By Bruce Lowitt

Realistically speaking, the 1973 Belmont Stakes wasn't a horse race -- unless you count the four thoroughbreds racing for second place. This third jewel of the Triple Crown was the coronation of Secretariat as the greatest race horse of all time.

He had won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, each time beating Sham by 21/2 lengths.

Now it was June9. Most of the bettors in the crowd of nearly 70,000 at Belmont Park expected the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. Secretariat was a 1-10 favorite.

By Bruce Lowitt

The nation waited for this moment for 38 years. And for the six months after the 1973 baseball season. And for the first four days of 1974's.

Fans looked forward to Henry Aaron's 715th career home run with hope in their hearts -- or venom in their veins.

To a segment of society, it wasn't Aaron chasing the home run record of Babe Ruth. It was ... well, a black man. Aaron was a racist's nightmare, excelling in a sport that for decades had been as white as the ball. And excelling in Atlanta, the heart of Dixie.

By Bruce Lowett

Gordie Howe's career was in its twilight. Wayne Gretzky was only a glimmer on the NHL horizon. Hockey was essentially a Canadian sport with limited United States appeal, mostly in the Northeast.

But the United States vs. the Soviet Union in anything was still big in the Cold War era, and the Olympics were as good a flash point as any.

The U.S. team beat the Soviets 3-2 en route to its gold medal at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. But that was a different era.

Jesse Owens breaks records, debunks Aryan superiority.
-- By BRUCE LOWITT

The 1936 Berlin Olympics were to be Adolf Hitler's stage to validate Aryan superiority, the Nazis' belief in a master race. In three races and one long jump, American Jesse Owens, as much as anyone, laid waste that philosophy.

   
This is a real test... given by the Human Relations Dept. at many of the major corporations today.  It helps them get better insight concerning their employees and in their prospective employees.

Dr. Phil scored 55 when he took this test on Oprah. Oprah Winfrey got a 38.  Some people pay a lot of money to find this information out!  Read on, and take the test yourself... this is very interesting... but, don't be overly sensitive!               

"NASA AND THE BIBLE"
-- Author Unknown


Mr. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in
Baltimore, Maryland and a consultant in the Space Program relates
the following development. "I think one of the most amazing things
that God has for us today happened recently to our astronauts and
space scientists at Greenbelt, Maryland.

They were checking the position of the sun, moon, and planets out
in space where they would be 100 years and 1000 years from now.

Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming side-by-side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed, without a hitch. Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding, …

By Roger Dean Kiser

This was the last litter of puppies we were going to allow our Cocker Spaniel to have. It had been a very long night for me. Precious, our only black cocker, was having a very difficult time with the delivery of her puppies.

I laid on the floor beside her large four-foot square cage, watching her every movement. Watching and waiting just in case we had to rush her to the veterinarian.

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark...

One: Don't miss the boat.

Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.

Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

Four: Stay fit - When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.

He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.