In the Paddock

The 2015 Triple Crown is nearly a year in the books, the 2016 edition now only days away.

There’s a new cast of characters and plenty of familiar names associated with the current crop of 3-year-old stars. There’s an undefeated colt with connections who came close to the sweep not that long ago, others trained by past horsemen who’ve succeeded on America’s biggest stage, too. There is interest in the new but make no mistake, there’s still plenty of American Pharoah fever to go around in the Bluegrass.

Minutes removed from Spotlight being awarded the Oscar for Best Picture Sunday came the predictable consensus about a film involving hard-nosed investigative journalism being awarded the top prize from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

People clutched dog-eared copies of paperbacks and worn-looking hardcovers as they filed into Page Hall on the University at Albany Downtown Campus Tuesday evening.

The books they toted – with titles such as Into The Wild, Into Thin Air, Where Men Win Glory, and Three Cups of Deceit – were as diverse as the people carrying them. Students mixed with retirees, young professionals sat alongside seasoned veterans of the white- and blue-collar workforces.

About three-quarters of the way through the Wednesday night group run and nearly finishing up the perimeter loop of Skidmore College the reality set in as the words came out of my mouth to a man half my age.

Want to become a better writer? Better storyteller? Better songwriter? Better anything?

Listen to one of the best.

Writing about winter’s arrival in the Northeast seems a bit clichéd. Alright, maybe not clichéd but perhaps a little too easy. Oh well.

You know that day when you step outside, walk less than 100 yards and immediately realize how unprepared you are for winter?

Three days in Maryland and five minutes reading Sean’s blog post Friday got me thinking.

Simply put, there is no substitute for good friends.

The morning of New Year’s Eve a text message came in from one such friend, Rick Jordan.

“Hey, let’s do something totally crazy to start off the New Year by meeting Charlie at 4:45 in the morning, knocking out 5-mile run. What do you think? Who’s in?”

The temperature just ticked a few degrees above freezing and the rain is hammering the roof.