The day the music died... where were you?

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

Not meaning to be a drama queen here (well maybe just a little ) but I was wondering (and this is something that is probably more for the newer fans)... where were you when Smarty lost the Belmont?

I was wrapping my Belmont viewing around an obligatory wedding and reception.

California time.

After the wedding ceremony, we raced to a Mexican restaurant I knew nearby with a lounge that would be showing the race.

I had no wagers that day, so my only sentiments were sentimental.....

I remember very well the gracious words of the owner of Birdstone in that post race interview.

I wasn't too upset we didn't get the Triple Crown that year though. But I would have liked to have seen it.


After the race we went to the reception. A strongly ethnic Irish guy had married a strongly ethnic Portuguese girl.

I just remember really good food, lots of beer and wine to drink, and some dance performances of the cultures that I couldn't replicate in a million years.

Being mostly Irish, I'm usually a beer drinker......for the most part.....but the reception was at a winery.


They had some mighty fine wine.

So I partook.

(from the Book of Jeremiah)

:-)

[Bigsmc]

I wasn't born when the plane crashed near Clear Lake, IA.

I did visit the monument in the late '80's though.

[Danzig]

Liked smarty ok but was no more disappointed with his loss than any other horse faiing to win all three. Was more upsaet after the barbaro preakness, the bigbbrown derby and pine islands distaff. Hell, smarty lost-but it was far from tragic.

[clyde]

"Plus I hated Smarty Jones. His name alone was not deserving of a Triple Crown."


^^^^ Best of show.





The music never dies.

Don't be a fool.

Originally Posted by clyde

"Plus I hated Smarty Jones. His name alone was not deserving of a Triple Crown."


^^^^ Best of show.





The music never dies.

Don't be a fool.

Smarmy Clone on the other hand...

[philcski]

At Belmont Park, in the backyard.

The cruel irony of it for me was before Smarty Jones came along in November of '03, Birdstone was my '04 Derby horse.

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by clyde

"Plus I hated Smarty Jones. His name alone was not deserving of a Triple Crown."


^^^^ Best of show.





The music never dies.

Don't be a fool.

Clyde,,,,,,,,,Gomer,,,,,,,,,,,,,Goober,,,,,,,,,,, D.A.,,,,,,,,,they all fit!

Why did you pick Clyde?

Did you have a choice?

Is that your real name?

Your picture looks like a Morty.

[Slewbopper]

I was a sardine packed in the clubhouse apron at Belmont with two friends that flew in from Tacoma for the weekend. All we kept muttering on the long ride home was "F'ing Birdstone"

BTW....the music died on February 3, 1959.

[3kings]

1st floor grandstand standing on a bench at about the eighth pole so I could see over all the people. The loudest roar I ever heard at a sporting event when he took the lead. Pretty quiet less than a minute later. Still was a great race to witness. The train back to the city not so great.

[Kingturf]

Okay, I understand that many of the people following horseracing has not witness a horse complete the triple crown. I was very fortunate to start following horseracing as a teenager in the 70's.

IMO, I saw all three triple crown winners raced. I have to excluded Spectacular Bid and Point Given from this point because they lost due to a bad ride in one leg of the triple crown. I really think the closet and very frankly the only other horses in the past 30 + who was in the same category as the 70's triple crown winner who could have won a triple crown if not for an injury was; A.P. Indy and Barbaro.

I am an east coast guy, but A.P. Indy was just on a different level. Some think Bernardini would've beat Barbaro in the Preakness. But to get past that 3rd hurdle of the triple crown....without a doubt A.P. and Barbaro had that determination you was not getting by them in the stretch.

Yes I think it would have been an injustice for several horses to win the triple crown....Charistmatic and War Emblem are the horses that comes to mind.

[Linny]

I watched the Belmont that year in the box section at Belmont. My friend was here from Paris (she grew up here and we went to the track together as kids) and she went with me. We walked through the tunnel and up the stairs and got jammed up in traffic. We were between the tunnel and the winner's circle in the walkway behind the 1st row of of boxes as they started to load the gate. My friend looked over and realized that Mary Lou Whitney and John Henrickson were about 10 feet from us. When Birdstone passed Smarty Jones, MaryLou looked at her husband if my lip reading is correct, said "What have we done?"
Other than once at a Springsteen show at the Meadowlands, I never heard 100,000 people shut up at the same time.

[docicu3]

Originally Posted by Linny

I watched the Belmont that year in the box section at Belmont. My friend was here from Paris (she grew up here and we went to the track together as kids) and she went with me. We walked through the tunnel and up the stairs and got jammed up in traffic. We were between the tunnel and the winner's circle in the walkway behind the 1st row of of boxes as they started to load the gate. My friend looked over and realized that Mary Lou Whitney and John Henrickson were about 10 feet from us. When Birdstone passed Smarty Jones, MaryLou looked at her husband if my lip reading is correct, said "What have we done?"
Other than once at a Springsteen show at the Meadowlands, I never heard 100,000 people shut up at the same time.

Why go silent at a boss show??

[Kingturf]

Oh and to answer the question? I was at home jumping up and down because I made a pretty hefty score on Birdstone. Not to mentioned I bet him pretty hard in the derby only to watch him get bounced around any did not handle the track that turn into a mess only 30 minutes to post.

[Slewbopper]

It seems everybody on this forum bet Birdstone. Amazing. Everyone bet a 36/1 shot.

[Linny]

Originally Posted by docicu3

Why go silent at a boss show??

Boss had walked off stage for a brief cleanup about 1 1/2 hrs into the show. He comes out with a wooden stool and his guitar over his shoulder. Everyone starts hollering. He sits down with guitar and "shushes" the crowd. Everyone shut up.

[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.