Off we go

First things first, good to have back those of you who graciously humored me last year, and a hearty welcome to any newcomers swinging their browser 'round these parts for the first time. My name is Joe Bianca, and I'm a 20-year-old horseplayer wannabe from Brooklyn, New York. Just to get you caught up on what you missed from last summer, Steve Byk is my hero, my new buddy Matt had a routinely sharp meet, taking in country life with some local fillies until puking all over one of their cars was cool, Bernardini became the apple of my eye, gave myself a drunken mohawk one night, bet some pitiful tracks on boring Tuesdays, lived and died on tips as a Carolina Barbecue slave, um..

Good stuff. All in all, it was a hell of a six weeks, but a few things irked me and left me with minor regrets.

For one, as much fun as upstate New York turned out to be, I really only got to see Steve's house and the racetrack while there. And while both are palaces in their own right, I think it sucked that I didn't experience and subsequently gab to you about the town of Saratoga Springs, which reportedly is pretty flippin' cool. Different story this year. I'll only be working/slaving weeks 2-5, and the rest of the time will be dedicated to consuming and sharing as much of the FULL 'Toga experience as possible.

Secondly, and this is a common gripe from people like me, I didn't do as well as I wanted to while playing the horses last summer. Broke about even, which can theoretically be viewed as a success and sure as hell beats losing, but didn't feel all that rewarding considering how much time was spent handicapping. Can't guarantee it will be a different story this year, but one can hope.

Thirdly, looking back on last year's blog, it.. well.. it kinda sucked. It was fun and everything, and I'm ultra-pleased that so many people enjoyed it, but there was too much filler, mad repetitiveness and way too much fucking swearing. Too god damn motherfucking much swearing.

However, there WAS substantial positive feedback on the thing, which gives me hope that if I really tried my hardest to make this a truly kickass blog, I could do it. So that's what I'm fixin' to do.

That's the main reason for the URL switch. I don't want last year's Diary getting its filthy cooties on the '07 version. Last year was basically random thought after random thought after random thought, which is cool, but that shouldn't be the recipe for every entry. This time around, there will be a discernable purpose to most entries, even if that purpose is just to kick an entertaining anecdote at you, and an underlying purpose to the entire blog, geared towards making this a USEFUL as well as fun blog.

On the handicapping side, there will be plenty of information gathered and dispensed on here, with the hopes of making this a successful meet for any and all readers as well as myself. As soon as I discover some to share, there will be constantly updated lists of developing trends (often the keys to big scores if properly used) and watch horses in addition to the daily observational entries.

On the social and even more frivolous side, there will be detailed entries undoubtedly chocked with bad jokes, stories of near-misses with chicks, pictures of adventures and people encountered along the way, and so forth.

Another note: Last year's format was too strict in one sense, that the one-entry-a-day thing was often too restrictive and also often too taxing. Expect multiple entries on most days, but a few days with no entries. You'll get your money's worth.

Think of it as a mix of DRF, Deadspin and the '06 Diary of a Summer.

There's plenty to look forward to this meet, with one of the best three-year-old crops of this decade mostly being aimed for SAR races, starting with Street Sense opening weekend in The Jim Dandy. There's the Sumwonlovesyou saga, as Derby Trail's pride and joy seeks her first win for the stable after a number of very solid seconds. There's the apparent scores of DT members converging at America's Racetrack, which promises to be a clusterfuck of historic proportion. There's the constant suspense over whether or not Steve's eyeballs will rocket out of his skull like water out of a fire hose with all of the stress he's bound to be under. I tell ya', it should be eventful at the very least.

Right now, I'm still in Brooklyn, but will be shooting up to SS sometime on Tuesday, from where we'll run through the opening day races and get things underway.

The forecast is dry, the first card is drawn, the flights and hotels are booked, the excitement is palpable. Very glad you're along for the ride.