Ok I Have Had Enough

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by 1st_Saturday_in_May

Its all pretty much a moot point since he was retired, but all casual sports fans have been hearing about in the last week or two is "Bernardini, Bernardini, Bernardini". Hell, some of my boys at college were asking me about him and they dont know the difference between a furlong and a frontrunner. Never have watched horse racing but wanted to see this horse. I mean, I personally dont care, but when you're advertising a race to be Bernardini v. Lava Man and one finishes 2nd and the other well up the track, that cant be good. Would Bernardini winning have brought more fans to the game? Maybe. Would his retirement today have made the same fans so 'oh, well, nevermind then'? Probably...

So you're saying that these casual fans heard all the hype, tuned in, and then were totally disillusioned because one of the hyped horses finished second? If they were then these were not fans to be counted on for the long term anyway.

Since you brought it up, I didn't understand the hype that this was some type of showdown between Bernardini and Lava Man. What about the rest of the field and in particular Invasor? I really don't know why Invasor wasn't, and still isn't a hyped horse. He is tough and consistently awesome.

[Danzig]

everyone i work with knows i'm a fan....i didn't have one question about it today at work.
like i said the other day, isn't that why we come here?? talking about horses to virtual strangers, cause no one else knows or cares about it....
bernardini winning or losing saturday didn't mean anything long term for this sport. it doesn't matter one bit who wins each race. the only affect bernardini will have long term on horse racing is whether he's a success at stud or not.

[1st_Saturday_in_May]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

So you're saying that these casual fans heard all the hype, tuned in, and then were totally disillusioned because one of the hyped horses finished second? If they were then these were not fans to be counted on for the long term anyway.

Since you brought it up, I didn't understand the hype that this was some type of showdown between Bernardini and Lava Man. What about the rest of the field and in particular Invasor? I really don't know why Invasor wasn't, and still isn't a hyped horse. He is tough and consistently awesome.

Jim, did you see the poster that they (ESPN? BC? NTRA?) put out? It pretty much said screw Invasor, Sun King, etc. Its all about those two. Thats where I took the Lava Man/Bernardini thing from...

http://www.bloodhorse.com/pdf/bc_man...oster_2006.pdf

Also, I do think that seeing Bernardini win impressively would have been better than seeing him run 2nd. I think he ran a great second, but to some - esecially non sports fans - 2nd, no matter how good/bad it is, is just a losing effort. I do think that the fans that he could have attracted woudl have been s you said people not to be counted on, but you never know. I'd rather have the fans for a couple of months than not at all. Its not provable that he'd have indeed brought in more fans but that's just how I feel. Tons of individual horses have brought fans to the game - Funny Cide brought a ton in I think (he got me hooked), Smarty Jones, Point Given was the one who first got me interested. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that most people on here could pinpoint one of the 'greats' that brought them in - Slew, Affirmed, Secretariat, etc. Not all, but quite a few. I'm not comparing Bernardini to those, because he isnt, but wouldnt it have been great if he was? THen again, wouldnt it have been great if he had no nuts? LOL

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by 1st_Saturday_in_May

Jim, did you see the poster that they (ESPN? BC? NTRA?) put out? It pretty much said screw Invasor, Sun King, etc. Its all about those two. Thats where I took the Lava Man/Bernardini thing from...

http://www.bloodhorse.com/pdf/bc_man...oster_2006.pdf

Also, I do think that seeing Bernardini win impressively would have been better than seeing him run 2nd. I think he ran a great second, but to some - esecially non sports fans - 2nd, no matter how good/bad it is, is just a losing effort. I do think that the fans that he could have attracted woudl have been s you said people not to be counted on, but you never know. I'd rather have the fans for a couple of months than not at all. Its not provable that he'd have indeed brought in more fans but that's just how I feel. Tons of individual horses have brought fans to the game - Funny Cide brought a ton in I think (he got me hooked), Smarty Jones, Point Given was the one who first got me interested. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that most people on here could pinpoint one of the 'greats' that brought them in - Slew, Affirmed, Secretariat, etc. Not all, but quite a few. I'm not comparing Bernardini to those, because he isnt, but wouldnt it have been great if he was? THen again, wouldnt it have been great if he had no nuts? LOL

Yes, I saw that poster and that is what I was talking about. Marketing people often get it wrong when they try to simplify things.

Yes a great horse might attract casual people and some of them may hang around and become long term fans. I just think in the long run it doesn't convert many. My main point was that I think that there was one great horse that was overlooked by everyone including the marketers. To bring in the most viewers they should have billed it as a battle of the worlds best, US (East and West), South America (Invasor), Europe (George and Junior).

[2Hot4TV]

Glad that's over.

[1st_Saturday_in_May]

Jim, that would have been a great idea! You shoulda sold it to the Breeders Cup! People eat up that nationality stuff. 'Tiznow wins it for America' You need to get into their marketing dept. because I think they did a poor job of marketing this year. Relied too much on Bernardini and that bit them in the ass. I'll be there to chance things for the 09 Breeders Cup with my sports marketing degree

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by 1st_Saturday_in_May

Jim, that would have been a great idea! You shoulda sold it to the Breeders Cup! People eat up that nationality stuff. 'Tiznow wins it for America' You need to get into their marketing dept. because I think they did a poor job of marketing this year. Relied too much on Bernardini and that bit them in the ass. I'll be there to chance things for the 09 Breeders Cup with my sports marketing degree

Alright then, do it right! Okay?

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

To bring in the most viewers they should have billed it as a battle of the worlds best, US (East and West), South America (Invasor), Europe (George and Junior).

That really would have been a damn good idea. I never even thought of that. Excellent idea on pitting regions against one another and getting people up for the race. Its been done before of course, but your groupings look very good now.

Beat to the punch by first sat... just read it after I posted.

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by pgardn

That really would have been a damn good idea. I never even thought of that. Excellent idea on pitting regions against one another and getting people up for the race. Its been done before of course, but your groupings look very good now.

Beat to the punch by first sat... just read it after I posted.

Thanks, I'll be here all week!