It may not hold the same fascination as 50 year ago, but there are a few things going on this weekend worth watching

Where were you a half-century ago? For some, that’s a tough ask, as most weren’t anywhere, just yet, and others who were can’t remember. Here’s an easier question. Where will you be this weekend?

If you were around 50 years ago – June 9, 1973 – and happened to be somewhere in the neighborhood of that new-fangled invention, a color TV, then you might have watched the horse race of the century. Or the 1970s. Not sure.

Though it had been years since the sport had a Triple Crown winner, the favorite taking the Belmont track that day, Secretariat, seemed destined to break the 25-year drought.

He did. In style. By a half-mile or something. Big Red, as the horse was known, came up big. Gigantic. Actually, won by 31 lengths, which is, metaphorically speaking, a whole heck of a lot. Set a record, adding to records set in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Ran into history.

We mention it again not only because Secretariat was one of the top five athletes of the 20th century, but also because when he crossed the finish line, it marked horse racing’s peak in the public’s consciousness. Never again, not when Seattle Slew ran, not when Affirmed and Alydar dueled, not when Cigar smoked the competition, not when Zenyatta was winning every race she had, not even when American Pharoah broke the next, even longer, Triple Crown drought, has a horse or the sport reached such heights of interest.

Secretariat was the pinnacle. The greatest. And it all came together 50 years ago Friday.

Let’s look ahead to the weekend. And what we can watch if we don’t want to go outside and enjoy June in the Northwest.

Not that we are recommending you sit and watch the Belmont (post time 4:02 p.m. Saturday on NBC) or the fourth game of the NBA Finals or the Stanley Cup Finals. Come August, when our air has a 50/50 chance of being as bad as New York’s was this week, you might want to stay inside. But now? Not sure why.

That’s your call. Ours is to give you some help making a decision.

There is no chance for a Triple Crown winner this year – or a 31-length win – but Preakness champ National Treasure is running the Belmont, so that might be worthwhile. Certainly not can’t-miss TV, though. Nothing really is this weekend.

The M’s need to start playing better and maybe the series in Anaheim, California, will be the beginning. The teams meet Friday on Apple TV+ (6:38 p.m.), which means if you want to watch them, switching over to “The Big Bang Theory” reruns are extremely difficult. Even more problematic, however, is the NBA’s Game 4 is Friday night in Miami, starting at 5:30 on ABC.

At least there is no conflict with watching the French Open finals, other than with sleeping in. The women play Saturday, the men Sunday, with both starting on NBC at 6 a.m. our time.

The M’s return to Root on Saturday night (7:07 first pitch) and Sunday afternoon (1:07), which makes life easier. There is some crossover Saturday with Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals starting Saturday at 5 p.m. on TNT.

Otherwise, there is the usual. Golf on CBS, NASCAR on Fox, WNBA games on ABC, and, because football is king, USFL games sprinkled around NBC, Fox and ESPN.

All in all, though, we would rather be at the lake. Which is probably where we were 50 years ago today. If sitting next to the sprinkler in the backyard can be called “being at the lake.”

We’re not worried about Friday morning’s rain. Our tee time wasn’t until the afternoon. We’ve been guaranteed by the weather gods it would be fine by then. It only took a $2.2 billion investment and sacrificing Greg Norman’s reputation to get it in stone. Wait, maybe we have our golf stories mixed up. Oh, well. … By the way, did not want to miss a chance to give Neil Everett a shout-out. The Spokane native is leaving ESPN, a victim of Disney’s cost-cutting. Sorry, we won’t be hearing any more Bobby Jack references.