Nice work, NBC

[Pendleton]

And our main art will be Eight Belles. Heartbreaking shot of her looking right back at the camera while laying on the ground.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

This is the one horse race all year non-sports fans watch. I was at a Derby party. One in 20 guests knew that horses dying on the track is not that unusual. You have to lead with Eight Belles. Have to.

 

[tapintoamerica]

The racing trade publications and those who cover horse racing as their main gig will do their best to gloss over the death. This is what makes Forde so good. He likes the game and all, but he's a generalist who has frequently shown the wherewithal to expose the industry's underbelly. Specifically, that entails the inhuman and inhumane toll it takes on its participants -- both human and equine. His series on jockeys last year or the year before was great.

 

[broadway joe]

SI.com: "Triumph and Tragedy"

I'd say that's the right note to strike.

 

[budcrew08]

SI.com: "Triumph and Tragedy"

I'd say that's the right note to strike.

Yeah, i think you leading with eight belles is the right choice, imo.

 

[Pilot]

Does anyone know what Drudge Report is leading with? Because I really care.

 

[playthrough]

Frankly, I think NBC did OK. They showed the ambulances on the track (and when you couldn't see the horse because it was surrounded, that spoke volumes), and they had the prompt report from the on-track doctor. Tom Hammond mentioned the death several times in his recaps. Clearly, Eight Belles' owner and trainer didn't want to be on-camera in the immediate moments afterward, so without that what else could NBC do? Sure, I wasn't in a great mood to listen to the jubilant members of Big Brown's camp, but you can't just ignore them and what the winning horse did, especially after you've pretty much said everything you can say at that time.

I would expect newspaper coverage tomorrow to be pretty balanced between Big Brown and Eight Belles; but what a live broadcast team can do is different.

 

[greenlantern]

Suggested headline: "Big Brown beats dead horse"

 

[Chi City 81]

Suggested headline: "Big Brown beats dead horse"

God help me...
How long will I be employed if I run the headline "Big Brown beats dead horse"?

Awesome.

 

[greenlantern]

Someone beat me to it. Oh well.

 

[Moderator1]

Doc, I'm just going to assume you forgot the blue font. See my post on the Sports and News thread for my feelings on this. It isn't awesome.

Anyway, I've been thinking. For newspaper types, you need a Triumph and Tragedy type of head. Your lead covers both up high and then hits the race hard. You have a full sidebar about the death, the whys, the history, etc.

Don't kill this, it is off the top of my head, but something like:

With power reminiscent of (some horse), Big Brown dominated the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby yesterday.

But the mood at Churchill Downs turned somber just seconds after the colt's five-length victory. Eight Belles, the filly who finished second, broke bones in both front ankles and had to be euthanized on the track.

"the quick quote" from the vet about no other option, we couldn't save her.

Details of how Big Brown took lead, how Eight Belles got into second.

"your best sum it all up quote, hopefully from Big Brown camp."

Back to the race. And sidebar also played above the fold.

 

[Chi City 81]

Absolutely, Moddy. I just don't believe in the blue font.

 

[Moderator1]

Good. I was doing some re-evaluating of you for a second there but I had faith that was indeed the case. You are a better man than that.
I don't know why I can be as crass as the next guy with gallows humor but get a million kinds of pissed about animals - maybe because as IJAG said on another thread, they aren't choosing to do this. I don't suspect anyone meant any kind of harm but it is an issue with me.

 

[Chi City 81]

Good. I was doing some re-evaluating of you for a second there but I had faith that was indeed the case. You are a better man than that.
I don't know why I can be as crass as the next guy with gallows humor but get a million kinds of pissed about animals - maybe because as IJAG said on another thread, they aren't choosing to do this. I don't suspect anyone meant any kind of harm but it is an issue with me.

You aren't alone. I'd probably find it easier to kill a human being than a docile animal such as a dog or horse. Not that I'd do either, of course.

 

[Moderator1]

My mother told me once: You seem to care more about dogs than people, and I guess that should be considered a good thing.

She's right and I think so.

 

[Bubbler]

Unfortunate error by the AP. Their original jubiliation pix of Desormeaux/Big Brown was I.D'ed as Eight Belles and Gabriel Saez winning the Derby.

A correction moved in short order.

I'm not a huge fan of the Eight Belles lead ...

"Boy, did Eight Belles hang with the boys."

 

[Moderator1]

I was so wrapped up in watching Big Brown power away that I didn't notice - was Eight Belles in second throughout the stretch or did she pass some colts to get there?

 

[BillyT]

I'm not sure Billy. ****, Big Brown DID win the Derby. I'd make 'em at least even, at worst.

Big Brown put on an impressive power display to win the Kentucky Derby yesterday but *** that kind of thing.

I don't know. You may be right.

I am not saying it's an easy call, not at all.

I will bet though, that when I go to work on Monday (I am not in the business right now), the talk will be about her.

That's how it is on the personal blogs I read.

Your method works for me. I would need her in the head or a decent-sized subhead.

 

[Bubbler]

I was so wrapped up in watching Big Brown power away that I didn't notice - was Eight Belles in second throughout the stretch or did she pass some colts to get there?

She was in second for the entire stretch so far as I could tell.

 

[Moderator1]

There HAS to be a combo head, has to be. How it is played from there can be argued many ways.
And, yeah, I'm a big ol' Big Brown bandwagon jumper fanboy. But you can't lose an impressive Derby victory in the tragedy, just as you can't lose the tragedy in the victory.