Silver Charm Wrote:
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> Also the Derby winner just SI Cover Storied so
> there is a lot of attention horse racings way and
> if more people tune in and see a repeat of what we
> all saw on Oaks Day then there could be some kinda
> buzz created.
Silver: The only \"buzz\" you are hearing is the sound of flies circling around
Racing, which as far as the mainstream is concerned, is a dead sport.
Go into a sports bar in a sports crazy town like NY or Boston. Most of the big
sports fans in said establishment will think that Rachel Alexander is a country
singer or an adult film star.
Congress got involved with Racing for a few hours. PETA got involved with Racing
for a few days (I was looking for PETA recently. Instead of throwing blood and
red paint on celebrity\'s furs, they should have been running a full court press
on NYRA, which featured a one per week fatality rate during the Inner Dirt
racing season and then had \"L\'Affaire Paragallo\").
The powers that be in Racing are now in an all out effort to maintain its loyal
fan base; recruiting new fans is probably not feasible at this point.
Only the Derby creates a buzz among the mainstream. A lot of the folks who
catch a little Derby fever are not even aware that the event is part of a three
race series. The only chance Racing has for a mainstream buzz is if MTB repeats
in Baltimore, the chance of which only seems likely if it starts raining in
Baltimore NOW and doesn\'t stop until next Saturday.
I believe that Racing is not destined to make a comeback with the \"Mainstream\"
unless all of a sudden the horse becomes a major part of day to day life in
America, the way it was in the first half of the 20th Century. Racing now can
only look with envy at NASCAR, which had 3+ hours of Network coverage in prime
time last night.
