You'll have to forgive Anthony Knott for being a tad overzealous.
For 28 years, the jockey raced horses with the same result: A loss. It was enough to make sure the English dairy farmer keep his day job. But last week, Knott finally broke through and won the first race of his career -- an event so exciting he stood up in his irons prematurely to wave to the crowd and nearly was overtaken in the final furlong.
"I'm a bit unaccustomed to victory," Knott told the London Daily Mail. "And as I was coming into the final part of the race there was a massive roar from the crowd.
"It was just instinct to stand up and give them a wave. I wasn't thinking straight for a minute.
"Then I thought, 'Oh God, it's not finished yet' and I could hear another horse coming up behind me so I sat back down and got on with it."
After the win, Knott took the logical step of going out on top and retired.
"I'm over the moon -- 28 years is a long time to wait for a victory," he said. "I just wanted to win one race, and I've done it now so I think I'll leave it at that."
Maybe the Detroit Lions should consider a similar strategy.
Not a Cleveland Indian
How desperate are the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitching help? They recently signed two 20-year-old pitchers from India who had never picked up a Baseball before competing in a reality show in their home country called "Million Dollar Arm."
Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel were the top finishers. Neither threw hard enough to win the top prize of $1 million, but Singh earned $100,000 and Patel $2,500 plus a trip to the United States. Six months ago, they moved here and began working with USC pitching coach Tom House.
They're believed to be first athletes from India to sign pro Baseball contracts outside their country. The Associated Press reported the news with the head-line: "Pirates sign Indian -- not Cleveland -- pitchers."
I suppose we should thank the headline writes for pointing out how out-of-date Cleveland's nickname is. At least it's not as bad as Washington's in the NFL.
And finally
The Oakland Raiders' offense this season has been described in many ways (many unprintable), but in a select few theaters on Dec. 4, the Raiders will upgrade to three-dimensional. In theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston, their game against the San Diego Chargers can be seen in 3-D.
According to the L.A. Times, the game is seen as a preliminary step in a long road to eventual regular 3-D broadcasts of NFL games.
Just watch out for those misfired passes. They'll seem so lifelike it will be easy to freak out.
Quickly
Reader response: From Jerry Donovan: "Having the Michigan High School Football Championships at Ford Field is like having prom at a penitentiary."
