Apr 192022
 

Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.

Sitting Bull

Phil has a question:

What’s the Easter Rabbit’s favourite beverage?

Phil has an answer:

A Hoppy IPA.

Hop Valley Brewing

Smithsonian Magazine – Thompson – The Ancient Origins of the Easter Bunny

Grecianlux – Easter Traditions In Greece

Greek Reporter – Chrysopoulos – About Greek Orthodox Easter: Everything You Need to Know

Phil has a question:

Did you know that all the religions that follow the Julian calendar celebrate Easter and Christmas on different days than religions that follow the Gregorian Calendar, not just the Ukrainians.

Did you know that all the kids that follow the Julian calendar celebrate Halloween on the same day as those that follow the Gregorian calendar.

The Kids are Alright

Dogs, ye have had your day!

Alexander Pope

Travel and Leisure – Trageser – The Curious Story of How a Restaurant Chain Called ‘Boston Pizza’ Ended Up in Canada

What’s yellow and wears glasses.

Banana Mouskouri

Taste of Home – Stanko – 67 Greek Easter Recipes

Somm’s Notes – Best Greek Wines You Must Try for 2022

Garden and Gun – Adams – Sip Your Baklava

No man ever steps in the same river twice,  for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.

Heraclitus

Zorba’s Dance

Edmonton Sun – Tait: It’s been a slice, Fireside

Long time Edmonton restaurateur, thoroughbred owner and breeder Con Stavropoulos passed away this past week.

EDify – Flintoff – Off to the Races

Phil has a question:

How successful has Alberta Horse Racing been in attracting new fans.

The Ringer – Herman – 20 Years Married: How ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ Became a Smash Hit

The Globe and Mail – Pruden – Ukrainian refugees in Alberta find an Easter surprise of generosity

Phil has a question:

Did any of the refugees ask what that giant kubie is about.

The World's Largest Sausage – Mundare, Alberta - Atlas Obscura

Time – Waxman – The History Behind the Ukrainian Tradition of Decorating Pysanky Easter Eggs

Pysanky for Peace – Bid

Alexandria Living – Pysanky Egg Fundraiser to Help Ukrainian War Refugees

Razom For Ukraine

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.

Pablo Picasso

Global News – LaPointe – Moncton’s Ukrainian community preparing for Orthodox Easter

The Charmed Kitchen – Easter Pierogi

Craving Greens – Whole Spelt Pierogis

Western Canadian Old-Time Music

Fermenting For Foodies – Baba’s Vareniki – A Doukhobor Style Pierogi

RetroActive – Bread, salt and water: the history of Doukhobors in Alberta

RetroActive – Bread, salt and water: the history of Doukhobors in Alberta (Part 2)

Kingston Whig-Standard – Mechefske – Paska, a beloved Ukrainian Easter bread

The Ride To Dubno

Bon Appetit – Sevier – 53 Easter Recipes Full of Fresh Spring Flavor

Southern Living – 59 Easter Cakes For The Prettiest Holiday Finale

The universe is not rich enough to buy the vote of an honest man.

Pope Gregory I

11 Athabascan Ave #128
Sherwood Park, AB T8A 6H2

Phone: (780) 416-8566

Dennis Fitzgerald has opened the newest OTB in the greater Edmonton area at Good Buddy in Sherwood Park.

Good Buddy has always had a reputation for tantalizing Chinese cuisine in the Edmonton area and with Dennis operating the OTB expect a vast improvement for the Sherwood Park Betting Public.

Stay tuned for Kentucky Derby specials and be there the first Saturday in May.

2022 Triple Crown

Bloodhorse – Kieckhefer – Drefong Colt Takes First Leg of Japan’s Triple Crown

2022 Kentucky Derby

Saturday, May 7, 2022

2022 Kentucky Oaks

Friday, May 6, 2022

TDN – Bill Finley – TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10 for April 14

TDN – Thornton – TDN Kentucky Derby Top 20 For Apr. 12

Bloodhorse – King – Derby Dozen: Derby Dozen: Arrivals, Workouts Pick Up With Preps Over

DRF – Derby Watch

Horse Racing Nation -Kentucky Derby 2022 Contenders

Racing Dudes – 2022 Kentucky Derby

Paulick Report – Champagne – The Derby Bubble Presented By Kentucky-Breds: Did Mo Donegal, Taiba, Or Zandon Soar Highest With Signature Wins?

Preakness 147

TDN – Preakness LIVE Art/Music Festival to Highlight Preakness Weekend Events

TDN – ABR Preakness Kick-Off Party to Benefit Aftercare

Belmont Stakes Racing Festival

TDN – DJ Pauly D to Headline 2022 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Entertainment

Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.

Alexander Pope

Food and Wine – Nalley – Fact Sheet: Tawny Port

Additionally, the city of the participating team which has the highest recycling rate during home games from Opening Day through May 31 will win a round of beer on Anheuser-Busch.

Sports Business Journal – Bacharach – A-B launching recycling effort with MLB teams

Everybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.

PJ O’Rourke

blue International truck vintage farm truck image 1

Phil has a question:

How many millions of tonnes of steel could be recycled from all the derelict trucks, cars and farm machinery abandoned around the world.

How can you tell the difference between a derelict vehicle ready for recycling and a vehicle waiting for rebuild and rehabilitation.

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Lees – World Pool is ‘essential’ – John Gosden issues stark warning for British racing as multi-million tote expands for 2022

As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.

Julius Caesar

Black Summer

Forbes – Yakowicz – ‘Mattress Mack’ On How His Outrageous Sports Bets Built A $240 Million Empire

Phil has a question:

With Mattress Mack supporting Runhappy by sponsoring many races and spending large sums of money advertising how many track owners and managers are going to be cheering for Smile Happy in the Kentucky Derby.

What bets does Mattress Mack have on tap for the Kentucky Derby.

RunHappy

Horse Racing Nation –  Flatter – How Mattress Mack will bet $3 million on Kentucky Derby 2022

So, what does this have to do with Thoroughbred racing? Plenty. If it can happen to Pompano Park it can happen to any racetrack running any breed. The threat of decoupling is real and it’s not going to go away. It is a huge and ominous threat.

Most every casino company that owns a racetrack doesn’t want to be in the horse racing business, and most don’t bother to hide their disdain for the sport. But existing laws in most states still require a casino to hold pari-mutuel racing in order to maintain their casino license.

TDN – Bill Finley – The Week in Review: Harness Track’s Closing a Cautionary Tale For All of Racing

Paulick Report – Kentucky Derby Picture: Who’s In, Who’s On The Bubble?

Bloodhorse – Ehalt – Brown Still Considering Options for Early Voting

CDI’s 2 year ban and continuing harassment of Bob Baffert appears to have tarnished some of the sheen of their premier showpiece, the Kentucky Derby. In years past the owners and trainers had one goal for their 3 year olds, the Kentucky Derby.

If a three year old had the earnings or the points to qualify, entry was automatic. Today the owners and trainers no longer operate by rote.

The owners and trainers used to get all the king’s horses and all the king’s men and all the king’s needle toting vets to patch up their 3 year olds just to get them in the gate so the owner and trainer could say that they had a horse in the Derby. But today the purses and prestige in many of the other 3 year old races have grown sufficiently for owners and trainers to think twice before making the Derby the be all and end all. Benefits the entire thoroughbred industry at the expense of those heartless bastards at CDI.

But on the other hand Todd Pletcher seems to be trying to get all of his prospects in this year rather than looking for other venues for them.

Bloodhorse – Ehalt – Connections Take Tumultuous Derby Journey With Messier

Paulick Report – ‘No Ill Feelings’: Medina Spirit Owner Amr Zedan Returns To Kentucky Derby With Lightly-Raced Taiba

Bloodhorse – Eric Mitchell and McCroskey – Taiba is First Grade 1 Winner for Breeder and Consignor

TDN – Thornton – Final Derby Preps Yield Pair of Aces, Tantalizing Wild Card

The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.

Alfred Whitney Griswold

Self Esteem

Horse Race Insider – Pricci – THE STAGE AND FIELD IS SET FOR KENTUCKY DERBY, ONLY FINAL WORKS AND POST DRAW REMAIN

Phil had a question:

WTF is Bhupat Seemar.

Now Phil has an answer:

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Laura King – From the UAE to the USA: why Bhupat Seemar is dreaming of the first Saturday in May

Fool’s Overture

Paulick Report – Recovered From Tough Trip In Arkansas Derby, Un Ojo Headed To Churchill Downs

TwinSpires – Johnson – Kentucky Derby and Oaks Roundup: April 18, 2022

Brisnet – Get to know the 2022 Kentucky Derby contenders

Paulick Report – White Abarrio Impresses With Eye-Catching Breeze At Gulfstream

Bloodhorse – White Abarrio Fires Bullet at Gulfstream

Paulick Report – KY Derby, Oaks Likely Favorites Epicenter, Echo Zulu Breeze At Churchill

TDN – Epicenter, Echo Zulu on Track for Asmussen

TDN – Tawny Port Punches Kentucky Derby Ticket

Bloodhorse – Byron King – Tawny Port Passes Dirt Test in Lexington

Paulick Report – Tawny Port Shines In First Win On Dirt In Lexington

Saturday’s Lexington was a prime example of an effect that the whales have on the handle that no one in racing has even perceived yet – the indecision of the bettor to play win money when the bettor sees a horse at favourable odds, but fears that the whales’ hidden algorithms and advantages will kill the the Odds. 5-1 was being offered on Tawny Port whose morning line was 5/2, but Phil feared the whales. Phil was one of thousands in North America whose indecision was killing them cuz they didn’t know if they should play or should they no cuz there’s that niggling in the back of your head that some whale’s gonna swipe that juicy salmon off your line just before you get it into the boat and leave you with a can of sardines.

Phil kept his win money in his pocket during the Lexington on Saturday and was the worse for it. Worse first for not getting a 5 – 1 return on a horse that Phil had sniffed out but far worse for feeling cheated out of those winnings cuz you know that if we didn’t have fucking twits like Jim Lawson mouthing his fucking drivel about the evil of fixed odds wagering on horse racing in Canada Phil should have had the opportunity to place a fixed wager odds bet at 5 – 1 in the OTB that Phil was at.

Whatever fortune brings, don’t be afraid of doing things.

Herman Melville

Last time Phil checked we’re in the computer age and the chalkboards for calculating odds at the Camptown races are long gone. But you go to the OTBs in Canada and we’ve barely progressed past the abacus. If thoroughbred racing wants to remain viable in Canada we need to get a gargantuan broom, sweep all the deadwood out, especially the nepotic deadwood, have a massive bonfire cuz old wood burns best and get some people in positions of power whose thinking has progressed past watching porn in their office on their Atari.

When you walk up to that machine at an OTB you should be able to choose between pari-mutuel odds and fixed wager odds for your Win wagering.

If you want to attract the sports bettors that same machine at the same OTB should offer sports wagering. How long would it take any of the major sports betting platforms to adapt their software. Licence the OTBs to wager through one of the major platforms and you’ve increased the attraction of the OTBS.

There was a hockey game going on that Phil caught in his peripheral vision as the 50 / 50 pool hit $450k. Think Phil and some of the other players in the OTB wouldn’t have taken a shot at that if we could have walked up to the same machine and plunked our $5 or $20 down.

Phil has a question:

If the Oilers make the playoffs who’s going to ride Taiba.

If gaming and sports betting wants to prosper in Canada we need to get a gargantuan broom, sweep all the deadwood out especially the nepotic deadwood, have a massive bonfire cuz old wood burns best and get some people in positions of power whose thinking has progressed past watching porn in their office on their Atari.

When you walk up to that machine at an OTB you should be able to choose between horse racing and sports wagering and even 50 / 50 pools.

Yes, Phil could have have wagered on a grey off-shore betting account, but that helps neither the OTB operator nor the horse racing industry nor the tax department. If we want to improve the industry and increase the handle we have to make it easier for the bettor and offer every opportunity to wager at every facility.

The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.

Alfred Whitney Griswold

Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Speaking of Chalkboards

ESPN – Purdum – NHL betting favorites go record 14-0 on Saturday

ESPN – NHL Playoff Pick  ’em

Bloodhorse – Perez – Joe Holds Off Mr Jefferson in Federico Tesio

Paulick Report – Derby Hopefuls Cyberknife, Tiz The Bomb, Crown Pride Tune Up At Churchill

TDN – Saturday’s Kentucky Derby/Oaks Update

Bloodhorse – Trio of Derby Contenders Work at Churchill Downs

DRF – Welsch – Charge It, Simplification get back to work for Kentucky Derby

TDN – Simplification Breezes at Gulfstream

Paulick Report – White Abarrio, Simplification Preparing To Return To Gulfstream Work Tab

Bloodhorse – Secret Oath, Zozos Top Churchill Downs Workouts

TDN – Zozos Leads Derby, Oaks Workers at Churchill

Paulick Report – Zozos ‘Starting To Come Into His Own’ With Five-Furlong Breeze At Churchill

Bloodhorse – Simplification Breezes at Gulfstream for Kentucky Derby

Bloodhorse – Johnson – 2 Kentucky Derby Longshots to Consider

Horse Racing Nation – Greer – Early Look: 22 somewhat likely Ky. Derby candidates

Horse Racing Nation – Greer – Kentucky Derby 2022: Filling in some of the blanks

Horse Racing Nation – Bye Bye Bobby will miss Lexington, is likely off Derby trail

If you recall Phil’s comments about this horse’s performance in the Sunland Derby Phil’s not surprised.

Chaise Lounge

Bloodhorse – Byron King and McCroskey -Sickness Knocks Slow Down Andy Out of Kentucky Derby

If you recall Phil’s comments about the Sunland Derby the virus may have done him a favour.

Paulick Report – Frank Mitchell – Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: Embarrassment Of Riches Continues To Build For Gun Runner On Triple Crown Trail

Horse Racing Nation – Report: Lukas will change Secret Oath jockey for Kentucky Oaks

TDN – New Vocations’ Open Barn & BBQ Returns Apr. 29

Garden and Gun – Martin – Ask G&G: Derby Luck and Texas’s German Accent

Paulick Report – Voss – Why Do You ‘Only Write The Bad News’? And Other Musings

CheatSheet – Wigant – Foo Fighters: Taylor Hawkins Was Intimidated Being the Drummer for Dave Grohl, the ‘Greatest Drummer of the ’90s’

Garden and Gun – Lotz – Record Store Day Marks Fifteen Years on April 23 with Stellar Releases

TDN – Letter to the Editor: Jenine Sahadi

Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.

Plato

Bloodhorse – Dick Downey – Appeals Court Orders Outright Dismissal of Baffert Case

Paulick Report – Irwin: Why The Bob Baffert Case Is So Important To Horse Racing’s Future

Paulick Report – Voss – HISA: Anti-Doping Partnership Could Be Announced Next Month

Paulick Report – Texas Racing Commission Warns HISA Regulation Could Force Elimination Of Wagering

Spectrum News – Reeves – Racing Commission votes to defy federal anti-doping legislation

Bloodhorse – HISA’s Lazarus: Give Authority ‘Chance to Get It Right’

Bloodhorse – Snierson – New Hampshire Attorney General Looks Into TwinSpires

Bloodhorse – Perez – Kentucky Sports Betting Bill Fails

No human being will ever know the Truth, for even if they happen to say it by chance, they would not even know they had done so.

Xenophanes

Bloodhorse – Without Gaming, Grants Pass Downs Cancels 2022 Meet

TDN – Grants Pass Downs Cancels 2022 Meet

Bloodhorse – Backstretch Opens For Racing Season at Fort Erie

Those move easiest who have learn’d to dance.

Alexander Pope

I Came to Dance

Paulick Report – RCI: Racing’s Test Results On Par With USADA, And Other Key Data Takeaways

TDN – Petrunyak – HISA Under Discussion at ARCI Conference’s Tuesday Session

TDN – Petrunyak – Opening Session of 2022 ARCI Conference

Raging Bull

Canadian Thoroughbred – Morrison – Palace Malice Juvenile Filly Tops BC Horses of Racing Age Sale

TDN – Backside Learning Center Hosts Derby Handicapping Social

TDN – PDJF TVG Telethon Shatters Donation Record

Phil’s Drink n a Flick

Ouzo Lemonade

Never on Sunday

Zorba’s Dance

You went all the way to Europe and all you saw were graves?

Esther “Esty” Shapiro

The Ringer – What Really Makes a Rom-Com a Rom-Com?

SportsNet – Celebrating the 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day

My pitching philosophy is simple – keep the ball way from the bat.

Satchel Paige

TSN – Schoenfeld – Why Jackie Robinson was an even better baseball player than you realize

Some day I’m going to have to stand before God, and if He asks me why I didn’t let that [Jackie] Robinson fellow play ball, I don’t think saying ‘because of the color of his skin’ would be a good enough answer.

Branch Rickey

SportsNet – Bennett – Jackie Robinson documentary chooses duality over simplicity

Sports Business Journal – MLB set for a “glorious” Jackie Robinson Day

I cannot face my God much longer knowing that his black creatures are held separate and distinct from his white creatures in the game that has given me all that I can call my own.

Branch Rickey

ESPN – Glanville – Why Jackie Robinson’s story still resonates 75 years after his MLB debut

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

Abe Lincoln

ESPN – From SPORT Magazine: Why Jackie Robinson played bolder in the World Series

Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.

Abe Lincoln

How To Keep Young

by Satchel Paige

1. Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
2. If you stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
4. Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain’t restful.
5. Avoid running at all times.
6. Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.

Esquire – Westenfeld – The Best Books of Spring 2022

Refinery29 – Singh – Bend It Like Beckham Isn’t Perfect, But Jess Bhamra Is Still The Blueprint 20 Years Later

Volvo Driving Soccer Mom

If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better.

Johan Cruyff

Pippy Longstocking

Phil has a question:

Did Pippy grow up to be the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Thunder

Caretaker of the Year

Bud Smith (Trevor Williams Stable)

Manitoba Harness Racing – Colbeck – 2021 Award Winners

Harness racing in Manitoba is exactly where it should be – in the bush and Phil hopes that harness racing in Alberta soon follows suit. Phil does not want to appear to denigrate ex thoroughbred person Bud Smith’s award but Phil’s seen fewer awards at a Tim Horton’s Tom Thumb hockey banquet where everybody gets a ribbon.

The Kids Aren’t Alright

Front Office Sports – Auction House Voids $519,000 Sale of Tom Brady’s ‘Last’ TD Ball

Phil has a question:

Have you ever seen a wussier decision.

The Ringer – Harvilla – How Coachella ’99 Lost a Million Dollars and Started an Empire

Girl

The Ringer – Sayles – When Did Coachella Peak?

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. 

Peter De Vries

The Ringer – Ducker – Still Into You

It isn’t necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.

Frank Zappa

The Ringer – Lindbergh – Size Matters: Inside the Politics of Festival Posters

The steakhouse, like the American western, is a distinct genre. Both are an expression of our anxiety and an escape from it. The clearer the destination, the more comfort it offers.

Esquire – Stein – The New Golden Age of the American Steakhouse

Phil has a question:

What about the Spaghetti Westerns.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

“Remember when” is the lowest form of conversation.

Tony Soprano

Sports Business Journal – Broughton – NBA attendance at 92% capacity for regular season

The Ringer – Chin – ‘Moon Knight’ Episode 3 Recap: Moving Heaven and Earth

Phil has a question:

Does Moon Knight cover Oilers hockey for SportsNet.

Phil often takes a poke in jest at the Canucklehead fans since their team has never taken the Cup named Stanley for a tour of the Park named Stanley, but it dawned on Phil that the last time the Maple Laffs toured the Cup named Stanley down Bay and Yonge the Canucks were 3 years away from playing their first game. The Cup called Stanley has toured St. Catherine St., Jasper Ave and the Red Mile since then.

50 Mission Cap

BBC – Ghosh – Shock result in particle experiment could spark physics revolution

Particle Man

Sports Business Journal – Shaquille O’Neal, Papa Johns agree to new three-year, $5.6M deal

Canadify – Taylor – Papa John’s Canada Brings Back The Shaq-a-Roni

Chef Boyardee Beefaroni - Shop Pantry Meals at H-E-BI live out of cans a lot. But I try to indulge only in healthy canned food.

Dwight Yoakam

Brightside

P for Pizza: The Easy Cheesy Word Game

Los Angeles Times – Vincent – L.A.’s Magic Castle is getting a new, preservation-minded owner

Black Magic Woman

FiveThirtyEight – Dubin and Paine – This Lakers Season Was A Trainwreck — And There’s No Easy Way To Get Back On Track

Long Train Running

ESPN – McMenamin – Los Angeles Lakers’ Russell Westbrook opens up on disconnect with Frank Vogel, disappointing season

Phil has an answer:

There’s only one ball.

Los Angeles Times – Doc Rivers? Nick Nurse? A Lakers insider’s guide to Frank Vogel’s replacement

Phil has a question:

Will the Lakers interview Mr. Swackhammer.

Esquire – Taylor – The Little Prince

ESPN – Hockensmith – The renegade who took on the NFL (and the NBA and the NHL)

ESPN – AP – Congress says Washington Commanders appear to have broken financial laws, owes money to visiting teams, season ticket holders

Washington Post – Maske and Jhabvala – Congress details allegations of Commanders’ ‘unlawful’ conduct to FTC

Front Office Sports – Perez – Commanders Investigation Reveals ‘Troubling’ Financial Inconsistencies

Phil has a question:

Will Snyder use the same Schultz defence as his scumbag buddy with the Browns.

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.

Aesop

The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks

Los Angeles Times – Hernandez – Column: Trevor Bauer’s impasse with MLB creates an ongoing nightmare for Dodgers

ESPN – Junod and Lavigne – Untold

Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.

Julius Caesar


Phil M Stockmen

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