A good number of people chimed in after the Derby in regards to Eight Belles and I wanted to share my thoughts in this spot. Overall, I thought NBC's coverage of the Derby was pretty good throughout the afternoon. Sure the Billy Bush stuff was a little dumb, and just like I did with FOX I question their use of the word "star", but overall I thought the network's coverage balanced both the fun of the Derby and the coverage of the race itself. Sadly, everything today boils down to how NBC handled the death of the second place finisher Eight Belles.

The question that everyone seems to be asking today is whether the horse's collapse and subsequent death should have been televised and covered more closely. NY Times' writer Richard Sandomir even went so far as to say that NBC wasn't prepared to cover the death and was scrambling to get anything to air. Having only eight cameras solely focused on specific horses (none on Eight Belles) might have aided in that line of thinking, but in the end I think we're all better off. According to NBC Producer Sam Flood's interview with USA Today the horse was "writhing" and the injury was "gruesome". If things were happening they way Flood described them then there's not a chance I would have ever wanted to see that. The reality is that families and children watch the Derby with regularity (I grew up watching it every year) and NBC made the correct call. I thought the varying emotions of those in the winner's circle and the reporting on Eight Belles provided enough of a story.

When death is involved, whether it be animal or human, I think we're all better off just getting reports from the people on-site rather than seeing the images on the screen. Of course that's just one man's opinion, feel free to leave yours in the comments.

(posted by One More Dying Quail)

Everyone who reads Awful Announcing on a semi-regular basis knows about the brouhaha that took place between Buzz Bissinger and Will Leitch last Tuesday night on the set of Bob Costas' HBO show. Bissinger waited approximately seventy seconds into the segment on The Internet before firing a shot across the blogosphere's bow, Will responded by running for his life for the next fifteen minutes, and Braylon Edwards did his best to suppress the nervous "Why is this man yelling and will he notice if I move my chair?" look on his face. Over the next few days, the blogs had their say, Costas tried to clarify his own position on the issue, and Bissinger (thankfully) calmed down enough to do the same. All is not well, but we're getting there.

Near the start of his tirade, Bissinger asked Will two questions: "Do you know who W.C. Heinz is? Have you ever read him?"

Will was familiar with Heinz and had indeed read The Professional (which Ernest Hemingway once called, "the only good novel about a fighter"; it was interesting to note that Bissinger was very dismissive of Will's acknowledgement - "You've read The Professional? Have you read his sports columns? In the newspapers?" - ostensibly because it did not fit neatly with the point he was trying to make. The original question should not have been, "Have you ever read W.C. Heinz?" It should have been, "Have you ever read W.C. Heinz's newspaper columns?"). I, however, had never read Heinz's work, even after his death earlier this year. It's a personal fault, really: I don't read nearly enough, classics or modern stuff. My goal, ultimately, is to remedy this by reading books to my son, hopefully filling his head with tons of useless information by the time he can read for himself. We'll see how that goes. The kid will probably hate books, sports, or both.

So I don't remember exactly how or why I went looking for it - I think I read about it in one of the many blog posts that went up in the aftermath of Bissinger v. Leitch; my instinct says Joe Posnanski mentioned it, and I'll read anything Posnanski recommends - but somehow Heinz's "Death of a Racehorse" found its way onto my computer screen. And it was just as great as Bissinger's endorsement suggested.

I almost shared Death of a Racehorse with AA readers this morning, before the Derby, but never got around to it. After arriving home from dinner and seeing how the race ended, I spent some time trying to decide if that was a blessing or a curse, and if I should mention the story now, in the aftermath of Eight Belles death. A horse was dead, so I thought it might be viewed by some as a distasteful item to run. And you know, it might be. But the thing that I ultimately realized was this: Heinz's story was about Eight Belles, daughter of Unbridled's Song, granddaughter of Unbridled, just as surely as it was about Air Lift, son of Bold Venture, full brother of Assault. It tells the same story that viewers saw on NBC today. AA said in the previous post that he has the video of Eight Belles falling after the race but doesn't want to post it. I don't blame him. That's not something you really want to see more than once, especially after you know the outcome, unless you're trying to gain some insight into the reason for the fall. But to read about it, from the typewriter of someone as talented as W.C. Heinz - maybe that can help us appreciate the entire situation, from unbridled optimism at the start to unthinkable tragedy at the end, without having to actually go back and watch it again with our own eyes.

If you care to read it, here's the link. If you don't like that I'm posting it now, blame Buzz Bissinger. If you think I'm waaay overthinking this, you're probably right.

(posted by One More Dying Quail)

Last year, I tried my hand at using some logical analysis to predict the winner of the Kentucky Derby (I failed. Never use, "The horse has one eye!" as your number one reason for choosing a particular horse). This time around, I'll still pick a winner, but a much more reasonable method will be used: guesstimation.

Well, sort of. I actually looked at those two links below and picked a couple of my favorite names. Here we go (in order of finish - I think)...

1. Anak Nakal (50-1) - Means "mischievous child" in Indonesian. I've got one of those.
2. Eight Belles (10-1) - She's a lady horse. I'm all about Women's Lib.
3. Big Truck (40-1) - Gets his name from his sire, Hook and Ladder. My father was a firefighter for thirty years.
4. Denis of Cork (25-1) - I'm pretty sure at least part of my family came from County Cork, Ireland.

For the record, the overall favorites are Big Brown (2-1), Colonel John (4-1), and Pyro (5-1).

Twenty Reasons to bet Twenty Horses: 2008 Kentucky Derby (Joe Sports Fan)
What’s in a name? Lots for the 20 Derby horses (Yahoo! Sports)
Kentucky Derby Odds (gohorsebetting.com)

Just noticed that ESPN has predictions from several analysts:

Randy Moss: Big Brown
Bill Finley: Big Brown
Hank Goldberg: Colonel John
Jay Cronley: Pyro
Jay Privman: Colonel John
Jeremy Plonk: Colonel John

FOX has done it for the MLB All Star Game and the Super Bowl, but now NBC is going to copy the practice for the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby this May. They'll also have a host comparable to Ryan Seacrest....

NBC Sports will add a half hour of coverage at the beginning of its traditional start of the Kentucky Derby telecast, featuring a Red Carpet Show presented by Head and Shoulders.

The Red Carpet Show will be hosted by Billy Bush of the NBC Universal-owned syndicated Hollywood magazine show Access Hollywood. The Red Carpet show will be part of the new Access at the Derby half hour, hosted by Bush, and will air at 4 p.m. on May 3. Bush will go behind-the-scenes at Derby parties, interview celebrities and show fashions. The Red Carpet Show will offer glimpses of celebrities arriving at Churchill Downs, site of the race.

Today I'm going to cover two things I know almost nothing about - Boxing and Horse Racing. Fortunately, my job is to dig up what other people think about these topics, so I'm golden. After the jump we'll sip mint juleps and hope our outlandish hats shield us from flying sweat and blood as we examine the genteel society of the Kentucky Derby and the brutality of Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather punching each other for money.


The Louisville Courier-Journal put the Derby on the front page above the fold, of course, so let's look at their coverage first:

Jennie Rees reports that horse trainers are no slouches when it comes to coaching cliches - apparently they take it "one game at a time" as well. quote: “I’m sure we’ll probably go (to Preakness). The horse looks great this morning but we’ve got to wait. I had to focus on one thing, and it’s over.” - Carl Nafzger, trainer of Derby Champ Street Sense.

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And, just in case you don't think horse racing is a contact sport, read about the injuries suffered by winning jockey Calvin Borel leading up to this race.

At age 18 he tried to race through a hole that wasn't there, and a filly named Miss Touchdown threw him into a light post. He suffered shattered ribs, had to have his spleen removed and spent a short time in a coma. When he came back to the track, Cecil put him back on the same filly. She won.

And, my favorite detail in this piece by Eric Crawford: In his first Kentucky Derby in 1993, Borel came in 17th on a horse called Rockamundo.

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On the off chance that you're into the people-watching aspects of the Derby, here's some celebrity photos, including Michael Jordan, the father of Anna Nicole's baby, and Gene Simmons with two Skinemax soft-porn stars.

And, of course, crazy hats.

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Now, off to Las Vegas, where the glitz and glamor went indoors for a huge fight night between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather won by decision.

Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is already calling for a rematch.

Listening to what boxers say about their futures after such a momentous fight is like listening to a fifth-grader discuss his options for college. It doesn't mean anything. Mayweather insisted throughout the weeks of preparations that he would retire following this night and would now do so with a 38-0 record. But he also hasn't received that telephone call that is sure to come from De La Hoya's camp, the one that begins talking about all the money a second fight would generate.

It may sound cynical, but it also sounds absolutely correct.

Also, the party was on in Vegas, too. Plenty of babes and betting.

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So here's my question: Given the choice, where would you have been this weekend? Savoring the open air with a mint julep and a dorky hat in Louisville, or taking in the nightlife with gambling and early bird specials in Vegas?

Let me know in the comments.

-Extra P.

Lots of great action around the sports world today, so where was I? Attending my nephew’s eighth birthday party and spending ten hours with family, of course. Always nice to see everyone – who cares about missing out on the Kentucky Derby, Mayweather-De La Hoya, the NBA playoffs and Chien-Ming Wang?

Oh, that’s right: I do.

So, for anyone else who might have missed out on the day’s festivities, here is a brief rundown:

Kentucky Derby: Street Sense goes from (nearly) worst to first, winning by 2 ½ lengths. My pick, Storm in May? Sixteenth.

Mayweather-De La Hoya: Floyd earns the split-decision win to remain undefeated. Media response was also split: the Associated Press scored it for Mayweather, 116-112, Yahoo! Sports called it a draw.

Jazz-Rockets, Game 7: Carlos Boozer was kinda effective (35 points, 14 rebounds, 41 minutes) in Utah’s 103-99 win. Houston’s Tracy McGrady had 29 points and 14 assists.

Chien-Ming Wang: So close, yet so far. Wang took a perfect game into the eighth before Ben Broussard killed it with a homerun. The Yankees walked away with the win, 8-1.

My knowledge of horse racing is about two notches above zero, so picking a winner for the Kentucky Derby isn’t exactly the most scientific of processes. Unlike Hi-Plains Drifter, who has all the information you could ever want in making an educated decision, my pick will probably come from a smattering of facts, a little bit of thought, and just plain ol’ gut feelings.

Oh yeah, and this column from the Associated Press’s Jim Litke.

The basic premise: Storm in May is a 30-1 long shot with a lot of what the experts like to call upside. Really, how can you go against a horse that…

a) …only has one eye.
b) …is the grandson of Storm Cat (the sire of former Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Tabasco Cat) and the great-grandson of the legendary Secretariat.
c) …was trained at the same school as Barbaro.

Rooting for Storm in May requires a momentary suspension of common sense: specifically, the fact that neither of the two one-eyed horses to run the Derby in the last quarter century fared very well, finishing 13th and 17th. I’m willing to overlook that reality (throw a check mark in the karma column) in order to focus more on the latter two.

Handicap aside, the truth is that Storm in May comes from a remarkable lineage – Storm Cat was a crappy racer that does nothing but sire top-notch thoroughbreds and Secretariat was Secretariat. Later today, we’ll see which one he more closely resembles.