Casino Drive being scratched really finds me searching for an upset bid at the Belmont. I'm not sure I'll find one. On a day when many tickets on Big Brown are purchased for souvenirs, he'll really be bet down and now with his main rival gone, it'll go the extreme.

I liked the way Denis of Cork closed at the Derby, although Borel had a perfect trip to get up for third. But he was so far back, I dunno. I'll just sit back and see if Big Brown can do it.

I decided to mess with the "Zohan" this morning. I went to the 9:45 show at the Regal Beagle in Middleburg. When I get to the lot, there are about 6 six cars parked there. Apparently, no one got the memo or read the paper. Hey, we're like a real city when you can see flicks in the morning.

As for the movie, it was OK. I really liked John Torturro as "Phantom", Zohan's archrival. He trained like "Rocky", complete with old-timey trainer and cracked eggs to drink, except they were live chicks. Adam Sandler wasn't too bad in this one, but he tried to toss in the inevitable Rodney King messages. I saw Sandler's ass. Lainie Kazan's ass, too. And hummus and Hacky Sack were prominent throughout.

Cameos by "The King of Queens", John McEnroe, Paul Mitchell and Mariah Carey. Charlotte Rae was in this! Michael Buffer was acting as a bad landlord in this one. Couldn't figure that appearance at all. Of course, Rob Schneider was in it. Overall, fairly standard stuff, a chuckle or two or three, but that's about it.

The line that will stick with me is hummus described as "a tasty, diarrhea-like substance".

Meal of Links

It feels odd that Jim McKay died during a run at Triple Crown. Because he covered those races for such a long time and was very kind to the horse industry in Maryland. I'm sure his legacy will be covering all those Olympiads (Munich: "They're all gone.") as host or could it be "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat"? But for me, I remember lots of those events he covered for "Wide World of Sports". Name these cities and this is what I think of immediately:

Petaluma, CA-Wristwrestling Championships

Islip, NY-Demolition Derby

Acapulco-Cliff Diving

Kitzbuehl, Austria-Skiing on the Hannenkahm

West Allis, WI-Speedskating

One of the all-time greats in broadcasting.

It's a word that should be used more often. "Callipygian", a complement.

Could the new Saudi Arabia be North Dakota? Lots of oil there, it seems.

Exercise Yard

As Euro 2008 kicks off, here is a preview. Already have the requisite weekday off for Monday's matches. Let's go with Portugal as champs, they are in today's second match. And they're coached by "Big Phil".

Apparently, the first Butter Face of the tournament has arrived:
















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16 Across: Poet who coined "carpe diem" (6 letters) Answer: Hector