OPEN COURT: Aligning the stars

Why do sports fans put up with so much nonsense?

It’s a complicated question with a deceptively simple answer. We throw ourselves into sports because of days like May 2, 2009.

It seems unspeakably futile to spend so much time and energy following these frivolous endeavors, especially when these athletes let you down more often than not.

A lot of these guys aren’t heroes, and a lot of these sports don’t hold the symbolism we thrust upon them. But our patience is occasionally rewarded. And when it is, that feeling can’t be beat.

During a magical 12-hour span, hockey, horse racing, basketball and boxing captured our attention with the best each respective sport has to offer.

Like most sports fans who live in the continental United States, Gary Bettman’s mind-boggling mismanagement of the NHL has turned me from a strong hockey fan to a casual observer to a tangential follower, then finally to a non-follower. There are only so many hours in the day, and it didn’t seem like hockey had any clue. It would take something monumental to get me back in the loop.

A second-round match-up of Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby most certainly qualifies.

Any time you have the two finest hockey players since Mario Lemieux going head to head, you have my attention. Throw in the fact that these two excel in different ways (Ovechkin is explosive and flashy, while Crosby is skilled and composed) and there seems to be some genuine bad blood between them, and I’m sold.

Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals seized the upper hand, 3-2. Both players scored a goal and spent roughly 1/3 of the game on the ice. Tomas Fleischmann stole the show. This is going to get good.

After breaking for lunch, sports fans started to gear up for the most exciting two minutes in sports. The 135th Kentucky Derby got going in rainy, overcast Louisville at roughly 3 p.m. yesterday, with the big news being that pre-race favorite I Want Revenge would be forced to sit it out. Trainers found an inflammation on his ankle and didn’t want to risk a career-threating, perhaps Barbaro-esque injury on the wet track.

It’s impossible to say where the Kentucky Derby fits into today’s sports landscape.

Is the derby a grand, regal event that evokes an old-world sense of dignity and distinction?

Is it a contradictory event that glorifies and damages these majestic horses at the same time?

Is it the horrifying, mind-bending experience that the great Hunter S. Thompson chronicled in “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” — which was, by the way, my all-time favorite piece of sports journalism — in June, 1970?

Is it all of those things put together?

Typically, I make my way down to Sonoita to enjoy the wonderful Americana atmosphere those fine folks establish, but my allergies were kicking into another gear.

I’ve covered the Sonoita Horse Races each of the last three years, and it isn’t nearly as “gonzo” as the late Mr. Thompson’s experience in Louisville. It’s a wholesome, family affair with tasty food, kind people and a dash of bluegrass and mint juleps.

Sadly, I happen to be allergic to just about everything either directly or indirectly related to the Sonoita Horse Races — the hay, the weeds and, yes, the horses. All of it sets my eyes on fire.

Instead, I watched Mine That Bird’s indescrible, unprecedented and frankly unbelievable stretch run from the comfort of my living room.

Holy cow.

Mine That Bird wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Nobody on the NBC telecast had any idea what to say. Fifty-to-one odds? Are you kidding me?

The only downside was having to hear NBC completely botch the call. If you call horse races for a living, you live for the moment when a 50-to-1 shot wins the Derby. You have to step up your game.

Once we caught our breath, we set our sights on the Bulls-Celtics Game 7. Plenty has been said/written about this series. Predictably, a handful of media members are trying to rain on the parade, saying that this series “isn’t that great” and that “it’s only a first-round series.” Give me a break.

What else could you possibly want? This series has featured more twists and turns than a narrow mountain highway. It doesn’t even matter who won yesterday. This series will live on forever.

ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons captured it perfectly in his column on Friday. “‘Bulls-Celtics 2009’ explains why we put up with every story about Clemens and Bonds and Michael Vick and Terrell Owens and everyone else who conspires to make sports less fun. I just want to watch sports. I have trained myself to look the other way. This stuff clutters my brain, and not in a good way ... So yeah, that’s why Celtics-Bulls meant something to me. I’m glad I still care. I’m glad it still matters.”

This series delivered in every conceivable way. Thank you Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Joakim Noah, John Salmons, Ben Gordon, Paul Pierce, Kendrick Perkins and everyone else who lifted this series to another level.

The nightcap? Manny Pacquiao versus Ricky Hatton, with the pound-for-pound title on the line. Wow.

With the recent announcement that Floyd Mayweather is finally putting an end to his retirement (for the record, nobody believed he was actually retired), this fight takes on added significance. The winner is Money May’s most logical opponent.

Yeah, I know boxing is supposed to be “dead” or whatever, but tell that to the packed house at the MGM Grand. Find me a crowd in any sport that had that kind of energy and enthusiasm. It’s impossible.

Check www.gvnews.com for my full thoughts on the Pacquiao/Hatton showdown. I couldn’t possibly fit them all in here.

It’s been that kind of sports day — simply overwhelming.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747