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MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 09:13 AM
On Monday morning I was listening to "The Morning Monster," which is increasingly becoming the sports talk show of choice around here because of the lively banter and guests.
In the 6 o'clock hour, a mention of Big Brown was made.
I could tell Kenny Hawkins was not a seasoned horse racing reporter by some of his introductory statements regarding the horse's condition, but that's to be expected in this market.
However, when he continued his comments, he opened my eyes with hard-hitting commentary. Quite frankly, I didn't know he had this in him and I was impressed.
He basically parroted Bernard Goldberg's report on horse slaughter that recently appeared on Bryant Gumbel's "Real Sports" program on HBO.
See it here-
Part 1 (7 min) http://youtube.com/watch?v=04mvw6tTHrs
Part 2 (6 min) http://youtube.com/watch?v=RSboR03WnjI
To be honest, I was shocked. I have always enjoyed horse racing, I won $100 on the Kentucky Derby this year (well, a $30 bet to win $102), but I had no idea.
And I was sickened. To the point where I started questioning my own field of work (how the hell could the Wheeling Intelligencer be covering stupid high school basketball games when REAL STORIES LIKE THAT were going on in our own backyard?) and am resolving to do something about this.
But I admired Hawkins for saying this because Colonial Downs is a big sponsor of WXSM. In this case, journalistic integrity won out over bucks. Kudos to Hawkins for the gutsiest stand I have ever seen any memeber of the sports media other than myself take around here.
Incidentily, Kasey Mahler was on the air today in Hawkins' usual time slot. I hope it was not retrobution. If it is- we need to defend Hawkins and come down on Citadel.
This is not to say, however, that Colonial Downs supports horse slaughter. In fact, they are in a position to help prevent it if they want to.
What I do think, however, is that at the OTB centers in Pittsburgh- there are usually pamphlets and such about "adopting a racehorse."
There are none at Colonial Downs.
They need to get them- yesterday. Certainly this area would be condusive to racehorse adoption.
I did more research. In addition to "No Day Off's" fate, six other race horses from Mountaineer were slaughtered on that day. One of which was a rather competitive horse who had run 26 races and finished in the money in 13 of them.
Furthermore, Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, was slaughtered for PET FOOD in 2002 in Japan.
PET FOOD? I'd have gone to banks and borrowed money for real estate and to buy the horse and have him shipped back here. Can you imagine the money you'd make "GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN WITH A KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER! KIDS- GET A PONY RIDE WITH A KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER!"
It boggles the mind.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 09:42 AM
The second part of this story is just that I was listening today briefly and Mahler spoke of the College World Series.
As you know, Oregon State is the defending two-time champion. And Oregon State is where Todd Stansbury went to from ETSU, allowing David Mullins to take over as AD.
As YOU know, but NOT as the two regular hosts (including ETSU announcer Don Helman). Mahler, who wasn't in Johnson City when Stansbury was the AD here, actually brought it up, but he could not recall his name.
Neither host could not remember Stansbury (who was the AD when Helman first started announcing games) or his predecessor, Frank Pergolizzi.
I did do a series of "where are they now" articles in Sports Talk about the previous three ADs under Paul Stanton, but they were five years ago and are not online so I'll excuse it.
But how can you NOT recall the ADs at ETSU if you're in their position?
Case in point about how bad the media is around here. How can we ever expect responsibility from the ETSU athletic department if the media does not hold them to it?
Again, though, KUDOS to Kenny Hawkins for his gutsy stand, and, of course-
LET'S GO PENS!
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - Buccaneerlover - 05-30-2008 09:45 AM
The biggest problem is we can't regulate horse racing outside of the country, and the industry is working to clean up its' act, but like anything else, it takes time. Thoroughbred racing is just like any other sport, baseball has its' steroids issues, basketball and the thug image, football and the crime rate, and boxing well, you guys get it. But like every sport I've mentioned, it's not a widespread issue, it's always that one or two percent that completely trash the image of the entire sport. Whether it's Pacman Jones or Michael Vick, Allen Iverson, Roger Clemens, Don King/Mike Tyson, or whoever. I've had the opportunity to meet some pretty major guys in the sport of thoroughbred racing and talk with them, and outside of Bob Baffert being a pure smart ass, they were all good guys. I can genuinely say that they love their horses, to the point of spending into the hundreds of thousands of dollars getting them the best medical care, food, trainers, even the guys that bathe the horses. We just can't seem to control the one or two bad apples in each sport.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 11:17 AM
I have reason to believe it's more than just one or two bad apples in horse racing.
For instance, at Mountaineer, a horse HAS to win or he's slaughtered. It's something like if you don't finish in the top four in your last five races, then by track rule he has five days to get off their property.
Mountaineer is also about an hour from the livestock auction you saw in the piece.
It simply is amazing to me that while it is illegal to slaughter horses in this country (they closed the last three such slaughterhorses a couple of years back), it IS legal to have them shipped off to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered.
In fact, the USA is the number one provider of horses to be slaughtered in the world.
The thing about Roger Clemens taking steroids is he isn't killing anyone but himself. If a ballplayer goes 0 for 4 and commits the error that loses the game, he's booed or released.
He isn't killed!
Now, yes, I realize we are talking about horse life vs. human life. HOWEVER- does it not strike you that "that horsie better win this race or he's killed" is barbaric?
Trainers being nice to their horses is great. Nick Zito has spoken against horse slaughter. But the trainers at Mountaineer are butchers.
Most of the horses other than No Day Off that were sent to die from that piece, for instance, belonging to the top trainer at Mountaineer, Bart Baird.
Baird is a lousy trainer- he doesn't even win 10 percent of his races. He should be disbarred.
Don't just say "it's improving" and turn your head. This could stop tomorrow- you'd just need to set up adoptions, you'd need to allow horses a few more opportunities to be raced (no reason No Day Off couldn't have run in a Maiden Race again- which is for horses that haven't won yet), just a few minor tweaks in the industry and you could stop this.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 11:28 AM
CANTER is one organization that you can support that helps to find retired thoroughbreds homes.
http://www.canterusa.org/
I married into three retired thoroughbreds one of which has been a part of her family for 20 years or more.
The problem is that horse racing is a business. If an asset is not performing then that asset has to go. Many trainers do work diligently to find alternatives to slaughter but in the end it is still a business. Horses in this country are more akin to pets than livestock and that creates emotional attachments to these animals which makes the situation seem that much more outrageous to some.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 12:10 PM
Good points.
But there's even an acceptance type of thing here that I don't like.
You could prevent livestock auctions from selling horses for slaughter, for instance (I did some research. I think the two closest livestock auctions to our area- check it out if I'm wrong- are in Knoxville and in Wythe County. The auction in Knoxville doesn't auction horses. The one in Wythe does).
Or you could demand less from the horses. Like I said, no reason No Day Off couldn't have run in a maiden race at Mountaineer.
Just a few miles away from Mountaineer is The Meadowlands, a harness track. If you check out the horses there (and they are one of the tracks I know of that passes out the adoption folders I mentioned) it's nothing for them to run 80 races.
Makes it kind of tough to bet on, but harness in itself is tough to bet on.
One thing about the Meadowlands is that it is in Pennsylvania. Now, Pennsylvania is probably the toughest state in the country for animal cruelty. There are actually laws in Pennsylvania that you can't have a multi-horse trailer on the roadways to prevent the practice- obviously if you could only transport a horse or two at a time to Canada or Mexico it wouldn't be worth it financially.
But anyway, if you can have these veteran race horses at the Meadows, why not at Mountaineer?
It's a business. Every business is required to have safety standards, minimum wages, etc.
Why not take that concept here? Wouldn't a police force want a fast horse bred for racing to help control crowds and catch crooks?
Wouldn't a farmer want a strong horse to pull his plow?
There are so many other options.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 12:14 PM
By the way, BucsFan, do you know the horse's racing records?
Why don't you give them to us? That would be fun!
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 12:32 PM
http://www.pedigreequery.com/west+baby
Mae won $7000 at the track with 1 win in 15 starts
http://www.pedigreequery.com/ronnies+gift
Henry was a dud at the track and apparently stopped during one race.
The third one's registered name escapes me at the moment but I do know that he raced until he was 8 or older.
PittsburghBucs Wrote:One thing about the Meadowlands is that it is in Pennsylvania. Now, Pennsylvania is probably the toughest state in the country for animal cruelty. There are actually laws in Pennsylvania that you can't have a multi-horse trailer on the roadways to prevent the practice- obviously if you could only transport a horse or two at a time to Canada or Mexico it wouldn't be worth it financially.
I believe what the PA law bans are double deck trailers commonly used for the shipment of cattle and hogs. I would think that the gooseneck stock trailer seen in the video at the track in WV would be legal to use to transport multiple horses in PA as well. If "multi-horse" trailers in general were banned trainers would have had a difficult time getting all of their horses to Devon, PA over the last couple of weeks for what is one of the biggest horse shows in the country.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 12:51 PM
PittsburghBucs Wrote:You could prevent livestock auctions from selling horses for slaughter, for instance (I did some research. I think the two closest livestock auctions to our area- check it out if I'm wrong- are in Knoxville and in Wythe County. The auction in Knoxville doesn't auction horses. The one in Wythe does).
There are two livestock auctions in Abingdon. A few months ago one of those was having a horse sale monthly. I would assume that is still the case. That sale had actually moved from Wythe County. Kingsport also has a livestock market that unless something has changed has a horse sale every other Wednesday. Greeneville also has livestock markets but do not have horse sales to my knowledge.
It would not surprise me at all if horses from the Kingsport sale make it to slaughter from time to time, perhaps even the Abingdon sale. With a depressed economy and rising feed costs owners look for relief from old horses that they cannot afford to keep and often take them to a sale to pocket a few hundred dollars in lieu of spending that same amount on euthanasia or continuing to feed the horse and digging a hole financially. Banning horse slaughter requires a solution to neglected horses. Horses are now trucked unregulated to Mexico to be slaughtered with little or no oversight there instead of in U. S. regulated facilities here.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 12:52 PM
HENRY WAS NO DUD!
He was the son of Majesty's Imp!
That's CHUCK TANNER'S RACE HORSE!
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 01:02 PM
PittsburghBucs Wrote:Why not take that concept here? Wouldn't a police force want a fast horse bred for racing to help control crowds and catch crooks?
Wouldn't a farmer want a strong horse to pull his plow?
Thoroughbreds in general especially right off of the track tend to be a little too high strung to ride into a crowd of people. After some training there are probably some that might adapt to that type of work but finding the interim home and trainer that has room is the problem.
Thoroughbreds are bred for speed not pulling. I doubt that the average thoroughbred would hold up well to the rigors of the life of a draft horse. That is why we have Belgians, Percherons, Clydesdales, mules, etc.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 01:18 PM
Okay, I don't know that about the breeds of horses.
What I do know is the difference between right and wrong.
This is wrong. Ain't no excuses for it- economy, whatever, it's just wrong.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 01:38 PM
PittsburghBucs Wrote:Okay, I don't know that about the breeds of horses.
What I do know is the difference between right and wrong.
This is wrong. Ain't no excuses for it- economy, whatever, it's just wrong.
There is the emotional attachment to the horses coming out. A cow that has outlived her useful life as breeding stock typically meets the same fate but fewer people find that as objectionable.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 02:03 PM
Yes. And I like to eat cows.
However, in this country we regard eating horse meat as taboo- deplorable. Call me a hypocrite if you like. Fine- I'm a hypocrite. Let's move on.
But I suppose what I am upset about is that I really do like horse racing. I like the idea of these horses running and of placing a few bucks down.
I like the idea of- as weird as this may sound- some sort of inter-species allignment that makes everything right in the world.
You can talk about Eight Belles or Barbaro but the thing here is that they died in much the same way Dale Earnhardt did. Accidents will happen- even if you were to outlaw racing horses would break their legs and die running.
We all want ETSU football to return. We don't want another Marc Buoniconti to happen. But banning ETSU football will not end paralysis.
I'm just horrified that a sport I really like- the losers often die. That's horrifying, barbaric, inhuman!
I'm reminded of something Pete Franklin used to say when someone on his talk show would want to talk NASCAR.
"THAT'S NOT SPORT! IT'S MASSACRE!"
Is this sport, or is it massacre?
I thought for sure it was the former. Now I think for sure it is the latter. And I feel betrayed.
That site you gave me was great! I got to see Majesty's Imp and now know he's the top stud at a farm in Michigan.
But I guess I'd like to know more. What will happen to Smarty Jones? He's a gelding and can't race anymore. What happens to him?
What DID happen to a horse I once bet on in the 1997 Kentucky Derby- "Deeds Not Words." He finished dead last.
But I saw where he died a year after the Derby he ran in.
Is there some way I can find out? He was trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who has such a good reputation. That's why I bet on him.
Did this horse get sick? Did some horrible fire happen at the stable?
Or was Deeds Not Words killed?
I don't care if he did finish dead last. IT WAS A DERBY HORSE! And I liked him enough to bet on him!
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 02:16 PM
I am glad to see that you do distinguish between the slaughter issue and the Eight Belles/Barbaro incidents. Those were incidents that happened during the normal course of the sport. There are likely things that can be done to remedy these types of incidents as well but it is a completely different issue from horse slaughter.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 02:31 PM
PittsburghBucs Wrote:Is there some way I can find out? He was trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who has such a good reputation. That's why I bet on him.http://books.google.com/books?id=9OQg3Sm6BAYC&pg=PA221&lpg=PA221&dq=%22Deeds+Not+Words%22+died+thoroughbred&source=web&ots=4yeHF5uX4M&sig=UTx8TVx572tnxziWWm1HQ8PxfD8&hl=en
Did this horse get sick? Did some horrible fire happen at the stable?
Or was Deeds Not Words killed?
I don't care if he did finish dead last. IT WAS A DERBY HORSE! And I liked him enough to bet on him!
Deeds Not Words shattered his sesamoid bone in his front right leg in an allowance race @ Churchill Downs on June 22, 1998. It was his first start since the embarassing fiasco at the 1997 Derby. He was euthanized.
Deeds Not Words suffered a similar fate to Eight Belles.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 02:44 PM
PittsburghBucs Wrote:But I guess I'd like to know more. What will happen to Smarty Jones? He's a gelding and can't race anymore. What happens to him?I believe that you have Smarty Jones confused with Funny Cide. Smarty Jones stands as a stud at Three Chimneys Farm (http://www.threechimneys.com/). Funny Cide is indeed a gelding and according to his Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funny_Cide
On Friday, July 13, 2007, Funny Cide's retirement was announced. The collective partnership of Sackatoga, trainer Barclay Tagg, and his assistant Robin Smullen, decided that it was best to retire him on a high note with the victory in the Wadsworth and with the gelding still fit and sound. According to Jack Knowlton, managing partner for Sackatoga Stable, his future career will be at the track with Tagg. He will be used as a stable pony in the mornings, accompanying younger horses in their training. "He'll still be doing what he's done the past five years, but he just won't be racing in the afternoon," Knowlton said.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-30-2008 04:40 PM
You're right- I did confuse Smarty with Funny Cide. My bad.
And good to hear that about Funny Cide. I had remembered he was mentioned as a horse that would probably race for a long time because he was a gelding and that would be the best way for him to make money, but I hadn't heard much from him.
And while it's not so good to hear that about Deeds, at least I know that he wasn't part of the sport's shame.
I keep thinking I should be using a word greater than shame.
It sounds like you know your horses. I'm a fan, not an expert. But here's another reason I'm so outraged.
Remember Devil's Bag? Remember how it was said about him- that with all the moral issues so many athletes had- there was nothing more innocent than a horse?
This is destroying that innocence.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - BucsFan - 05-30-2008 11:22 PM
I am by no means an expert either but having spent some time in the animal health business and marrying someone that is fond of the thoroughbreds, I have picked up a few things.
Devils Bag is one of the only horse names that I brought with me from childhood. I have never been really sure why that one name and horse stuck with me for all of these years. I do find it interesting that you mention him here. Perhaps Woody Stephens, his trainer, seemed like a grandfather figure at the time.
I did confirm this evening my information about the regular horse sales in the area and was told that there is an additional sale on the opposite Wednesday of the Kingsport sale that takes place in Tazewell, VA.
RE: MEDIA WATCH- May 30- KUDOS TO KENNY HAWKINS- BUT NUTS TO . . . - PittsburghBucs - 05-31-2008 09:58 AM
As far as Helman goes, he told me personally yesterday and just now on his show that he had a mental block.
I honestly am not the hard @ss people make me out to be, so I can let him off a bit.
Still, it is quite a gaffe for all three of the hosts not to be able to name David Mullins' predecessor.
It also is EXTREMELY telling of the athletic regime at ETSU. They have SO laid their path down to what they think is right- public be damned- and have become such overwhelming figures without anyone or anything to hold them accountable that whatever happened before them is forgotten.