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Eric Nalbone- 21 real years of the SIM

Original article written by Ashley Hunt posted 2 years 3 weeks ago

Q: You have been playing the SIM for almost 21 real years! Did you ever think that you would be playing this game for this many years?
A: I'm currently 34, so do the math on my age when I started. So at age 13, I didn't have a lot of plans for what I'd be doing at age 34 at all, let alone with an internet-based horse racing game (we kids of the first internet generation...it was a little whacky). The first generation of the SIM I remember took *hours* for results to process, had no equipment, running lines, headshots, basic sense of surface/distance preference (you could get horses that would just do it all! Hooray!), or much else that's recognizable today in the SIM, but the core element of the ability to create engagement and connection with your stable was there. It's always been a great game that inspired an engaged, passionate community.

I'll also wager that short of asking the Steward what impact the SIM has had on their life, I'm one of the two people whose life has been *most* impacted and shaped by the SIM (my wife is the other). I met my spouse at a SIM gathering in 2009 at the Breeders' Cup, and we've been together ever since; married 5 years this summer. The SIM knows her as Lauren Haggerty, though her last name has changed since she started playing the SIM as well. As far as I know, for at least a little while we're the only couple to meet and marry with the SIM as a primary catalyst for the introduction.

Q: How did you feel when you won the Hall of Fame Trainer?
A: Maybe this is a weird answer, but I didn't care. Being in the Hall of Fame is wonderful, and I appreciate the recognition - but the SIM is about breeding horses who can run and winning races. It's hard to do that consistently, even with an elite stable. The recognition is nice, but if you told me I'd be evicted from the Hall of Fame and my winning percentage would go up I'd happily make that trade. I don't mean to downplay the Hall - I love when my *horses* make it and are recognized for their achievements, but I don't much need other people's validation to feel like I've found success and entertainment in a game I've played for several (real) decades.

Q: How about the SIMMY of Merit?
A: This is a little different. The SIMMY of Merit is generally given to people who have helped the game in some meaningful way, and I'm very proud to have helped in whatever ways I could (and whatever ways I still can). It really does take a village, and communities don't exist simply because someone writes code to determine breeding and racing results and appends it to a forum (don't read this as downplaying the amazing complexity of what The Steward and her father [affectionately referred to as Huff Daddy, and not-so-coincidentally the name of a horse people might want to pay attention to on the Triple Crown Trail next year] built). It exists because a lot of people invested in The Steward's dream, even if that investment was emotional.

The SIMMY of Merit is a pretty great roster to read through of people who have helped shape the SIM in one way or another. Whether we moderated forums, bred massive numbers of international-stable mares for auction (been there, done that), mentored new players and gotten people started in the game (been there, done that, and I think I remain the only player to have *given away* the winner of a Triple Crown race), lots of people chipped in. Take all my SIMMYs except that one away and I'd still be a happy camper.

Q: What is your favorite memory from the SIM?
A: This is (in theory) a hard one, because I've had so many great memories. That said - at the risk of inciting domestic discord by not saying 'meeting my wife', because that technically happened outside the game (though at a SIM event) - I don't have to think long about this at all. Whitney is far and away my favorite SIM racehorse ever, and her Desert World Cup is by far the best night of my SIM life.

Q: What has been your most memorable win?
A: So based on the above, you might think I'm just going to repeat Whitney's Desert World Cup, but I won't. I think I'd have to say Impressive's win over Ground Zero (owned by the wonderful Bob Oliva - who most in the game now will have never heard of, but was a tremendous player and a great friend) in the Y10 Steward's Cup Juvenile. It was my first Steward's Cup, and Impressive just lived up to his name to prevail in a stirring stretch duel. If I had a second, it'd be Braveheart winning the Louisville Derby and breaking down while doing so, while that was still a thing that happened in the game.

Q: After all of the amazing horses that you have had, which one is your favorite?
A: Well, this might be an obvious answer based on what I've already written, but Whitney wins by a country mile. She may not be strictly the *best* horse I've ever owned (I think it's arguable that her dam Loki Reflection, grand-dam Mirror, and probably multiple grand-foals were actually better racehorses if you had lined them up head to head, and it's possible that if you cross divisions we could argue about Caught Ina Tsunami or Era), but she's my 'heart horse' if you will. She is named after an absolutely devoted family pet that was my inseparable companion growing up and got her name a few SIM years after I had to make the difficult decision to let go of the canine inspiration for her name due to kidney failure. A lot of players use sentimental names on horses they hope will be good; not many of us get lucky enough to put that name on a horse who winds up becoming one of the all-time greats as both a racehorse and broodmare. Somewhere up there, a sassy standard poodle hopefully knows how much she was loved and in some small way, recognized in the SIM.

Q: Are there any two that you wish you could have raced against each other?
A: Not to end the interview with a thud, but...not really. I've always believed in treating horses as their own entities, racing against their own competition and in their own settings. Sure, it might be interesting to know which of my Derby or Oaks winners would win in a head-to-head contest (for the record: Saga is the best of my Derby winners and New Year's Present the best of my Oaks winners). At the end of the day though, what has kept me playing the game for several decades of my actual life and over 50 'years' of SIM time is that each horse is a new challenge. Each mating is a new opportunity. Make each horse the best it can be, then breed them trying to one-up the last generation. Most of the time you'll fail. Most yearlings are slow, most horses are bad. But a couple wind up being great, and chasing that never gets old. Wondering if Racing Heartbeat is faster than Red White and Blue or whether Anvil is better than Prefamageps (old school SIM, but whoever reads this - have some fun wandering through the archives. For the record...I have no freaking clue who to pick in that pairing) or Caught Ina Tsunami is better than Jabaar (this one is easy, Caught Ina Tsunami is better)...it's a fool's errand. If your current horses are the best versions of themselves, and you're having fun running them, worrying about whether they're faster and slower than any other horse they don't have to run against is a waste of time.

I almost gave you a match I'd like to see between four horses, but when all is said and done: I'm not sure I want to know. I love all my great ones over the years, and I'd rather not elevate one at the expense of another.


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