Big Weekend in Sports

This weekend is shaping up to be one of the biggest sports weekends of 2007: The Cavs and Spurs will be playing in the NBA Finals at San Antonio, but not to be overlooked Chad Johnson and a horse are racing each other on Saturday in Cincinnati. In a series that promises to be physically demanding, I believe that one obvious advantage for the Cavs is their youth . For instance, LeBron is 22 and Boobie is 21; whereas for San Antonio, Tim Duncan is 31, Manu Ginobili is 29 and Eva Longoria is 32.


The horse/Chad matchup is more complicated though, and requires some in depth analysis:

Chad Johnson Vs. Horse

Experience: Jockey Patti Cooksey (real name), has already experienced victory riding against a Bengal receiver. There is no record however, of Chad Johnson ever racing a horse and as Johnson's teammate Carson Palmer put it "I don't think he really understands how fast horses are".
Experience advantage - Horse.

Momentum: Race horses in their prime don't usually go around challenging people to foot-races. This horse must be nearing the end of his career, and trying to cash out. He probably sees the writing on the wall and is going to try to parlay the notoriety from this race into an appearance on reality TV - think "Dancing with the Stars". Chad Johnson, on the other hand, I believe is truly in this for the kids. He doesn't need fame - his career is fine, and he just keeps getting better and better at football. At times, one would almost think that he can't be stopped. Chad even sells a book about this. It is called "Chad: I can't be stopped"

Momentum advantage - Chad.

Intimidation factor: A horse can be pretty intimidating. As TJ Houshmandzadeh says, "If he (Johnson) turns around and sees the horse getting close, he'll get discouraged and probably slow down." Who wouldn't get discouraged in that situation? But flip this around and imagine if the horse were to catch sight of Chad Johnson. Horses can be spooked when they see something out of the norm. I just can't rule out the possibility that Chad Johnson will spook that horse. If the horse pitches her off, Patti Cooksey won't be able to hold the lead for very long on foot.

Intimidation factor - slight advantage: Chad

Winner: Chad. Chad Johnson is going to surprise everyone and beat this horse. With the series split 1-1, this may spark off a great sports rivalry between Cincinnati and horses. Says Johnson "Some of the things I'm going to be doing this year are crazy, and racing a horse is one of them". Here is a man that says exactly what he means. I know who I'll be rooting for this weekend.