NBC Blew this one

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I made the point to someone else earlier that I think NBC did thing by not showing the race Jones and Saenz won. Obviously, they couldn't have known those two would win the race but not focusing on them having won it was the right move, IMO. Right now, with Eight Belles' death, the focus of the media and the public and also the industry is on what can be done to prevent these kinds of things from happening in the future. Not everyone is going about it the right way but not everyone is going about it the wrong way either. I've heard good and bad suggestions but the point is that at least there are discussions. Showing Jones and Saenz celebrating a win here would have sent the wrong message to the public. We as racing fans understand that while it's a difficult part of the game to accept, it's still a part of the game what happened to EB. The media and the public doesn't get this. Showing those guys as having just moved on to the next horse and race would have given the thought to people that we've just moved on, which we as racing fans have, but that's not what they want to see. They want to see that this is a serious issue and is being looked at, not just business as usual.

I could not disagree more. What were they supposed to do? go into hiding and give up the game? as if they did something wrong? it stinks that they didn't get any kind of coverage on Preakness day regarding their win.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

I could not disagree more. What were they supposed to do? go into hiding and give up the game? as if they did something wrong? it stinks that they didn't get any kind of coverage on Preakness day regarding their win.

I'm not sure I understand your post. Of course Jones and Saenz were supposed to go on. They did absolutely nothing wrong. They have nothing to be ashamed of or nothing to hide from. They, like us, understand that what happened was an unfortunate incident but it's one of the things that's a part of racing and can happen to any horse at any time. I just feel that at this time, the public out there is negative towards racing. The sport is under attack from animal rights groups and the media as being barbaric and unnecessary. As I said earlier, people in the industry and fans like those of us who come on message boards, we understand what happened and that no matter what new regulations they come up with, it's going to continue to happen. But at this time, I think that the last thing the public wants to see is business as usual. I think right now, they want the focus to be more on finding ways to stop this from happening rather than celebrating the next victory.

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I'm not sure I understand your post. Of course Jones and Saenz were supposed to go on. They did absolutely nothing wrong. They have nothing to be ashamed of or nothing to hide from. They, like us, understand that what happened was an unfortunate incident but it's one of the things that's a part of racing and can happen to any horse at any time. I just feel that at this time, the public out there is negative towards racing. The sport is under attack from animal rights groups and the media as being barbaric and unnecessary. As I said earlier, people in the industry and fans like those of us who come on message boards, we understand what happened and that no matter what new regulations they come up with, it's going to continue to happen. But at this time, I think that the last thing the public wants to see is business as usual. I think right now, they want the focus to be more on finding ways to stop this from happening rather than celebrating the next victory.

In my opinion the public doesn't need to be coddled because they wouldn't understand. if you do that then you essentially let the groups that are attacking the sport rule the airwaves. I think even casual fans would get that these people have to go on with their lives and wouldn't see it as being callous or cold.

if we are to be so concerned that public doesn't want to see business as usual, why even telecast the Preakness? Isn't that business as usual?

I think they missed a real human interest story in that people generally like to see people be able to come back from tragedy and do well. how emotional do you think that win was for Jones/Saez?

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

In my opinion the public doesn't need to be coddled because they wouldn't understand. if you do that then you essentially let the groups that are attacking the sport rule the airwaves. I think even casual fans would get that these people have to go on with their lives and wouldn't see it as being callous or cold.

if we are to be so concerned that public doesn't want to see business as usual, why even telecast the Preakness? Isn't that business as usual?

I think they missed a real human interest story in that people generally like to see people be able to come back from tragedy and do well. how emotional do you think that win was for Jones/Saez?

I know it was very emotional for them and you may be right that the human interest story would have gone over well. I just feel like right now, they need to go in a different direction. I think the public does need to be coddled a little bit.

[MaTH716]

They could have done a piece on Chelokee, and how with todays technology they were able to operate and save him. But that would have been something positive, so I guess forget it.

[jwkniska]

I just thought that after all the bad press on Jones/Saez and the horse industry, that even if they didn't show the race (which they should have), they could have taken out 30 seconds afterwards, just to show Jones/Saez in the winners circle. At least take a couple of seconds out somewhere in their telecast to show something positive happening to a couple of good people.
I agree the focus of the telecast should have been the Preakness and Big Brown, but a couple of seconds to show something positive would have been nice.