Sunday Pick 4 Churchill

[bellsbendboy]

Last Sunday of the meet and this sequence very tasty, although difficult.

7

Going five long in a very enigmatic heat. LADY LIONEL is the most likely as she drops off the planet and comes in, selectively for sale, for the clever owner/trainer/breeder. Illini bred keeps Castanon and many here are not going to fire. Also BARBETTE who is a handful but Rene familiar and pace should suit. CROSS the Claiborne mare who is a tweener, needed her last and has worked back well for the reliable Stall. KATERBUG who scratched out of the Graded Mrs. Revere after drawing the twelve hole and LUNA DORADA who is a big price in here but might be favored in this Wednesdays race. O'Callaghan is not noted for his condition book expertise but this is an odd entrant indeed!!!

8

DELUCIE was touted before her debut and delivered and this field is not very inspiring. Lone older mare faces all sophomores here and should come running late. Also ANGELS SHARE who comes off the bench for McGee with a sextet of solid works, GERIVELLO who needed her last and shows three good races at Churchill and three so so efforts elswhere and the bug on SHRIEK who beat Excellerant, who would be odds on here. Four long in another confusing race.

PENT UP KISS

FLYING CIRCLE will appreciate the shrubs, the shape, and the nine hole. Homebred daughter of Pembroke always makes a run and although the Fawkes 5yo has had gate issues in four of her last five; loading last can't hurt. Big time Miami works for this and while not a free square; a single.

10

Free square here with number two MARIA"S CHARM. Double M colt debuted at Turfway and closed stoutly after hitting the gate. Lasix added when favored cross state and finished third to Phipps and Juddmonte homers. In both races this one did not have clear sailing late. Salty connections campaigned champion Banshee Breeze and this gray colts dam is her sister. Only other foal was a runner, Tuesday work a sizzle for a barn that is benign in the morning, Calvin back...lots to like at a short price. Played 1,4,5,8,9 / 1,8,9,10 / 9 / 2 Good cappin. BBB

[jackmc]

.... great call & nice single ..... gl, jmc

[Dahoss9698]

Tough pic 4. 5 X 4 in the first two legs and no dice. Obviously there are no free squares.

[bellsbendboy]

Understanding allowance conditions is vital to handicappers and this race was a good study. The Davidowitz classic "Betting Thoroughbreds" highlights subtle class changes and is a must in any cappers arsenal. Plug over, we spent three hours or so and had zero handle after that period of study, other than JUST FOR KEEPS was the pace and she should have carried 117 instead of 114. Leparoux gave this one a handsome ride and she just missed; further verification that the Bill Dailey is usually closed when the shrubs are used. Maker/Ramsey claimed this one for 50K and would not "risk" her for $100,000 three weeks later; Tough beat. We did not use her.

Back to the question on class. Lady Lionel, Katerbug, Serna's Gold, Barbette,Water Gap, Bavarian Belle and Just For Keeps were dropping in class. Cross was coming off the poly and running parallel. While Patricia, Political Web, Luna Dorada and Best Mom were jumping up. On the Churchill website they have a section on handicapping and the opinions are usually quite good. One of the new cappers picked Best Mom declaring that she was dropping SUBSTANTIALLY in class!!

On turf, and especially in the midwest, keeping track of the esoteric conditions racing secretaries write, the condition and the configuration of the course, usually provides a solid handicapping advantage. Phrases similar to "at a mile or over", "nonwinners of a certain dollar figure" and "since a certain date" are used to determine eligibility. Our database has this data for every turf race run in the midwest the last decade or so.. and this heat chewed us up. We were not even close although we knew some of these were over the top, headed to the sidelines or making one more start before the breeding shed; we just did not know which ones! Patricia runs a career best (by far) for Kaelin in her thirtieth start returning $30.80 and keeping few alive in the sequence, but not us even going five long.

8

We were not sold as many were on GOLDEN THIEF ($6.20) as she had lost ground in all of her races since winning for a tag. Off since July, and moving from Helen's Day Spa and Therapy Room into the Assmusssen life in the fast lane express did not alter our opinion. I guess it should have as this Overbrook bred won easy for her jailed owners. Cat Thief filly drew the one hole this class Election day (six and a half panels)and was an early scratch. Working back last Sunday with a maintenance five panels Assmussen catches a break and they rewrite the race and it comes up easier. Being a top horseman and having plenty of ammunition (Assmussen will start over 2,000 horses this year) certainly helps but his just in; This is a good barn to include if you are playing horizontal wagers.

Pent up Kiss

Now called the Mariah's Storm some degree of normalcy returns and with a modicum of study the DRF clearly points to FLYING CIRCLE as the clear choice. Buddy New's homer survives an inquiry and finally gets a good trip and goes over the $450K mark in career earnings. Sufficient salty sophomore speed signed on made this one standout, something lacking in a few of her races.

10

Cannot complain about our free square not winning as they all get beat but the dRF clearly pointed out that Maria's Charm was the one to down. Rather than harp on his virtues lets look at the winner SILVER LORD ($31.80) for the Bowman Couch team. Anytime a horse comes from El Primero they are well prepared and when they cost $280K they can probably run.. We were certain The 4yo by UnBridled's Song would run huge, we just did not think he would beat US. Moquett will get the credit but make no mistake this was team Assmussen thru and thru. A handicapping point would be to question how much improvement one can expect from the addition of Lasix, and solid cappers look at what caused the horse to bleed. Most of the time it is stress and three horses in this heat ran huge races after Lasix was administered. The comments for each in their previous race; hit gate and altered course, squeezed taken up and the winner being blocked and steadied. We are told the late double with our two singles was returning only a paltry $22 and surmise some cappers reading this invested. Disagree with Dahoss 9698 regarding free squares and will congratulate the players that linked the 2,5,9,9, sequence earning a robust 11,000 for a one dollar ticket. Next play uncertain as we will take our annual migration to the crescent city which begins racing Thursday. BBB

[the little guy]

10

Rather than harp on his virtues lets look at the winner SILVER LORD ($31.80) for the Bowman Couch team. Anytime a horse comes from El Primero they are well prepared and when they cost $280K they can probably run.. We were certain The 4yo by UnBridled's Song would run huge, we just did not think he would beat US.


Thanks for mentioning that beforehand.

Just curious, if you were so certain that the winner would run huge then how come you considered the chalk a " free square " and never even brought up the eventual $31 winner?

[Dahoss9698]

Let me get a shovel and some real high boots to wade through the b.s. here. You disagree on the free square? How so?

If there is anything I have learned in betting, there is no such thing as a sure thing. Yeah Maria's Charm looked pretty tough, but if it was that easy, everyone would do it.

The attempted redboard is kinda sad. You were certain a horse that paid $31 and change was going to run huge, yet in your entire drawn out post you made not one mention of the horse at all.

I just don't see how anyone can take any of this seriously. A guy spends 3 hours on a card, goes 5 X 4 in the first two legs and can't sniff a win or place spot. When his "free square" is defeated, suddenly the winner was sure to run a big one. How stupid do you think we are?

[the_fat_man]

Let me just say:

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz

or

:sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping::sleeping:


Good commentary (ideally BEFORE, rather than AFTER the race) is nice but content needs to rule here.

[rrpic6]

Since we're redboarding...this was my $288 ticket for the Churchill Pick 4:

1,2,5,6,7,8,9,10
1,2,5,6,8,9,10,11,12
2
2,6,9,11

When I single a horse, the next obvious one luvs to run out of his/her mind:bang:
I did not see the race I lost, but did the 9 horse in the 9th race have any trouble like in the past, or a clean trip to glory?

RR

[jackmc]

........ just as Bells forecast in his PRE-RACE & reported in his Post Mortem ... and the 6/5 single finished third .... gl, jmc

[Dahoss9698]

........ just as Bells forecast in his PRE-RACE & reported in his Post Mortem ... and the 6/5 single finished third .... gl, jmc

You're kidding right? How much is he paying you?

[ArlJim78]

We are told the late double with our two singles was returning only a paltry $22 and surmise some cappers reading this invested.
oh for sure, the word travels fast once your posts go up.

no doubt about it, Walter Mitty is alive and well.

[bellsbendboy]

Always nice to see some interest in the midwest 4's.

Little Guy: I post a pick 4 once or twice a week, generally in the midwest and average some $25 a play. My writing is awful and my typing worse so I do not post much on the "percieved" runnerups. My DRF read that Maria's Charm would be 4-5 and Silver Lord perhaps 8-1 and while not at all surprised the winning time shaded 1:17, very surprised we did not get the money. A big part of this game is determining how well the runnerups ran. Occasionally we put last horse out but this heat was single city.

Dahoss 9698: You do not need a shovel and boots; you need a DRF, some colored pens and a willingness to get your ass kicked for a decade or so. I see that you have posted just a few times so here is how a DRF veteran would read SILVER LORD.

1st) Start with the sire. In this case you get lucky and he is well known and sires horses (like himself) that are VERY difficult to keep sound. Then note the other important particulars such as $280K yearling from breeders that breed to sell on a foal sharing arrangement, etc.
Next note that he is a 4yo and has been given time and has been stabled at perhaps the best "barn" ever!! Note his works. The time is irrelevant in this case but the rankings are VERY informative. Ninety plus percent of all gate works are in company!
Now find that he has started and ran a good second with plenty of trouble.

Lastly, put it together. Pricy yearling, given time by exceptional connections, shipped 150 miles and ran a big one in his debut in San Antonio, shipped very quickly to Churchill where he is LESS than fifty-fifty to get into a race, Lasix added after trouble as noted above. Monster work over the track... you get the picture. I cannot imagine any competent capper not having this one in their verticals especially at 15-1! You will learn, perhaps, that handicapping is not hard; just hard work.

Fats I guess thats a compliment and if so thanks.

RRPIC6: You certainly have some game and wish you would keep your mega pick 4 tickets out of the midwest. Congrats on your 7,000 plus score in NY a few months back.

Dahoss again. Do not worry about J.Mc money problems. He was a Fenway park executive before you were born. Two years ago I posted a sixteen dollar ticket (4 x 1 x 2 x 2 ) that incorporated the Bluegrass stakes at Keeneland. A Team Valor filly won leg one at three or four to one, a free square was next, then Coin Silver for team TAP, and then Mike Smith made an outstanding ride to get Palladio up for Roger Attfield. Jack did not know me but thought I made sense in my analysis and bet. The pick 4 returned a little over six thousand and he has been stalking me ever since. On second thought perhaps he is over paid!

ARL JIM: Shortly after I started posting tickets, I posted about a $20 ticket about three hours before the first leg. Somebody added a 2-1 that I threw out. You guessed it, they hit for a big score using my ticket with "their" 2-1 added, then chided me for that exclusion. I now post within thirty minutes of leg one. If you are the same Arlington Jim that STILL does not think that the fog jock plugged that horse in Xmas eve, your naivety meter is working overtime.

[the little guy]

We all understand that you have a cheering section all over the web that comes in on the plethora of boards you post on to tell everyone how brilliant you are even though your opinion is at best random and your ticket structure is poor. However, even you can't possibly expect anybody to believe that before a race where you declared a horse a " free square " that you were certain another horse, obviously the evential winner, would run huge. Even for a confirmed BS artist like yourself that's a stretch.


I do, however, love this snippet from your post....


Monster work over the track... you get the picture. I cannot imagine any competent capper not having this one in their verticals especially at 15-1! You will learn, perhaps, that handicapping is not hard; just hard work.



Not sure in what world a 48 second half mile is considered a " monster work " but I guess I should just be glad you couldn't find your thesauris at that moment as at least the description, while inaccurate, was less pretentious than usual. However, I am glad to see you at least finally acknowledging your incompetence.

[Light]

A friend of mine who always wants to play large carryovers with me,always insists on having a pre and post analysis of our picks. I dont know if its improved my handicapping at all,but at least we can be frank about our pre race analysis in the aftermath and hold eachother to whatever they were right or wrong about. This does nothing to hinder our friendship,but keeps the airways clear from BS.

[ArlJim78]

ARL JIM: Shortly after I started posting tickets, I posted about a $20 ticket about three hours before the first leg. Somebody added a 2-1 that I threw out. You guessed it, they hit for a big score using my ticket with "their" 2-1 added, then chided me for that exclusion. I now post within thirty minutes of leg one. If you are the same Arlington Jim that STILL does not think that the fog jock plugged that horse in Xmas eve, your naivety meter is working overtime.
So someone got lucky one time adding “their” horse to your selections, and this somehow explains why you surmised the payout was so low on your singles in the late double on Sunday?? You can’t be serious. If you think your post had ANY affect whatsoever on a $100,000 double pool, well to borrow your figure of speech, you have really buried the needle on your buffoon meter.



Yes, your Christmas Eve buzzer accusation was my introduction to your madness. Of course there was no buzzer and your allegations were entirely baseless.



But I do look forward to your posts and post-mortems. I enjoy them in the same way I enjoy watching Plan 9 From Outer Space. Yes it may be the worst movie ever made, but I just can’t look away because its simply too funny.



Keep up the good work.

[keilan]

In my opinion, these replies are completely unnecessary, unless of course, they enjoy being a buzz kill.

Geez Mike look at all these "kill joys"

Where's the sheriff? ;)

[Dahoss9698]

Always nice to see some interest in the midwest 4's.

Little Guy: I post a pick 4 once or twice a week, generally in the midwest and average some $25 a play. My writing is awful and my typing worse so I do not post much on the "percieved" runnerups. My DRF read that Maria's Charm would be 4-5 and Silver Lord perhaps 8-1 and while not at all surprised the winning time shaded 1:17, very surprised we did not get the money. A big part of this game is determining how well the runnerups ran. Occasionally we put last horse out but this heat was single city.

Dahoss 9698: You do not need a shovel and boots; you need a DRF, some colored pens and a willingness to get your ass kicked for a decade or so. I see that you have posted just a few times so here is how a DRF veteran would read SILVER LORD.

1st) Start with the sire. In this case you get lucky and he is well known and sires horses (like himself) that are VERY difficult to keep sound. Then note the other important particulars such as $280K yearling from breeders that breed to sell on a foal sharing arrangement, etc.
Next note that he is a 4yo and has been given time and has been stabled at perhaps the best "barn" ever!! Note his works. The time is irrelevant in this case but the rankings are VERY informative. Ninety plus percent of all gate works are in company!
Now find that he has started and ran a good second with plenty of trouble.

Lastly, put it together. Pricy yearling, given time by exceptional connections, shipped 150 miles and ran a big one in his debut in San Antonio, shipped very quickly to Churchill where he is LESS than fifty-fifty to get into a race, Lasix added after trouble as noted above. Monster work over the track... you get the picture. I cannot imagine any competent capper not having this one in their verticals especially at 15-1! You will learn, perhaps, that handicapping is not hard; just hard work.

Fats I guess thats a compliment and if so thanks.

RRPIC6: You certainly have some game and wish you would keep your mega pick 4 tickets out of the midwest. Congrats on your 7,000 plus score in NY a few months back.

Dahoss again. Do not worry about J.Mc money problems. He was a Fenway park executive before you were born. Two years ago I posted a sixteen dollar ticket (4 x 1 x 2 x 2 ) that incorporated the Bluegrass stakes at Keeneland. A Team Valor filly won leg one at three or four to one, a free square was next, then Coin Silver for team TAP, and then Mike Smith made an outstanding ride to get Palladio up for Roger Attfield. Jack did not know me but thought I made sense in my analysis and bet. The pick 4 returned a little over six thousand and he has been stalking me ever since. On second thought perhaps he is over paid!

ARL JIM: Shortly after I started posting tickets, I posted about a $20 ticket about three hours before the first leg. Somebody added a 2-1 that I threw out. You guessed it, they hit for a big score using my ticket with "their" 2-1 added, then chided me for that exclusion. I now post within thirty minutes of leg one. If you are the same Arlington Jim that STILL does not think that the fog jock plugged that horse in Xmas eve, your naivety meter is working overtime.

Definite candidate for post of the year. Without a doubt. I defy someone to read it and not laugh. Your reading comprehension needs some work. I'll say this, the day I take or need handicapping advice from you, is the day I quit the game.

While you are telling people about pic 4's from years ago, making up jockey's using buzzer theories and living in in some sort of fantasyland where a player can be successful betting $40 a week, I'm actually MAKING money. Which is the point of this game to most. Others like talking about it and don't trust their opinion enough to actually bet money into it.

I get rehashing after the fact. I do it as well to see if there was something I missed when I handicapped the first time. Sometimes I do and sometimes my opinion was just flat out wrong. It happens. But your post race comments never seem to indicate your ineptness. Somehow you always liked then winner that beat you. I shouldn't be surprised by it.

[bellsbendboy]

Little Guy:

I am respected on several boards and villified on others. When you post tickets and have some successes you will attract attention; both positive and negative. I do try to keep my focus on handicapping.

A race where there is a "free square" and, another who figures to run big is not an unusual occurence at all. Many years ago there was only win, place and show betting and bettors were often faced with taking a short price or betting to place. Every race track, every day offers this scenario but the proliferation of exotic betting forms have reduced, yet complicated those "decisions". A good recent example was this years Breeders Cup Juvenile where War Pass was tons the most likely winner, yet Pyro figured to run huge, and did.

Your question regarding in what sort of world is :48 a "monster" work is a good one. If I used stake-like, outstanding, excellent or very, very good, in my vernacular, they would be synonyms, and in this case accurate. Workouts are a big part of my game. Briefly, this work was eight days out and was strictly familiarization and maintenance. By rank it was the co-third best of 46 others and would, on its face, be classified on that basis as good by most handicappers, especially for a maiden. But if you take into account that the trainer Moquette, flips his horses in their works and, works everything into the turn, well semantics aside, my description is plenty feasible.

Light: Objectivity is the highest card in the deck for any handicapper.

Arl Jim: Opinions are what makes handicapping an art. The indesputable facts regarding the Xmas eve race are that the horse ran a Beyer in the 80's in his 19th start, after never breaking 70 beforehand. The horse, Direct Splash, had been beaten an average of twenty lengths in the same class his last three. 'Splash ran the fastest race of the day, faster than Teuflesberg and many other stakeswinners, yet he was a very slow La bred coming in.
His infamous jock was given a ten year ban for cheating and has been suspended numerous times. The NY Times reported that there have been almost three hundred investigations into the use of buzzers since 1974 and almost half were in Louisiana. True the murder weapon was never found and there has not been a confession.

Dahoss My entire game needs a ton of work, as does your memory. In January, on another forum, after Todko reported a pick 4 score I posted at Nola. You stated that "I was a solid handicapper and you wished I would post more often"!! I do not claim any lofty level of handicapping expertise, in fact, the biggest strength I posess, is that I cannot believe what I DO NOT know!! I do pick a day to play and post a small ticket that I actually bet, no more, no less. BBB

[GaryG]

In my opinion, these replies are completely unnecessary, unless of course, they enjoy being a buzz kill.

Geez Mike look at all these "kill joys"

Where's the sheriff? ;)Makes you think twice before posting selections, that's for sure...

[keilan]

Makes you think twice before posting selections, that's for sure...


My post was in regards to PA's response to a post of mine. There was a thread where someone was all giggles about a $7 dollar horse in a 5 horse a while back.

I gently commented that it was no big deal -- then I got hammered by a couple knowitalls and I fired back. Mike calls me a "kill joy" or something to that effect then starts threating me about kicking my ass outta here because I called his boy out.

The comments here in this thread are 5 times more graphic and not a word is mentioned.

The idiot should be arriving right on cue and PA can shut another thread down. Come on Mac where are u?

Gary I post selections occasionally and barely ever get a response, a blind man following along should be able to turn a profit. Such is the selection forum

[GaryG]

Gary I post selections occasionally and barely ever get a response, a blind man following along should be able to turn a profit. Such is the selection forumI post them when I feel like it and have never gotten any hostile responses. I guess because I am just such a nice guy....:eek: This kind of stuff is just uncalled for. I usually put on my cast iron underwear only before visiting off topic.

[Dahoss9698]

I post them when I feel like it and have never gotten any hostile responses. I guess because I am just such a nice guy....:eek: This kind of stuff is just uncalled for. I usually put on my cast iron underwear only before visiting off topic.

Easy cooter. There are no hostile responses here. But some people sniff out bulls hit and call people on it.

[Dahoss9698]

Little Guy:

I am respected on several boards and villified on others. When you post tickets and have some successes you will attract attention; both positive and negative. I do try to keep my focus on handicapping.

A race where there is a "free square" and, another who figures to run big is not an unusual occurence at all. Many years ago there was only win, place and show betting and bettors were often faced with taking a short price or betting to place. Every race track, every day offers this scenario but the proliferation of exotic betting forms have reduced, yet complicated those "decisions". A good recent example was this years Breeders Cup Juvenile where War Pass was tons the most likely winner, yet Pyro figured to run huge, and did.

Your question regarding in what sort of world is :48 a "monster" work is a good one. If I used stake-like, outstanding, excellent or very, very good, in my vernacular, they would be synonyms, and in this case accurate. Workouts are a big part of my game. Briefly, this work was eight days out and was strictly familiarization and maintenance. By rank it was the co-third best of 46 others and would, on its face, be classified on that basis as good by most handicappers, especially for a maiden. But if you take into account that the trainer Moquette, flips his horses in their works and, works everything into the turn, well semantics aside, my description is plenty feasible.

Light: Objectivity is the highest card in the deck for any handicapper.

Arl Jim: Opinions are what makes handicapping an art. The indesputable facts regarding the Xmas eve race are that the horse ran a Beyer in the 80's in his 19th start, after never breaking 70 beforehand. The horse, Direct Splash, had been beaten an average of twenty lengths in the same class his last three. 'Splash ran the fastest race of the day, faster than Teuflesberg and many other stakeswinners, yet he was a very slow La bred coming in.
His infamous jock was given a ten year ban for cheating and has been suspended numerous times. The NY Times reported that there have been almost three hundred investigations into the use of buzzers since 1974 and almost half were in Louisiana. True the murder weapon was never found and there has not been a confession.

Dahoss My entire game needs a ton of work, as does your memory. In January, on another forum, after Todko reported a pick 4 score I posted at Nola. You stated that "I was a solid handicapper and you wished I would post more often"!! I do not claim any lofty level of handicapping expertise, in fact, the biggest strength I posess, is that I cannot believe what I DO NOT know!! I do pick a day to play and post a small ticket that I actually bet, no more, no less. BBB

I highlighted the only true portion of your response. Your second sentence is not true. When you first came on board and provided some analysis, I welcomed you aboard and congratulated you on a score. Everything after that has been pure crap. Your game is tired.

[PaceAdvantage]

Mike calls me a "kill joy" or something to that effect then starts threating me about kicking my ass outta here because I called his boy out.Your way of framing the situation is way out of balance with reality.

And I've never claimed to be consistent as a moderator. I try to be consistent, but I know I have my faults.

If anyone else would like the job, applications are currently being accepted. Be advised that there is virtually no pay and the hours suck.

[SunnyvaleMJ]

Your way of framing the situation is way out of balance with reality.

You sure have your hands full here...C'mon..are these guy's serious..:lol: dang fellas !! Dont be so critical of one another...tell me you guys are just trash talkin...C'mon now...fess up...Big day tommorow... get some rest....

Have a Happy Thanksgiving....and good luck on the Hollywood Park pick6 carryover...I might not give you a winner..but a little encouragement can't hurt..Post #1 :cool:

[the little guy]

I'm constantly amazed by the number of first time posters that gravitate to BBB's threads. The coincidence kills me.

[ArlJim78]

I am respected on several boards and villified on others. When you post tickets and have some successes you will attract attention; both positive and negative. I do try to keep my focus on handicapping.

I'm guessing that whatever boards you are respected on cannot be the same boards where you boasted of a huge year in 2006 which amounted to over a 2,000% ROI.

[The Magenta Donkey]

I appreciate your picks, bbb. They are perfect for my budget. After a hard day's work at McDonald's, it is nice to come home and read your analysis and put my hard earned dollar where my mouth is.

Edit: Where your mouth is. LOL!

[the little guy]

I appreciate your picks, bbb. They are perfect for my budget. After a hard day's work at McDonald's, it is nice to come home and read your analysis and put my hard earned dollar where my mouth is.

Edit: Where your mouth is. LOL!


And yet another first time poster extolling the virtues of the great BBB. Funny, you joined yesterday, so how could you possibly " appreciate " picks that you had supposedly never seen?

The Garcia avatar is a real hoot by the way.

[The Magenta Donkey]

And yet another first time poster extolling the virtues of the great BBB. Funny, you joined yesterday, so how could you possibly " appreciate " picks that you had supposedly never seen?

The Garcia avatar is a real hoot by the way.
He posts on numerous message boards. Duh.

[the little guy]

He posts on numerous message boards. Duh.


So, out of the blue you joined this message board, having no idea he was even a member, and gravitated to this thread to extol his virtues?

[The Magenta Donkey]

Why does it matter to you? Do you have some strong emotional bond to him or are you just the forum's version of Barney Fife?

Sheesh.