Odysseus – the Derby dream endeth

14 04 2010

I’ve been silent since the weekend, left to ponder in solitude what might have been and what will never be.  Odysseus, the horse I’ve touted as a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender since mid-February floundered in the Toyota Blue Grass last weekend at Keeneland, sustaining an injury in the process and effectively ending the Derby dream.

Unsure of how to approach the topic, I’ve returned to my roots. It was, after all, a couple of Youtube videos from the 2007 Triple Crown season that launched this adventure here at The Aspiring Horseplayer.

In an attempt to convey (albeit in slightly humorous fashion) my thoughts and misgivings on the matter, I’m presenting the following video that plays on my favorite Youtube meme other than the infamous Keyboard Cat.

Behold:

Hitler is angry that Odysseus is off the Derby trail.

Evidently it takes a while for news to reach underground bunkers in Berlin where the fury of the der Fuhrer is awaiting his final destruction at the hands of the Red Army. :)


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45 responses

14 04 2010
G.Q.

Kev; Bummer! I felt the same way when Ron The Greek broke my heart in the LA Derby (sigh). Life and the KY Derby goes on. I cannot pick Eskendereya…it’s against my religion to pick favorites, especially in the Derby. Besides, all (12) of my blog readers are used to getting a price horse from me.

BTW – I couldn’t view Hitler’s anger over Odysseus due to copyright grounds?!

17 days and counting!

14 04 2010
Kevin Stafford

yeah, youtube is really pissing me off. There’s only 100,000 vids of the same meme already on the site with no problems – but mine they suddenly block just after uploading?

I’m switching to another site so that I can share. Check back shortly. :-)

14 04 2010
Kevin Stafford

There we go – It’s back up now!

14 04 2010
Kurt

I have never seen anything so funny. That was freakin’ great!

14 04 2010
tencentcielo

This is how i felt after i found that William’s Kitten was hurt. Now you know my pain. :-(

After “sleeping around” with a few horses, i found one in a spot i never expected to. Hopefully you will do the same before Derby Day. :-)

(BTW, it probably was intentional, but you do know its Polytrack and not Tapeta @ Keeneland, right?) :-)

15 04 2010
Valerie

Oh, my God, Kevin, that’s is the f’ing funniest video EVER!! Love it, love it! (But, tencentcielo is right…Keeneland is Polytrack:-)

15 04 2010
Kevin Stafford

It actually wasn’t intentional and I should’ve caught that – I blame insomnia and the fact that Windows Movie Maker kept crashing on me and losing all of my work (I had to start over about a half-dozen times from scratch – by the end I was about as furious as Hitler).

There’s actually a couple of edits I want to make (like the part where the subtitles get itsy bitsy as well), that I couldn’t detect until the video was published.

15 04 2010
Kevin Stafford

FYI – I’ve edited a bit to cleanup. New version has replaced original (still basically the same clip).

Those responsible for the Tapeta/Polytrack mixup have been sacked. Come see the Majestic Moose.

15 04 2010
mibredclaimer

This is among the greatest things I have ever seen in the history of the internets. Bravo, my good man. This is great.

15 04 2010
Nick

Fantastic video, funniest thing I’ve seen in awhile that’s for sure

15 04 2010
Tony

Nice work Big Man–looking forward to your Derby Prediction in a couple of weeks.
I will check back in with mine.

15 04 2010
Toni

Awesome! I love your videos. Especially this one, since you’re the one who sold me on Odysseus in the first place.
This year I guess I’ll just have to bet on whoever breaks from post 8 or has 8 in the name, since that’s done pretty well in the past – hope 85ina50 makes it in!

15 04 2010
Alan H.

Great work, Kevin! I share the Fuhrer’s disappointment.

15 04 2010
Amy Stafford

I Love it! I blame the aspiring horseplayer for everything that goes wrong as well :)

15 04 2010
ernie Munick

Video – “Like”

Albertrani deciding to go Poly – “Dislike”

15 04 2010
ernie Munick

Hitler’s right, btw. He IS the laughingstock of Twitter and Facebook and he IS a—don’t wanna give away lines

15 04 2010
Superfecta

WIN!

15 04 2010
Kevin Stafford

I’m so glad you guys enjoyed this. You never quite know how a “Hitler” themed post is going to be received. Plus, I’ve generally kept away from vulgarity here in the interests of public decency, but I had to let loose with this one. I love you guys – thanks for the positive feedback! :)

15 04 2010
Kevin Stafford

Just noticed he says “gooddamn” instead of “goddamn” at one point. This is why friends don’t let friends edit videos after midnight on weekdays. :)

15 04 2010
mike

I hope he is back one day. He would have added a lot of excitment to the Derby. I knew something was wrong when he just dropped back quickly. I always wait until the news comes out.

15 04 2010
Brian Appleton

Kevin, this was hilarious and brilliant! This is what makes your blog so great, you are fearless when it comes to new ideas, nice job, I laughed my head off!! :)

15 04 2010
nancy

Well done!

16 04 2010
Amateurcapper

Kevin

I’m not worthy…not a fan of subtitles/foreign films, but when they’re as hilarious as this I just can’t turn it off!!! Also not prone to profanity, but that was funny $h!+ !!!

I’m sorry about your hoss but there’s a chance he won’t even have surgery…Sanan said on Steve Byk’s show that they’re waiting for the inflammation to subside before the vet gives his final plan of care. I believe they need to scope it and ODYSSEUS will be back in training by August. Future book Clark H. favorite?

On a more serious note, do you suppose his in/out Tampa Bay Derby win was the start of his problem? A talented dude like this one just doesn’t back out and come again unless they’re in pain. I believe the bone chip (reportedly in the back of the knee) was present prior to the Blue Grass, floated into the joint causing him pain and he stopped putting out, then it floated into a gap where there are no pain receptors and ODYSSEUS re-rallied for the win. Sound feasible?

16 04 2010
nonnonheinous

That was awesome!

(and “Downfall” is a great movie)

16 04 2010
G.Q.

Kev; OMG! LMFAO! I am soooo glad I checked back to see this. No lie, if more people followed the sport we all love, this would be worth a sport on SNL!

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!!!

BTW – Polytrack…Tapeta…Pro-Ride…like Mein Fuhrer sez, it’s all synthetic sh-t!

17 04 2010
JRP

Kevin,

Very clever. Indeed, you never know how a Hitler reference will play. But this worked because of the marriage of handicapper rage and one of the world’s most despicable humans. Good work.

17 04 2010
Laura

Kevin,
That was terrrrrifffic!!! Had me LMAO! I had the “Hitler Does Handigambling” link but You Tube took that down too. I’ll add a link to this at my website – it can be part of the Derby Preview chat next Friday night.

Laura

17 04 2010
Sophia

That was great! Nice work.

17 04 2010
Adrian

This is making the rounds at Emerald Downs this morning and tears of laughter are flowing. Awesome job!

18 04 2010
Steve M.

Great job Kevin, effin’ hilarious! Loved the bit about Hitler cleaning up after Tijuana donkey shows to make extra cash – just brilliant.

18 04 2010
Kevin Stafford

Laura, that “Hitler does Handigambling” piece was INFINITELY more spectacular than my humble offering. I hope everyone had a chance to see it. They used more rare clips (at least from the norm for this meme) – not just the infamous “argument scene” I used. I wanted to link back to it as a previous reference, but no link seemed available. If you find one, please share it – it’s FANTASTIC! A Must-Watch.

The basic premise I used is such a popular genre over on Youtube that the NY Times had an article on how to make your own “Downfall” parody. It’s ridiculously easy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/technology/personaltech/25basics.html

It’s ability to humorously parody ANYTHING happening in the world – from politics, to sports, to video gaming, to “reality” TV – is bewildering. In time it will branch out to other foreign language films, I’m sure, but the “tension” of these scenes is what makes them so absurdly funny.

Being a bit of a film geek, the guy portraying Burgdorf (the one who in my clip argues that “Keeneland is a respected track and the Blue Grass an established prep”) is absolutely phenomenal in this scene. Usually all of the attention is focused on the portrayal of Hitler, but Burgdorf is the subordinate character that stands out. In the scene – he’s telling Hitler that his claims of betrayal from his Generals in the Army are “outrageous” (the entire blow-up scene being predicated on the news being broke to der fuhrer that a counter attack by Gen. Steiner on the advancing Red Army has not been carried out despite his orders).

Thanks everyone – glad I could help bring a smile to so many people’s faces this weekend.

18 04 2010
Bob Smollen

I thought that was C. Ken Dunn when the rain came down today and washed out another of Gulfstream’s “All Turf Pick 4s.”

18 04 2010
Sarah K. Andrew

Classic!!!

19 04 2010
Glenn Craven

O … M … G … that was funny!

“Don’t worry, the donkey could never replace you!”

19 04 2010
Geno

Kev,

I’m speechless. That was absolutely classic material. You have my vote for blog post of the year.

Geno

20 04 2010
pete denk

Best use of the Hitler clip yet.

I am not a fan of going dirt to poly, especially when timing is critical on the TC trail.

21 04 2010
tencentcielo

Still loving it!

Now the nation awaits for the end of the Kentucky Derby rankings heptalogy: The Seventh Sin(gle). :-)

21 04 2010
Kevin Stafford

I know…gotta get to work on that soon. Been so busy all the time that it’s been near impossible to find time to write anything. Thank god for parody videos! :)

22 04 2010
John

Funniest horse racing related humor I have ever seen. An absolute classic.

26 04 2010
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[...] Note: no worries – it doesn’t appear that Der Fuhrer has yet received word of Eskendereya’s injury.  [...]

30 04 2010
Selections for Kentucky Derby Saturday « THE ASPIRING HORSEPLAYER

[...] Informed Decision will likely attract much of the attention in the Humana Distaff, but count me among those concerned by the seasonal debut in which she was defeated by Dr. Zic and Dubai Majesty.  She’s going to be a very short price, but I don’t think she’s anywhere near as bulletproof from an exotic betting standpoint as Hot Dixie Chick is in Race 6.  I’m going to be playing Warbling here, who comes off three consecutive fairly strong performances and picks up the services of Ramon Dominguez.  Warbling is listed at 8/1 compared to 2/1 on Informed Decision – so it’s a value play all the way.  I may have loved Informed Decision in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last fall, but I’m not feeling confident here.  You could honestly make a case for the entire field in the underneath positions of your exotics, even though I settled on likely pace player Dr. Zic,  so “…bet on who you will.” [...]

2 05 2010
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[...] contenders Line of David, Homeboykris, and Discreetly Mine (twice) – not to mention a certain chestnut named Odysseus that we were fond of here.  The same Super Saver that lucky fan Glenn Fullerton supported with a $100,000 win wager he had [...]

30 05 2010
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3 06 2010
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[...] I was watching Odysseus win the Tampa Bay Derby and wishing he would earn his way into the Derby.  We all know how that played out.  In other ways it seems a lifetime has passed since Lookin at Lucky finally got the trip he [...]

27 07 2011
mahim2

In the horse racing world there is a ton of information and different systems available to improve handicapping. Throughout years of reading and research the only true way to become very successful at handicapping boils down to 3 key principles. With knowledge, the ability to adapt to different situations, and discipline to do the work spending time on your selections you will dominate any track you come across. There are so many factors that can affect any given race that some races you can look at a hundred different times and still be dumbfounded.

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