"American Pharoah Makes His Run For Glory"

Yesterday, since there are no sports on, I decided I am going to start pepping myself up by reminiscing on some of my favorite sports-watching memories. So here is DAY TWO

"American Pharoah Makes His Run For Glory..."

Almost five full years ago, I was home, spending a sleepy Saturday in the apartment I lived in by myself. Most of my friends were either working or attending the wedding of a coworker who later become my supervisor (hi Joy!). Slightly bored, I decided to do something different for lunch, so I went to T.G.I. Friday's. Like I usually do when I go by myself, I sat at the bar. I don't drink, but when you sit at the bar, you get your food faster, you can usually enjoy some conversation with the bar tender or fellow bar patrons, and you can watch the TVs, which typically cover sports. That day, while there was some coverage of baseball, basketball, and NASCAR, I noticed that the majority of live coverage was in anticipation of that afternoon's Belmont Stakes, one of the Big Three American horse races.

I know next to nothing about horses, and horse-racing. I had horseback riding lessons once a week for about six months when I was eleven, I saw "Seabiscuit", I wrote an article on my alma mater's equestrian team once for a journalism class, and I have a vague memory of watching the Kentucky Derby once with my dad, and that's it.

But the hype that day was not just that there was a horse race, but that there was a chance one of the horses could win the racing Triple Crown, having already captured the Preakness and the Derby that year. No horse had won the Triple Crown since the great Secretariat in 1973. The horse in question was American Pharoah, and yes, the name did have that unique spelling of the word "pharoah".

Obviously, I'm not big into horse racing, but I like sports, especially if there's a chance to see some fun/cool history, and I knew the race wouldn't last long. Better yet, it was on NBC, one of the two channels my TV antenna picked up with regularity in my apartment. So I left T.G.I.F, went home, and turned on coverage. I didn't REALLY care, but I thought, why not, I'll root for American Pharoah.

The race started! And American Pharoah was not in the lead. Immediately, the commentators began to mutter amongst themselves, because this was the big storyline they had been prepped to cover. But that Pharoah gained quickly, squeaking past others to take a short lead over the early leader, a horse called Frosted. But his lead grew. And grew. And grew.

Apart from the final result, the race is best known for Larry Collmus's enthusiastic, thrilling live commentary of the race's closing moments:
"And they're into the stretch, and American Pharoah makes his run for glory as they come into the final furlong! Frosted is second, with 1/8th of a mile to go! American Pharoah's got a two-length lead! Frosted is ALL OUT at the 16th pole, and HERE IT IS!!! The 37-year wait is over! American Pharoah is FINALLY THE ONE! AMERICAN PHAROAH HAS WON THE TRIPLE CROOOOOWN!!!!"

Almost five years later, listening to that commentary STILL gives me chills, and often brings tears to my eyes. The Belmont bleachers were full of people jumping up and down, screaming and hugging, because they'd seen something historic. Pharoah's elderly trainer Bob Baffert and his family dissolved into tears in their section of the stands. Jockey Victor Espinoza punched the air in delight as Pharoah surged across the finish line in full stride and looked ready for another go. Meanwhile, I was in my apartment jumping around, full of adrenaline, HYPED, because I had not only seen great sport, but I had seen history.

This still stands out as one of the most unique sports-watching experiences of my life. Not something I normally watch, I didn't even know it was happening until a few hours before, but it was instantly historic, with an instant-classic call, and the mental image of that strong, beautiful horse charging across the finish line amidst adoring applause is one that never fails to warm my heart.