At the end of the calendar year I think it’s only natural to step back and take a look, at your life or at the world we live in, and take some stock in what’s going on around you. The sad part about doing that these days is that, in a lot of ways, this world seems to have been careening a little out of control for the past three years.
Not trying to be too negative here but COVID-19 really hit North America at the beginning of 2020, and since then this world hasn’t necessarily been in that great a state, in ways both related and not related to the virus.
As far as COVID goes, maybe I was a bit naive, but who knew that a virus that has killed more than 6.6 million people would be so political? If you lean right politically then you think ‘X’ about the virus and how to deal with it, but if you lean left then you think ‘Y’? That’s strange.
Since the beginning of 2020 we’ve been through a myriad of protests, race riots, fits of airline rage, truckers’ rallies and a whole slew of other nasty events that all seem to include a common denominator of hate and anger. You turn on the news and see things like the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the horrible war in the Ukraine, or a mass shooting where peaceful, innocent people are killed in a hate crime simply because of their sexual preference.
It can all get to be a bit much sometimes.
So, have I got you into the holiday spirit yet? Sorry about that.
Where am I going with this you ask?
Well I did say in the first line that you often take a look at what’s going on around you, and since my life is pretty much consumed with harness racing, that’s the world I usually look at more closely. In that world, something recently dawned on me about our current younger generation that gives me great hope and satisfaction - regardless of what’s going on in the outside world around us.
I hate to date myself but when I was stabled in the Mohawk backstretch a number of years ago, and racing mainly at Woodbine and Mohawk, there were four little rug-rats always running around - three of them whose parents were stabled in the backstretch and one who you’d mainly just see in the paddock. Looking at race programs today you’d know the four of them better as Scott Zeron (33-years-old), Jonathan Drury (33), Doug McNair (32) and Scott Young (31).
Today I applaud all four of them for following through on their dreams of becoming catch-drivers, but what really hit me the other day, during my time of reflection, is that I truly applaud them all on growing up to be good, respectful human beings.
Are they all good drivers? Yes. But I only really care about that if I’ve bet them or if they’re driving my horse - and three of the four have now actually driven at least one that I or a family member of mine has owned. What I really care about though, is the kind of people they are. I relate it to all the years that I coached Midget hockey - we wouldn’t pick our players based on talent alone, but also on character, and that process never let us down in the end when it came to winning hockey games and developing good people.
These four are no different, and I’d take any one of them on my team any day. As they’ve grown into their roles as solid, if not top Canadian drivers, all four continue to represent their sport well and show respect to those around them.
I saw Scotty Zee in Lexington recently, and as always he came right over with a big smile and looked me right in the eye as he gave me a good firm handshake.
I saw ‘The Answer’ (Scott Young) in the Mohawk paddock in late October and J.D. in Harrisburg a few days later, and it was the very same thing from both.
Dougie always goes out of his way to come and say hi when I see him, and when I texted him ‘Congratulations’ in the wee hours of October 30th after he won the Breeders Crown with Grace Hill, his response was immediate and very sincere.
I can be fairly blunt in my observations I suppose, and I often tell people that our world is in trouble because ‘there are a lot of a-holes having kids and raising them to be a-holes’. Like I said, I’m blunt.
Refreshingly, in the Standardbred world, there are a lot of good people, and none of the four respectful young men that I mention here have forgotten their roots - they were raised right.
I know all of their parents as well, and Rick & Joyce Zeron, Barry & Patti Drury, Gregg & Terri McNair and Bob & Gail Young can be proud of the sons they’ve raised.
We can’t change the world in a day, but we can all try and make it a better place one person at a time.
As I sit down with my family this holiday season, I like to think that our Standardbred world, and hopefully our world in general, is in good hands moving forward with today’s generation and the ones that they’ll eventually raise for tomorrow. I hope you feel the same.
Wishing you all a safe, happy and healthy holiday season, and a year ahead full of peace, love and joy.
Dan Fisher [email protected]