Ex-Post reporter picks Derby winner

Besides being a top-notch journalist, Felix Sanchez, formerly of The Houston Post, always had an inordinate amount of luck. The guy'd take a big, wild-ass, John Daly-like swing on the fairway and, boom, put the ball with a foot or two of the cup. On the job, he'd come across as the easy-going, nice guy then, boom, attack like a shark with some story no one else had. And another thing, women always seemed to like him more than he really deserved. Hard to figure.

These days he's out in California, working for like his third or fourth paper in the Golden State since The Post closed, and I don't hear much from him any more, except when he sees fit to tell me how great California is, or how he's still one of the luckiest sumbitches in the land.

Like today. He emails to say he picked the 50-1 longshot in yesterday's Kentucky Derby. Sanchez writes:

I must bow down to the greatness that is former New York Rangers goalie, Ed
Giacomin!!!!! EDDIE!!!

So some friends and I at work Friday night are thinking, it's Kentucky Derby
time and we must place some wagers. So we head down to the Los Alamitos
Horse Racing Course and do some Derby future wagers. I'm wondering, okay,
besides these trifecta bets on the favorites what longshot should I put some
money on??? Hmmm. I look down the list and lo and behold I see......GIACOMO.
Reminds me of that great goaltender from the Rangers, I telll a coworker,
guy named Ed Giacomin.

So I go to the trusty window and lay out my bets and say, $5 to win for
Giacomo.

Well, the rest is history, baby. $104 payout on a $2 bet. You do the math.
Let's just say I'm a Giacomin/Giacomo fan for life.

Went to the track last night to collect and laid down $40 of my winnings on
some races and hit a couple but, alas, my luck was all used up - I lost
three trifecta wagers on photo finishes for third place. DAMN!

Also, I almost, ALMOST - and you heard a lot of this last night among the
"Yeah, I was gonna bet Giacomo" crowd - but this is true, I almost laid down
a $2 exacta box on Giacomo and Closing Argument. A good friend covers courts
here and someone said, hey, you should bet Closing Argument for Wendy. Damn!

Well, no, that's just Sunday morning quarterbacking, revisionist history. I
am satisfied! And I am eternally grateful to one Ed Giacomin, New York
Ranger extraordinaire.

See ya!

See what I mean?