I've never seen fifty bucks disappear so quickly. You can't even count on the Derby anymore.
I've been in a bit of a blue funk since Saturday's Kentucky Derby. And it's not just because of the lost winnings.
Yes, I was the guy who pulled the number 7 out of a hat in a $5 pool where the winner received $50, second got $30, third $15. I studied long and hard to randomly grab the folded paper with the right number on it.
I'm the guy who yelled commandingly at the television, far more deliberately and effectively than the others yelling at the same television. It was certainly my determination that carried ole number 7 to the finish line after leading the entire race.
And without a doubt, it was my intellect, cunning and nerve that not only drove my fingers to pluck the winning number but by sheer jedi focus will the horse to victory without a single splatter of mud on his perfect face.
The outcome was so clear, the money holder was handing me the fifty bucks before the third place horse crossed the wire. I was being roundly congratulated for the superiority of my prize pool presence.
Then we heard those 3 words no Derby winning reveler ever wants to hear: Hold your tickets.
Only a formality I thought as I handed the fifty back like the superior good sport I appear to be, confident it would soon pass back with even more fanfare.
But the minutes passed and my confidence with it. The second place jockey claimed the winner had bumped another horse. His horse wasn't effected but he wanted to take a look just to make sure.
The inquiry was taking too long for anything good to be happening. And in a flash, like all modern day sports, the Derby comes down to a replay.
No, it really isn't the lost fifty bucks.
It's the loss of reality that I'm struggling with. Millions of people watched the Derby on television, but upwards of 200,000 were really there. Each one of them watched Maximum Security lead the race from wire to wire. All of them saw that horse win the Kentucky Derby.
That's what the race stewards saw, too. The only reason they turned to replay was because the second place jockey complained.
What they saw was the winning horse shift about two feet to the right on the far turn. A couple of horses had to check up some and bumped one another.
That's the same thing that happens in every horse race. It's never been a cotillion, no matter how many pretty hats.
But we lived in a world divorcing itself from reality for reality TV daily. We use the video replay to convince ourselves what we experience isn't.
It doesn't matter what we all saw, let's see what the video says after a little post production.
The talking heads on the TV stated the crowd was booing the replacement winner in the winner's circle. Not exactly.
We all know what they were really reacting to, don't we governor?