The Triple Crown is a series of races that has come to be the surest path to immortality for a thoroughbred racehorse. ?Most racing fans are keenly aware of the format of the Triple Crown. ?Open only to three-year-olds, there are three races, or legs, to the sweep. ?The first leg is the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, run at a mile and a quarter, or 10 furlongs, and is run on the first Saturday in the month of May. ?The second leg is the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, run at a mile and three-sixteenths, or 9.5 furlongs, and is run each year on the third Saturday in May, or two Saturdays after the Kentucky Derby. ?The third and final leg of the Triple Crown is the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, run at the imposing distance of a mile and a half, or 12 furlongs. ?Most sports fans know all of that. ?In fact, most sports fans who don't even follow horse racing at all know about the Triple Crown; it's probably the only thing in all of horse racing that transcends the sport of horse racing and crosses over into mainstream sports, sports like football, basketball, baseball, and even hockey. ?
It didn't used to be that way. ?In the first half of the 20th Century, horse racing stood alongside boxing and baseball as the three sports that dominated the American sports landscape. ?For most of that time, the NFL was there, but in it's infancy, years away from breaking through, the NBA wasn't even in existence yet, and the NHL was around but mostly an afterthought. ?In those days, print media ruled, and it was commonplace for the typical fan to get up in the morning before work and, when he got to the sports section, to check two things: the box scores of the baseball games and to see who was running at the track that day. ?From 1950 to the late late 1970s, horse racing was still big, but the other sports were catching up to, and passing, it by in popularity. ?With first the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants going to overtime and the novelty of the Super Bowl becoming no less than an unofficial National Holiday, the NFL has become the most popular sport in America. ?The NBA surged past horse racing in the '80s with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and finally Michael Jordan. ?Baseball has remained popular, though not as much, in America, but horse racing has certainly taken a fall from the national stage. ?In fact, right now, in the second decade of the 21st century, horse racing is not generally thought of as a mainstream sport, but rather as more of a niche sport. ?
The Triple Crown is the one thing that remains able to attract non-racing fans on a national scale. ?Check the ratings: ?the Kentucky Derby always attracts a national network to broadcast the race because there remains a huge audience that wants to see it, and the live attendance at the Kentucky Derby is almost the largest crowd to see one race annually, save for an exception that will be mentioned shortly. ?So, just why is it the Kentucky Derby is still so wildly popular? ?After all, the ratings and attendance figures are not merely trends or passing fancies. ?They are virtually the same every year. ?Why? ?The answer is simple: ?because fans tuning in to watch the Kentucky Derby know that, when the race is over, they might, just might, be looking at the next Triple Crown Champion. ?The governing body of racing should provide as many possible rewards and incentives to encourage owners and trainers to go after the Triple Crown, if for nothing else than for the betterment of the sport itself.
veterans day 2011 veterans day 2011 cnbc debate family circus spanier walmart black friday ad walmart black friday ad
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.