating in my mind, I also wondered how many beaches, in how many states, I could visit for a swim by taking public transportation only. I had lived for a good part of my younger adult life without a car, and used to pride myself on getting anywhere I wanted or needed to go by bus and subway. I used to take the bus to Marblehead, the subway to East Boston, and the train to Rockport just to go to the beach.

So, last Friday I set off to see if I could get in the water at three ocean beaches in one day (dawn to dusk) without entering a private automobile. I had begun calling this The Intermodal. I had downloaded the timetables, packed my kit, and checked the forecasts. All looked ripe.

Thursday night I called the local cab company to arrange a ride. Even though I am not a frequent rider, they had all my information in their database and promised me a taxi at 5:45 a.m.. (A note to the skeptical – while a taxicab is a conventional passenger car, it is also a part of the public transportation web. Cabs operate under various public licenses, have professional drivers with special licenses, and are available to all members of the public for a published fare.) I turned off the alarm, washed, and fed myself. When I looked up, the clock said 5:46 and the cab was at my door. I kissed my long-suffering and ever more beautiful wife goodbye, left my key ring on the counter, and off I went.

First stop was the AMTRAK station at Route 128. A license check and credit card swipe ($46.00) later I had a ticket on the 6:30 a.m. Northeast Regional bound for New London, CT. Bought The Globe and joined a few others for an on-time departure. At 7:30 we pulled in to Westerly, RI. Westerly features a pretty Mediterranean-style station house. After Westerly the train runs right along the shore, past salt ponds, marshes and small boatyards. At 7:52 we pulled in to New London.

At New London, I had (at least) two choices – the SEAT bus to Ocean Beach Park, or the Cross Sound Ferry to Orient Point, NY. I decided to hotfoot it to see if I could catch the 8 a.m. ferry. The ferry dock is adjacent to the train station, but separated by a safety fence. I chose what turned out to be the slightly longer way around, but again, with a license check and a credit swipe ($25.00 for a same-day round trip walk on) I just made it.

The MV Cape Henlopen takes autos and passengers across the end of Long Island Sound from busy old New London to the relatively deserted dock at Orient Point. The day was perfect. 100% sunshine, calm seas, fair winds. Interesting views of the Navy sub pens and the Electric Boat works to port and the Cost Guard Academy to starboard. Had a bagel and coffee and cracked open a used Carl Hiassen novel I had picked up at the library fundraising sale. To my great relief, it was one I had not already read. Always chancy with guys who have published a lot, and whose books come out in a variety of paperback editions. Jacked into my iPod and settled down.

At about 9:20 the ferry docked at O.P. The “port facilities” here consist of a bulkhead, a paved road, and a small hut for tickets and coffee. That is it. Now I had been here twice before, so none of this was any surprise. I also knew that in addition to the official state park beach down the road, there is a little strip on the water just to one side of the dock. This is very unofficial. There are no signs (on that side anyway) which I interpret to mean that this is a public beach open to all. There are some No Trespassing signs on the other side, and I avoid it. I walk a couple of hundred yards down a beach consisting of tumbled whitish stones, park my gear on a weathered log, and wade in. A quick dip. My definition of “swim” is at least one full head to toe immersion. More as time and the inclination of the participants permits. I am alone. No-one else in the water or on the “beach”. I might be the only person who ever swims here.

Ferries leaving Orient Point

As I get out to dry myself I see that the 9:30 ferry back to New London is just boarding. I think to myself that if I had not walked as far, I might have made it. I don’t worry. I have done this before. I dry off (mostly) and walk back. By that time the Cape Henlopen is about to make its 10 a.m. departure for New London and I embark. As soon as we leave the dock, the bar is open and I treat myself to a turkey sandwich and a Long Island microbrew by Blue Point. Up on deck to dry myself and my towel in the sunshine. Hiassen is a reliable page-turner with his South Florida motleys.

Dock, train and AMTRAK station in New London from the deck of the Henlopen

At 11:30 we arrive back in New London, where things have begun to heat up on the dock. In addition to the OP ferries, there are vessels bound to Block Island RI and to Fisher’s Island NY. My mind is drawn to other possible itineraries but I keep to my plan. I walk around the barrier and back onto Water Street. Right next to the AMTRAK station and the Greyhound bus terminal (more choices!) is the bus stop for the SEAT (Southeast Area Transit District) bus. I confirm that I want the #13 and catch a seat in the kiosk to wait for the noon bus to Ocean Beach. The bus (air conditioned!) comes on time ($1.25 cash) but has to wait for another bus to accommodate transfers. Once underway the driver weaves her way swiftly and skillfully through a maze of streets in downtown New London. The bus seems more like a jitney (fixed route but no fixed stops) but since this is my first time I can’t really say. We get to the beach at 12:45, about 15 minutes behind schedule.

There is a gated pedestrian entrance to the beach, and I had been informed that there was an entry fee for walk-ins. This must just be for weekends or something because there was no attendant and no charge. The day is bright and hot and the beach is well populated with families, couples, teens on the make. All shapes, sizes, and colors. In marked contrast to OP, this beach has facilities. Facilities to spare. It is under the jurisdiction of the City of New London, but has a surprising mix of public and private activities. The beach, of course, a long boardwalk with bandstand, restrooms, snack bar and the like. But Ocean Beach also has a bar (!), a Workout World facility, a swimming pool, miniature golf, and more. Sand is hot, water is cool and the quick dip is accomplished.

Ocean Beach Park

I am reminded that one of the things I always say when people ask me why I love the beach is that it is the most democratic of American institutions. Most places are free or cheap. There is no dress code. The ones I go to are (within reason) safe for kids and old ladies. No one hesitates to just stick your valuables in your sneaker, strip off (most) of your clothes and walk away - to the water, the tidepools, or the snack bar. Sure, there is an advantage to being young and beautiful, but being old, fat, or funny-looking certainly never kept anyone away from the beaches I go to. Doing this by public transportation just raises the democratization by a power of two. I love this country!

I use the restroom to change out of my suit and into a dry one for the next stage. This turns out to be a wise decision. I head back to the bus stop to catch the scheduled 1:30 back to Water Street. A short shady wait later, $1.25 into the fare box, and I am on my way. We arrive just before 2 p.m..

I had cut short having a nice time at Ocean Beach because I did not want to miss the 3:03 AMTRAK back to Boston. The last time I had to take the train from New London, I missed getting on a train that was in the station because you cannot access the northbound platform while the train is in the station. The 2:30 SEAT was supposed to arrive about 2:50, which I thought was cutting it too close. The 1:30 should have left me plenty of time to buy a ticket, grab a beer, and get on. Not so fast, pal.

The northbound 3:03 was showing a delay when I got to the station. Ticket agent said 30 to 40 minutes, so I bought a ticket to South Station ($55.00) and went around the corner for a beer. No DUI worries on the Intermodal! The bar was dim, not very cool, and deserted. I ordered a Sam Summer and watched the World Cup on two screens. Same match with slightly different feeds. Play was the same, commercials different. Barmaid’s friend came in to talk about shamrock tattoo designs. Lots of loud motorcycles with unhelmeted riders. Walked back to the station.

The delay is now an hour or more. Thank goodness for Hiassen’s enduring power to keep me turning the pages. Walk outside to see the swells getting off the Fisher’s Island ferry, some into a limo. Wonder if limousines qualify as public transport? The 3:03 finally departs New London at 4:25. This is not a serious kink, but wastes the effort to make the 8 a.m. ferry, and/or means I could have spent a lot more time at Ocean Beach. It also means there is no chance of trying to sneak in a dip at Westerly, RI, not today at least.

At 6 p.m. we roll into South Station in Boston. Lots of very dressy young women. Lots of romantic reunions. It is Friday night, and these young lovers probably haven’t seen each other since Monday morning. The longing is palpable. I buy a $5 Charlie ticket from an automated kiosk and I am on my way. Momentary thought of taking the Silver Line to Logan Airport, the shuttle to the subway and on from there. One stop on the Red Line to Downtown Crossing (will never stop calling it Washington Street.). Change to the Orange Line. One stop to State Street. Change to the Blue Line. Under the harbor, past the airport, (think about getting off at Orient Heights to hit Constitution Beach in East Boston. Remember that I did not like the water there much in the 70’s and decide I probably won’t like it any better now.) and on to the Revere Beach stop.

Revere Beach

One block down Shirley Avenue and there it is, - the oldest public beach park in the United States. Again the routine – strip, dip, and dry. I call home to announce the third wetness and stop to catch my breath. This is a different crowd. The remaining families all have a “Stayed too long at the fair” aspect. A group of Brazilians doing that samba/futbol/volleyball thing. Some very pale kids who look like college students here from out of town for summer school. The beginnings of a Friday night social whirlwind for under-21’s from all the nearby neighborhoods and towns. More loud bikes, this time with helmets.

I go across the street to Sammy’s Bar. This is the place I often warm up in after swims at Revere in the winter. It has windows that look out onto the beach and the water. The TV set is tuned to the NHL Draft ceremonies. The two guys on the other side of the bar are talking very knowledgeably about Taylor and Tyler and several others.

Back to Shirley Avenue and the Blue, Orange and Red Lines. By this time I figure I will be catching the 9:15 commuter train back to my home in the suburbs. Lady Luck is smiling on me. Owing to seamless subway connections, I am there in time to buy a ticket ($4.75) and hop on the 8:10 MBTA commuter rail out of town.

Not very crowded. I exchange nods of happiness with a nice family whose kids have balloon animals, but have not been to a circus. Hiassen is finished, having dispensed a kind of rough justice to the deserving and undeserving. I dial the iPod to Geoff Muldaur as the sun fades. When I get off the train it is not either light or dark. I would say it is the time of day when a kid who was told to be home before the streetlights came on could still mount a pretty good argument, but might have to concede defeat. The gym bag weighs heavy as I walk the few blocks home. Muldaur buoys the spirit. I have to ring the bell when I get home. I turn to the west and see a faint brightness. Close enough for me.

Action from Suffolk Downs. Race 6 on June 7, 2010

2010-06-08T19:13:00.004-04:00

Dyn Panell (foreground) is up on #11 Prince Kisses, a 5 yo Gelding.

Prince Kisses coming home a winner by more than 10 lengths.
Oorah, a 6yo Gelding finishes second, but looks good doing so. Paid $7.80 to place.

Media Criticism #4

2010-06-03T16:09:00.001-04:00

The following is a copy of an email to Susanne Althoff, Editor of the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine

Susanne,

Just a quick comment on the photo that accompanied Tom Keane's piece in the Magazine last Sunday (5-23-10).

The photo caption says it is a view of Nantucket Sound "from Hyannis Port." I have spent a lot of time looking at Nantucket Sound; from West Yarmouth, Chatham, and Nantucket Harbor. The use of what is clearly an aerial shot markedly distorts the effect of any sea-level viewing.

The context (the jetty and the spit of land at the left for instance), and the distance to the apparent horizon available in an aerial shot are orders of magnitude greater than those available to any boater, a viewer standing on shore, or someone looking out an upstairs window.

The result is that the photo is at odds with the argument Keane is trying to make. From the vantage point of that photographer, wind turbines might mar the view. It is simply less possible for anything to similarly affect the view from on shore at sea level.

Media Criticism #3

2010-06-03T16:07:00.000-04:00

I read James Surowiecki’s article “The Age of Political Risk” on The Financial Page in the May 24th edition of The New Yorker. As usual I found the piece timely, informative, and accessible. I was taken aback, however, by a statement made in the fourth paragraph. Surowiecki says, “Markets work best when there’s lots of information available and a historical track record to go on; they excel at predicting things like horse races….”

If only this were true. After spending some years of my professional life teasing stories out of data, I took an interest in horse racing under just that assumption. I thought that with the proper analytical framework, the rich mine of data available in The Daily Racing Form and other sources would yield at least a modest return on investment (ROI).

As I learned more about horse racing, I came to find that even the best handicappers (those who study past performances, pedigree, track biases, etc.) correctly predict the outcome only about forty percent of the time. If by “markets” Surowiecki means the run of horseplayers generally, the answer is even more dismal. The preference of the “market” of parimutuel bettors is displayed by the final odds on the various horses in a race, with the lowest odds attached to the “favorite.” Historically “favorites” have won only about one-third of the time. More disheartening, flat bets on all favorites will inevitably produce a negative ROI over time.

In his blog entry of February 25, 2010, Steven Crist, Publisher of The Daily Racing Form wrote “…it turns out that the ancient rule of thumb that favorites win one-third of all races may need a longer thumb: In 2009, favorites in fact won 36.66 percent of the 55,984 thoroughbred races run in the United States and Canada.” Crist looked at 71 racetracks where the percentage of winning favorites ranged from a high of 42.73% to a low of 25.91%. While he did not report on ROI, I strongly suspect that it was negative in all cases of flat bets on favorites.

I would love to be found wrong, as would many who share my enthusiasm and frustration with handicapping. I invite Mr.Surowiecki to join me (my treat) to an afternoon at the racetrack of his choice. Saratoga is nice, and I have heard many good things about Del Mar, as well.

Media Criticism #2

2010-05-05T18:46:00.002-04:00

Followers of this blog may remember that I criticized the Boston Globe story on Michael Gill some weeks ago. My major critique then was that facts were very hard to find. I read the two horse racing stories in the May 1, 2010 Globe, and have a different and more troubling concern. Instead of errors of omission, there are significant errors of commission.

In the story captioned "Rain Could Rule..." The Globe in graph 14 says that the last horse to win the Kentucky Derby from an outside post was Ferdinand in 1986. It goes on to say that the last horse to win from the #20 position was War Admiral in 1937. This is wrong on both counts. The last horse to win from #20, which in that case was the outside post, was Big Brown. This happened only two years ago.

In the piece captioned "Derby Notebook", The Globe makes another mistake that could have been avoided. The rival to Rachel Alexandra in graph 2 was Zardana, not "Zardania." I was about to give this a pass as a typo until I got to graph 3, where the mistake is repeated.

I wrote to Joe Sullivan, the Globe Sports Editor, on the day the stories appeared. I have not gotten any response, but in fairness, they did get the facts straight in a story the next day.

The Wood Memorial

2010-04-06T20:02:00.006-04:00

At Aqueduct for the Wood Memorial – April 3, 2010

Track listed as “Fast”. Visible sheen on the outside edge. So much steam rising from the harrowed portion that you could not see the first turn from the grandstand at 1:30.

Steady head wind for stretch runners all day.

By the time of The Wood Memorial you could see your breath.

The best seats in the house, Section 3-J were available all day. For Free. Free Parking! Aqueduct/NYRA could only attract about 8,500 people to this. The second tier of the sport. In the largest metro area in the country.

Eskendereya – looked slow in the paddock. Had two handlers, but no seeming need. Not snappy.

As I watched the post parade, a guy came up to me and wanted to talk. Said he had NEVER seen anyone in a G1 with front wraps. WHAT was going on with Eskendereya? He could only remember one time, in the Belmont,….

I tried to ignore him and he left me kind of rudely. Eskendereya wins by a ton. (9+ lengths) Tried to find the guy but no luck.

Reminds me that the track exceeds even the prison yard for the intensity of the baloney being served. Everyone is a liar. Everyone is deceiving or self-deceiving, or both.

“I would’a had that,but….”

“I had that one, I just didn’t bet him.”

“I had that one last time, remember, I crushed it.”

“Johnny on the rail!! Johnny on the rail!!”

The difference here is, New Yorkers don’t just have opinions, they have OPINIONS. Add 100% baloney to in-your-face arrogance and you get a long afternoon.

Media Criticism

2010-03-18T16:33:00.001-04:00

Stan Grossfeld wrote two pieces about thoroughbred owner Michael Gill in The Boston Globe on March 2.

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/horse_racing/articles/2010/03/02/a_run_for_his_money/

I read the story and sidebar and thought that others, who don’t see The Globe, might be interested. I shared the on-line version with a group of racing fans and handicappers at a blog I contribute to. The reaction was an almost deafening silence.

This got me thinking. Was the information so “old hat” to these people they did not bother to read or react? Were the charges and countercharges so commonplace in racing that no-one cared any more? It caused me to go back and re-read the piece. I think I know why some at least did not seem to care. It is just not very good journalism.

The article and the sidebar take up a very large chunk of real estate in The Globe, roughly 1 ½ pages out of a total of 7 in the Sports section that day or about 20 % of the entire news hole for the section. I calculated about 176 column inches devoted to the text and accompanying photos. And yet the article really came to no useful conclusion, nor did it allow the reader to draw a conclusion. What was the reader to take away? I think the evidence is clear that the majority of The Globe’s sports readers care very little about thoroughbred racing. If more cared, and they cared more passionately, The Globe would provide better coverage. This makes the sheer size of this particular piece more striking and leads to higher expectations.

What the reader gets is a very long list of accusations and counter accusations, with very little in the way of facts, and almost no sense of real pursuit of the story by The Globe. The story seems to be limited to a series of statements about “controversies.” Does The Globe routinely devote so much space to people’s interest in controversy? Would the science editors devote so much attention to “teaching the controversy” about Darwinism? Is it newsworthy in itself that not everyone at the racetrack is a choirboy? Dog bites man.

This problem begins to be illustrated by the two photo captions on the first page – an assertion by an owner at Penn National and a counter-assertion by Gill. Gill says he has been accused of a “crime” but The Globe does very little to clarify.

The lead paragraph attempts to set a context of threat and mystery, but does not follow up. Did Gill show the Globe the “multiple death threats?” Did Gill share these with law enforcement? The reader is in the dark.

The events surrounding the death of Casual Comfort and the jockeys’ action at Penn National are described, but again, the story is more concerned with “controversy” than fact-finding. And so we begin with the back and forth.

Penn National says 10 horses down.
Gill says six. Well, which is it?

Gill says Penn National has a bad surface.
Penn National says they routinely maintain it. Well, which is it?

Gill says he will sell out.
The Globe says he has said this before. Conclusion?

Jockey Sosa says Gill doesn’t care.
Gill “scoffs .” Conclusion?

Gill says his breakdown percentage is low.
Penn National says it is high. Well, which is it?

Ex-trainer Ferris asserts bad “horsemanship.”
Gill says he doesn’t remember her. What should the reader think? This is literally she said/he said.

Maggi Moss challenges Gill to document his actions with retired racehorses.
Gill “slaps a thick pile of 2009 receipts… .”
Did The Globe even look at the “receipts,” let alone follow up? The reader has no idea.

Mike Catalano “believes” Gill is honest.
Does The Globe know or tell the reader that Mike Catalano (Jr.) once worked for Gill?
Readers might want to know that Catalano (Jr.) was called to account by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission (October 21, 2008) for having two of his horses break down on the same day.

Gill says he sued Delaware for antitrust, and that Delaware settled.
Did this happen? Did The Globe follow up? Guess we will never know.

PA humane police say Gill’s farm operation is “perfect.”
The Globe introduces his pending divorce.
Is this balance for balance’s sake?

Massachusetts has “findings of fact” against his mortgage business.
Gill says “not….fraud.”
Is this the same thing?

The Globe reports a 2001 drug violation at Suffolk Downs.
Gill claims trainer’s responsibility.
How was this resolved? Globe readers are still looking to find out.

In the sidebar on Casual Comfort, we read,
“Gill …. declared persona non grata at six racetracks”
Which ones? When? On what grounds? We are still in the dark.

“He claims…. , critics claim.” No attempt to resolve competing claims.

While I am sure that The Globe considers its readers to be sophisticated and analytical enough to draw conclusions from facts, there are precious few facts in the 176 column inches devoted to horse racing and Michael Gill. Many more are to be found at the website below.
http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/gills-gang-of-misfits/

Ultimately, I think The Globe fails its readers by failing to provide a point of view. Is this an article about a businessman who is afraid for his family because of multiple death threats, or merely a story about “horseplay” at the racetrack?

Looking Forward

2010-02-22T19:43:00.002-05:00

A version of this post has also appeared in the Comments section of Dan Illman's blog at the Daily Racing Form.

Get Ready Sports Fans

Now that the Winter Olympics are over and we can start to think about the upcoming spring and summer sports season, a little comparison of two venerable Boston institutions may be in order. Both the Red Sox of Fenway Park and the ponies/jockeys from Suffolk Downs are in their winter quarters in Florida. The Sox are in Fort Myers (in Lee County, foreclosure capital of the USA) and some of the Suffolk crowd is at Tampa Bay Downs (Home of the Manatee Stakes).

Let’s see how the facilities stack up:

Opening Day

Fenway Park– April 4 (Easter Sunday)

Suffolk Downs- May 1 (May Day)

Advantage - If you really need an excuse not to help with the dishes – Fenway.

History

Fenway Park - Opened in 1912, and is the oldest active venue in professional sports.

Suffolk Downs - Opened in July of 1935 with the first concrete grandstand in America.

Advantage – Fenway

Capacity

Fenway Park - Listed at 37,400, though this may underestimate the true numbers. Every game since May 15, 2003 has sold out.

Suffolk Downs - High single-day attendance listed at 52,726 (August 10, 1935). Last sell-out hard to determine since they don’t even use the turnstiles most days.

Advantage – Suffolk, if you actually want to just go to a sporting event.

Weird Coincidence

Fenway Park - Red Sox once owned by former Sox trainer, Buddy Leroux

Suffolk Downs - Suffolk Downs once owned by former Sox trainer, Buddy Leroux

Advantage – Toss-up

What the Get-A-Lifers do in the off-season

Fenway Park - The Hot Stove League and WEEI.

Suffolk Downs - Simulcasting from Aqueduct and Tampa.

Advantage – Toss-up

Retirement Options for Athletes

Fenway Park - Appearing at Scott Brown’s victory party and opening sports bars.

Suffolk Downs - Retiring to stud.

Advantage – Suffolk

What you will hear from the drunks in the cheap seats

Fenway Park - “Wakefield you s***”

Suffolk Downs - “Bocachica you s***”

Advantage – Toss-up. Neither has any connection with reality.

Announcer

Fenway Park -Carl Beane

Suffolk Downs - T. D. Thornton

Advantage – Suffolk. Thornton has one of the toughest jobs in sports, and Beane is no Sherm Feller.

The Crowd

Fenway Park - Well-heeled suburbanites from all over New England, sprinkled with very attractive college girls.

Suffolk Downs - Guys dodging work, guys who never worked, excitable Rastas, elderly Chinese couples, college guys learning to smoke cigars

Advantage – Fenway by a nose

Convenience

Fenway Park - Has a T stop named after it. Average parking cost (2009) $27.00.

Suffolk Downs - Has a T stop named after it. General Parking is free.

Advantage – Fenway by T, Suffolk by car – Toss-up.

Chance of some competitors using banned performance-enhancing drugs

Fenway Park - Greater than zero.

Suffolk Downs - Greater than zero.

Advantage – Toss-up

Music

Fenway Park - Sir Paul McCartney played to record-setting crowds August 5 and 6, 2009.

Cheapest ticket was $69.

Suffolk Downs - Paul McCartney and three guys who needed haircuts played to 25,000 on August 18, 1966. Cheapest ticket was $4.75

Advantage – Suffolk

Cost

Fenway Park -The well-respected 2009 TMR Fan Cost Index estimated the cost of a family trip for four (2 adult tickets, 2 child tickets, 2 small draft beers, 4 small sodas, 4 hot dogs, parking for one car, 2 programs and two ball caps).

Total - $326.45.

Suffolk Downs - 4 tickets – Maximum of $8. No charge on most days. Sit anywhere you want. OK to smoke outside. 2 (16 oz.) draft beers - $ 9.50, 4 sodas - $9, 4 hot dogs - $11, Parking – free, 2 programs - $4, 2 souvenir caps - $30 (est.)

Total - $71.50

Advantage – Suffolk by $254.95

Chance of your fellow patrons pitching in to reward your knowledge of the game with the price of a nice dinner and a limo ride home.

Fenway Park - Zero

Suffolk Downs - Not zero. This could actually happen. Pari-mutuel wagering really does work this way - for the winners.

Advantage – Suffolk

Final Score

Fenway Park– 3

Suffolk Downs – 6

Toss-ups – 5

Have fun whatever you decide!

Weekend Getaway Photos January 30 and 31, 2010 (full story below)

2010-02-10T16:43:00.016-05:00

Jim from New Hampshire enjoying the sun at Gulfstream.

What the REAL Journalists were wearing

Julien Leparoux up on Hollywood Left before the 5th on Saturday

Angel's Cove leads the pack toward the first turn in the 3rd on Saturday. Winner Dreamed to Dream (6) paid $167.60. To other investors.
Reminds me of horses from classical Greek vases
(L-R) Angel Cordero, Jr., Todd Pletcher, and John Velazquez

Before the first race at Hialeah on Sunday
The Famous Flamingoes (old Doo Wop group?)

The back side of the Hialeah grandstand (closed)

The future card room at Hialeah - formerly The Flamingo Pavilion

Weekend Getaway 2010

2010-02-10T16:10:00.001-05:00

I had worked pretty hard to get ready for the weekend. Lots of paper handicapping since the Gulfstream meet opened on January 3. Reviewed the charts for almost all the races on each card. Tried to see who was hot and how the track was playing. Fat lot of good it did me. I also wasted some time looking at the three SA races in the “Sunshine Millions”. There was no Pick Six equivalent I could find, so I wound up passing them all. I am less interested than ever now in the CA synthetic surfaces. Seems like a permanent split is developing between those horses and the dirt types. Maybe if I get to Woodbine in the spring I will pay more attention.

I had set up (I hoped) an arrangement to get a press credential through Caton Bredar, the “Executive Producer” of GP’s New Media Development office or some such. Had a hard time figuring out who to talk to. GP website is pretty poor in general and very bad about contacts for people. This might be by design, given the financial troubles Magna seems to be in. No follow up people included at the end of the GP press releases even. So I Googled GP press releases and found a guy at the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel named Nick Sortal who seemed to be following things at GP. I sent him a cold email asking who he knew. He gave me Randy Abraham at GP who gave me Caton Bredar.

I figured that everyone at GP used the same email address format and sent Caton an email asking for a credential. She very graciously called me on the phone, but my cell was off and I missed it. I emailed her back using the same pitch that was somewhat successful last summer at Belmont with Ashley Herriman and Dan Silver of NYRA. She got back to me and said to drop by when I was in town. This felt great.

When I arrived at the track on Saturday, I could see that most of the “Village” has been completed. Now the place looks just like any other moderately upscale So. Florida shopping mall. You are much more likely to see The Container Store and Crate and Barrel, than you are to notice the racetrack grandstand. I had bought a ($30!) ticket to sit in the stands, since I did not know if my approach as a journalist was going to work, and I knew from experience that I need a place to park my bones, even if I do a lot of walking around. So I picked up my ticket at Will Call and asked for the Media Office. It is located behind an unmarked door at the back end of the very dark simulcasting theater. A pleasant and easygoing guy named Travis (Stone as it turns out) said that Caton was doing her radio show and asked if he could help. I told him she asked me to drop by so she could hook me up with a credential. He obliged with a limited access pass for the season. I asked him about the press box and he gave me some loose directions. Travis also said that it would be full that day and they would be using an overflow room next door. He said to make myself comfortable.

Turns out, the “press box” at GP is one of the luxury suites on the 3^rd floor. You take the elevator up and go through Christine Lee’s restaurant, an Asian/steakhouse place where a couple can get a $52 plate of sushi or a $75 porterhouse. Not with my winnings.

You need to walk through the restaurant and down a long corridor lined with sconces, past dark wood doors with the names of the VIP’s next to them, to get to the box. Inside, the room is small and rectangular, not much exposure directly onto the track. It is also pretty well down the straightaway headed for the first turn, well past the finish line. It does have sliding glass doors leading to an outside balcony. Some other guys were there, but I did not want to risk embarrassing myself by saying anything. I did not stay long, since whatever story I was going to find would be down among the people and the ponies, not up in the air with a bunch of guys doing a job I don’t really understand.

Contrast this with the other two pressboxes I have been in, both in the past year. First was the one at Belmont last July. You take a (union operator attended) elevator up to a cheaply paneled hallway which leads to some very downscale offices where the track media people work. At the end of the hall is the pressbox. Very long exposure to the track, lots of desks along the window, but definitely a place that has seen better days. Later in the season, my old high school acquaintance Rich Fahey took Bill Burke and me into the box at Suffolk Downs. You walk up to the top level of the grandstand, go in a small door, walk down a very dark service corridor, then across a flimsy catwalk over the stands. The pressbox is about as attractive and comfortable as the maintenance office at Cabrini-Green, and was probably cleaned as recently.

So I went downstairs and wandered around. I had done my handicapping and didn’t want to overthink it. The track itself is mostly unchanged from last year. The simulcast theater, the “casino” opposite, the bar in the middle, and the very nice walking ring with seating on all sides. One feature at Gulfstream that might not be found elsewhere (Del Mar?) is a “beach”. As you approach the first turn there is an area to watch the races that is fitted out like a small resort beach. Tiki huts, umbrellas, a bar, small stage with amplifiers, big lounge chairs, and what I can only call beds, complete with privacy drapes. Yes, beds.

Magna has installed a new inner turf track this year. This should allow for more turf races and does represent something of an investment in the plant. Otherwise things feel very familiar. Everything (like all of South Florida) smells like one big Cohiba. The crowd fills in slowly as the afternoon goes on. Lots of retirees, lots of college kids. Not so many obnoxious Yankee fans as I remember. “Product models” in very short dresses and very big hats handing out GP freebies. This is a big race day, so some folks are dressed up. The most frequent look among females under 60 is “I know I look like a stripper, but I’m really not.” The crowd is still pretty thin approaching the fifth race and there is more activity away from the track than on the apron. The stands (for which you have to pay) and Christine Lee’s remain pretty empty all day.

My handicapping stinks and my wagering strategy is worse. A small snowman of torn-up tickets is growing around my ankles. Vince Wilfork of the Patriots shows up in the Winners Circle with Caton, ostensibly to hand out a trophy. I know better – he has been riding my selections. I drift back towards the fancy walking ring and the seats surrounding it. You get a very good view of the horses and jockeys, and get to see some celebrity trainers like Todd Pletcher. I spy an owner’s wife wearing a very stylish jacket designed to look like jockey’s silks. It’s like everyone at the track has Jack Nicholson’s or Spike Lee’s seats at the basketball game, except you could smoke a cigar if you felt like it. Why don’t more people go to the track?

It looks to me like if you can afford a stakes-level racehorse you can also afford some really high quality plastic surgery for your trophy wife.

I review my handicapping for the last few races, the big ones worth hundreds of thousands in purses. As I begin to walk away, a guy asks me who I am to be taking the card so seriously. I tell him I am a freelancer looking for stories and trying to have fun at the same time. I ask to take his picture. He has what would be a handlebar moustache if the bicycle belonged to King Kong. His name is Jim and he is from NH. We wish each other luck and I wander back to the rail.

Now standing at the rail at the finish line is the exact equivalent of courtside seats to the Celtics. The difference (besides that noted above) is that it costs exactly nothing. Free parking and free admission every day at GP. Nine or ten professional sporting events featuring the stars of the sport. Outdoors in the sun. $1 draft beers. Sometimes you are standing right next to the owners of the horses. Imagine watching the game with George Steinbrenner, Mario Lemieux, or Steve Pagliuca. What’s not to love?

The crowd is bigger now that the feature races are being run and it surges like the tide back and forth between the walking ring and the rail, as races are run and new entrants parade around. The schedule seems very tight, maybe to accommodate the SA races. I hit one exacta that does not even pay for the cost of the wagers I make on that race. My ROI for the day requires the use of negative infinity.

Next day is Sunday and I try for the doubleheader. Hialeah and GP. Hialeah has just reopened after being shut down for years. I read that the owner has exercised some small loophole in the law and is running quarterhorses as his ticket to opening a gambling facility at the track. Post times are conflicting, but I am sure I can see something at each.

Now I had never been to Hialeah, even though most people I talk to think it is the only racetrack in Florida. They remember seeing, or seeing photos of, the famous flamingos. The pictures I have seen make the track look pretty beat. Not nearly as beat however as the surrounding neighborhood. If you are a fan of junkyards, West 79^th Street in Miami is the place for you. Also a good spot to pick up some souse or curried goat to take home.

The track has a nice palm-lined entry drive and is served by public transportation, Miami’s MetroRail. Once you park (again free parking and free admission) the sense of decay sets in. Not a creepy decay, but the familiar South Florida decay. Miami is a sub-tropical jungle, subject to torrents of rain and occasional direct hits by hurricanes. “We got the old and the mold.” as a guy once told me. It has a comforting “Old Florida” feel. I think I see GP’s future, especially since the future of all racing is dimming rapidly.

As I go through the turnstile (at least they have the sense to count the patrons) I see lots more cowboy hats and lots more families than yesterday at GP. Seems like a nice day out for families and old folks alike. The facility is still mostly shuttered. There is elevated seating and an apron area along the track past the finish line and some very modest concessions on the ground level. The main grandstand is cordoned off. The dining rooms are closed. The press box is very temporary looking. The HIALEAH sign under the electronic toteboard turns out to have been painted on the side of an empty trailer. A friendly lady sees me taking pictures and suggests I go around to the back of the building for better photos of the decay. She could not be more correct. I snap a photo of some very quiet and very far off flamingos before I go.

Out back is the working part of the track – the jockeys’ room, the stables, the walking ring. It also has a small playground, some disused decorative fountains, and the future home of Hialeah gaming, the partially caved in Flamingo Pavilion. The signs say opening in 2010. Don’t hold your breath. I watch the first race (12 seconds long!), just to say I have been to the races at Hialeah, and head up 95 to Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

Now I had been thinking that 79^th Street was in a very bad way and it is. When I began to look closer at Hallandale Beach Blvd. I could see that, in its way, things were not much better. Lots of vacant buildings along here too.

I dropped into the media offices and said hi to Travis. Caton was in her office. I thanked her for her hospitality and we chatted a little bit about Suffolk Downs. Turns out her grandfather, Ted Atkinson, used to ride there and she has done some MassCaps for ESPN. Small world. She said I was welcome to go into the paddock/walking ring if I wanted. I had been motioned into the winner’s circle yesterday by one of the security staff. She had seen the credential around my neck and the camera in my hand. I declined both. I did not want to do something stupid and wear out my welcome. Went back to the press suite and pinched myself to make sure I was not dreaming.

Pretty fair weekend. Three racecards at two different tracks, a press credential, some face time, and three dips in the ocean.

More rejection

2009-11-14T13:26:00.002-05:00

I got another rejection letter today. Actually, not even a letter, but a pre-printed postcard from a literary magazine published at my first alma mater. Filling up the desk drawer quite nicely.

The Quick Six

2009-10-26T10:02:00.002-04:00

At the urging of some kind friends, I did write up a version of the big beach adventure of August. It was therapeutic. I felt I exorcised something, maybe a sense of guilt at not pulling it off for the others.

I sent the piece off to six or eight publications, both print and on-line. So far I have received TWO rejection letters! One from a publication which last week featured both T. C. Boyle and Joyce Carol Oates. I feel successful already.

GVH Steepelchase Photos

2009-10-18T17:06:00.006-04:00

Steeplechase Racing at Geneseo

2009-10-18T17:06:00.004-04:00

I will be the first one to admit that I know very little about horses, less about Thoroughbred racing, and even less about steeplechasing. I am interested in all three and have spent some time this year trying to teach myself about them and trying to absorb the lessons others have generously given me.

I was going to be in western New York last weekend anyway, so I thought I would go to see the races at the Genesee Valley Hunt in Geneseo. This was facilitated by Joe Clancy of The Steeplechase Times and by the folks at the National Steeplechase Association. I was of two minds about wearing my freelance journalist hat. I had the concerns expressed above, and the consideration that this was partly a social event for me and I would not be entirely free to do as I wished.

Thus arose the problem of how to dress. I know what I wear to the track, but this did not seem right. I know what journalists wear, but I hardly had anything shabby enough. I had no idea what this kind of hunter/horseman might wear. As it turns out I needn't have worried. No-one cared, almost everyone was dressed for comfort, and besides, I have no idea where to buy those wide-wale corduroys in that particular shade of deep gold.

We arrived ahead of the NSA sponsored (and non-wagering) events and watched the young Cara Peters win the Stockhorse Sprint aboard Ace, a 13 year old gelding. That the trophy was presented by her grandparents typified the low-key and friendly atmosphere of the day.

The next race was the $10, 000 Martha S. Wadsworth Memorial run over two loops of the course and over 15 or 16 timber fences. These are emphatically not the kind of thing you see watching racing from England or Ireland where the horses scrape through some brush. It is also very much not the kind of thing you see at the Olympics where even a slight touch will knock down a lightly poised rail. These are sturdy constructions of horizontal poles on a frame about four feet high. They are SOLID.

The listed field of six had some pre-race scratches and only four starters went to the line. Steeplechases are run at a very different pace than racing on the flat. Longer distances, jumps, bigger jocks, all slow things down. The course seemed even longer than the 1 1/2 miles it was supposed to be. All of the spectators were clustered at the finish line, on both sides of the course. A small stand for officials and others was on the outside of the course at the line. Spectators stood or sat in lawn chairs. Some sat/stood on the beds of trucks both in the infield and the "outfield".

The normal racing dangers to riders and mounts are intensified by the jumps. A jockey was unseated in the Wadsworth, though he appeared to manage it alright. Since this was partly a family occasion, I did not handicap the entries or pay all that much attention to finish times. The first picture below shows Justin Batoff aboard the winner, Prospectors Strike as they clear the fence at the judges stand.

The other NSA event was the $25,000 Genesee Valley Hunt Cup. Even more scratches in this one, leading to a three horse field. Again, some (to me) slow going along more than two circuits of this very long, undulating turf course. I would guess that only from the judges stand could anyone see the whole course. Another rider unseated on a jump. A terrific crack as a horse hit the fence in front of me, breaking the top rail. The second snapshot below has the winner, Irish Prince with Jody Petty up, preparing to take a fence.

Steeplechasing in a hunt club setting will never be confused with thousands of fans at Saratoga rooting their choices home, or with the bleak emptiness of Suffolk Downs on a rainy Monday. These each have a charm of their own to me. I guess I will have to try jump racing a few more times and see if there is a fit. It certainly qualifies as a fun day out with nice people.

2009-09-21T20:48:00.005-04:00

The 3rd Annual A.J. Liebling Invitational Short Fiction Conference was held in Massachusetts on Saturday, September 19th. The Liebling is a one-day literary conference devoted to the works and ideas of two 20th-century New World authors - the journalist and gourmand Abbott Joseph Liebling (1904-1963) and the Argentinean writer/philosopher Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986.) It attracts independent scholars from all parts of the country.

I have the privilege of being the Permanent Secretary of the Conference. While the entire corpus of Liebling's and Borges' work form the foundation of the Conference, we pay particular attention to two short passages, as below.

It is a laborious madness and an impoverishing one, the composing of vast books- setting out in five hundred pages an idea that can be perfectly related orally in five minutes. The better way to go about it is to pretend these books already exist, and offer a summary, a commentary on them.

Jorge Luis Borges

In the light of what Proust wrote with so mild a stimulus, it is the world's loss that he did not have a better appetite. On a dozen Gardiner's Island oysters, a bowl of clam chowder, a peck of steamers, some bay scallops, three sauteed soft-shelled crabs, a few ears of fresh-picked corn, a thin swordfish steak of generous area, a pair of lobsters, and a Long Island duck, he might have written a masterpiece.

A.J. Liebling

The Conference opens with a set of short welcoming remarks, awards (if any), and a Review of Correspondence. The meta-Proustian menu is then undertaken by all participants. Portions consumed are at the discretion of the participant. During interludes in the Gustatory segment, conference papers, as suggested by Borges and subject to the optional promptings of the Permanent Secretary and other members of the Committee, are read. Readings are sometimes followed by short question and answer sessions, but disputation or argument is not looked on favorably.

The Committee this year was assisted by Chef Tony Mauro, wine consultant Bob Gifford, and photographer N. Daly.

Official suppliers to the Conference include Captain Marden's Seafood of Wellesley, MA, Volante Farms of Needham, MA, A.J. Russo Fruit and Produce of Watertown, MA, Owens Poultry Farm of Needham, MA, Cambridge Wine and Spirits of Cambridge, MA, and The Crab Place of Crisfield, MD.

The Conference was supported this year by the generous financial contributions of several donors who wish to remain anonymous. At the direction of the Standing Committee, a portion of the contributions will be used to offset the cost of a limited-edition publication of the Proceedings of the Conference.

2009-09-13T19:20:00.001-04:00

I went to a lovely wedding today. On the way I saw a billboard advertising spaces in "Artisan Daycare."

Like Gepetto's workshop?

Diabolus ex Machina

2009-08-18T17:58:00.003-04:00

When I have had a chance to process this day, I may post again. My mind is reeling with cliches from classical literature. I feel that defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory. We must have offended the gods somehow.

I know I have the best family and friends in the world.

Brave and Weary Adventurers

2009-08-17T21:58:00.001-04:00

10pm Finally on a (delayed) train, headed home.

Yikes!

2009-08-17T18:08:00.001-04:00

6pm Rear-ended by another car in New London. (Everyone reported OK.) Quick Six crashes to a halt.

Siren Lured Offshore

2009-08-17T16:45:00.001-04:00

4:45pm CT swim accomplished. Cindy in serious swim mode far offshore.

Another State Down

2009-08-17T14:14:00.002-04:00

2:09 Back on the return ferry, having accomplished the Orient Point, NY swim, eaten some lunch, and lost 2 beach towels en route.

Midday Respite

2009-08-17T12:22:00.002-04:00

11:45 Highway leg of journey completed. Taking the noon ferry to Orient Point, NY.

More photos

2009-08-17T12:17:00.004-04:00

Then on to Hampton, NH and Salisbury, MA.

Photos from Betsy's cell phone

2009-08-17T12:12:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the posting delay. The photos went to junk mail (such insolence!) and we just discovered them.

This is York, Maine.

The Quick Six gets underway

2009-08-17T08:01:00.004-04:00

The following are updates from a loyal fan receiving hourly phone reports.

4:28 am
Betsy arrives at Ned's house. It's dark. Very. She is wearing white. She glimmers in the light from the porch.
4:31 am
Monica arrives at the house. It's still dark. She is a cheerful voice floating from a silhouette against in the streetlight. She, too, is wearing white.
They pack the car trunk. The aroma of coffee stirs through the heavy air. It's already going to be a hot day.
4:40 am The adventure begins. Ned drives. Next is Checkpoint 1 where they will meet Cindy.
5:19 Intersection of 62 and 95, Danvers. Cindy on board. Her current colors are blue and black.
6:15 Maine swim accomplished. Short Sand Beach, York, Maine.
7:15 Hampton Beach, New Hampshire swim accomplished. Interesting complication: Betsy wrapped in towel; second bathing suit still locked in car.
8:00 Plaintive requests for loyal fan to begin blog entries.
8:15 Daughter Jane brought in as blog expert. JKA, Jane Knows All.
8:40 Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts swim accomplished.
Loyal fan awaiting possible photo transmissions.

The Quick Six

2009-08-15T10:50:00.000-04:00

August 2009
Monday the 17th will mark the inaugural running of The Quick Six. This event involves swimming (at least one full head to toes immersion in the ocean) at six different beaches in six different states during one period of daylight. At least four participants are lined up and eager to go.

More (with photos) upon completion.