In news that stunned the horse racing bulletin board industry, HP was retired today from all board postings.
His trainer, Mrs. HP, said \"he still loves to argue and types a blue streak, but he\'s addicted to it and we can\'t live on his posting revenues.\"
The Derby, said Mrs. HP, may have been the last straw for the 40 year old from Brooklyn out of a stout line of Eastern Europeans. \"He was looking at the sheets all week. I took one look and told him \'War Emblem\'. I told him to call Jerry but he\'s very stubborn. If he bought the sheets he could have got the seminar too, but he wouldn\'t watch it.\"
\"When I came home Saturday after the Derby, he was laying on the floor next to an empty bottle of Bushmill\'s. I asked him who won and he didn\'t say anything, but he banged his head into the wall and hurt himself, and then he started posting. He hasn\'t stopped since. I think it\'s okay for him to keep playing, but the posting is just taking up too much time. All good things must come to an end, I guess.\"
Gary Stevens, defended by HP after passing a buzzer to Pat Day after winning the Derby on Thunder Gulch, said, \"hey I sent him a check and he went after them (my accusers) like gangbusters. I miss him already.\"
Jerry Brown, who learned his craft at HP\'s elbow, was contacted in Zurich on his way to his bank, and said \"I was going to take this money (pointing to a satchel) throw it all over the bed and roll around on it for an hour, but now I will only take a half an hour.\" When further pressed for a reaction, Brown said, \"good!\" and strolled away.
HP will stand at Loudmouth Farm in Somewhere, New Jersey. --from Associated Press reports.
LOL - HP Do you even get a gold watch for your retirement?
I was due for a good laugh & you provided it in spades HP. It\'s also good to see that someone else is willing to finally put the Derby to bed. There\'s a $346k pic 6 carryover up for grabs at CD Wed & I think it\'s going to take more than $1700 to have a reasonable chance to hit it. Syndicate time?
Count me in on the syndicate, although I am under 30 yrs old so you will have to trust me. LOL
Kudos on the post HP. That was truly excellent. When I found time, I read your posts today and had the distinct feeling you were running sore and running often and that in all likelihood you were heading for a breakdown. I predicted the announcement of your retirement and got 19-1 in Vegas that today would be the day. I let my Derby winnings ride. Needless to say, I\'m on a roll.
The greatest sprinter I ever saw was Hooting Star. He also retired to stud sore. It turned out that he was infertile and returned to the track to race. I hope your handlers reconsider your premature retirement, but if they don\'t I may have to wish infertility upon you. That post was scintillating.
Tabitha
Nice exit there HP, glad to see some good humor after a tough week. Well done!!!
also, credit the Mrs.HP.... giving you the OK to head to stud at age 40..... I hope I get the same OK from my wife at age 40.
Cheers
You\'ll be missed. Sounds like you\'ll be covering a top-notch mare. Enjoy the bliss of biting your lip \'til it bleeds everytime you sneak a peek at the board.
A final note; it was a buzzer? I thought it was a black book containing JB\'s \'95 Derby picks! LOL
When I was a kid my old man let me watch TV only a specified number of hours per week. Maybe you can get the same deal from Sarah- I\'ll give you a note if you like. Great post, but say it ain\'t so, pal.
I second TGJB\'s comment... First we lose HP and now Seattle Slew? Not right.
Talk about going out with a bang though... DAMN! A memorable post to say the least.
HP: This won\'t be as easy as you think. Go to the other board and take a look at Plever\'s (Stevie Wonder\'s) reply in the Barry Irwin string. Abstinence sucks.
You have only yourself to blame for the abstinence thing and frankly, given their behavior in general, I don\'t think you should stick to it- but I\'m biased. Plever is an @!#$- you know it, I know it, and he knows it- and he likes to re-write history. This particular post, while classless, is harmless, although I appreciate your concern, and know there are larger issues- that Irwin\'s crack didn\'t just insult me.
Meanwhile, speaking of rewriting history- of more concern to me(for obvious reasons)is that Friedman\'s Derby analysis, which featured two keys(including the favorite), neither of which made the top 4, and a total of 10 horses to use(of which Proud Citizen was not one)is quickly becoming a handicapping victory. I wonder if anyone has sat down to figure out how much it would cost to key 2 different horses with that many others in exactas, tris,and supers. And that doesn\'t count the win bets he would have been preening about if either won. And NONE of those plays would have cashed.
JB: Steve Plever is a solipsistic degenerate cretin and a moral scofflaw. I don\'t imagine that he will apologize for confusing me with someone else and accusing me of wanting Barry Irwin dead, but I do expect him to tell Jake that what I wrote was 100 percent accurate. Jake called me a \"bold faced\" liar. Plever knows that is bold-faced BS, but he hasn\'t said a word. It disgraces the state of North Carolina to have a rank scoundrel of this rank teaching there. Anyone who doubts that Steve Plever is dishonest to the core should ask himself a simple question: What would Plever do if YOU told a terrorist joke while firemen were risking their lives trying to find live bodies in the rubble? I will keep my word about not posting on the other board, but if Plever ever again drops hints (\"arms length\") about an idiotic inference he drew from private email, I will stop sanitizing my words on this board.
Well Aly, it was quite ironic that Plever confused us in this whole episode. I couldn\'t quite give up posting until that particular chapter was closed.
And now, adieu for good. I too will keep my word. --HP
Alydar in California wrote:
>
> JB: Steve Plever is a solipsistic degenerate cretin and a
> moral scofflaw. I don\'t imagine that he will apologize for
> confusing me with someone else and accusing me of wanting
> Barry Irwin dead, but I do expect him to tell Jake that what
> I wrote was 100 percent accurate. Jake called me a \"bold
> faced\" liar. Plever knows that is bold-faced BS, but he
> hasn\'t said a word. It disgraces the state of North Carolina
> to have a rank scoundrel of this rank teaching there. Anyone
> who doubts that Steve Plever is dishonest to the core should
> ask himself a simple question: What would Plever do if YOU
> told a terrorist joke while firemen were risking their lives
> trying to find live bodies in the rubble? I will keep my word
> about not posting on the other board, but if Plever ever
> again drops hints (\"arms length\") about an idiotic inference
> he drew from private email, I will stop sanitizing my words
> on this board.
TG--Plever is a beaut. I think Jake really thinks you lied (though I don\'t remember what Plever said, I don\'t--it would be out of character), so here\'s my question to Jake:
All those other times, when I and others made points and accused Ragozin employees of bad behavior (my lawyer\'s letter, for example)--you didn\'t call us liars, just ignored it. Are you conceding the accusations were true? If not, why didn\'t you respond then, and why respond now to Alydar?
JB: Plever received \"thanks\" and \"chuckles\" (read: \"encouragement\") from people in Ragozin\'s office for his efforts here. Later, they suggested that he stop, which is rock-solid proof that they knew what he was trying to do, and that they thought he wasn\'t worth a damn at it. I don\'t think Jake was lying. He is no Plever. Few are. (Source: Steve Plever, in April of last year.)
HP: You went out in style--on both boards.
Scrapping thru the Archives I found this one.
It really was true wasn\'t it.....