Kent's Ride: Stride-by-stride

[ELA]

I just don't see what all the debating is about. Sure, is there a tendency to "blame" or "look for excuses" or "justification" for that matter? Yeah, I guess I can see that.

Be that as it may -- I think this is very simple. The jock did not cause this horse to lose the race -- PERIOD! Was it a textbook ride? No, but this horse on this day was not a textbook horse. There were many things going on and many contributory factors that played into the entire situation. The jock played the cards he was dealt and nobody truly knows if the cards could have been played differently. Based upon everything that was going on, it is more probable that possible, that there was nothing else that could have been done. The jock was dealing with an unmanagable, close to unmanagble, difficult to control, perhaps impossible to control, horse.

It's always easier -- very easy as a matter of fact -- to play, or replay, the hand after it's over. It's also very easy to say how it should have been played, but that's when you have the liberty of knowing the outcome or of second guessing the decision that was made.

Eric