Last night was time for a visit to the Happy Dog. It was a cast of thousands, well, six, as Nick, Gale, Jeff and later on, Kevin and Lisa, signed up for duty. Spot on with the food once again as I had a corned beef sammie with tater tots. I had a good time, as they had a not-so-loud country band playing and we got to hear some Johnny Cash and Neil Young.

But since Kevin arrived, shots were involved. I know sometimes in the Detroit-Shoreway area that's an issue, but these shots were of the liquor variety. Why I haven't been drinking like that since, oh, I don't know, last week. Anyhow, I believe I had three of them, but the best one was a shot that tasted like an apple. I swear it was like a liquid Macintosh and I could get used to drinking that very quickly. I have to file that away for colder weather. Unbelievably tasty.

Meal of Links

How to eliminate stress. I think winning the lottery would do wonders for that.

How to make ice cream in a bag. Can't you just have a pint or two on hand and open one? Seems easier.

More piling on Cavs coach Mike Brown. We need more Boobie!

Exercise Yard

Today is Belmont Stakes Day. The Belmont is the oldest of the Triple Crown races and if the TC is not on the line, it seems to get short shrift from the public. But not from me, because it always poses an interesting handicapping puzzle. You see, the distance is 1.5 miles, and there are not many graded stakes that are run at this distance these days. Some of the entries are bred for this distance, but it's a crapshoot to figure out who not only can get the distance, but also run competitively.

There are only 7 entries this year. With that small of a field (the Derby had 20 horses), you can load up on the exotics and try and make some money.

The favorite today is Curlin, the Preakness winner. If you asked me five weeks ago, I would have thought Curlin would win the Belmont. But Curlin was lightly raced heading into the Derby, and this will be his third race in five weeks. I think he's done.

Rags to Riches is a filly with A.P. Indy (you must give A.P. Indy horses added respect) in the bloodlines. The good news is that in a small field, the Kentucky Oaks winner won't get beaten up and banged around by the other horses. She is also the half-sister to last year's Belmont winner, Jazil. The bad news is no filly has ever won the Belmont, and I'm not sure she can compete at this level.

Hard Spun is also back for his third TC race. He'll be the pacesetter and won't last the distance. You cannot win this race from the front.

My pick? I'm going with the Steve Martin angle: Imawildandcrazyguy. I'll take him at 20-1. He's coming off a pretty good Derby where his closing fractions were the best. It's hard to take a deep closer in this race, but I think he'll certainly be nearer to the front than he was at the Derby.

Visitor

20 Across: First man to appear on the cover of Vogue (4 letters) Answer: Gere