Carolina followup....

Following up on the pig races at the N.C. State Fair:

After reading Kristi's comment, I was even more depressed over missing the races...so, through the magic that is the internet...I goggled some videos. O-M-freakin'-G!!!! I'm laughing so hard, I'm crying...and then I found this article. You can't make this stuff up!....I try!:

CHRIS SEWARD - cseward@newsobserver.com

Published Fri, Oct 15, 2010 02:00 AM
Modified Fri, Oct 15, 2010 03:28 PM

Racing Pigs Featured at State Fair by Josh Shaffer, Staff Writer

RALEIGH -- In 27 years, Dennis Cook has trained a thousand racing pigs, sending stampedes of ear-flapping squealers after a plate of Cheetos at the checkered flag.

He has made speedsters out of enough ducks to fill Jordan Lake, transforming a wobbly gang of fowl notorious for clumsiness.

But after a lifetime spent in the company of farm animals, Cook still finds the goats most vexing. Hard-headed in the barnyard; hard-headed on the Hogway Speedway.

"Like being married," Cook joked.

Nearing 60, Cook can still fill five bleachers in his corner of the State Fair. All he has to do is let out a caterwaul and ask, "Have we got some rednecks in here today?"

His pigs, some only 5 weeks old, come bumbling down the gangplank from his trailer and root their way into the starting chutes. Cook explains their zeal for the oval track.

"I have an Australian shepherd I chase them with a few times," he said. "They're smart. They get the idea pretty quick."

Ducks are trickier, especially the flightless variety Cook uses. To inspire a duck to compete, you've got to run around behind it, clapping your hands.

"They've got little-bitty short legs," Cook said.

But goats are like spoiled ballplayers on a $100 million payroll. Crack a hoof and they're on the disabled list. On Thursday, just two hours after the fair's opening, with 300 giddy fans, the goats poked tentatively along the speedway, taking their time.

Hearing Cook describe life as a livestock racer with a black cowboy hat and a long gray handlebar moustache, you'd think he'd wake up some mornings and wish for rain - anything to spoil another danged goat race.

But no. Racing goats is unending, hoofed joy.

"I hated school," Cook said. "I finished the 10th grade. We have a ball. I never know what they're going to do. It's redneck racing."

Some rednecks in attendance Thursday came all the way from Long Island, N.Y. - their fifth trip to the N.C. State Fair. Pig racing is a delicacy to a Northerner, Susan Catanzaro said.

"I thought we could bet on them!" she said. "They're so cute! They don't race pigs in New York."

Fifty feet from the Hogway Speedway, pigs come in barbecue form. But under Cook's watch, they are blue-ribbon champions, jowls smeared with Cheetos dust.