NYT Series: "Mangled Horses, Maimed Jockeys"

[Merlinsky]

Roger Ebert posted a link to the article on Facebook with this remark:

My friend Bill Nack was the first to put the numbers together and write about this, in Sports Illustrated. His article made him persona non grata for two years in the sport. He writes about it in his fine book, "My Turf."

Uh, forgive me but can someone give the cliff notes version of what he's talking about? Loved the accusations of how abusive we are as a sport in the comments below his link. I'd lambast them, but I'm a little too p'od. I'd probably say something I'd regret, and on top of that you basically have signed your name to it. If anybody else wants to have a go, check out his FB page.

Anybody trying to go off about our barbarism in using animals for entertainment, well they probably never thought about stopping all those kids competing in things like gymnastics or figure skating in the Olympics where injuries can be pretty extreme. That Chinese gymnast got paralyzed right before the Olympics about 12 years ago. She got to meet Leonardo DiCaprio though, so I guess we ignore that. I saw one girl get her head nailed on the balance beam, a skater got her head sliced open on the ice during a spin with her partner and nearly bled out on the ice. In 1997, Kerri Strug landed a one legged vault. Fortunately for her, we can handle injuries like that for human beings, but it's not like anything beyond glory for her country was on the line. It's for our entertainment isn't it? That's just on the world stage. Injuries to children happen all the time in a variety of sports. Oh the humanity. Oh wait, I forgot, they don't care.

[my miss storm cat]

I wouldn't worry about anything it says.

I think most people (who don't know a thing about racing) will take one one look at the picture and that will be that, their minds will have been made up.

[my miss storm cat]

Originally Posted by Cardus

Will you be disappointed if this series of feature pieces comes and goes without mentioning your "Angels" threads?

I'm almost in tears laughing from some comments you've made...

I am sorry for everything. Turly.

If I'm anywhere near as annoying to you as ummm... some others are? I don't blame you one bit.

You've very funny.

If anyone thinks I'm being sarcastic I'm not.

Carry on.

[Calzone Lord]

The horse on the cover of the New York Times was running in a 2yo MCL quarter horse race in New Mexico with a $6,500 purse...I think Grade A greyhounds in West Va run for purses like that...and dog races at Derby Lane get higher betting handle.

I've heard Joe Drape try to analyze a race. He couldn't handicap his way out of a paper bag. He's unquestionably a very professional writer -- but he has as much business covering horse racing as I do covering the NFL or any other sport in which I have opinions on..but don't really have much of a clue about.

Originally Posted by Merlinsky

Anybody trying to go off about our barbarism in using animals for entertainment, well they probably never thought about stopping all those kids competing in things like gymnastics or figure skating in the Olympics where injuries can be pretty extreme. That Chinese gymnast got paralyzed right before the Olympics about 12 years ago. She got to meet Leonardo DiCaprio though, so I guess we ignore that. I saw one girl get her head nailed on the balance beam, a skater got her head sliced open on the ice during a spin with her partner and nearly bled out on the ice. In 1997, Kerri Strug landed a one legged vault. Fortunately for her, we can handle injuries like that for human beings, but it's not like anything beyond glory for her country was on the line. It's for our entertainment isn't it? That's just on the world stage. Injuries to children happen all the time in a variety of sports. Oh the humanity. Oh wait, I forgot, they don't care.

You left out the famous incident where Tonya Harding paid some guy off to club Nancy Kerrigan in the knee to put her out of commission for the 1994 Winter Olympics. Maybe in a future instalment of this NYT "expose," we'll learn that Rachel Alexandra's connections contracted with a groom to throw a feed bucket at Zenyatta in her stall. Second the ludicrousness of the remarks made by that vet trying to compare the injuries suffered by a 1,200 lb. horse running 40 mph on spindly legs to those of 180 lb. men running maybe half as fast on legs like tree trunks. How did this guy get through vet school?


Ocala Mike