Why does everyone think that showing horses wiping out in the promo is such a terrible thing? I think it's hilarious every time I hear someone on the show moan that breakdowns and Eight Belle-type situations are what's turning fans off to the game. I think they're way off. I know this sounds insensitive, but I truly believe the average sports fan out there couldn't care less about the health of horses. From my experience as a racing enthusiast surrounded by rabid sports fans who care nothing about horse racing, I find what keeps my friends from getting into racing is 1) the sport suffers from image problems relating to it's seedy gambling/fixing reputation, 2) it is only heard from during Triple Crown season (and only then until the Derby winner loses) and sometimes the Breeder's Cup, allowing it to gain zero momentum with sports fans. Most people understand that breakdowns are a rare occurance and that sometimes euthanasia is necessary. They understand and they just don't care. The only people who seem to care are that tiny vocal minority of ill-informed idiots like PETA and Moon Beam and the Granola Kids -- people who's opinion are taken far to seriously and kow-towed to far too often in this country anyway. Sane people don't give a damn what these groups say.

At any rate, I think showing horses wiping out, and thus, showing how perilous and exciting the life of a jockey can be will only assure more people tuning in to see the show. And whether people are interested or disgusted by what they see, their thoughts will be on it, and at least the game will be promoted. There is no such thing as bad publicity. Besides, people want to see that sort of thing anyway. NASCAR has done an amazing job over the years getting people to watch and become fans with the promise that there will be crashes.

This is a whole other topic, but I think horse racing could do a lot for itself by taking a good look at what NASCAR has done. It's taken a sport suffering from major stigmas (it was too "red neck" and "Southern" for many, much like betting on animals is considered degenerate in many circles) and made it bigger than Jesus. Ah, I'm not going to get into it. I've rambled on long enough. They're going to kick me out of here.

And I do want to mention that I don't consider myself a NASCAR fan. I'm not interested in auto racing and have no desire to see a race. Yet, because ESPN, Fox Sports, and all other major news outlets care, I find that I cannot escape from knowing what's going on in the sport, who's making a run for the Cup, and what car Carl Edwards is driving. Christ, I even got into a NASCAR fantasy league this past season. Whatever billionaires are calling the shots in horse racing ought to get together and start thinking about promoting their sport and trying to draw new fans in much the same ways and stop sweating the small stuff, like the occasional breakdown of a part of their most abundant commodity.

:zz:
Yeah people love seeing athletes/animals break down ,suffer and die on the track. I remeber how ecstatic everyone was when Earnhardt died at the end of the Daytona 500. In fact I think Nascar tried to promte the sport that year by running ad with the slogan "Come see who dies this week". :rolleyes:

To be honest, I kinda agree with Dean. Unfortuntely the O's and Ah's come when someone falls. I watched the last half hour and it wasn't like they were showing a horse in distress or focusing on a dangling limb

For what it is worth, I liked the show, it is pointed towards the MTV Real World crowd, which I liked years ago.

How lovely they decided to follow "Jockeys" with the 'uh oh is anybody gonna die' horse racing spill/crash show. If nobody ends up paralyzed I'll be stunned. Some steeplechase jockey's about to get pitched 20 feet in the air.

on what do you base this? a lot of people attribute the loss in fans to the ruffian match race. if you think folks don't care, i believe you're mistaken. witness the amount of time spent on trying to get rid of horse slaughter in this country, and the constant battles over mustangs. this country loves their horses.

for a better take on why many don't follow racing....a lot of people don't gamble-and they connect horse racing only to that, not as entertainment. i think showing these breakdowns is a terrible thing, in that they will probably show a far higher percentage of breakdowns on that show vs races run without incident, thereby giving the impression that breakdowns are fairly common-far more common than what really occurs.

If you didn't follow racing, and watched that show ( I know, that's impossible, but just stay with me for a second ), you would think a horse breaks down every race.

I fail to see how that's a good thing ( forgetting about how inaccurate it is as well ).

Using our game to cater to the audience this, apparently, wants to capture, eludes me as a good idea for racing. There is a lot of great stuff in the game, a lot of great human interest stories as well, but breakdowns isn't one of them ( at least to me ).

I would rather be ignored than used in that manner.

Back to the 30 sec promo/tease which had 3 horses going down...I think people are more accepting of humans cartwheeling down some sh.it hole NASCAR track in Padooka than watching a horse go down. I really think Animal Planet needs to look in the mirror
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Usually when bad things happen, the end result is not good. The point that Dean was making (or at least the way I interpreted it) was that people want/expect spills and breakdowns in horse racing the way they expect/want crashes at Nascar events. Not only should expect that, but the sport should promote it. I agree with Andy, I would rather that those people not become fans of the sport. We do not need that type of fan base.

I am totally unaware of anyone that goes to a horse race in hopes of seeing a breakdown. Never seen anyone get excited - only upset. My friends look away on the bad ones they don't want to watch.

so yes, I don't want them as a "fan" of the sport either.

as for Jockey.. eh, it was ok. I had to leave didn't see if Jon Court made an appearance or not but I was encouraged to see that my favorite jockey made it on the show.

Yeah, I agree that the type of people they're trying to attract aren't the ones that don't get that worked up over a horse breaking down. I frankly would rather they get a new hobby if they look at the horses with that kind of detachment. You gotta feel more than 'oh well, there goes another one' when they get hurt. That's not the same as 'stiff upper lip' realism about injuries happening. If they root for it, that's just sick.

I saw my first pair of saggy boobies at DOver Downs for a Nascar event. I think Ricky Rudd or Jeff GOrdon won that day. (and me finding out how that piece of flesh works)

and this jockey show's time slot would be better off used to actually try to gather fans for the sport.

I watched the show thought it was pretty good. Interesting to hear how nervous mike smith was about riding zenyatta guess it is tough to ride a horse that is a big fav. AS for the breakdowns i dont remember anyone saying that any of the horses they showed were euthanised (sp) correct me if im wrong as i thought most of the horses got up. I agree as breakdowns are easily the toughest thing about the sport.

NASCAR - I think we only have to look at Sportsman's Park and see what combining NASCAR and horseracing has done for the sport

To some people in the sport, the horseplayers and gambling are all that matters. Casual fans, fans of the horses, "Barbaro followers", etc. - don't bother, not good for racing, they need not be encouraged or developed. (I completely disagree with that, btw)

PBR focuses on the animals as athletes, gives details on the riders - and there are certainly terrible crashes - but the sport is thriving, as the average fan can readily know about the participants - human and animal. Someone gets hurt badly, and the focus is turned on Dr. Tandy, sportsmed, what they can do, etc. (like the AAEP vets at big race days)

I agree with the NASCAR success model - heck, even I know lots of the names associated with NASCAR, and that's only from casual contact when it floats into my field of vision against my choice.

People don't even know what most jockey's faces look like. Haven't seen the Animal Planet program, but I agree that there is (nearly always) no bad PR, only PR.

Too bad the average racetrack program didn't have a few pages devoted to photos of the jockeys and trainers, with short bios.

I disagree with people that believe in fireworks displays or having the bay city rollers playing in the infield somehow help the sport. I say advertise the life altering amount of money you can win playing the horses.... or is it life altering amounts of money you can lose

More like they connect the sports excessively high takeout to mean that the game is total suckerbait.

Impossible to beat - and not worth the time invested to learn.

22% of US adult males between the ages of 18-49 play fantasy sports. Most are hardcore nerds who are obsessed with numbers and stats. These types are more likely to gamble on poker than horse racing by a tremendously wide margin.

It's information based gambling just like with the stock market or fantasy sports .. and I think a lot of people understand that. What they might not understand is that the sport is not impossible to beat .. and you can make a living from beating it .. but it is tougher than hell .. and anyone talented/crazy enough to do it consistantly could probably make at least double doing something else.

Sorry, but I call BS on the "watch and become fans with the promise there will be crashes."

I've watched NASCAR for 14 years with people who have watched NASCAR with their fathers and families for 40 years.

Crashes are an incidental part of the sport that only to matter to a real fan in terms of how one's driver is affected and impacted in the final race finish.

No one that I know that REALLY follows NASCAR is looking to see wrecks. Unless we're talking about rubbing paint at Bristol or something similar.

For the record, I've been a thoroughbred racing fan for about 3 times my NASCAR fan years.

And I'll jump in on someone's comment about Ruffian that indeed that match race took the wind out of my thoroughbred racing fan sails for quite awhile.

I agree with this. AP shouldn't be using the breakdowns as part of the advertising. I probably should have worded my agreement better because agreeing with dean smith on horse racing is a bad idea. College basketball maybe but not horse racing

they had a survey on espn that i partook in yesterday. one question was on gambling-i was shocked to see that a much larger % then i expected said that they never gambled. it was easily as high as those who say they play fantasy sports, but most opted for the free leagues.
personally, i prefer horse racing gambling FAR more than any thing else- i feel i have a better shot by reading the form, while many others seem to prefer the randomness of choosing the right slot machine or video poker machine to sit in front of, zombielike, and feed quarters into the slot. i went to a casino once, years ago, and hated it. of course i didn't try any card games-but i doubt i ever go back to see if i could play those.