[ateamstupid]

Conclusion.. [Sep. 9th, 2006|12:05 am]
Now that I finally have some time to do this, I think I'm about ready to roll.

Let's get this out of the way first.. Random unused pictures from the Saratoga meet..



































Whew.. So where to begin..

Where does the time go? Seems like just all too recently, I was arriving at the Byk house, dropping my bags in my room and taking that first breath of country air.. Then I close my eyes and it's opening day. Thrust into the flames. I take another look around and it's week two.. Saratoga's closed because of the heat, but that doesn't stop Sciacca, Sonny, Shrek and Donkey from posting up at Steve's stand and eating. I catch my breath and we're five alive in the pick sixer on Hall of Fame day.. Before I can even turn around, Pine Island and Teammate are slugging it out in The Alabama. I take a walk to the window and by the time I come back, the old-time Travers replays are blaring on the TVs. I sell some dude a sandwich and they're in the gate for the big one. Bernardini crosses the wire and before I can go take his picture, it's twilight racing at the Spa. I bend over to tie my shoes and by the time I get back up, my bags are packed. I wanna start soaking it up and I'm saying goodbye to Steve.

Six weeks, fourty-two days. That's it. But the amount of memories, jokes, anecdotes, new friends, food and excitement extracted from those 1,008 hours? Unmeasurable.

I'm back in Brooklyn now. I missed the city. I missed home. But you know what? It ain't quite the same feeling I used to have when I would just get back from outta town. This is the greatest place in the world to be, the capital of the universe, and I'm missing ****ing Greenwich. What kinda sense does that make?

I'll letcha know why it makes sense. Because of all this..

THE FRONT OF THE SHIRT:
Matt AKA Squidward.. Instantly became one of my best buddies. [Paulie]You're the man[/Paulie].. Good luck with everything and we'll definitely be in touch. Too many inside jokes would fall by the wayside if we weren't. ****ing hilarious dude this Hooves is, folks. Cool as ****, and sharp as a tack.. I don't know how he does it, but he finds ways to cash tickets even when I can't figure out his logic at all.

Sam AKA Patrick.. Busting my balls constantly, but I know it's out of love (I hope).. You talking in your sleep, Kool Aid drinkin', D&G shades wearing summummabitch. Keep them fiends on the strip double red, and hopefully I see you for the SB.

Barry AKA Mr. Krabs.. Tight as a Twizzler that I stayed an extra couple of days just to gamble, but he'll get over it. I ran that Clubhouse like a well-oiled machine.. The sternos may have kept on running out, but I was ready. Thanks for the employment boss man. Arrr..

Chuck Simon.. This ****ing dude is great. Spent day after day just bull****ting with a 19-year-old shmuck like me and you know why? Because he's an awesome guy and he LOVES THIS GAME. I was pulling for him to get that win, but it's cool.. He'll crush in KY as usual.

Steve Grabowski and family.. Grabo's the man. Period. If you don't know, now you know. Respect him. Easily one of the best guys I've ever met. And if that weren't enough, he's a fellow Jet fan (sufferer). His mom is also a kickass handicapper and cool as can be.

Paulieman.. "What's up Bernardini".. "You're the man".. "It's a little shawt"..Red Sox suck big man. You know, we were thinking of what Spongebob character Paulie should be and what his action figure should be like, but we realized.. It's not possible to recreate the Paulie experience and if he were ever on a TV show, he'd HAVE TO play himself. There's just no one quite like P-Dub.

The canucks.. Martin, Kelly, Alex, Teeny and other Kelly. You have to love people who are just drunk 24/7. I mean it's unbelievable. Literally 24/7. It's a way of life for these people.. I'm a pretty good drinker and I was just aboot blown away. Fantastic stuff.

Sciacca, Shrek, Donkey and Sonny.. ****ing characters, one and all. That's all I gotta say.

Tank.. Hilarious dude. So full of ****, such a hoe hounder, such a freeloader. You can't help but love the guy.

Everybody that's Slavecue for life.. Amanda, Jules, Britney, Susie, Pat, Tom, Ace and Gary (too funny), Billy, Ryan, Caroline, Jared, Brendan, Kyle, Kim, Cathy, Rosemary.. The whole clique. Ride high.

The salt shaker man. Let me explain this one. Every day, this old dude, probably in his 70s, would buy popcorn nextdoor to my stand, then come over to my stand, make sure he got my attention, and give me the crook eye while shaking all my salt onto his popcorn. And every day, no matter what kinda mood I was in, it cracked me the **** up. Found out later on his name and he wished me luck with everything. Throw them shakers up for Tom everybody.

Amber, my homegirl who ran the popcorn stand. I could never possibly imagine this girl getting angry.. Simply the most happy-go-lucky, genuinely (as far as I could tell) sweet chick I've met in a LONG time.

Very quickly, as it's getting late and daylight fast approaches..

Brockguy
Gales
Timmy
Kev
Seth Merrow
John DaSilva
Dr. Allday
Dr. Bzyg.. Byzyg.. Byzyzyg..
Serling
Bethani
That cute ****ing teller I kept feeding but never picked up
All the customers that tipped me this meet (just know that your money is going into books for college.. Or liquor and gambling, whichever I get around to first)
Everyone who made me laugh this meet, because there were definitely times I needed laughs ALMOST as much as winning tickets
All the horses, trainers, jockeys, owners.. Pretty much everyone who makes Saratoga run..

A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE TIME TO READ SARATOGA: DIARY OF A SUMMER AND TO EVERYONE WHO GAVE ME FEEDBACK! I APPRECIATE IT MORE THAN YOU COULD POSSIBLY KNOW!

And of course.. Last but certainly not ****ing least.. The man who made it all possible..

Steve Hollywood Spongebob Schmoopie Byk!

Seriously, this guy is the ****ing man. There really is no other way to put it. Go search the earth and find me a more generous, caring, smart, others-before-self person who can balance everything this dude does. You ain't gonna find one. Even though I complain about him from time to time, the bottom line is he's sacrificed a ****ing TON to accomodate me and so many others. Anybody who has anything negative to say about him has no idea what the hell they're talking about. Trust me.. I've seen the best and the worst from the Bykster.. And he's A+.. 10 out of 10. Like no one else I've ever met. To the point where I've told him anything he ever needs from me, it's done. It's that simple. And considering I've only known him for about a year and a half, that's saying something.. But you know what, no matter how much courtesy I ever extend to him, I'd really only be doing what he does for everyone he comes in contact with. Can't thank you enough Esteban.. It was a ****ing GREAT ride.

Joey