Wow, what an exciting night of basketball! I'm writing this post at 12:46am after watching the end of UK-Cornell (suck it Big Red!) and Xavier-Kansas State (2OT, wow what a finish!). As the Tournament rolls on, the matchups just get better. And the same is true for the ENCAA Bracket!
In the battle of O'Connors, (2) CUSTOM MADE prevailed over (1) BIKO. I'm sure David will be bragging to Karen forever about this one...but gold medals do the talking. MURPHY HIMSELF won the right to represent the British Isles region, and his battle with RINGWOOD COCKATOO was never really close. Somewhere, a Scottsman is smiling.
The Elite Eight finishes today to determine the winners of the Davidson Region and Aussie/Kiwi Region. Get your voting trigger fingers ready, it's another big day!
[John's note: For our readers who have noticed some slight order to the madness that is Eventing Nation's posting schedule, we are working today's schedule slightly differently than normal. Friday N&N will happen around lunch time, with Competitions this Weekend and probably something else this evening.]
DAVIDSON REGION
Bruce's steady teammate (2) EAGLE LION has nothing left to prove; a win at Badminton, and countless clean cross-country rounds made him a model of consistency. His statue will stand forever at the Kentucky Horse Park, dropping into the Head of the Lake. But then there's (1) WINSOME ADANTE. Simply the most dominant event horse of the 2000s, winning Rolex each time he entered. How can you beat that? Your vote decides!
1. WINSOME ADANTE vs. 2. EAGLE LION
AUSSIE/KIWI REGION
It's Kiwi vs. Kiwi in what could turn into an epic matchup. Two double gold medallists who remained at the top of the sport for years, (1) READY TEDDY could have the upper hand simply because he stands out a bit more in recent memory. But (2) CHARISMA has blitzed through the tournament like a buzz saw, winning 90% of the vote in his victories. Two amazing horses, and a very difficult decision to choose one over the other.
1. READY TEDDY vs. 2. CHARISMA
In the battle of O'Connors, (2) CUSTOM MADE prevailed over (1) BIKO. I'm sure David will be bragging to Karen forever about this one...but gold medals do the talking. MURPHY HIMSELF won the right to represent the British Isles region, and his battle with RINGWOOD COCKATOO was never really close. Somewhere, a Scottsman is smiling.
The Elite Eight finishes today to determine the winners of the Davidson Region and Aussie/Kiwi Region. Get your voting trigger fingers ready, it's another big day!
[John's note: For our readers who have noticed some slight order to the madness that is Eventing Nation's posting schedule, we are working today's schedule slightly differently than normal. Friday N&N will happen around lunch time, with Competitions this Weekend and probably something else this evening.]
DAVIDSON REGION
Bruce's steady teammate (2) EAGLE LION has nothing left to prove; a win at Badminton, and countless clean cross-country rounds made him a model of consistency. His statue will stand forever at the Kentucky Horse Park, dropping into the Head of the Lake. But then there's (1) WINSOME ADANTE. Simply the most dominant event horse of the 2000s, winning Rolex each time he entered. How can you beat that? Your vote decides!
1. WINSOME ADANTE vs. 2. EAGLE LION
AUSSIE/KIWI REGION
It's Kiwi vs. Kiwi in what could turn into an epic matchup. Two double gold medallists who remained at the top of the sport for years, (1) READY TEDDY could have the upper hand simply because he stands out a bit more in recent memory. But (2) CHARISMA has blitzed through the tournament like a buzz saw, winning 90% of the vote in his victories. Two amazing horses, and a very difficult decision to choose one over the other.
1. READY TEDDY vs. 2. CHARISMA
The first time I ever even saw eventing was in 1984. I was 17, had longed for years to someday learn to ride a horse (I was still a few years away from it). On a summer afternoon I flipped on the tv to whatever the coverage was from the LA Olympics, and saw the most wonderful thing--gorgeous acres of green, huge solid jumps, horses galloping over things I'd never dreamed existed. It was cross country, and I was mesmerized, hooked from that moment on. A few days later I sat with my boyfriend and parents to watch the closing ceremonies, and into the LA Colisseum came two big horses and one little. Then the riders dismounted--two little and one big. Mark Todd and Charisma had won their first Olympic medal.
I started riding a little over a year later, but it wasn't until almost twenty years after that that I finally began to event. Charisma's photo hangs in my guest bathroom (my husband--that boyfriend of 25 years ago--won't let me hang it above our bed). I'll vote for Charisma first, last, and always. What a horse!