As I have written many times in many many blogs, I am not a sports fan. So, no one was more surprised than me when, I suggested that we change the time we were meeting friends for dinner Saturday night so that we could watch The Belmont Stakes before we left for dinner. I do not think I have ever voluntarily watched a horse race before. But there I was, alongside my husband, and our friends who came over to watch with us, yelling and screaming as loudly as they did as we watched.

Like the rest of the country, I was saddened that California Chrome did not win The Triple crown. I was shocked, however, to hear California Chrome’s owner, Steve Coburn, express anger and outrage in the post-race interview. Rather than convey best of wishes to the winner, as I expected him to do, he contested the fairness of race. None of the horses who had finished in the top three had run in The Preakness or The Kentucky Derby, as California Chrome had. Coburn went so far as to call it, “a coward’s way out.”

Having raised student athletes, I have heard numerous coaches over the years lecture my children about sportsmanship and the concept of being a good winner. As such, Coburn’s words surprised me. But they led to a spirited debate amongst the sports fans in my house. Some of them believed he raised a valid point, that all the horses running in the race should have been required to run the other two. Others, felt that it was a case of Coburn being a sore loser arguing that it would be too difficult to limit the entrants into The Belmont Stakes in the way Coburn suggested.

What do you think Gotham. Valid point or poor sportsmanship? Or both?