It was the summer of 97' and I had just finished the 7th grade. Our TV picked up four channels, so on that rainy Saturday I settled for some horse race on ABC. It was the Belmont Stakes, and Silver Charm was making a run at the Triple Crown.

The only thing I knew about horse racing was that the Derby was in Kentucky. But, after a two hour buildup about Silver Charm possibly being the first horse to win the Triple Crown since 1978 and then the 2 minute race where Silver Charm was literally beaten by a nose, I was hooked.

I became a rabid consumer of the "Sport of Kings". I learned about Bob Baffert and Gary Stevens. About Secretariat, Seabiscuit and War Admiral. I knew when someone mentioned "Pimlico" they were referring to "The Preakness" in Maryland. I learned the words to "My Old Kentucky Home", how to bet a trifecta, superfecta, and box it...how to make a mint julep...and when to stop drinking them. I experienced why the grandstand tickets at the Derby were so much more valuable than the mosh pit that is "the infield".

I sat through the emotional roller coaster rides of War Emblem, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Big Brown and I'll Have Another as they came up short of the Triple Crown, year after year.

...and then came American Pharoah.

He closed like a freight train in the Derby. He cut through the slop like a knife at the Preakness. Then he went wire to wire in the Belmont to be the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 37 years.

And suddenly, everyone on social media is onboard...similar to the mass explosion of the pathetic "die-hard Boston Red Sox fans (Est. 2004)."

I'm writing this not to convince you to become a fan of horse racing, quite the contrary. I'm writing this to give you an idea of what I've been able to experience. I'm writing this to give you a timeframe on the excitement and misery I've been subjected to since that rainy Saturday in 1997. I'm writing this so you'll envy the pure adrenaline that courses through a horse racing fans' body when Larry Collmus screams "AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!"

If the Triple Crown captivated you, then sell out to the sport. Invest your time and passion because the reward is unbelievable. But, if you're one of those pathetic "die-hard Red Sox fans (Est. 2004)"...leave the action, energy, and the soul of life itself to us.