Living the Longshot Life

In my last post I wrote about the Semiotics of Baseball, so I’ll extend the sports theme for another post. This time, the Kentucky Derby, which was run recently on Saturday, May 7.

I’ve never been to the Derby in person, but I’ve watched it on TV most years, ever since I was a kid. My parents were from Kentucky, and I still have family and a sense of roots there. So, it has been a tradition in my family to watch the race, from the time I can remember. I recall that my grandfather would get teary-eyed when they played “My Old Kentucky Home” before the race. And it even strikes me that way a little bit, I’ll admit, even though I’ve lived most of my life in Oregon.

This year’s race was one of the most remarkable I’ve seen in all my years of watching the Derby. “Rich Strike,” an 80-1 long shot, won the race against all odds and expectations. Watch this short video of this year’s race (they call it the most exciting two minutes in sports):

Notice how the race unfolds in a predictable manner. The pack of horses moves together for the first half of the race, sorting out positions, each jockey trying to strategize for some kind of advantage. The announcer calls the names of various horses as leads are claimed and lost. Several of the more favored horses seemed to lead most of the time, as expected. Rich Strike was in 18th place at the half mile mark, 15th place at the one mile pole, out of 20 horses total. 

This means that Rich Strike overcame 14 horses ahead of him in the last quarter mile of the race (which is 1.25 miles total).

When you watch the video, it happens fast, and you almost don’t see it coming. Rich Strike gets just one mention by name prior to the final stretch, as the announcer rattles off the names of a bunch of horses.

Rounding into the beginning of the home stretch, jockey Sonny Leon found a place for Rich Strike to make a play up the inside. He came up on Messier, an 8-1 odds horse, but one who appeared to be tiring, and brushed him aside as if merely an annoyance. That opened up his run past the two leading horses, Epicenter and Zandon. The announcer was still focusing on those two when Rich Strike simply powered past them, getting mentioned by the announcer with only about six seconds to go. Saving his best effort for the stretch, Sonny Leon urged Rich Strike to the finish line, winning the race by nearly a full length (which seems a fairly decisive win in horse racing).

It was a stunning performance, by a horse and rider that few had heard of. A horse and his jockey that were almost not even in the race, and from whom little was expected. Many would think they would just be happy to be there, competing, but not realistically in a position to win.

Consider the disadvantages and odds against Rich Strike and his jockey:

• Sonny Leon, the jockey for Rich Strike, was not one of the big names in the world of horse racing. Few knew of him, and he had never before been on a stage the likes of the Kentucky Derby.
• Rich Strike was not the biggest horse, or the horse with a great record in big races. 
• Rich Strike only qualified for the race on Friday, the day before, after another horse scratched and was disqualified from entry.
• Not the most valuable horse. Rich Strike’s owner had paid $30,000 for him, far less than the hundreds of thousands fetched by most of the animals.
• Rich Strike and his jockey did not draw the best starting position. In fact, he was on the outside post, and broke last out of the gate in a field of 20 horses.
• He was just part of the pack, well behind most of the way, and never had the lead until the final seconds.

In other words, this horse and his jockey had nearly everything going against them. No advantages, other than a desire to compete and a will to win. No advantage, other than to seize the opportunity that was presented.

I can’t help but think about life lessons from this event. 

Real life is not a horse race. As inspirational as it may be to watch a race or competition such as this year’s Kentucky Derby, it does not represent actual life. Life is not a matter of “winning” at the expense of everyone else losing. This much is true. Life is not a zero-sum game. 

On the other hand, neither is life just a participation-medal endeavor. I can’t help but think of college or even pro sports teams who make the playoffs or the championship game for the first time. With some, there can be a sense of just “glad to be here” and not really playing to win. 

Our lives are shorter than we may realize. Once our lives are done, whether long or short, there is no coming back for another round. I think that people in midlife become more acutely aware of this, and of the need to make the most of the time we have. To live with purpose and intentionality. Not to try and beat everyone else, but to at least take ownership of who we are and to fashion aspects of the life we want to have.

Many–perhaps most–people do not start life with every advantage in hand. Not growing up with the biggest or best of everything. Not being favored, being a late bloomer. Some people have way more disadvantages than others. Some experience disadvantages of socio-economic status, race, and physical challenges. Some must move ahead with the consequences of poor past decisions. 

Whatever the circumstances, some of you may feel like things are against you, that the odds are long of achieving even some of your aspirations and ambitions. That you can’t win no matter what. You may feel like you haven’t accomplished what you wanted in the first half of your adult life. 

Remember that it isn’t over till it’s over. Especially in midlife, you may have lived much of your life feeling like you’re way back in the pack. Unnoticed. The announcers focused on the “favored” ones. But even in midlife, or later, you can still generate a burst of speed. Try something new, challenge yourself to grow, accomplish something you didn’t think you could do.

In our lives, how we finish matters more than how we start.