A Sad Day For Racing

[brianwspencer]

Can we go back now and retroactively make Smarty Jones and Barbaro both Horse of the Year, too?

Based on this year's results, they should've been RESOUNDING winners, since being popular and having the most segments on the nooz is what makes horse of the year these days -- not actually being the horse that accomplishes the most on the racetrack.

It's just absurd. The whole "well, there are no rules, so it's all subjective and it can mean whatever you want it to mean" thing lots of voters have been saying is just a cop-out. Everyone knows what the generally accepted spirit of the rule is, which is to say, put or shut up on the track if you want to win the award. Until this year.

There's a good damn reason Barbaro and Smarty Jones didn't win the award, for two recent comparisons, because despite all of their wonderful human-interest stories, and all of the attention they brought to the game, they got outperformed on the track, where it matters.

If only they had been better dancers. Sure things then.