otb_lifer
Footballguy
g'morning 
upon starting this thread back in '21, we paid our homage and respect to the poster known 'round here as MoCS (ManOfConstantSorrow), who dropped in and made this exercise a ton more fun than it had a right to be ... we miss him very much, and his memory lives on - R.I.P., Tom
this year we will be without the immense presence of wikkidpissah, who contributed so much to so many in this here community, in so many ways - his knowledge, and benevolence of spirit, will forever remain legendary - we were fortunate to have him at our disposal, so to speak ... seemed like there weren't a subject under the sun he couldn't jump into and not drop learned opinion and straight up brilliance on ... as they say these days "if you know, you know" - and so many here "know" because he improved the quality of the time spent here on this board.
what was most impressive out of a resumé that dripped awesomeness, was his vast experience, and love, for our lil' sport here, which has been relegated to niche, at it's best - once up there with Baseball & Boxing as the top 3 games in this country ... it reaches that peak again once a year, for one glorious Saturday in May - and that's why we're here.
i recall a frigid January morning a few years back ... starting this thread that day with frozen nuts and ice cold coffee - my furnace were on the fritz, and it had to be hovering 'round 15 degrees down in my office ... was going on about the COTdamn Jerome, which were to be run that day at Aqueduct ... and in jumped wik with the first response - we then spoke of frozen Conduit Ave, the dreaded C train, Jamaica Ave station, his days commuting to South Ozone from the Village ... absolutely took my mind off the tundra i were laboring in - btw, it was so bad that day that they cancelled the Jerome, but the convo just flowed ... no stopping that.
wik had access to parts of this game that most of us will never see or know ... most notably passing along his connections and him giving a young bug his first taste of the irons ... that kid was now H.o.F. jock "Money" Mike Smith - wik always had a soft spot for Smiff as a result, and Mike certainly made us a ton of coin over the years.
it was that kinda content he provided that elevated the discourse ... along with his nuts n' bolts knowledge of training ,and how the t'breds responded to the various nicks and injuries and treatments ... not to mention the milkshakes and snake oil and buzzers and hot whips and crooked muthas - as big a part of this gig's history as Whirlaway or Citation ...
... or Big Red (Secretariat), who was as much a favorite athlete to wik as Willie or Ali or Russ - he worshipped the chestnut colt with the abnormally large heart. and spoke many times outside of this thread about his incomparable dominance.
he went on much more adamantly when we chatted in PMs ... some stuff he kept off the board, but he dropped so much remarkable content otherwise ... he shared so much, but in these Derby threads ... WOW - his contributions will be so sorely missed.
much like his favorite, Secretariat - his heart was the stuff of legend ... i'll miss him a ton 'round this thread - it's an irreplaceable void - i bid him to rest peacefully ... with my appreciation and love for all of it, for everything and everybody he elevated and reached out to and touched in his own indelible way.
Thank you, Dale
we both loved those Tapits, and Tapit Trice is gonna be my guy for '23 ... Forte is the Super Horse, but the Tapit colt is the sentimental favorite - i know ol' wik agrees with me on this one ... we'll break down more later.
Forte has the Florida Derby tmrw, from the 11 hole - lest he's Big Brown or Barbaro, we could have a tote explosion - more on that later too, of course.
upon starting this thread back in '21, we paid our homage and respect to the poster known 'round here as MoCS (ManOfConstantSorrow), who dropped in and made this exercise a ton more fun than it had a right to be ... we miss him very much, and his memory lives on - R.I.P., Tom
this year we will be without the immense presence of wikkidpissah, who contributed so much to so many in this here community, in so many ways - his knowledge, and benevolence of spirit, will forever remain legendary - we were fortunate to have him at our disposal, so to speak ... seemed like there weren't a subject under the sun he couldn't jump into and not drop learned opinion and straight up brilliance on ... as they say these days "if you know, you know" - and so many here "know" because he improved the quality of the time spent here on this board.
what was most impressive out of a resumé that dripped awesomeness, was his vast experience, and love, for our lil' sport here, which has been relegated to niche, at it's best - once up there with Baseball & Boxing as the top 3 games in this country ... it reaches that peak again once a year, for one glorious Saturday in May - and that's why we're here.
i recall a frigid January morning a few years back ... starting this thread that day with frozen nuts and ice cold coffee - my furnace were on the fritz, and it had to be hovering 'round 15 degrees down in my office ... was going on about the COTdamn Jerome, which were to be run that day at Aqueduct ... and in jumped wik with the first response - we then spoke of frozen Conduit Ave, the dreaded C train, Jamaica Ave station, his days commuting to South Ozone from the Village ... absolutely took my mind off the tundra i were laboring in - btw, it was so bad that day that they cancelled the Jerome, but the convo just flowed ... no stopping that.
wik had access to parts of this game that most of us will never see or know ... most notably passing along his connections and him giving a young bug his first taste of the irons ... that kid was now H.o.F. jock "Money" Mike Smith - wik always had a soft spot for Smiff as a result, and Mike certainly made us a ton of coin over the years.
it was that kinda content he provided that elevated the discourse ... along with his nuts n' bolts knowledge of training ,and how the t'breds responded to the various nicks and injuries and treatments ... not to mention the milkshakes and snake oil and buzzers and hot whips and crooked muthas - as big a part of this gig's history as Whirlaway or Citation ...
... or Big Red (Secretariat), who was as much a favorite athlete to wik as Willie or Ali or Russ - he worshipped the chestnut colt with the abnormally large heart. and spoke many times outside of this thread about his incomparable dominance.
he went on much more adamantly when we chatted in PMs ... some stuff he kept off the board, but he dropped so much remarkable content otherwise ... he shared so much, but in these Derby threads ... WOW - his contributions will be so sorely missed.
much like his favorite, Secretariat - his heart was the stuff of legend ... i'll miss him a ton 'round this thread - it's an irreplaceable void - i bid him to rest peacefully ... with my appreciation and love for all of it, for everything and everybody he elevated and reached out to and touched in his own indelible way.
Thank you, Dale
we both loved those Tapits, and Tapit Trice is gonna be my guy for '23 ... Forte is the Super Horse, but the Tapit colt is the sentimental favorite - i know ol' wik agrees with me on this one ... we'll break down more later. Forte has the Florida Derby tmrw, from the 11 hole - lest he's Big Brown or Barbaro, we could have a tote explosion - more on that later too, of course.
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