Bob Costas is looking to guide the sports media with another panel/roundtable/forum/discussion group. Of course, this time around Costas -- who seems to do less and less actual media work so he can host more and more of these soirées -- will probably get less obscenity laden buzz words, but only because the panel is appearing on NBC.A group of media members will be gathered to discuss the morality of horse racing and euthanization of the animals after their ability to race no longer serves their human overlords, amongst other very serious issues.
NBC received both praise and criticism for its conservative coverage of Eight Belles' death at the Kentucky Derby. Fresh off his sports media roundtable on blogs for HBO, Bob Costas will kick off the network's coverage of the Preakness Stakes (Saturday, 4:30-6:30 p.m. ET) with a panel discussion on the filly's catastrophic breakdown and other controversies surrounding Thoroughbred horse racing, says producer Sam Flood.But will the assembled deal with the monetary interests surrounding these animals everyone so suddenly cares about? Horse racing also makes too much money to ever get shut down, but then again, PETA generates too much money from these protests to see them end either.
Among the guests: Churchill Downs veterinarian Larry Bramlage; Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones; NBC analyst Gary Stevens; and New York Times columnist William Rhoden, who blasted the sport of kings as 'only a couple of steps removed from animal fighting.'
The real bottom line here is that horse racing ranks low on any list of events that the average American would like to watch during his/her spare time. Yet murdered horses rank high on the list of topics people get excited about. NBC can fire up the denizens by pumping in a lot of controversy with adiscussion of whether horse racing is a legitimate sport, even as it protects its brand from the legions of Americans still mourning Eight Belles' very public death.
In the end, we will get an opinion about how horses die peacefully (Bramlage), one on how horses are treated humanely (Jones), an MSM guys trying to offend no one (Stevens) and a columnist railing about the injustice of it all (Rhoden). Nothing will change -- TV is a pretty bad medium for having the kind of discussion that foster real change -- but panelists and producers will be backslapping offset.
If all goes well, this should make for a dandy dress rehearsal for the inevitable response to accusations that NBC was utterly obsequious in its coverage of Beijing '08.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1.
Howabout they talk about the practice of selling off losing horses to be sent to mexico and slaughtered for meat?
Posted at 6:04PM on May 14th 2008 by barbaro
2. They also need to discuss changing the rules to allow only four year olds and older to run...two and three year olds legs are not even fully developed.
Posted at 9:31PM on May 17th 2008 by Bambi
3. There is absolutely no regard for these animals, I know..I have had many rescues from the slaughterhouse. If you have the money to race a horse, than you must also have some responsibilty, i.e. not breeding horses that have weak bones, (barbaro), running too young and the ability to ensure they are rewarded for their efforts. This type of responsibilty will cut down on the mass breeding and discarding of these wonderful creatures...but it will never happen.
Posted at 10:24PM on May 17th 2008 by Deanna
4. I also would think they would talk about how Purteo Rico is allowing these horses that are racing be slaughtered if they lose the race. These horses have been around for many years and we are treating them like trash and it needs to stop. I think that there should be rules and regulations about how old the horses should be and if the horses are capable of performing what they are trained to do. God knows how many horses are taken down because either they are injured and cannot be saved or because they lost a race and the owners have the horses killed.
Posted at 11:49PM on May 17th 2008 by Christine Dodd
5. I am both an Animal and People's Rights person.I am in the health-care profession...and my other passion is Animals and our Environment. I have never been comfortable watching events using Animals....afraid for one thing, that at any moment something like what happened to Eight Belles will happen.People have rights...but never a happier Animal than the ones who can be at peace "being an Animal"
Posted at 8:46AM on May 18th 2008 by Jeanie Brown
6. In order to avoid needing to put a horse down after it breaks bones, a vet should immediately use a pain bypass device which will be located on the neck to prevent pain signals from reaching the brain. Also, special braces should be placed on the horse over the effected areas to allow it to walk without damaging the bones further.
A substance called bone cement would be spread over the broken bone or bones that would be a combination of bone and other substances that the body will not reject. It will be harder than bone and will allow the broken bone to heal. If there are still weak spots or cracks, the bone cement that remains will prevent future breaks.
Before the horse is allowed to race again, a series of tests will be run to check on the strength of the new bone and the results will be compared with the other bones. If it is determined that the horse is fit to run, they will be allowed to run. For awhile there may need to be a light-weight brace over the formerly broken bones and the pain bypass unit will be monitored to see if there are still pain signals coming from the effected area. If everything checks out, there should be little reason to prevent a horse from having a long career of racing.
Posted at 1:26PM on May 18th 2008 by Rick Badman
7. Horses die peacefully ? This media rhetoric is simply
amazing in a nation where healthcare is about money
and profit. PEOPLE do not die peacefully let alone
LIVE peacefully in good health and care. So much is
being ignored in that sector. No apologies here as
a pleasure horse owner. I can see the manipulation
at work here on this hot button issue. Bottom line?
PETA and other activists want to control animal ownership. Their help in closing the well regulated
three horse slaughter plants in the USA have doomed
so many horses to export/trucking OUT of the USA to
Canada and Mexico. Do you honestly think they can
then regulate the entire planet on animal "rights" as
well? Look, research, STUDY the details, folks.
Not just one page web news and comment.
Posted at 10:43AM on May 19th 2008 by sundance sally