L.A. Times-T.J. Simers- Barbaro
 

Sorry to post another Barbaro thread, but I'm sure when you guys read this you will know why. I didn't want it to be missed by anyone who has posted their tributes to Barbaro already. I'm not going to get into my opinion of this yet as I'm sure it will be the same as everyone else on this board. I couldn't get the entire article as I don't have a subscription. I usually place garbage in the trash rather than pay for it. Here is an excerpt of Jon White's column that can be found at:

http://www.xpressbet.com/Mjwcolumn.aspx

And then there is T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times. When I sat down to read the Barbaro story, I did what I normally do these days when looking for anything to do with horse racing in the Los Angeles Times. I started at the back of the sports section and worked my way toward the front. I have found that is typically the fastest way to find a story about horse racing in that paper.

I didn’t find anything about Barbaro until I got to page 2 of the sports section. There was a picture of Barbaro accompanying T.J. Simers’ column. This is a column I quit reading long ago. I discovered that I simply am not interested in what Simers has to say. He often writes about a grocery checker relative. I have no interest in that. Or, it seems, Simers often writes about himself, as he evidently finds himself interesting. I don’t. It makes me miss reading such outstanding columnists in the L.A. Times as Jim Murray, Scott Ostler and Allan Malamud with his great “Notes on a Scorecard.”

I decided to put off reading what Simers had to say about Barbaro until I could find the actual news story. But there was no Barbaro story in the entire sports section. I then looked at the front page of the news section, about the last place one would expect to find a story about horse racing in the L.A. Times. And, sure enough, there was the Barbaro story, written by Bill Dwyre, who did a terrific job.

And then there is T.J. Simers, whose column had the headline: “Grieving for Barbaro makes no horse sense.”

Simers began his column this way: “They shoot horses, don’t they? It was time to load the gun a long time ago, but I refrained from saying so for fear Barbaro might’ve read it, or had someone tell him how I felt.”

Here is another excerpt from the piece of rubbish also known as Simers’ column:

“Tell me the difference right now between the furry bump in the road that was once a squirrel, and Barbaro today. Courage? You don’t think it takes courage to try and run across eight lanes of the I-5 only to get flattened three lanes shy.

“Just what is the difference between a squirrel and a horse -- discounting the fact you might’ve won money on the horse? How about a bunny and a horse?”

Now you might begin to understand why I quit reading Simers.

Simers also wrote this:

“Of the first 50 messages left on the Penn Veterinary Medicine Message board when I checked around noon, 48 were from women. What is it about women and dead horses?

“…From what I can tell, most women want to stand there and look at horses, or draw them. I’m telling you, there’s a better chance of the woman in your life drawing a horse than a sketch of you, which makes me wonder if man made a mistake when he chose to walk upright.”

This drivel appears in the same newspaper where we once could find the prose of Jim Murray, who often wrote eloquently about horse racing. In fact, the last column Murray wrote before he passed away was about Free House.

But instead of Murray, we now have T.J. Simers, who also wrote:

“I think by now it’s pretty obvious I just don’t get this blubbering fascination with Barbaro. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to horses, I’ve cried too -- one big lug coming to mind that went off at odds of 3-5, the fifth leg in a pick six and all going well, only to finish last. You want to talk about sad stories.”

I won’t inflect any more of T.J. Simers’ Barbaro column on you. He may have thought he was being funny. But even if that was his goal, I don’t think the death of Barbaro is an appropriate topic for attempted humor. I can only surmise he has never become emotionally attached to an animal. And I guess, as hard as it is to believe, he’s never known anyone who has loved an animal and mourned when they died. Even Rush Limbaugh called Barbaro “brave.” Simers’ own newspaper considered Barbaro important enough to put the story of his death on the front page of the news section. T.J. Simers? He compares Barbaro to a dead squirrel on a freeway.

But at least T.J. Simers’ Barbaro column seems to answer one question I’ve had. I had wondered what T.J. stands for. Now I know. It must stand for Total Jerk.


---------If this article wasn't classy enough he followed it up a few days later with this gem: http://www.latimes.com/sports/column...ck=1&cset=true

I'm glad Jon White wrote this column as I wouldn't have known without it. For anyone interested T.J. Simer's e-mail is:

t.j.simers@latimes.com

The sports hotline is: 213-237-7145
And the sports fax is: 213-237-7876

His column sucks. He's an embarassment. I'll bet he printed EVERY single pro view he received. I only wish he could have died instead of Barbaro, his kind are a dime a dozen.:mad:

Agreed. I had this EXACT conversation with a guy I work with today. You just can't teach people who have no compassion for life outside of the human race to love an animal. This guy I work with thinks that it's ridiculous to care so much about animals because they have no souls. I just don't understand that logic...

Sounds like the guy you work with has no soul either.

I think it's fine not to love animals or not really understand how people do...but to actually take the time to abjectly demean, ridicule and mock them is in my opinion a very disturbed human being.

That pretty much sums it up. He thinks that anyone that spends that kind of money on an animal to try and heal it, is stupid and wasting their time. He feels the same regardless of whether it's a horse, dog, cat etc.

I agree totally. If someone doesn't understand why people care about it that's fine. But for this type of garbage to actually be printed in a major newspaper is amazing to me. Actually, nothing from Simers or the LA Times amazes me.

My only thought is that the man has been rejected by woman so many times that he thinks their preoccupation & love of horses is to blame and not the fact that he is a total loser.

i was told i had no soul on here recently...i guess i'm in good company!!!!

ah, that ass would only be amused if you wrote to him and got mad--just ignore him, far worse punishment.

My Dad reads this paper daily,and complains about this guy.Nobody else(not even T.O.....Terrel Owens.)Don't know why this guy draws a check.Aren't people suppose to enjoy reading a paid writer's work?(maybe not.)

The Orlando Slantinel (Sentinel) has similar styled writers. I almost hate to open the paper for fear of what it says.

Unfortunately the trend towards 'in your face' journalism has spread from tv and radio to print media. Some of these editors would rather have a guy like Simers to create "buzz" regardless of how clueless or crass he is. I'm sure that this thread is what these guys are after. I mean he got us to read at least some of his article and attracted some of us to their website which is thier goal.

More and more opinions are interjected into news stories. I know Simers is a columnist but he didn't start as one. As print media get less and less important, get ready for more jerks like this trying to stir the pot.

Unfortunately you are right. They do want to create a "buzz" but I don't believe it's good for them in the long run. Columns like this may cause people to notice their paper, but I don't believe anyone will subcribe to it because of this. In fact, I'm sure more than a few people have dropped them because of articles like this and clowns like Simers. The one bit of humor I find in the whole situation is that one day like us all, Simers will face the same fate Barbaro did and I don't believe it will make world headlines or more than a few family members upset. Hell, there may even be a few F*%# Simers parties. Anyway, I haven't been able to stand this guy for years and stopped reading the Times because of him. I wish I hadn't stumbled upon this article on xpressbet because I've long ago ignored what this clown has to say.