Althouse: I was rooting for California Chrome not to win the Triple Crown.

June 7, 2014

I was rooting for California Chrome not to win the Triple Crown.

Weren't you? I'm interested in my psychology here.

49 comments:

Anonymous said...: I'm still all broken up about Smarty Jones.; 6/7/14, 6:36 PM
rhhardin said...: It would have been nice.

It's hard to do because the races are different lengths, and the winner of one is not likely to be the best against a horse that specializes an another length.

Just as milers are not winning hundred yard dashes, usually. It's a different talent.; 6/7/14, 6:38 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "It's hard to do…"

Yeah, that's the point. Frequently, a horse wins the first 2 races. Every time that happens and then the third is lost it adds luster to the previous Triple Crown winners.

So that could be one explanation for my preference: I like thinking that it's a very difficult achievement.

But I do think there's a darker version of my psychology, within which I'm simply anti-achievement. I want failure.

Other evidence of that is my rooting for Hillary Clinton to lose. I have a desire for her to lose that is disconnected from my other political preferences.

And I think if, as before, things got started and she lost ground and became a longshot, I would on some primal level want to see her get back into the lead.; 6/7/14, 6:45 PM
David Duffy said...: I want winners of important things to be truly great, or at least someone (something) I can look up to. Chrome's time in the races were not really great. I would rather see a horse that set records at each race.

The last President I really looked up to was George HW Bush--left the ivy league to fly a torpedo bomber in the war, paid his dues in politics and the CIA. Look at the the folks we have had since. Nothing much to admire.; 6/7/14, 7:04 PM
Saint Croix said...: That's funny, I was also pulling for the horse to lose. I just hated the name. Maybe I'm not a Google fan? Or I hate California. I think "California Chrome" and I think Google millionaires, and the millionaires who buy racehorses.

And I have no idea why they named the horse. Maybe they named the horse for his coloring. That was just my reaction to the name. Also I think "metallic." Ugh!

If they named him Hi Ho Silver I would have been all for it. And watched the race!; 6/7/14, 7:10 PM
Unknown said...: Horse names are getting worse. Flicka I could pull for.; 6/7/14, 7:17 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Ambulatory sack of dog food wrecked my trifectas.; 6/7/14, 7:17 PM
Sam L. said...: Why do you hate that horse!? Or is it the jockey or the owner you hate?
Or are you simply and anti-equinist?; 6/7/14, 7:21 PM
LYNNDH said...: Now we know why you voted for Obama - you are "simply anti-achievement."; 6/7/14, 7:42 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @LYNNDH

Good point.

I think I want everyone to lose. I don't think anyone should be President, so I lean toward some underdog.

But in the end, someone must win.; 6/7/14, 7:50 PM
Big Mike said...: But I do think there's a darker version of my psychology, within which I'm simply anti-achievement. I want failure.

Something very feminist in that desire.

And I think if, as before, things got started and [Hillary Clinton] lost ground and became a longshot, I would on some primal level want to see her get back into the lead.

And that's presumably regardless of whether she'd make a good president? Hmmm. Meade, please keep her home on November 8, 2016.; 6/7/14, 7:50 PM
Big Mike said...: But in the end, someone must win.

And it would be good if that someone happened to be a person up to the job, wouldn't it?; 6/7/14, 7:51 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "I'm interested in my psychology here."

You despise media-generated narratives that are assumed to take on importance in your life upon contact? Think about it:

Did you give a FUCK about horse racing yesterday?; 6/7/14, 8:01 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Wanting the horse to lose is a demand for your life back,...; 6/7/14, 8:01 PM
avwh said...: "But in the end, someone must win."

True. But the guy you voted for is as close to "nobody" as we've ever had in the WH.; 6/7/14, 8:21 PM
Gospace said...: Didn't care. Didn't watch. Still don't care.; 6/7/14, 8:24 PM
Unknown said...: I want failure.

That explains your Obama vote.; 6/7/14, 8:52 PM
traditionalguy said...: Outside real cattle ranch duties not now done on three wheelers and Jeeps, horses have become a leisure class status symbol. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Some of the richest snobs I know brag and swoon over Derby Week like their own upper crust Super Bowl.

I suspect the Media is so desperate for any other narrative than Obama destructiveness, that they have tried filibustering the airtime with a Seabiscuit type story of USA horse worshiping that demands attention for at least a week.; 6/7/14, 8:58 PM
The Godfather said...: I didn't know until I saw your post how the race came out. We had DVRed it, but then forgot about it.

I really don't understand rooting for someone to lose. I certainly understand rooting for an underdog to beat the favorite, but that's still positive.

@Althouse, you have the beginnings of a perspective on yourself. Keep working on that. Don't post about it until you've resolved it: We won't be any help.; 6/7/14, 9:03 PM
firstHat said...: @Saint Croix .. His name actually references the fact the he is a horse racing outsider and not the minion of tycoons who wouldn't be bothered by a horse of his lineage or color. He's a California bred horse who has "gaudy chrome" markings (white feet and wide white blaze) .

As for those of you not rooting for him because his other two wins somehow pushed him out of under dog status should rethink. He was the under dog already by being the gaudy ill bred animal with the audacity to pretend he might win such a prestigious title.; 6/7/14, 9:11 PM
Anonymous said...: I was rooting for him as far as it goes. I felt bad for him - as a horse, that is - and all the media pressure put on him. I wasn't rooting for his investors.

Not wanting anyone to be President is something I can understand. My theory is that the public is reminded every four years that they are being ridden. If one rider is just like another, you barely have to stir as the they change over. But if something is markedly different - race, gender, generation - you might startle a bit and can taste the bit in your mouth and feel the spurs in your side, at which point, you shout, "Oh Hell NO!" and this can be translated as sexism or racism, but it's really just a painful recognition at your position in the overall scheme of things.; 6/7/14, 9:34 PM
D. B. Light said...: I couldn't care less about horse races, but I am rooting for Hillary to lose because the Clintons make my skin crawl.; 6/7/14, 9:57 PM
L Day said...: I grew up in the central bluegrass, no money in my family, but several relatives worked on horse farms and some of my fondest memories are of the times I spent on these farms with my country cousins. Having grown up in that environment, I appreciate thoroughbred racing and what an incredibly rare occurrence a Triple Crown winner will be in the modern era. I cheered for California Chrome to win because I love underdogs and I knew that he was a long shot, no matter the official odds. Thirty six years is a long time. Unless there's a rule change it may be a very long time before we see the next Triple Crown winner.; 6/7/14, 10:15 PM
Gospace said...: The Godfather said...

I really don't understand rooting for someone to lose. I certainly understand rooting for an underdog to beat the favorite, but that's still positive.
***********
Off the top of my head, Cowboys and Redskins in football, and Yankees and Red Sox in baseball have legions of anti-fans nationwide who root for them to lose everytime they play.

Any other team I can think of has regional or rival city anti-fans. None nearly as widespread as the anti-fan feeling for those four teams that I'm aware of.; 6/7/14, 10:22 PM
Lyle said...: I was rooting against him too.; 6/7/14, 11:09 PM
Wayne said...: Secretariat. 41 years. Still records in all 3 races. There is your excellence.; 6/7/14, 11:26 PM
SukieTawdry said...: So that could be one explanation for my preference: I like thinking that it's a very difficult achievement.

It is a very difficult achievement. I consider both Triple Crowns (baseball and horse racing) to be the most difficult achievements in all of sports. The Grand Slams in golf and tennis follow closely behind.

New York to Chrome: You can go back to California now. You didn't make it here.; 6/7/14, 11:29 PM
Anonymous said...: " I'm simply anti-achievement. I want failure."

If that attitude of yours comes across in the classroom, you might ask yourself how your students feel about it.; 6/8/14, 12:15 AM
fbsakamoto said...: Also I was rooting against him, but only for financial gain. I bet against him because I felt there was a good chance of him not winning.

A triple crown winner would be cool but a bad bet.; 6/8/14, 2:28 AM
Deirdre Mundy said...: Eh. I think it's almost impossible to divine anything about a person's psychology from statements on their blog, or (for a professor) from statements in class.

You've created a persona and you're playing a role. So you're really asking us to analyze the psychology of this 'Ann Althouse' you've created here. It's like analyzing the psychology of a character in a novel. Which can be fun.

Analyzing the persona of a blogger's carefully curated world seems less interesting to me, somehow. The blog says less about who you are than about who you want these anonymous readers to THINK you are.

You've developed a mostly cohesive blog personality, but on some posts, especially the gay marriage ones, your mask slips. I think that's why those inspire such a frenzy- it's like an actor in a period drama who lets his Bronx accent slip through. The people who don't realize that blogging is acting get upset when you break character, because they want to believe that the character is real.

But rooting against a triple crown is perfectly in character, I think.; 6/8/14, 7:08 AM
Anonymous said...: I root for the tallest, heaviest jockey.

Also: any horse named 'Spontaneous Combustion.'; 6/8/14, 7:13 AM
Robert Cook said...: I have zero interest in sporting events of any kind, team sports especially. (In fact, I find it painfully tedious to have to sit with a sporting event on tv, and the sound of them--the white noise of the crowd overlaid by the voice(s) of the announcer(s)--grate on me.)

That said, I think it would have been nice for the horse to have won the Triple Crown.; 6/8/14, 7:34 AM
wergolden said...: I was rooting for California Chrome to win. I like to band-wagon greatness.

When that horse finished fourth, though, I was positively gleeful, upon hearing the crowd collectively gasp. They seemingly just realized that the vast majority of them had bet the favorite on short odds and lost. There is something about people who follow the herd and get beat, that just makes me happy.; 6/8/14, 7:56 AM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Enh. An astonishing proportion of the time, the same horse wins the Derby and the Preakness, then goes on to lose the Belmont.

Sorry, but I was rooting for California Chrome. I do not "want failure" -- not, at any rate, so much failure that the most recent Triple Crown winner was in 1978.; 6/8/14, 8:05 AM
Anonymous said...: Commenting on the Wrong Post Drunk Guy says:

After my bikini wax I feel empowered, liberated, free. I return to the sex shop by the airport with head held high and buy more rubber and plastic penises of varying sizes and colors: I walk out of the store with three black plastic bags bulging with promise. I have a lot to teach this world, one woman at a time. I think it is wrong for you to comment on things you really don’t know about.; 6/8/14, 8:29 AM
Anonymous said...: Commenting on the Wrong Post Drunk Guy says:

At Starbucks I have a latte and spread my new plastic and rubber penises across the table. I carefully place them all parallel to each other: at first I was going to organize by size, but that is too obvious, so instead I lay them out by color to create a prism of penises while reggae plays in the background and patrons look sideways and nervous. This is the box of crayons with which I will color my world; with this thought in mind I study the display and realize I need a light green penis to fulfill the array. I collect the penises back into the black plastic bags and use the restroom. I do not flush. Proud. I think it is wrong for you to comment on things you really don’t know about.; 6/8/14, 8:39 AM
MPH said...: Angelyene. I, too, am broken up about Smarty Jones Belmont falter.; 6/8/14, 8:41 AM
Anonymous said...: Commenting on the Wrong Post Drunk Guy says:

I have a new reoccurring dream that does not involve castration: I take this as my mind evolving into a more exalted state. I am standing on the sidewalk with a table in front of me displaying my plastic and rubber penises, carefully organized by color, and I realize that all of the business women and female shoppers passing by are naked from the waist down, all of them. Some have pubic hair in its natural state, others are shaved thin or bare; there is an occasional piercing. A blonde woman with a nose ring and no pubic hair stops by and shakes her head, says only "there should be a light green one" and walks away. I begin to hyperventilate, upon which I wake up, although I don't really wake up, I wake up in my dream and go to the sex store by the airport and look desperately for a light green polyurethane penis, but there are none to be found. Orange, black, blue, red, yellow, pink, army camouflage, plaid, paisley but no light green. Then I truly wake up, disoriented and empty. I think it is wrong for you to comment on things you really don’t know about.; 6/8/14, 9:00 AM
Anonymous said...: I am an ongoing psychology experiment in the Althouse Petri Dish, a Rorschach Test for OCD. It is who I am.; 6/8/14, 9:14 AM
James Pawlak said...: As to horse races, I care not. But, horses are an excellent source of essential nutrition being low fat in nature.; 6/8/14, 9:59 AM
Wilbur said...: When I read the classless remarks by the owner after the Belmont, I was then glad that Chrome lost.; 6/8/14, 10:07 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Dale Light,

"I couldn't care less about horse races, but I am rooting for Hillary to win because the racists polluting The Republican Party make my skin crawl."

Funny - most whites on the Right don't feel the same.

I wonder if their apathy has any affects on black voting patterns,...; 6/8/14, 10:12 AM
Anonymous said...: Commenting on the Wrong Post Drunk Guy says:

I find that when I am dressed as a woman I am more prone to introspection. Perhaps my growing obsession with rubber and plastic penises means I wish to have sex with women but be removed from the intimacy; maybe it is an issue of control, or my desire to relinquish my male sexuality. As I disassociate myself from my penis I find the vagina less intriguing, and thus realize the True Purpose of the imitation penises: I will free women from the reliance on their vaginas and teach of a Love we can share equally in assorted colors and sizes. It is starting to make complete sense. I think it is wrong for you to comment on things you really don’t know about.; 6/8/14, 10:21 AM
chillblaine said...: I like it when the horses run. I feel like I am giving them a sporting chance. Their flavor is a little sweet, though. I prefer a gamey taste. I have no problem with anyone commenting on things that they know nothing about.; 6/8/14, 10:41 AM
hombre said...: In New Zealand it is called the "Tall Poppy Syndrome."

It's not about not wanting "anyone to win." It's about not wanting anyone to excel. It apparently has little to do however, with one's ambition for oneself

It is deeply ingrained in the psyche of secular progressives. Who knew it extended to horses?; 6/8/14, 12:49 PM
hombre said...: Crack (10:21): "Dale Light, 'I couldn't care less about horse races, but I am rooting for Hillary to win because the racists polluting The Republican Party make my skin crawl.'
Funny - most whites on the Right don't feel the same. I wonder if their apathy has any affects on black voting patterns,..."

Right. The well-being of the nation really is all about race. What a pair of dumb asses.; 6/8/14, 1:00 PM
Joe said...: The ratio of hype to action is absurd in horse racing and even worse in the triple crown races. I don't have the patience to watch.; 6/8/14, 3:26 PM
Dagwood said...: Harold said...

Didn't care. Didn't watch. Still don't care.

6/7/14, 8:24 PM

Yet you're taking the time and trouble to post in the thread.; 6/8/14, 5:02 PM
Allan said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 6/9/14, 2:50 AM