This is a really stupid post.

1. Why do people read newspapers.

2. Isn't that the hometown of PG1985? Anyone living in the same town that he does should be given some leeway, as obviously there is some sort of intelligence dampening field at work around there.

3. People clicking the link to read that story can only encourage them.

4. Who cares what some schlub writes in a newspaper (see #1 above).

Thanks for reading it. If they (Skidmore students) werent the perfect demographic to go after, do you think NYRA would put forth the effort?

Fridays, certainly, and the weekend. On Wednesdays and Thursdays it's harder to justify skipping those afternoon classes, since you have to go to class the next morning and the amount of beer consumed at the track might interfere with that goal. (IDs? We don't need no stinkin' IDs!)

Former UK instructor and mother of two current UK students

as a former UK instructor, you should know that you only need to go to class on days that there are tests!! :D

Now if some would bring their Mother's, the yearly treck to Kentucky would be
even better:D

I really wish I hadn't. I'm not sure how you formed it (well, I have an idea), but I can assure you that the picture you have of Skidmore students is pretty far off the mark.

Anyways. . . There's no denying that horse racing needs to attract younger fans, but Saratoga College Day will inevitably and ultimately prove ineffective and worthless (as if NYRA will have a way of measuring) because it is yet another demonstration of the industry's fatal flaw: its unwillingness to showcase the only element of racing that actually matters to the bottom line - the betting. It's fine to lure college kids in with drink specials and ipod nanos, but what's going to bring them back when the party stops? Maybe they should give away vouchers or have some sort of beginner handicapping contest or seminar with Andy in addition to the karaoke and balloon animals. If the goal is to bring in younger fans and subsequently increase handle and ensure future handle when all you old folks are gone, then why can't we just admit that? It's not like the event is going to hurt anyone, and I'm sure it'll bring in a little temporary money for NYRA and provide some eye candy for Scav, but in the end it'll be just another misguided attempt to reach a group that those in charge don't really understand.

The Gazette piece, which could be detrimental, is so far off base and surprising that I wonder if the same idiot politicians who were behind the UIGEA, have blocked slots in KY, etc... tied up Heller and Cusano and wrote this themselves. I thought we as a society (particularly in the Northeast) were moving out of the anti-gambling dark ages, but this is a step back.

Aside from the fact that it's not even well-written, this editorial is more proof that playing the horses has some bizarre stigma that playing the lottery, poker, blackjack or even slots doesn't have. That inexplicable double standard is exactly the reason why I feel NYRA and similar organizations need to have days like these. Not only to attract new blood, but to disprove this unfair stereotype held by many that racing is somehow a more degenerate form of gambling and is just for old folks.

Welcome back Joey......hope to see you at the Spa.

Combine those three into one and I'm totally there.

Ever since Harry Downey died

Maybe Skidmore has changed. My bad. It was a while ago I ran around with some of them, all of which seemed to have cash coming out of their ears and believe me, I wasnt hallucinating getting picked up in cars that cost more than my college education.

Sep 4th is a great day to do this. Friday afternoon, first weekend back. Man I envy those kids. I went to college in a dumpy city whose biggest attraction was a minor league hockey team and a small time division 1 college basketball school. These kids get to live in a town with a racetrack, most live within a drunken walk to. The bars suck, but hey you cant have everything.

I agree with you Joey, NYRA should at least make an attempt to have more fun days like this for a different demographic than what is normally seen at the track. I dont know how much better looking the women can get though. Saratoga has that down and doesnt need much help in that dept!

It sucks that horse racing has this stigma. It isnt fair but easy to assess why when you look around at many of the people who hang out at OTBs and the racetrack. I do think slots very much has this stigma also. At least up here. Most people who live here think the majority of people who frequent the harness track (or racino place) are trashy degenerates.

He now covers college football for a local radio station, it appears he has really turned his life around.

That is fantastic news - :tro:

What's infuriating to me about the sanctimonious "but think of the innocent children" tone of the article is that far more financial damage has been done to college kids by the credit card industry aggressively marketing to incoming freshmen who don't understand what they're getting into. Gambling at the track is much simpler- make the wrong choice, you lose your money. But let's pick on the racing industry instead, because that's easy and safe.

And yeah, as someone posted earlier, clearly the writer has no understanding of addiction.

What's infuriating to me is that the Gazette just got 100 times more web hits than they do in a normal week by posting this rubbish. So what does everyone think they will post more of?

Hahaha....

But in all seriousness, newspapers are dying a slow death. Many have shut down, others have moved operations completely online. There's no shame in moving your paper to the internet as that's where the future is.

As an aside... I recommend the book "Black & White and Dead All Over" which is about a murder in the halls of a major NYC newspaper (likely the NY Times). The author writes about how the paper industry is dying etc., all with the backdrop of a thriller.