Writer’s win, place and show

Let’s take another little stroll down memory lane. Do you remember the name “Our Native?” Me neither. Hint: racehorse. How about Scott McLaughlin? Hint: auto racing. Wang Shun? Hint: Olympics.

The common factor in all of those names is that they all finished in third place in their respective events.   

Our Native, a very good thoroughbred who won 14 races in his career, finished third in the 1973 Kentucky Derby. The winner was Secretariat who set the race record time of 1:59 2/5 seconds.

The record still stands.  Second place went to Sham at 1:59 4/5.  They were the only two horses to run the Derby in under 2 minutes. 

Scott McLaughlin finished a very close third in the 2026 Indianapolis 500. It was the closest race in Indy 500 history with Felix Rosenqvist edging past David Malukas by 0.0233 seconds at the finish.

Wang Shun is a swimmer who was just one of many who finished third in the Olympics behind Michael Phelps, the sport’s all-time gold medal winner.

The reason I bring these facts to your attention is that recently yours truly finished in third place in the “Lifestyles” category of the 2026 National Society of Newspaper Columnists annual contest. 

My Tri-City Times columns “Please Watch Your Language” (Dec. 23, 2025, page 8) and “My Column, My Words” (Sept 10, 2025, page 5) were judged to be worthy of recognition.

The pro golfer, Walter Hagen, famously said, “No one remembers who came in second.”  Let alone third.  But in this case, I was quite satisfied to finish third.

The winner was Carole Vasta Folley.  From her website: “Carole is an award-winning playwright, columnist and writer living in Vermont.

As a columnist, Carole’s award-winning ‘In Musing’ column, now in its ninth year of publication, has consistently won numerous awards in the “humor” and “serious” categories over the years from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, the Vermont Press Association and the New England Newspaper & Press Association.    

Employing her quirky sense of humor and penchant for introspection, Vasta Folley’s ‘In Musing’ column explores the many facets of being human, from the ridiculous to the sublime, including social justice issues that impact ourselves and our communities.” Carole won this same award last year. 

Second place went to Bradley Todd, a conservative writer and columnist. He is a partner at OnMessage Public Strategies, a regular CNN commentator, a Republican adviser to U.S. Senators, Governors, Congressmen, a public speaker with expertise in political analysis.

He is the co-author of Washington Post best-seller, “The Great Revolt”.

So, I finished third behind nationally-known, award-winning columnists. You could say that they are the “Secretariat” and “Sham” of columnists.  

No shame in finishing behind them in this win, place and show event. I’m proud that I was able to be on the same track as they were!

I’m grateful to the NSNC for the recognition and owe special thanks to The Tri-City Times and you readers for regularly letting me share some thoughts. 

Contact Rick at dave@tri-citytimes.com