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OSCARS…I’m a big fan of a trio of Kathryn Bigelow’s earlier works, Near Dark, Blue Steel and Point Break, so I was thrilled to see her win Best Director. Watching her “Hurt Locker” upset “Avatar” in the Best Picture category was a moment of genuine excitement and surprise, the type we rarely get on Oscar night. It was a wonderful moment, one that made me glad that I stayed up to experience it live. James Cameron was handed, instead of a gold statue, a big brown turd. …the other highlight was the robust jousting between Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr. It was shocking to find a moment of real humour (Downey comparing writers to “mole people”, classic!) on the show. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were also good fun…the tribute to John Hughes was tasteful and ended brilliantly, with Ferris Beuller filling the screen and delivering his famous speech on the importance of slowing down and appreciating life…wait, I think that clinches it, I actually liked this year’s Oscars…where was Lady GaGa? It seems she has made an appearance on every network special aired in the past year. Not being snarky, just missing her claws…

PONIES…check out the replay of the Barbados Cup on You Tube. The boisterous and raucous crowd is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Jennifer Morrison reports the crowd was milling about on the track until minutes before post. It must have been quite the experience for Sterwins and Bribon, the North American invaders, but they showed tremendous poise in running to a one-two finish…just before the finish line Patrick Husbands, rider of Sterwins, stands up in his saddle and taunts the rider of Bribon. It is an utterly tactless and boorish gesture, and Husbands should be ashamed of himself…in the Kentucky Derby Pool I ended up boxing Eskendereya, Dublin and Radiohead in the exactors…

TURN LEFT…no recap of the weekend could be complete without a mention of the dramatics at Atlanta. Congratulations to Kurt Busch for an emphatic win, but nobody is talking about him today. Carl Edwards set out to avenge an incident at Talladega last year by crushing Brad Keselowski’s chances of a top ten finish. It was riveting, implausible and freaking hilarious, all wrapped in one big pile of duct tape! Edwards, though he was trailing by over 150 laps, judged this the opportune time to wreak havoc on his rival’s chance for a breakthrough performance. The childish taunt of “you did it to me” seems to have been the guideline for a vicious bump that sent Keselowski tumbling skyward and out of the race (it was eerily similar, in fact, to the move Keselowski had used on Edwards last year). Edwards was immediately ordered off the track and I’m sure a sanction of some sort will follow. The emotion and the action, however, were sincere, and this kind of rough ‘n tumble justice is precisely what NASCAR fans adore…

MARCH 13^th…I’m craving this weekend, it’s looking spectacular for any fan of those two classic American sports, boxing and horse racing. On Saturday afternoon we will be blessed with the return of Rachel Alexandra to the track. It is a tense and anxious moment as many, myself included, are a bit concerned by the nature of her recent works. We haven’t seen that explosive 58 and change move but can at least take comfort in trainer Steve Asmussen’s assertion that the 2009 Horse of the Year has been kept under wraps. She’ll look to gallop five rivals into the ground…the trail to Kentucky will also be spiced up with the Tampa Bay Derby, the Rebel and the San Felipe all on the docket. Heaven, pure heaven…we’ll stagger over to the Rail after the ponies to watch the Manny Pacquiao - Joshua Clottey fight. Manny is looking like H R Pufnstuf these days with an enormous head threatening to eclipse his profile. Seriously, it’s going to be impossible for Clottey to miss that huge forehead and those bulging cheekbones (joking, people, just being a good ole jokester). Filipinos are known for the explosive growth of their hat size as they age. Right? It’s going to be a great fight with the durable and capable Clottey in with a shot. He’ll need to use his size to wear Pacquiao down, a tall order, but Pacquiao’s neck may give out with that Mayor McCheese-like noggin swaying in the warm Dallas winds…(joking, just joking)…