05-03-2003, 11:34 PM
I had the t.v. on in the background today, as I usually do, and had it tuned to NBC. Today, they broadcast the 129th running of the Kentucky Derby, "the most exciting 2 minutes in all of sports." They spent the majority of this 2 hour broadcast running down the odds, talking about Empire Maker, the odds-on favorite to win the race, showing all the rich snobs in the stands with the women in their stupid hats, and then showing the even more stupid college kids drinking beer and wearing hats somewhere down below.
Then, eventually, they get to the race, the dude blows his trumpet, and then the gun goes off, and the horses begin running. Well, more like kicked and whipped into running as their jockeys beat them on down the track. They jockey for position, and as they turn the final stretch, continue to get beat faster and faster, and then the race ends, with all the hype about Empire Maker going out the window, with a horse called Funny Cide winning, and the hype being transferred to him to win the next two Triple Crown races, the Preakness and the Belmont.
They then show the rich snobs who own the horse cavorting and all proud and shit, while his Mexican jockey esposes such joy and pride in winning. They throw some mat of roses on the horse, and that's the show.
In my opinion, Horse racing is the dumbest and most useless activity to ever receive broadcast time. To call this a sport is an insult to people who participate in real sports. To call these horses great athletes is an insult to real athletes. When ANIMALS such as horses called Seattle Slew and Secretariat are to be compared with HUMAN athletes such as Babe Ruth,Michael Jordan, Mohammed Ali in ESPN's SportsCentury, there is something incredibly wrong.
True sports test human ability, strength, endurance, skill, agility, and the limits of humanity. America's top sports (basketball, football, baseball, hockey) all test these. Most Olympic sports test them as well (rythmic gymnastics, trampoline, and synchronized swimming are more of a performing art than sport).
A race in which a human competes against other humans is a true sport. Whether it be sprints, marathons, hurdles, biathalon, swimming, walking, biking. Car racing might even be possibily considered a sport in my opinion, since it not only tests human ability to react and perform under pressure, but also tests humanity's technological achievement by testing the limits of mankind's ability to craft machines that can perform better than our previous acheivements.
In any of these sports, in true sports, it is for the ever-continuing strive to succeed and become perfect as human beings. Our society and our species improves upon itself through self-testing our own limits to what we can do. It also contributes to our own health by particpating in such activities, and to our entertainment, by allowing us to break from the world and focus on sport.
Horse racing, on the other hand, is an out-dated, barbaric, and usless exercise in self-aggrandizement. A wealthy person decides he wants to breed horses, and buys some descedent of a previous race winner, and then mates the horse with another of the same breed, and out pops some new horse to force to run , beat, and carry some midget on its back. To be driven around in a cramped air conditioned space, with shoes nailed to its feet, muzzles around its head.
What does horse racing do exactly to push human civilization further into advancement of our society? Didn't we start using cars and trains to get around like 100 years ago? Are we gonna be riding horses around again sometime in the future? Why must we continue with testing the limits of horses?
And why just horses? They ain't even the fastest animals on the planet. Wheres the PETA people on this? This is discrimination against other animals. Why aren't we racing cheetahs, jaguars, ostriches? How bout some bird racing? With our technical ability, I'm sure we could form a sport where we make birds race against each other. And there's all sorts of birds with colors and stuff. Horses are bland , all brown or black, with maybe a tuft of white. SURE, that was good in the days of black and white tv, but we have fucking hi-def color now, and I might want to see some colorful animals on my screens.
Actually, no, I don't want to see any animals racing against each other on t.v. Animals have no need to compete against one another unless they are in the wild, and man should not be spending shitloads of money on horses, trainers, Mexican jockeys, barns, etc, just to see them forced to run down a track for two minutes every weekend for a few monthes. It is ridiculous and fucking backwards.
People want to bet money? Go bet on real sports. Bet on baseball. Bet on basketball. Or grow some fucking balls and gamble on poker, pool, darts. Don't pussy out and stand in front of a fucking screen hoping that some fucking animal can run around a track faster than another animal.
Yes, I watched this race today. I was in the mood for getting pissed off at something stupid. Watching Churchill Downs, it was like the fucking Coliseum. The rich and powerful, all fucking joyous with their expensive drinks, their fucking stupid hats, while the poor stand below them, somewhere on or around the track, drinking cheap cans of beer, wearing t-shirts, and looking like a fucking Spring Break orgy. And then they get to see the AMAZING SPECTACLE of horse racing. WOW.
If we're gonna be barbaric in our choice our animal sports, let's televise fucking cock fights. Dog fights. Let's watch lions vs gazelles in a 100 yard enclosed field. Let's truely marvel at the splendor of fucking ANIMALS. Let's not pussy out and watch bridled horses being whipped and kicked down the track. If we're gonna take a step backwards in civilization, might as well take a fucking leap back.
Edited By The Jays on 1052004917
Then, eventually, they get to the race, the dude blows his trumpet, and then the gun goes off, and the horses begin running. Well, more like kicked and whipped into running as their jockeys beat them on down the track. They jockey for position, and as they turn the final stretch, continue to get beat faster and faster, and then the race ends, with all the hype about Empire Maker going out the window, with a horse called Funny Cide winning, and the hype being transferred to him to win the next two Triple Crown races, the Preakness and the Belmont.
They then show the rich snobs who own the horse cavorting and all proud and shit, while his Mexican jockey esposes such joy and pride in winning. They throw some mat of roses on the horse, and that's the show.
In my opinion, Horse racing is the dumbest and most useless activity to ever receive broadcast time. To call this a sport is an insult to people who participate in real sports. To call these horses great athletes is an insult to real athletes. When ANIMALS such as horses called Seattle Slew and Secretariat are to be compared with HUMAN athletes such as Babe Ruth,Michael Jordan, Mohammed Ali in ESPN's SportsCentury, there is something incredibly wrong.
True sports test human ability, strength, endurance, skill, agility, and the limits of humanity. America's top sports (basketball, football, baseball, hockey) all test these. Most Olympic sports test them as well (rythmic gymnastics, trampoline, and synchronized swimming are more of a performing art than sport).
A race in which a human competes against other humans is a true sport. Whether it be sprints, marathons, hurdles, biathalon, swimming, walking, biking. Car racing might even be possibily considered a sport in my opinion, since it not only tests human ability to react and perform under pressure, but also tests humanity's technological achievement by testing the limits of mankind's ability to craft machines that can perform better than our previous acheivements.
In any of these sports, in true sports, it is for the ever-continuing strive to succeed and become perfect as human beings. Our society and our species improves upon itself through self-testing our own limits to what we can do. It also contributes to our own health by particpating in such activities, and to our entertainment, by allowing us to break from the world and focus on sport.
Horse racing, on the other hand, is an out-dated, barbaric, and usless exercise in self-aggrandizement. A wealthy person decides he wants to breed horses, and buys some descedent of a previous race winner, and then mates the horse with another of the same breed, and out pops some new horse to force to run , beat, and carry some midget on its back. To be driven around in a cramped air conditioned space, with shoes nailed to its feet, muzzles around its head.
What does horse racing do exactly to push human civilization further into advancement of our society? Didn't we start using cars and trains to get around like 100 years ago? Are we gonna be riding horses around again sometime in the future? Why must we continue with testing the limits of horses?
And why just horses? They ain't even the fastest animals on the planet. Wheres the PETA people on this? This is discrimination against other animals. Why aren't we racing cheetahs, jaguars, ostriches? How bout some bird racing? With our technical ability, I'm sure we could form a sport where we make birds race against each other. And there's all sorts of birds with colors and stuff. Horses are bland , all brown or black, with maybe a tuft of white. SURE, that was good in the days of black and white tv, but we have fucking hi-def color now, and I might want to see some colorful animals on my screens.
Actually, no, I don't want to see any animals racing against each other on t.v. Animals have no need to compete against one another unless they are in the wild, and man should not be spending shitloads of money on horses, trainers, Mexican jockeys, barns, etc, just to see them forced to run down a track for two minutes every weekend for a few monthes. It is ridiculous and fucking backwards.
People want to bet money? Go bet on real sports. Bet on baseball. Bet on basketball. Or grow some fucking balls and gamble on poker, pool, darts. Don't pussy out and stand in front of a fucking screen hoping that some fucking animal can run around a track faster than another animal.
Yes, I watched this race today. I was in the mood for getting pissed off at something stupid. Watching Churchill Downs, it was like the fucking Coliseum. The rich and powerful, all fucking joyous with their expensive drinks, their fucking stupid hats, while the poor stand below them, somewhere on or around the track, drinking cheap cans of beer, wearing t-shirts, and looking like a fucking Spring Break orgy. And then they get to see the AMAZING SPECTACLE of horse racing. WOW.
If we're gonna be barbaric in our choice our animal sports, let's televise fucking cock fights. Dog fights. Let's watch lions vs gazelles in a 100 yard enclosed field. Let's truely marvel at the splendor of fucking ANIMALS. Let's not pussy out and watch bridled horses being whipped and kicked down the track. If we're gonna take a step backwards in civilization, might as well take a fucking leap back.
Edited By The Jays on 1052004917