A BYOB-Less Preakness

I've been avoiding the whole Preakness madness, like I do every year, because I have zero interest in horse racing, and I have even less interest in what is apparently the ludicrous tradition of stupid debauchery that the "infield" there has apparently mandated for years. It would be like going to Woodstock to analyze different guitar playing techniques, or going to a vertical tasting of Thomas Hardy's to get plastered.

But no more. The operators of Pimlico apparently think they're going to ban BYOB (bring your own booze). I'm sure hip flask sales have skyrocketed.

So in today's Baltimore Sun:

Tim Haus had time to take a phone call Thursday afternoon - one sure sign that this won't be a typical Preakness weekend.

The days leading up to the race are typically crazy for Haus and other workers at Wells Discount Liquors on York Road in Anneslie. On race day, they'd usually open at 7 a.m. just so people headed to Pimlico's infield could load cars with beer, beer and more beer.

That's over. Track officials have prohibited spectators from bringing in any beverages, including malty, hoppy, alcoholic ones - those that fueled the antics that earned the race the nickname "The Freakness" and quenched Baltimore's annual thirst for debauchery.

"Normally for the Preakness, I would triple everything I'd order," says Haus, Wells' beer manager, noting that meant $50,000 in beer sales alone. "That's lost. We've lost a lot."

Not that I want a place like Wells to not make lots of money--after all, mass sales of swill subsidize the presence of the finer stuff I drink--but seriously............. if the Preakness leaves Baltimore or ends, well, as long as it takes this foolishness with it, so much the better, as far as I'm concerned.