Falling Down?

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So I've been sitting on the sidelines watching and reading various blogs, articles and comments over the past few weeks, soaking in everything that's been written and said about horse racing and its perceived problems. I'm not as committed to the sport, nor am I emotionally tied to the game in any way. I'm certainly not as invested as those who actually draw a paycheck that feeds a family and whatnot, so I've been cautious in speaking out too much about recent events.

Don't get me wrong, I love the sport and the intellectual challenge that handicapping presents and I love attending and covering the big events, but if the sport went away tomorrow (and it won't), I'd probably return to being the fanatical sports fan that I was before jumping into this game with both feet.

Most topics have been beaten to death so I won't bore you with a 3,000 word diatribe on why the NY Times is full of crap or why HBO's decision makers are a bunch of [insert expletive here] for canceling Luck, but I will provide some brief thoughts on several fronts.

Luck. While I was starting to get into the show, and several of my non-racing brethren would mention to me that they were enjoying the series (even though most said the lingo was hard to follow), I'm not so sure it was the home run series that some racing enthusiasts were making it out to be. Guess we'll never know. I'm still not sure why a decision had to be made so quickly. Too bad, so sad.

NY Times A1 Article. A wise man once told me "never pick a fight with those who buy ink by the barrel." Page 1 stories sell papers and the message already has reached the Times' massive circulation.
Action Steps? By Who?? "The industry needs to take action" seems to be the standard answer or retort I read or hear on the radio. So who is "the industry?" The NTRA (chuckle)? The Jockey Club (haha)? The horsemen? The owners? The regulators? The answer probably is a collective all of the above, but you know the chances of all of those factions getting together and working on a solution are somewhere between slim and none. I guess the industry's leaders will figure it out. Maybe they will hire some consultants.

Finally, perhaps all this noise will just fade away like it did after the last set of Congressional hearings when we (using "we" very liberally here) pranced out the Safety Alliance (golf clap) and promised reform.

What can racing fans do? Keep supporting the sport by wagering and going to the track. You can join ThoroFan (the voice of the Fan). You can write to your regulators and urge them to ban the cheaters and enforce the rules. You can try and stay positive and just enjoy the entertainment, because face it, for fans that's what it's all about.

On the lighter side....

I'm hoping this weekend's preps come up chalky in order to set up a great Derby in Louisville. It would be great if all of the top 5 or 6 horse continue to move forward. If there's going to be an upset this weekend I think it'll happen in the La. Derby (thinking Cigar Street), although I was one of only a few that picked Mark Valeski to win the Risen Star, who just missed by a nose.

The Space Kid is starting to speak in the third person, should I be worried?

My fifth anniversary is coming up and represents the "wood" anniversary, thus the gift should be something to do with wood. No brainer......Wood Memorial?

Heading to the Wehrle OTB on Saturday for Florida Derby Day with some of the boys...stop by if you're in the BUF and we'll crank a bucket of beers (3 for $5) or two and play the races. I guarantee no one will be reading the Times.

BuffaLuck, Ranallo & Turf Accountants

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No, this isn't a post about the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, but another racing blog that will discuss the new HBO series Luck. I wasn't planning on discussing it other than maybe a random bullet point in a random blog....however...


I received an circuitous email sent by USA Today sportswriter and Buffalo native Erik Brady via one of my partners with the same last name (no relation) discussing the Buffalo connections of the series. Here's what I gleaned from the email:


- David Milch, the show's producer, is Buffalo-born and raised, which explains the obscure name dropping of the one-time Buffalo newspaper Courier-Express during the show. "What are you," asks the horseplayer  in the wheelchair played by Kevin Dunn, “the morning Courier-Express?” 


- Milch's childhood idol was the late Courier-Express columnist Phil Ranallo, who wrote a daily column called "What's New Harry." The column featured horseplayer Honest Harry who would dive into his many forays at the racetrack, along with his wife, Ruby.  Ranallo also happened to win the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Newspaper Writing in 1972.


- The Buffalo News' Art Director Jeff Simon wrote this review on his former classmate Milch's newest HBO series.


Who knew the various connections to Buffalo. What did I think? Well, I'm intrigued by it so far and it's way too early to make any snap judgments about its potential success. I enjoyed the racing scenes and the Pick Six players the most. I liked how they explained to the casual viewer what a "single" in the bet represented and that the scene keyed on the singled horse. The scene was breathtaking as the "bug boy" was boxed in and forced to shoot up the rail to win the key race in the sequence. 


They had to lay out a whole array of characters over the hour long show, so it did take some time to develop. While the racetrack lingo could be considered to be confusing to the non-racing fan viewer, I think in time folks will pick up on what's going on and all in all this could be very good for racing and generating new fans.


While hitting a $2.7M Pick Six doesn't happen everyday, it's similar to the way most of us were hooked on the game. A nice score and adrenaline pumping through the veins when your horse crosses the line first. We've all experienced it. That dance that the guy was doing in the hallway, yep, I know that dance.


I for one, am looking forward to giving it a chance and seeing the main characters played by Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte and Dennis Farina and how they develop.


On a side note, I was having lunch with my friend Moe (not my Uncle) and he mentioned that his son, a graduate of the Naval Academy, had given him a Winston Churchill book filled with quotes from the famous Englishman. He said he stumbled on the term, turf accountants, in the book and asked if I had ever heard of it. He explained that is the term used in the UK for bookmakers. We'll file that tidbit in the
"you learn something new every day" folder.