[ShadowRoll]

I had seats in the stands at the Preakness that year. When Smarty came down the stretch, even though I was screaming at the top of my lungs, I literally couldn't hear my own voice because the roar of the masses drowned it out. I never experienced such unbridled enthusiasm from a crowd.

So I went to the Belmont with a group of people from work, expecting the best. When Smarty got caught in the stretch, it was like the crowd received a collective punch in the gut. I never experienced such unbridled diappointment from a crowd.

A television news crew made their way towards me because, I guess, they saw that I was wearing a Smarty cap (which I had gotten when I went to Philly Park, after standing in line for a couple of hours, just to watch Smarty work) and they figured it would make good theater.

I think that if the reporter had gotten to me right away, in the moments directly after the loss, I would have, at the least, exhausted in seven seconds George Carlin's list of seven words you can't say on television. However, my boss kind of interposed himself, so the reporter turned to him for a few seconds, allowing me to compose myself. When the reporter got to me, I made some pithy comment that, being from Philly, I was used to disappointment in sports (this was before the Phils' world series win, and at a time when the Philly teams always seemed to fall just short) and that we'd just have to look forward to a Triple Crown winner from the Philadelphia area next year. It was hokey, I know, but when the report was on the news that night, they ended it with my segment. I figure I've still got fourteen minutes of fame due.