My Washington Examiner column says the Terps big men will decide how much longer the team dances.
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Ironically, just minutes after writing my previous post on the Preakness infield, the phone rang with news Chick Lang died.
Mister Preakness is gone. What a shame.
I first met Lang in 1983 as a young reporter. He always treated me well. Lang could be an intense person who fiercely protected Pimlico. In the ’80s, the racing commission decided dates between Laurel and Pimlico before they were commonly owned. Lang and Laurel’s leaders would scream at each other before the commissioners over the dates. I sat in the front row and wrote it all down like I was watching a play.
Lang loved the backstretch since he was one of them. Lang was from a pure racing family. His grandfather trained 1903 Kentucky Derby winner Judge Himes and father was the jockey aboard 1928 Kentucky Derby winner Reigh Count. Lang’s son Chickie was the publicity director at Pimlico and Birmingham before dying young of cancer. Another great guy. Chick’s son Bart is director of racing at Lone Star Park outside Dallas.
Lang’s greatest achievement was creating the Preakness day infield. Track owners thought he was crazy. Who’s going to come to the infield during the race? You can’t hardly see anything. Well, there were at least 60,000 in that infield most years, maybe 75,000 at the peak before last year when interim management spiked patrons bringing beer and maybe 6,000 came.
The track will renamed the Hirsch Jacobs Stakes run on Preakness Day for Lang. His ashes will be scattered at the Preakness winner circle in the infield.
I’m sure Lang’s version of heaven will be at the racetrack. Hopefully, I’ll see him there some day.
You can’t bring your own beer again this year. You can buy beer for $1 so really, getting blotto for $10 doesn’t seem like a bad trade. The Preakness also throws in a lot of great entertainment so it’s not a bad day. But, the crowd went from 60,000 to about 5,000 last year and that greatly concerns me. Maryland racing is also on death watch and losing millions of dollars on Preakness day is enough to finally kill it. But, the tracks are still for sale so nobody’s really worried about the bottom dollar and can continue to kill the crowd in return for moral behavior.
I’m not championing public drunkenness. The infield was a little too crazy. But, making it nearly deserted is not the answer, either. I hope the tracks are soon sold so someone who really cares about horse racing’s future can make changes.
]]>But, Vasquez has never been to a Sweet 16. The Terps begin the NCAA Tournament tomorrow with a fair chance of advancing two rounds.
My Washington Examiner column has Vasquez talking about what he wants to do in the final days of his career.
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]]>My Washington Examiner column runs down the NCAA Tournament, especially Maryland and Georgetown. I have a 10-star upset special involving a 12th seed, too.
Don’t forget to send me 10 percent when winning your office pool.
]]>But, my Washington Examiner column says that’s where it ends because the Sweet 16 matchup would be versus No. 1 overall seed Kansas, who has way too much speed for Maryland.
]]>My Washington Examiner column says the NCAA is merely trying to grow it’s $6 billion deal through a bidding war between CBS and ESPN. They don’t care about the students given expansion merely extends the season a week for 31 teams with zero chance of doing anything but giving the NCAA more television revenue.
]]>Normally, I’d give them one second before hanging up, but I guess I was tired and heard her say Ford’s Theater was fundraising and I could put my name on the back of a chair. I just laughed.
“I’m related to John Wilkes Booth on one side and Mary Surratt on the other so I don’t think Ford’s Theater wants my family’s name on their chairs,” I said with a chuckle. “I could see the newspapers having fun with that. I would write it.”
The telemarketer didn’t know who they were, which really makes me roll my eyes like slot machine reels. She wasn’t from this country. OK, what country are you from, I asked.
This is where it gets even wilder. “Malta,” she said.
Malta –as in Bonaparte’s exile destination — twice?
“Why, I’m vacationing this summer in the Med this summer and stopping in Malta,” I said. “What’s it like?”
We talk for 10 minutes about Malta. Her boss must have thought she was really reeling me in, but she told me of her grandfather’s coffee shop near where the cruise ship docks and how the family still gets a stipend from the government for an ancestor once alerting the island of a coming Turks invasion he saw from the cliffs above the sea.
OK, I’m having fun now. “What about the Maltese Falcon? What’s that about?” I asked.
Turns out it’s an annual tribute paid to the island leader.
Anyway, I didn’t buy a seat but we both turned a boring conversation into some fun. Guess the next telemarketer who calls gets two seconds before I hang up.
]]>My Washington Examiner column remembers why the ACC gets the short shrift in the postseason tourneys.
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]]>Greivis Vasquez took the opposite approach. After also thinking of leaving early for the NBA, he returned to win the ACC Player of the Year award yesterday. I think some of the lessons of the Gilchrist debacle rubbed off on coach Gary Williams, who was also honored as ACC Coach of the Year yesterday.
My Washington Examiner column contrasts the two situations and why Vasquez emerged a winner.
]]>My Washington Examiner column wonders if Bruce Allen will start trading veterans on the roster for draft picks, something his dad was known for back in the ’70s as the Redskins coach.
]]>My Washington Examiner column says the Redskins picked the wrong year to go conservative.
]]>My Washington Examiner column discusses the Redskins 6-time Pro Bowler will become a Redskins coaching intern through training camp before hoping to catch on anywhere from preps to pros.
]]>My Washington Examiner column runs down some possibilities as owner Dan Snyder has money to burn.
]]>The Venezuelan was a delight to cover and watch. I’ll miss him, but there’s still one big game left. Can they rise to it? Maybe.
My Washington Examiner column compares Vasquez to the Terrapins greats.
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