No Rozelle's But We Have a Kaptain

Pro sports and racing talk at the 2009 Congress.

Robinson discussed the league offices that run such professional sports operations as the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball, which have powers ranging from setting schedules to enforcing rules. He also noted that very wealthy people with huge egos agree to cede power to those offices when they buy a sports franchise. “These people cede significant power to a centralized office,’ he said. “That’s the price of admission.”

more.

We chatted about the horse who took a short cut and was left up at Western Fair awhile back, and the time it took to correct the decision. Trot Magazine's Darryl Kaplan let loose with a solid editorial on that, and more regarding decisions like that and the speed of them. Bravo.

It seems to me that when a horse travels well inside of 13 consecutive pylons during a stretch drive, passes the horse in front, then comes back onto the track to win a race, he should be disqualified.

...for those who cumulatively wagered more than $13,000 on the race, for Western Fair (the racetrack caught unfairly in the storm), and for racing fans across the ­country, things were less equitable. Was there a good explanation given as to how that decision could have possibly been reached? No. Did the Commission post the reasons for the non-call on their website the next morning? No. Did they call an emergency meeting to ensure this could never happen again? No.

I imagine a person in Darryl's position has to walk a fine line while writing his monthly column. He is an insider and works closely with standardbred Canada, insider groups and so on. But he has taken on some tough issues that need to be discussed. For that he deserves thanks.