Dead. To. Me. The Preakness
Each week at the Toy Department, in addition to offering one of our writers the chance to endorse something they feel strongly about, we also give one of our writers a chance to dismiss something -- however unpopular that opinion may be -- in a segment we call "Dead. To. Me." Click here for previous editions.
Not since Spiro Agnew stuffed the governor' desk drawers with envelopes of cash has there been anyone in Maryland who can do vice.
Well, maybe Dick Cheney (R-Remington), but that's a stretch.
Hard on the heels of their boffo efforts to bring slots casinos to Maryland, state lawmakers and the governor think they should ride to the rescue and embrace the putrid corpse of horse racing and, by extension, the Preakness. Why do they think that by seizing the second leg of the Triple Crown--and, for good measure the Pimilco and Laurel tracks--they can raise the dead?
The Preakness is dead to me. Ditto Pimlico. Pennies-on-the-eyes, stone-cold muerte.
Horse racing in Maryland has been reduced to little more than the Preakness, a one-day excuse to get stinking drunk, bet and sing a bloodthirsty, racist song. A redneck bar with a jukebox would deliver the same results with less pretention and fewer traffic problems.
As far as its value to Maryland, the Preakness is "so profitable that it supports Maryland's thoroughbred industry for the rest of the year," according to the Sun. "Pimlico's earnings shot up from $1.36 million in 2006 to $1.8 million in 2007 almost entirely on the financial draw of the Preakness."
Wow, what a cash cow! No wonder Pimilco looks so spiffy year after year.
"The centuries-old heritage of horse racing and horse breeding is woven deeply into the cultural fabric of Maryland," Governor Martin O'Malley said in a statement before signing the bill that would allow the state to seize the Preakness and two tracks before they could leave the state.
It's fine for horses to be embedded in our cultural fabric, but hasn't the governor noticed that no one is wearing that style anymore? With the exception of the 100,000 who show up for the Preakness, no one goes to the track anymore. And with new alcohol rules for this year's race, let's see how that plays with the crowd.
No doubt, state officials acted with the memory of another lost pony--the Colts--burned into their brains. But did they really think about what they might be committing themselves to saving?
If, for some horrible reason, no one steps forward in this economy to take the Preakness and the two tracks off the hands of the financially wheezy Magna Entertainment, is O'Malley really going to ask taxpayers to fork over more than $100 million for two minute's worth of horse racing fun every year?
My bill from Comcast, the pirate cable company, isn't that bad.
And then what? The state owns two race tracks and tries to sell them.
Maybe officials can find a sucker by offering a daily double of horse racing AND slots. But don't bet on it.
in Dead To Me
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Comments
don't quit your day job.....
Posted by: mike a | April 17, 2009 10:56 AM
Don't appreciate the tradition of the Preakness, of horse-racing to the state of Maryland, of the thousands of people employeed by the racing industry and hundreds of thousands of acres of lands preserved as farmland, Candy? Then MOVE. OUTTA. MARYLAND.
Posted by: Cynical Eastern Shore Girl | April 17, 2009 11:07 AM
You got this one right; racing in MD is dead.
Pimlico has all the charm and appeal of an upholstered toilet; Laurel hasn't been clean enough to be appealing in more than a decade.
The tracks are dysfunctional and state ownership won't make them better. If you believe state ownership is the answer here, then you probably also believe in the Tooth Fairy.
So, if the state owns the Preakness but doesn't have a track to run the race ... what happens then? Does anyone think that any owner or trainer of a Triple Crown caliber horse would allow it to run at Timonium? Not --- happening!
Posted by: Jack | April 17, 2009 12:25 PM
Wow. Just wow.
First you trash all the people who still have feelings for the Colts and still feel what their leaving did to this city's psyche, as well as to the team's fans.
Now you go to town on one of the oldest sporting events in the country, and one of the true feathers in this state's proverbial cap.
I suppose next you will not only debase jousting, but also attempt to destroy lacrosse as being something not worthy of existing. Let's just make fly fishing not only our state sport, but the only acknowledged leisure activity. Then you can get back to your high horse, which is undoubtedly somewhere in a tree stand in the wilds of Gunpowder Falls State Park, so you can look down on all of us who appreciate the sports history of this city and state, and who would like to see these traditions continue.
"Q" is for quite the charmer, you are.
Posted by: Big Daddy (not Lipscomb) | April 17, 2009 3:32 PM