Horse Racing: Seattle Slew -- Athlete or non-athlete

Seattle Slew, a horse that won the Triple Crown 25 years ago, died this week, and he will certainly be missed.

Do not mistake him for a sports hero or an athlete though; he was just a horse, an exceptional horse, but just a horse.

Proper tribute should be paid. Jim Hill, his owner, correctly summed up his significance.

"He did something remarkable for the thoroughbred breeding industry and his influence will be felt for many years," Hill said of his pet and commodity. "He...did a whole lot for a lot of people."

While it is certainly understandable for the Hills to have an emotional attachment to Seattle Slew (who among us hasn't had an emotional attachment to a pet?), it is not ok for people who never met Seattle Slew to get carried away with his "greatness" or "athletic" achievements.

Among those who have lost touch with reality is John Sikura Jr., owner of the farm where the horse spent the last few weeks of his life.

Sikura claimed the horse had "true greatness" that "you can equate to Michael Jordan or anyone great in their fields."

Do not equate his achievements to Jordan's greatness!

Sikura forgets the two champions are of different species and different mindsets. Jordan chose his field and decided to make himself great. The horse did not choose his profession and could not possibly have understood that he was exceptional.

Real athletes choose their sports; they are not forced to participate (with the exception of female gymnasts, of course, but that is another column entirely). Incidentally, my dog can run the forty in three seconds flat, but no NFL team selected him in the draft.

If Sikura really wanted to compare Seattle Slew to someone else who was great in his field, Mr. Ed, the great actor, would have been a more valid comparison than Jordan.

Angel Cordero Jr., a jockey who rode Seattle Slew, also went overboard saying, "he reminded me of Muhammed Ali, he was that good and had that same sort of presence."

Cordero elaborated on his opinion, adding that Dustin Hoffman reminds him of Lassie.

The recently dead horse is perhaps more admired for his success in the breeding shed than for his success on the racetrack.

Seattle sired a slew of horses, over 100 stakes winners, so maybe he should be compared to Shawn Kemp rather than Ali and Jordan.

His offspring earned more than $76 million. That is an impressive figure, but, being a horse and not a human, he probably was not proud of his sons.

Really, if siring offspring who make a lot of money in sports is an athletic achievement, then $76 million doesn't even put him in the same league as Ken Griffey Sr. or Bobby Bonds.

This is a horse who will be missed by many, so his death is certainly sad.

Seattle Slew definitely affected many lives, both human and equine. He had a great deal of influence on America's pastime -- gambling. Some people probably truly loved him.

Seattle Slew was not, however, a great athlete or even an athlete. He was a horse.

He ran fast because some humans convinced him that running fast was better than becoming glue or dog food.

He did not love competition any more than he would have loved running wild.

He died without ever knowing, much less taking pride in the fact, that he was a champion.

Michael Jordan is a great athlete and a great champion. He chose to train, and he could have chosen not to train.

Had Jordan chosen to be less competitive, he would never have become glue. He would have become Dominique Wilkens.