Justice was served in two spheres yesterday, although by very different routes. In one sphere, it was blindingly swift; in the other, it sort of lollygagged around, grinding its way through what bureaucrats and suits like to call the Process.
Let's take Swifty first.
In which it took the Big Ten little more than a day to hand down its judgment on that disgusting display of adults behaving like 5-year-olds in Madison, Wis., Sunday. Juwan Howard is gone for the rest of the regular season for throwing hands at Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard was fined $10,000 for putting his hands on Howard instead of just ignoring Howard's snide comment in the handshake line.
The Wisconsin athletic department subsequently indulged in some breathtaking revisionist history, claiming in a statement it would pay Gard's fine because Gard and his staff were doing their best to "de-escalate" the situation. How anyone could watch the video and arrive at that conclusion is beyond comprehension, but that's Wisky's story and they're sticking to it.
The main thing is, the Big Ten did not mess around with the punishment phase. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, not so much.
Almost 10 months after 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive for a banned steroid, and nearly that long since Churchill Downs handed down a two-year ban to trainer Bob Baffert, the Commission finally stripped Medina Spirit of its Derby win, suspended Baffert for 90 days and fined him $7,500. Mandaloun, who finished second that long-ago day in May, will now be recognized as the 2021 winner.
Exactly how long ago has it been?
It's been so long, Medina Spirit isn't even alive anymore. The horse died of a heart attack in December after a training run at Santa Anita.
"Gee, Mr. Blob," you're saying now. "What was the holdup?"
That's a very good question, and the Blob admits it doesn't know enough about how horse racing operates to provide an answer. Maybe the Commission hadn't met to consider the case until now. Or maybe there's some sort of horse due process that must be adhered to.
In any event, justice was finally served. Which means yesterday, justice had itself a day.
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