Doggy Bag

Okay let's wrap up a few leftovers today. Put 'em in some foil, maybe in the shape of a swan if you like the fancy joints, and heat 'em up later for a tasty treat.


Belmont Stakes
I was wrong several different ways on this one. Yes, the attendance at the event was 46,870, down from 61,168 last year, and way below the 100,000+ when a horse like Smarty Jones has a shot at the Triple Crown. And, yes, the TV ratings dropped from a 3.6 to a 3.1 share, both lower than the first two games of the NBA Finals but more than double the NHL final. But it was a great race, not stunningly fast, but Rags to Riches battled Curlin down the stretch to become the first filly to win the race since 1905. I didn't see the race live, but ESPN has the replay, and it's worth a look. And that little throwaway question I posted about the rarity of three different horse winning the three legs of the Triple Crown? Well, it happened last year, Mr. Trivia, with Barbaro, Bernadini and Jazil, and this year was the third time it has happened in the last 10. So good call by me on that one.


Sopranos
Didn't watch the finale, don't watch the show except for the occasional sterilized episode on A&E, but from what I've heard and read, I think I would have liked the ending. I'm fine with ambiguity. I like when a movie starts in the middle of the action without spoonfeeding me the origins of the plot. And the same goes for endings. If you don't wrap up all the loose ends, that's okay. I don't mind trying to figure it out.


I recently watched the first season of The Wire on DVD and enjoyed it very much, so maybe I'll take the same approach with The Sopranos. And one of the most enjoyable moments of last weekend came when my son's baseball team recorded the last out of the game on Sunday at 8:23, and one of the coaches handed the scorebook to the manager, grabbed his bag, and sprinted across the field to the parking lot to make it home in time.


NBA Finals
Well, those pesky Cavaliers are getting closer, but seriously, 50 points in three quarters? Sorry, ABC, but I'll be over at TNT (or is it TBS?) for sitcom reruns until The Daily Show comes on. The good news for ABC executives is that a Spurs sweep dramatically lowers the chances that the ratings could plummet into Stanley Cup territory. And that NBA "In Harmony" promo has to be the most unwatchable waste of money on television since they gave Magic Johnson a talk show. Of course, it could easily be knocked out of first place in the category with the debut in two weeks of Shaq's Big Challenge.


Rescue Me
I'm back for more F/X TV tonight with the return of Rescue Me, which is often a bitterly hilarious and wrenchingly sad portrait of humanity, but occasionally falters into an hour of Denis Leary showing us what a wisecracking, lifesaving, hockey-playing uberstud he is (who also writes poetry and tolerates alternative lifestyles). Generally there's enough of the former to tolerate the latter.