I am not looking forward to hitting the publish post button on this one, but someone has to say something. Since I have already infuriated 721,025 United Auto Workers with an offsite article that questions the fairness concerning the General Motors reorganization deal, what are a few more angry racing executives? So I’ll just say this now so that no one else has to take the flak for it.Last week at an Inglewood City Council meeting, a series of which will determine the end of Hollywood Park, it was said that while it was, “great to see the 'working folks' of the industry come out, where are the decision makers?” As the council pointed out, “they ought to be here.”
They were right.
Where is the leadership of horse racing? Are they concerned about the future of Hollywood Park?
Their deafening silence seems to be the answer. Since I am already a marked man, I’ll elaborate my position further. As I pointed out in an internal e-mail to the primary in the stand to preserve the track, “There are many [leaders] that have no internal motivation (lost their passion) nor external motivation (financial) to appear, so they do not. Some would argue they have other responsibilities but in times of crisis when a major track’s life is on the line the leaders need to be there for the sport even if it means making tough decisions, such as missing ball games or skipping dinner with the wife. This is crunch time for HOL. Its disappointing that they are not here when the sport needs them the most.”
Is the passion gone? Yes. I know this first hand. When I spoke to the head of marketing at Santa Anita it was like speaking to a defeated solider. His paraphrased words were, "we're an inner city track, what's the use". In another incident, the head of publicity at Santa Anita wrote a very lifeless piece about the Ambassador Program last year. I wrote the draft but what eventually ran looked nothing like mine. It was void of passion and I know that readers, if any paper picked up the release (as far as I know none did), would sense that and not come. When I asked for a press release for the spring meet I was turned down because one was enough, I was told. Furthermore I've emailed every member of the TOC about the Ambassador Program and Certified Stables and only one responded. I have more examples, but three is enough to validate the point.
I can understand the council allowing for the track to be bulldozed if there's no noticeable leadership willing to step up and save a member of their family. If these meetings are Hollywood Park’s funeral, then the track must have really done some bad things. At least we should send flowers, or something.
Maybe racing wants HOL to disappear? I know of trainers who do. The destruction of HOL could solve the problem about too much racing in So Cal. Does Santa Anita want more dates? I suppose it would benefit them to see HOL go up in smoke then. Sure, HOL is dumpy and scary, but that’s because those who own the track have let it become that. They don't care about the track they’re just interested in the real estate. The owners have no vested interest in trying to make it better. Declining attendance and handle actually helps their cause and gives the city all the more reason to let it be torn down. HOL could be much better in the right hands. Someone just needs to raise a hand. In the days of the Roman Empire, a thumbs up saved a life.
Can someone spare a thumb?
Perseverance!
(P.S.: If this my last post, it was a pleasure to serve the sport of horse racing the best way I knew how. Thank you for reading.)
2 comments:
I completely agree with your assessment of the Inglewood's City Council meeting, and the fact there was no answer to the question "Where are the leaders of the racing industry? The problem is, there are no leaders in Sacramento that are representing the interests of the tracks, or the tracks collectively. More to the point, our Gov. is single handedly destroying California' 5 billion racing business due to bad compaq deals with the Indians (with the proposed sale of Del Mar, not doing squat about the proposed demolition of Hollywood Park, and Bay Meadows, already razed to dirt). The Gov. either can't do the math, or is too dumb to realize that the 600 million or 1 billion he hopes to save with the new proposal, is a pittance to what our tracks bring in. WE HAVE TO BE OUR OWN LOBBYISTS, NO ONE IS COMING IN TO SAVE US.
Thank you for your comments. I agree with what you are saying. The fans need to lobby for the sport because the leadership we have does not seem willing to do so on their own. Do you have any ideas how the fans might go about doing this? Some have spoken about putting together a bettors union that would take action against the industry's bad choices by boycotting wagering at certain tracks. Since simulcasting makes up 90% of the money wagered today, the bettors union could create great pressure upon the industry to act appropirately in the desires of the customer. Otherwise the union could bankrupt any track across the nation through a successful mutually agreed boycott.
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