Big Red his own self . . . 

New York is ending their 15-year-ban on owning a ferret. If I want to see a weasel in New York, I’ll just pet that thing on Donald Trump’s head.

The controversy continues over the trade of 5 Taliban members for Bowe Bergdahl. My problem with it is this: would it have killed President Obama to throw in a middle-reliever for the Cubs?

In Tennessee, one woman was arrested with a pistol in her vagina, and another woman walked down the aisle dragging her new-born baby tied to her wedding dress train. Interestingly, Tennessee is actually an old Cherokee word that means: Florida.

A New York man shot his mother in the back and then walked her to the hospital. And you thought your Father’s Day was going to be dysfunctional?

Next Sunday is Father’s Day, or as NBA players call it: “Uh, I’m not here...”

Against her new husband, Kanye’s, wishes, Kim Kardashian will appear on “Khloe and Kourtney Take the Hamptons.” Apparently Kim and Kanye’s marriage is going through that tricky Seven Day Itch.

Since you asked:

The bright side of Triple Crown failures is all the justified attention it brings to the greatest athlete – not just greatest horse – the greatest athlete of all time, Secretariat.

Secretariat still holds all the records for all three races in the Triple Crown 41 years later. And those are just numbers. The thing that sticks out about Secretariat was the deep and abiding love the people close to him had and still have.

From his breeders to his vets to his keepers to his trainers and his jockey and owner, including the secretaries at the office of Claiborne Farm. They all wept unabashedly when Secretariat was put to sleep.

41 years after his Triple Crown, hard drinking and tough horsemen openly cry when they talk about Big Red. The great writer, William Nack, described him in “Pure Heart” as lovable and playful as a puppy, as smart as a gifted child, and with a heart and soul beyond anything imaginable.  Human or Equine.

Secretariat was beloved by those around him before he ever ran a race. His kind and funny nature combined with his incredible physical gifts and good looks flat out made people - and other horses - fall deeply in love with him.

For me I will always be thankful to Secretariat for taking our minds off a bleak, bleak time. In the Spring of 1973, my grandfather had just passed, the winter had been rough, my grades were as terrible as the economy. Not to mention at age 14, I was cranked full of more hormones than most Midwestern towns. The whole world before that 1973 spring seemed like a Soviet-made black and white movie.

Then Secretariat burst through our TV screen and our magazines in red, white and blue living color.

My favorite story of the incredible 31-length Belmont win was by a sports writer - whose name escapes me – writing about how the stands shook and went crazy when Big Red came thundering down the Belmont stretch.

But then he noticed something odd.

For a moment it got quieter. He looked around to see why and it was because so many people were crying. They were simply overcome by the spectacle they were both amazed and lucky to be seeing

Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Gale Sayers, Rafer Johnson, Joe Montana and Babe Ruth were truly great. But they didn’t make grown men and women weep at the sheer beauty and majesty of their performance.