Victoria, you are SO transparent. . .

[Dave in TJMex]

. . . sure, you pretend you had some website issue that wiped out all the threads and posts for the last three months, but some of us know the truth behind this purported technology snafu.

It is all part of your sinister plot to remove ALL the Giant Oak threads, simply because you are embarrassed that Giant Oak fans post on this Board. I know all your country club horse racing buddies must chide you over the Giant Oak threads --- the Giant Oak as "slug" thread must have been particularly humiliating for you --- but isn't this forum all about free expression on all things horse racing related?

I, for one, will not tolerate your efforts to silence Giant Oak Nation just 12 days before his highly-anticipated BC Marathon victory!

Go, Giant Oak!

Giant Oak Nation, arise again!

[Songofthesword]

viva la revolucion!!!

[terpsichorist]

Guess I have to start a new Espoir City thread too.

[bulldog]

I think it was a secret plot to keep the Zenyatta thread from getting longer than the Rachel thread...lol. Zenyatta finally gets one page ahead and the board crashes!

[Horse's Rear]

I think it was a secret plot to keep the Zenyatta thread from getting longer than the Rachel thread...lol. Zenyatta finally gets one page ahead and the board crashes!

That would be the conventional theory, but Solomon was on board with Zenyatta overtaking Rachel; like everyone else, she knew all along it was only a matter of "when," not "if."

The Giant Oak issue is, in fact, real. The computer worm virus unleashed by Israel against Iran last week, Stuxnet, turns out to have more sinister implications than anyone originally thought:

A powerful new computer worm apparently is capable of causing power plants or pipelines to blow up. It's a cyber superweapon called Stuxnet. Experts suspect it was designed to disable nuclear facilities in Iran, but Stuxnet could have consequences its creators did not anticipate.

In what was originally thought to be a completely unrelated issue, an internet discussion board was brought to its knees by what turns out to have been a rogue mutation of Stuxnet. The mutation, dubbed "Slugnet" by hackers, doesn't seem to do anything, it just makes everything around it slower whenever the phrase "Giant Oak" is entered as a text message.

A noted Chicago hacker, known only as Vic, first pointed authorities to the "Giant Oak" Slugnet virus, when he began posting how "Giant Oak" was "moving like a tremendous machine . . . he just sits there and hums." Soon experts began to notice that their tremendous machines were moving like Giant Oaks, as though they had taken root.

[second_glance]

^^ That's very good stuff!

[Giant Oak]

The Giant Oak issue is, in fact, real. The computer worm virus unleashed by Israel against Iran last week, Stuxnet, turns out to have more sinister implications than anyone originally thought:

Clearly, ol' HorseButt here is on to something! When I went to log in to TBC this morning, I discovered, shockingly, that I no longer existed! Apparently, the computer worm utilized by the hackers conveniently erased not only all posts going back to July, but all new "members" during that same period. So, conveniently, The Oakster, and all threads and posts by him and members of Giant Oak Nation are now residing in the famous Recycle Bin In The Sky.

Fortunately, the TBC Administrator has graciously expedited my re-entry to the Board, so I don't believe, despite Dave's slanderous allegation, that Victoria is involved in this nefarious scheme.

Folks, here's what I think is going on. After my stunning tour-de-force in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, certain "interests" in the Chicago area decided there was big money to be made shipping me to the Breeders' Cup and running me "under the radar", with heavy Chicago money coming in at the last minute to take advantage of my absurdly long odds.

Their original plan was to run me in the BCC, in which, as I explained thoroughly in one of my now "vanished" posts, I would have had no trouble running down all those other sissies on the long CD stretch, to a glorious victory for Giant Oak Nation.

Apparently, when my posts began to receive such enormous attention and acclaim on the TBC Board, it thwarted their plans. So they quietly placed me in the Marathon (without even telling me!). However, once again, loyal members of the Nation found out, began posting about it, and I quickly became the early betting favorite.

So the group concluded the only way to stifle this incredible groundswell of interest and support for the 'ol Oakster, and protect their long and profitable odds, was to go in and literally destroy all the posts!

But it won't work. Truth, Justice, and The American Way will prevail! I have been able to resurrect the infamous "missing posts" - all the ones between this past July and yesterday. For your informtion, there were a total of 187,546 posts during that time frame, and, amazingly, a full 516 of them were NOT about Rachel or Zenyatta. I have forwarded them to WikiLeaks, the group that this week released almost 400,000 previously classified Iraq War messages, and they will release them shortly. THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE!

In the meantime, to HR's point, we need to find this Vic in Chicago guy.

See you in Louisville!

Your friend,

Giant Oak

[islandgirl45]

The Giant Oak issue is, in fact, real. The computer worm virus unleashed by Israel against Iran last week, Stuxnet, turns out to have more sinister implications than anyone originally thought:

Shouldn't that be Studnet?

[Giant Oak]

Shouldn't that be Studnet?

Damn...I KNEW I liked you!

[Giant Oak]

I know there has been considerable whining on another thread about the loss of some picture of Man 'o War in yesterday's TBC hack attack.

With all due respect, people, MOW is old news! Of much greater importance is the beautiful portrait "gravano" did of ME, the 'ol Oakster, and posted a few days ago. THAT was a work of art.

Gravano, seriously, now that that, too, has disappeared, could you please - pretty please - re-post? Thanks!

Your friend,

Giant Oak

[Hermes]

You have indeed been pre-entered in Marathon GO. With a plan for Gomez to ride. You better step lightly in the post parade big guy

[Dave in TJMex]

You have indeed ben pre-entered in Marathon GO. With a plan for Gomez to ride. You better step lightly in the post parade big guy

Thanks for the info, Hermes. Giant Oak had a snappy one mile workout Sunday, and coming off of his 1 1/4 mile race a couple of weeks back at Hawthorne, I hope his stamina is there for the Marathon.

I AM very excited if Gomez is taking the call. I have been highly critical of GO's jockeys (and the rides they have given him) for a couple of years. Despite the criticism he takes on TBC, I continue to believe Gomez is one of the three or four best jockeys in America, and I love the idea of a jockey with his success in past BC races possibly taking the mount!

[Hermes]

Gomez was suppose to ride Alcomo in Marathon, so it was interesting to me that he might ride GO instead.

[Dave in TJMex]

Gomez was suppose to ride Alcomo in Marathon, so it was interesting to me that he might ride GO instead.

Garrett knows a BC winner when he sees one!

[TapitsGal]

for some reason i went from being a "stakes"ranked poster to a "Non-winners times 2" poster.....haven't been able to figure out why,although i do know i couldn't get on for a few days because of computer probs

[Hermes]

for some reason i went from being a "stakes"ranked poster to a "Non-winners times 2" poster.....haven't been able to figure out why,although i do know i couldn't get on for a few days because of computer probs

Because three months worth of posts were lost in the crash, and therefore that reduced your number of posts.