"I was there,my friend!"
Those words were uttered on more than one occasion by Arthur George "Art" Rust,Jr., a veteran of radio stations WWRL, WMCA, WINS , and WABC, NBC-TV, the New York Daily News and Amsterdam News, and author of "Get That N-----r Off The Field!", "Recollections of a Baseball Junkie," "Art Rust's Illustrated History of the Black Athlete," and the co-author of "Joe Louis, My Life" and "Daryl" by Daryl Strawberry. He used to say them, often dramatically, when recounting an important event such as the Brown Bomber's (as Louis was known) defeat of Max Schmelling, and many critics, such as WFAN's Steve Somers (who called him "Art Rust-O-leum,Jr.") and (FULL DISCLOSURE!) my bud Scott Shannon and the Public Service Director at Z100, "Professor" Jonathan B. Bell, used to see him as overly self-important and ripe for ridicule. To be perfectly honest, anybody who just tosses out those words as easily as "Good Morning," "Thank You," or "How Are You?" is worthy of a good kick in the nether regions without genuinely conveying any of the emotion felt by someone who actually WAS there.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, dogs and cats, American Pharoah broke the losing record for 37 years without a Triple Crown, or without victories in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, horse racing's signature events, and, (Wait for it,wait for it,) I WAS THERE, MY FRIEND!
I was actually there at Beautiful Belmont Park in the usually tranquil hamlet of Elmont in New York's Nassau County as American Pharoah, a Kentucky-bred bay colt owned and bred by Ahmed Zayat,trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden by Victor Espinoza, taught the other horses how to dance despite being a touch late coming out of the gate. (No rhyme intended, but don't feel offended.) He came out to an early lead and never looked back, and I had the pleasure to be in the stands for every memorable moment.
I also had the pleasure to meet another veteran sports talker (but WAY younger than Art, and fortunately, still with us since Art went to that great Garden in the sky in 2010), Anita Marks, who has graced YES (the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network), WFAN and, currently, NBC Sports Radio (Catch podcasts of her show on http://www.nbcsportsradio.com .) with her presence, and who volunteered to co-anchor ESPN New York 98.7 FM's show with Ryan Ruocco and Robin Lundberg from the Belmont Backyard. They talked with correspondents from the Worldwide Leader who followed Pharoah along his road to Belmont and stayed generally on-topic despite an exciting NBA Finals and the Yanks and Mets and THEIR early chances for a pennant. The Backyard is ideal if you want a quick snack, talk to a Belmont hall of famer, shake "hooves" with their mascots Belle and Monty, make a bet, get a T-shirt, or look out for (AHEM) Number One, (Nudge,nudge,say no more.) but there's nothing like watching a race at Belmont right on the track.
Sure there was a downside, (The day started out cold and rainy and many had traffic problems,) but,make no bones about it, the Triple Crown ended when American Pharoah was crowned King of the horse racing world...and I WAS THERE,MY FRIEND!
Steve not here!
