Barbaro
June 17, 2006 ETA: Due to the fact that Barbaro is clearly doing very well and appears quite likely to survive and live a full life in retirement, and the fact that it's been almost a full month since this accident happened, I feel safe enough unlocking this. But I'm still LJ-cutting it cuz it's long.
---
DISCLAIMER: Okay, at the risk of pissing everyone off, I'm F-Locking this, but this may still offend some of you friends of mine, so please... know that I'm not necessarily talking about you and that I don't mean to offend or upset you, I'm mostly just ranting.
What is WITH all this Barbaro angst? I mean, yes, I'm concerned about the horse too, and I'll admit I'm checking the major horse news sites for an update on him. But this is getting ridiculous. Fantwits are sobbing for hours on end over this, and warbling about how "this is just killing me!!!" and stuff. And saying that horse racing will never recover from this.
Excuse me. Horse racing has had worse fatal breakdowns. This one isn't even fatal yet. If horse racing could recover from Ruffian's death, it can recover from Barbaro's career-ending injury. Actually, I think it's kind of insulting to say that this is worse than Ruffian's fatal injury in two ways: 1) Ruffian was the icon of hundreds of thousands of little girls in a time when girls were not considered to be as good at sports. This filly was a star of hope to girls that they could be star athletes. Ruffian scared away all competition, including the males. Only one male was brave enough to take her on. Ruffian essentially died beating him. (I know he passed her, but her breakdown occurred while she was in front of him, I believe). And 2) Ruffian's injury was exacerbated by the fact that her jock couldn't pull her up right away even when he knew something was wrong. Edgar got Barbaro pulled up much quicker than Ruffian was (partly because it was the start of the race, yes, so there wasn't as much momentum, but also partly because I don't think Barbaro is in Ruffian's class). Ruffian was... Ruffian. Barbaro is not Ruffian. Never was. Never will be.
All this drama wangst is getting on my nerves. I'm sorry for the horse, and I feel bad that it happened, but there is absolutely no reason why Bernardini's win should not count just because Barbaro suffered a career-ending and life-threatening injury. If Foolish Pleasure could be considered to have won the match race against Ruffian, when he could have won by walking to the line since his opponent didn't finish, then Bernardini deserves all accolades for his win, for beating the other seven horses in the race. Saying that you don't care and that no one will remember the outcome of the race just because Barbaro didn't finish is an insult to every other horse in the race. We all know who won the race that Go For Wand didn't finish. We know who won the race that Ruffian didn't finish. Granted, in a few years we'll probably be saying "Right, who won the 2006 Preakness? I forget" but it won't be because Barbaro was injured, it's just that the rest of the Triple Crown has now been written off as unimportant. Without a Triple Crown darling, the media as a whole won't care, and thus this will disappear into the fog of time. Look how many people can tell you who won the 2000 Kentucky Derby, but not the other two races. And the Derby winner wasn't injured in any of those races.
People get so emotionally overwraught over an animal they have never even met. I would be much more forgiving if his groom or exercise rider were saying some of these emo-angsty things, because they deal with the horse every day, and it would be a huge blow to the stable to lose him, but for casual fans who have never met the horse, or even if they have, who have no contact outside of "rabid fangirl" this is just ridiculous. It's tantamount to sending hatemail and death threats to a rock star's new girlfriend just because she's the girlfriend of the heart-throb rock star. Remember how many people hated Linda McCartney when Paul McCartney married her? To me, this is no different. Taking the horse's injury this personally is... disturbing.
Like I said, I'm very sorry it happened, but I didn't lose any sleep over it, I'm not an emotional wreck. I'm concerned enough that I'm checking the news periodically, because I do want to know how he's doing, but I don't occupy every single waking second with fretting and worrying about this horse I've never met, who hasn't even had time to be much of a superstar. Being a "superstar" for two weeks isn't enough. Had he won the Preakness and been that much closer to the Triple Crown, people who don't follow racing would have known his name like they knew Smarty Jones'. Barbaro wasn't that close yet.
I'm sure Michael Matz got up this morning and tended to his other horses, planning workouts and scheduling races. I'm sure Edgar Prado got onto other horses after the Preakness. It's not that they won't care what happens to Barbaro, but they have jobs and commitments. This isn't the first horse they've lost this way, and won't be the last. The world did not stop turning because Barbaro was hurt. If the world didn't stop turning when the World Trade Center was hit by airplanes on September 11, 2001, then I can assure you that it hasn't stopped turning because a horse that the vast majority of people in the country don't know or care about suffered a potentially fatal injury.
I get so tired of people behaving like this is the greatest tragedy ever. It's not even a tragedy yet, dammit! It's not cool and mature to wax uber-dramatic over this. Get ahold of yourself! If this kind of thing sends you over the edge, this sport is NOT FOR YOU.
So sayeth me. Please, friends, don't take it personally. It really isn't directed at YOU.
---
DISCLAIMER: Okay, at the risk of pissing everyone off, I'm F-Locking this, but this may still offend some of you friends of mine, so please... know that I'm not necessarily talking about you and that I don't mean to offend or upset you, I'm mostly just ranting.
What is WITH all this Barbaro angst? I mean, yes, I'm concerned about the horse too, and I'll admit I'm checking the major horse news sites for an update on him. But this is getting ridiculous. Fantwits are sobbing for hours on end over this, and warbling about how "this is just killing me!!!" and stuff. And saying that horse racing will never recover from this.
Excuse me. Horse racing has had worse fatal breakdowns. This one isn't even fatal yet. If horse racing could recover from Ruffian's death, it can recover from Barbaro's career-ending injury. Actually, I think it's kind of insulting to say that this is worse than Ruffian's fatal injury in two ways: 1) Ruffian was the icon of hundreds of thousands of little girls in a time when girls were not considered to be as good at sports. This filly was a star of hope to girls that they could be star athletes. Ruffian scared away all competition, including the males. Only one male was brave enough to take her on. Ruffian essentially died beating him. (I know he passed her, but her breakdown occurred while she was in front of him, I believe). And 2) Ruffian's injury was exacerbated by the fact that her jock couldn't pull her up right away even when he knew something was wrong. Edgar got Barbaro pulled up much quicker than Ruffian was (partly because it was the start of the race, yes, so there wasn't as much momentum, but also partly because I don't think Barbaro is in Ruffian's class). Ruffian was... Ruffian. Barbaro is not Ruffian. Never was. Never will be.
All this drama wangst is getting on my nerves. I'm sorry for the horse, and I feel bad that it happened, but there is absolutely no reason why Bernardini's win should not count just because Barbaro suffered a career-ending and life-threatening injury. If Foolish Pleasure could be considered to have won the match race against Ruffian, when he could have won by walking to the line since his opponent didn't finish, then Bernardini deserves all accolades for his win, for beating the other seven horses in the race. Saying that you don't care and that no one will remember the outcome of the race just because Barbaro didn't finish is an insult to every other horse in the race. We all know who won the race that Go For Wand didn't finish. We know who won the race that Ruffian didn't finish. Granted, in a few years we'll probably be saying "Right, who won the 2006 Preakness? I forget" but it won't be because Barbaro was injured, it's just that the rest of the Triple Crown has now been written off as unimportant. Without a Triple Crown darling, the media as a whole won't care, and thus this will disappear into the fog of time. Look how many people can tell you who won the 2000 Kentucky Derby, but not the other two races. And the Derby winner wasn't injured in any of those races.
People get so emotionally overwraught over an animal they have never even met. I would be much more forgiving if his groom or exercise rider were saying some of these emo-angsty things, because they deal with the horse every day, and it would be a huge blow to the stable to lose him, but for casual fans who have never met the horse, or even if they have, who have no contact outside of "rabid fangirl" this is just ridiculous. It's tantamount to sending hatemail and death threats to a rock star's new girlfriend just because she's the girlfriend of the heart-throb rock star. Remember how many people hated Linda McCartney when Paul McCartney married her? To me, this is no different. Taking the horse's injury this personally is... disturbing.
Like I said, I'm very sorry it happened, but I didn't lose any sleep over it, I'm not an emotional wreck. I'm concerned enough that I'm checking the news periodically, because I do want to know how he's doing, but I don't occupy every single waking second with fretting and worrying about this horse I've never met, who hasn't even had time to be much of a superstar. Being a "superstar" for two weeks isn't enough. Had he won the Preakness and been that much closer to the Triple Crown, people who don't follow racing would have known his name like they knew Smarty Jones'. Barbaro wasn't that close yet.
I'm sure Michael Matz got up this morning and tended to his other horses, planning workouts and scheduling races. I'm sure Edgar Prado got onto other horses after the Preakness. It's not that they won't care what happens to Barbaro, but they have jobs and commitments. This isn't the first horse they've lost this way, and won't be the last. The world did not stop turning because Barbaro was hurt. If the world didn't stop turning when the World Trade Center was hit by airplanes on September 11, 2001, then I can assure you that it hasn't stopped turning because a horse that the vast majority of people in the country don't know or care about suffered a potentially fatal injury.
I get so tired of people behaving like this is the greatest tragedy ever. It's not even a tragedy yet, dammit! It's not cool and mature to wax uber-dramatic over this. Get ahold of yourself! If this kind of thing sends you over the edge, this sport is NOT FOR YOU.
So sayeth me. Please, friends, don't take it personally. It really isn't directed at YOU.