ESPN flashes their racing acumen and affinity..

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The game doesnt present itself as anything really. There is no real effort to present horseracing as either a worthwhile sporting event or gambling venture for the most part outside of local efforts that come off pretty much as advertising. You want to blame Stan Verrett? I blame the organization that gives hacks like Joe Drape Eclipse awards for pieces that present opinions as facts and yeah are patently anti-racing/negative. We invite him to our year ends awards not to cover it but to get an award for knocking the game. When the TB club of America awards George Strawbridge for being anti-lasix and his speech makes the game out to be a corrupt, drug infested, horse killing place AND he gets a standing ovation for it, well? When Barry Irwin more or less calls all trainers liars after winning the Derby what is the average Joe supposed to think. And when Congress passes laws that allow horses to be slaughtered (I know it is more complicated but for average Joe it isnt) and the racing industry response is a few bland PR releases don't expect the rest of America to think that horse racing is some great thing to do. They read award winning writers who cut up the sport at every opportunity, the hear the speech of a guy who kills the game being honored, they hear the winning owner of the Derby and they dont hear squat after a law lets horses be rib eyes...I guess I just can't get too worked up over a stupid comment by Stan Verrett

The whole issue of "what the average Joe thinks" is nebulous because they are presented nothing but negatives. An anchor on a network that has paid serious money to cover racing should not take a gratuitous cheap shot. Would he be caught dead calling a college football assistant a child molester? Not a totally fair comparison but a generalization nonetheless.

Racing recycles its trash better than any entity in the world and you bring up all of the worst instances of it. I have no argument with anything you've said, it's 100% the truth. However, Stan Verrett piling on with a stupid remark is worthy of him being called a moron.