For a general sporting public that does not pay much attention (if at all) to horse racing, I find it fascinating that nearly all of us take at least one day a year to take a peek at the Sport of Kings. 

Yes, it is that time of year again.  Break out the mint juleps, the crazy hats, and those even crazier D. Wayne Lukas shades. 

                                     Those are, indeed, crazy shades.

It's Kentucky Derby time!  The 132nd Run for the Roses will take place tomorrow afternoon at Churchill Downs in Louisville and will attract at least some attention from both avid horse racing enthusiasts and those who wouldn't know a furlong from a futon.  It is America's one day to pretend to know the first thing about 1,100-pound thoroughbreds thundering around a mile-and-a-quarter dirt track.  And if there is one thing sports fans everywhere like to do above all else, it is to offer up an opinion whether or not they have an iota of information about the subject at hand.

So, you may well hear several half-baked theories on what Derby favorite Brother Derek needs to do coming out of the 18th post position to win the race.  Or how trainer Bob Baffert's winning Derby pedigree affects the chances of his three Derby contenders this year.  Or how the condition of the track may influence the pace and strategy during the race.

I, for one, will come clean on this.  I know very little about horse racing and probably even less about this year's Derby participants.  Having said that, I will be happy to share what little I do know about this year's Kentucky Derby.

• Watching 20 supremely conditioned animals who weigh over half-a-ton each cover a mile-and-a-quarter in two minutes is pretty cool.
• Trainer Bob Baffert, who has three horses in this year's race, looks like former Georgia Tech basketball coach Bobby Cremins, which is unnerving because I always thought Cremins was a pretty strange looking dude.  Maybe, it's the white hair that looks inappropriately long and inappropriately feathered.

 Bob Baffert  Bobby Cremins...separated at birth?

• Ashley Judd is a Kentucky native and attends the Derby every year.  Since Ashley Judd is the most beautiful woman on the planet, the Derby becomes really cool by association.

The most beautiful woman on the planet enjoys horse racing and college hoops!  Nuff said.

• There is a horse running from the 2nd post position named after the 60's rock group Steppenwolf.  Derby officials will earn bonus points in my book if they crank up "Born to be Wild" on the loudspeakers should the aforementioned thoroughbred win.  Bonus points, however, have already been deducted from the horse's trainer, Dan Peitz, for declaring that the horse has taken the ownership/training team "on a magic carpet ride."
• OJ Simpson is taking more time off from his avowed crime sleuthing to attend the race and announced that "Lawyer Ron" was his pick to win the race because he (Simpson) "loves lawyers".  I think I need a jacket...to take away the chill that just went straight down my spine.
• The coolest name in the field has to be "Sinister Minister".  Say whatever you want about the speed, power, and intimidation factor in any other sport, but I'm not sure that many can match half-a-ton of angry thoroughbred roaring down the backstretch at 35 mph, especially when they're named "Sinister Minister".

 And in the end, we will spend our one day of the year enjoying the Sport of Kings by watching in amazement the speed and grace of the participants, pretending that we called the winner from a mile away, and thanking our lucky stars that we do not have Bob Baffert's hair.