The Truth About Ryan Day. Sorry, Buckeyes.

This man in this gif seems like a fun-loving cordial guy. But I'm here to give you a look at the other Ryan Day. I've tip toed around it for a while now on Twitter but it's time to tell the full unabridged story. 

This is not in any way meant to tear down what he's accomplished as a coach. He's banished forever the "born on 3rd base" trope by winning a national championship. No one can ever take that away from him, least of all me authoring this short blog. 

However, the story needs to be told. 

On Monday during the game I fired off this tweet…

Some people might dismiss something like this. In fact, I've had many people tell me that I'm an insignificant peon and he doesn't need to worry about me. Well folks, it's an interaction that is burned in my memory forever. 

Little backstory here to explain how I ended up hanging with Ryan Day and his crew at Saratoga some years ago. 

A very close friend of mine, Ryan Carty, is the current head coach at Delaware but before that he was the OC at UNH. Fun fact, I officiated his wedding and his wife is not only an awesome person but also makes special themed cupcakes for the team every game based on the opponent. 

As many folks have seen on broadcasts, Ryan Day played and coached at UNH under Chip Kelly as part of Coach Sean McDonnell's staff. 

So every year when Carty was at UNH I would go up for a game and spend the weekend to visit. One year after a win, we were all out at a bar in Portsmouth enjoying a few beers. Chip Kelly was in the NFL at this point and had a bye so he came to visit UNH and was out with the coaches. Carty introduced me to Chip and we had a great time talking ball for a few hours over a few beers. I can't say enough about what a great guy Chip was and his best buddy, Chrissy O, was simply a delight. Great guys. Great hang. 

Fast forward a year later and I'm on my annual trip. UNH wins again (they won every game I ever attended actually) and I even caught a punt in the game. True story. 

We find ourselves at the bar that night and in walks Chip who just happened to be there the same weekend again. We are about to cross paths at the bar and I figured he wouldn't remember me but right before we walk past one another he stops me, "Hey Connor! How you been man?!" We proceed to hang the rest of the night with the other coaches and have an excellent time. 

You're probably wondering, "Ok get to the part about Ryan Day," and you'd be correct. The point of the above is to demonstrate that Chip Kelly, who is super well known in the football world, was such a great guy that he remembered me and took time to catch up with me. Regardless of fame, it takes nothing to be a nice person. 

So the year is 2021 and I'm with a group of friends at Saratoga. We are sitting in a box that was generously given to us by Dave Portnoy and I see Chip Kelly in the winner's circle after one of the races. I text Chrissy O and find out where they are hanging so we can grab a beer. Chrissy tells me to hurry up and come join because the beer is getting warm. Sidenote - has to be said once more that Chrissy O is just an all time guy. 

A few buddies and I make our way to the table where Chip Kelly, Coach Mac, Chrissy O, and Ryan Day are hanging out. These guys welcome us into their group like we've known them for 20 years. I'm not a horse racing guy by any stretch but Chip is talking to my guy Danny like he's got the inside track on every race. Coach Mac and my other buddy Andy are trading OLine stories. Drinks are flowing and it gets around to me to order another round so I take everyone's order and make it happen. The drinks arrive and everyone says, "thank you" to me except for one person - Ryan Day. In fact, he couldn't even be bothered to look up from his program. 

The guys at the table collectively make/have made over their careers tens of millions of dollars. They don't need me to buy them a round but it's common guy code that when it's your turn, you don’t grow alligator arms. That's day 1 stuff. It's also day 1 stuff that when someone gets something for you the common courtesy is to say, "thank you."

Ryan Day couldn't even extend me the common decency to say a very simple, "thank you" as though I was lucky to be spending time with him. Listen, I get I wasn't a recruit running a 4.3 but manners are simple. 

Conversely, Coach Mac, Chip, and Chrissy O could not have been nicer to me and my buddies. 

Will this get to Ryan Day? Maybe.

Will he care? Who knows.

Was he maybe just having a bad day at the track, loose half his paycheck, and didn't do this on purpose? Entirely possible. 

I will give him the benefit of the doubt because that's the kind of heart I have. 

If Coach Day would like to apologize, I will accept that from him and forget this ever happened. I'm sure he is riding high now and rightfully so, but do you want to be remembered as someone who doesn't say thank you or do you want to link up at Saratoga this summer and enjoy some beers as pals? 

Up to him.