The Importance of Being Earnest

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

This was a great post and yeah you're absolutely right.

Mathie I don't sit here thinking about this stuff too much. I don't play every single day but I do enough to focus on that, on playing, and not trying to come up with all the things that are wrong with the sport and need to be changed, etc.

There's one line here that I keep coming back to...

You said you consider it one of the pitfalls of the game that you have no control over.

We all talk about changes... drugs and suspensions and what a joke it is and fixing the allegedly dying sport.

Maybe this is why nothing really changes (?).

Maybe it's too big of a monster and no one knows where or how to start and there are politics involved...

I'm not accusing you of being apathetic... I'm accusing no one and everyone. I'm accusing the people who do have some amount of power and who send out emails and compose their thoughts and then go back to doing nothing about any of it.

Does anything actually ever get done? Are there ever real changes?

This is a silly popularity contest as you said but if the whole thing needs to be overhauled then this does as well.

Maybe it all needs to start with a small thing (like this?).

We've all written and or read posts and pieces about the idea of a governing body with a spokesperson who is well respected (cough cough The Mig)...

If it ever were to happen (not holding my breath) how about a timeframe with changes in no particular order but with an end date, and something like this as the beginning... to show they mean business.

They ARE just awards but the thing is the people who are up for them want them. You'll not see any Brando-esque speech come Monday night.

Starting small.
One final thought / question (not just for you... for you in general)...

When Michael Gill won did it make you sick at all?

I'm with Sightseek and Wingnut. There should be exclusions.

Sorry G, I didn't mean to hijack the thread and take it away from your original topic. I just tried to answer honestly and it just seems like it changed the direction of your thread. But it is kind of interesting the more I think about it and I am curious if other people think like me (I'll admit it's definitely a little warped) reguarding some of the issues.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask, as far as what changes need to be made and how to implement them. I'm basically a weekend warrior (probably even less than that) that enjoys handicapping, watching and wagering. I never expect to get rich playing and on the same extent I'll never go broke chasing a horse or sequance. I just don't concern myself (because I consider them parts/pitfalls of the game) with issues that I have no control of or care about (i.e. Takeout, Drugs etc....). Maybe I'm sticking my head in the sand, but while I understand there are some real issues that need to be looked at, who am I to be the one to worry about it? I don't have many opportunites to play, so when I get some free time I want to play period. I'll admit that it's a very poor attitude, but I really think it's shared by the majority of people who wager on the sport. The sport needs to clean up, govern and regulate itself because the majority of players just want to gamble and nothing else.

Like I said, I think the only people who care about these awards are the owners/breeders and the jocks to a lesser extent. Obviously it could be a big deal for a trainer. But say an offense came up and a trainer was given the choice of penalty. He could forfiet his opportunity to participate in the post season awards or he would be ineligible to enter a horse in the Kentucky Derby, which way do you think he/she would go? There's no decision to be made. So basically what I'm saying is that small is usually a joke of little or no impact. Just like when a trainer gets days and the horses are entered in the name of the assistant trainer. Yeah another great penalty.

Finally why should I care if Michael Gill won? Aren't the people who voted from inside the industry? I honestly didn't give it a second look.

[my miss storm cat]

Good post, Mathie. You're very well spoken.