Captain Canaveral Wins!
| 6th race - Canterbury Park - June 14, 2009 | |||||
| Off at: 3:48 Race Type: Claiming | |||||
| Age Restriction:
Three Year Old and Upward |
|||||
| Value of Race: $13,980 | |||||
| Distance: Six Furlongs | |||||
| Surface Type: Dirt Track Condition: Fast | |||||
| Winning Time: 1:11.09 | |||||
| Pgm | Horse | Jockey | Win | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Captain Canaveral | Jose C. Ferrer | 4.60 | 3.40 | 2.60 |
| 7 | Sax Notes | Adolfo A. Morales | 10.80 | 5.20 | |
| 8 | Cry Me No River | Derek C. Bell | 4.80 | ||
| Also ran:
5 - He’s No Piker , |
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| Scratched horses: The Rock E F | |||||
| Wager Type | Winning Numbers | Payoff | |||
| $1 Pick 3 | 1-7-6 (3 correct) | 137.80 | |||
| $1 Exacta | 6-7 | 15.20 | |||
| $1 Superfecta | 6-7-8-5 | 1,444.40 | |||
| $1 Trifecta | 6-7-8 | 184.90 | |||
| Winning Breeder: Jeff H. Hilger | |||||
| Winning Owner: Arlandson, Scott and Sleipner Stable, LLC | |||||
| Winning Trainer: Tammy Domenosky | |||||
When I Grow Up I Want To Be the NHL Commissioner
It’s June 13th, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings last night in a great Game Seven. Detroit has pretty good hockey fans and I was impressed by the fact that a significant portion of them stuck around to watch the fanfare of the Penguins celebration upon receiving the holiest of all sport’s trophies, the Stanley Cup. I was on Twitter while watching this and found it funny that people thought the Detroit fans were booing the Penguins at the onset of the ceremony. There were several sharp NHL minds who quickly cleared up any bad intel on the Twittertopia by informing everyone that in fact the Detroit faithful were booing the man on the ice with the severe hair part, the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. This made me take a little time to think about what kind of a job Mr. Bettman has done.
Gary Bettman became Commissioner of the NHL in 1993. He in fact is the only Commissioner the league has ever had although that technically is just a matter of semantics as the league previous called the head honcho President. His prior work experience had been with the front office of the NBA where he had rose to #3 in charge. Proponents of Bettman cite the league’s increase in revenues and geographical expansion as some of his greatest successes.
While I do think that Mr. Bettman has worked hard to improve the league, I find myself too frequently troubled by the direction that the league is going. Under his watch the league has had two separate league-initiated work stoppages. Revenues may be up, but that does not mean that the league is on firm financial ground. Within the last month, the Phoenix Coyotes have begun bankruptcy proceedings.
The expansion of the league is also an area that I have a problem with. During the Bettman years, the North Stars moved from Minnesota to Dallas, the Nordiques from Quebec to Denver, the Jets from Winnipeg to Phoenix, the Whalers from Hartford to North Carolina, and expansion teams were placed in Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus & St. Paul. The Anaheim & Florida franchises began in 1993, but those plans were set in motion before Bettman’s start. Of all of these moves, the St. Paul expansion was the only one I agreed with, and that was only necessary to correct a previous wrong. I also believe that Denver deserves a team, but not at the expense Quebec City.
There are many other issues that I have with the management of the league I love. I find it disheartening that the vast majority of the NHL Playoffs are played on a network that most people cannot find on the television. Don’t misinterpret this point. I think that Versus did a great job of bringing the American audience the playoffs but they are not in the same universe as ESPN or even FSN. To most they are still the bicycling and fishing network. I also have issues with many on-ice aspects of the game. I am still appalled at the wrist-slapping that Todd Bertuzzi got, while the true gentlemen pugilists of the games have been forced to be treated like pariah. I applaud innovations like the Winter Classic outdoor games, but then become frustrated at how a truly great concept has been restricted to only one game a year.
Here’s one thing that has always bugged me about Gary Bettman. I have no idea whether or not the guy can ice skate. Now I’m not saying that skating is a necessary prerequisite to his job, but for the high seven figure annual salary he makes, I would’ve hired a personal skating coach. If he’s tired of getting booed in every city he shows up, then maybe throwing on a pair of skates with a Lemieux throwback sweater would’ve been a better wardrobe choice than the Brook Brothers business suit with the loafers that cost more than what the true fan up in section 215 of Joe Louis Arena made last year.
Here’s the bottom line, I realize there isn’t currently an opening, but I’d like the job. From time to time in this space, I’ll lay out some of the things I think the league does right, but probably more often I’ll address some of the NHL shortcomings and how I’d fix it. Some ideas will be reasonable, some will be outlandish, but in the end I hope you enjoy the posts. If you happen to own an NHL team, feel free to pass this along to your fellow owners, and upon request, references can be made available.
Captain Canaveral Races on June 14th
Canterbury Park | 6th Race | 6.14.09 @ 3:45 p.m.
6 Furlongs | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Claiming ($15,000 - $10,000) | Purse: $12,000
| Prg. # | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | ML |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caleb Boy | Williams D R | Huntington Dougal A | 8-1 |
| 2 | Mack’s Monarch | Nolan P M | Ness Jamie | 8-1 |
| 3 | Wham | Hebert T J | Riggs Roger W | 9-2 |
| 4 | Timetobook | Butler D P | Hoffrogge Todd M | 5-1 |
| 5 | He’s No Piker | Eikleberry R | Robertson McLean | 8-1 |
| 6 | Captain Canaveral | Ferrer J C | Domenosky Tammy | 3-1 |
| 7 | Sax Notes | Morales A A | Van Winkle David W | 8-1 |
| 8 | Cry Me No River | Bell D C | Rarick Randy | 12-1 |
| 9 | The Rock E F | Goodwin N | Biehler Michael | 6-1 |
The Quintessential Highlight of the Tony Awards
If you thought there was any chance that Broadway types are also Hair Metal fans, here’s irrefutable evidence to the contrary.
