A word on Moran

It is with sadness that I note the passing of award winning journalist Paul Moran, dead at only 66.

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He was a wordsmith till the end with his last column published on the ESPN website on 10/28/13.

New York City metro readers of old will remember him from Newsday, back in the day when the NY Post, NY Daily News and Newsday all had multiple pages on racing every day. That's almost all gone now as are the days of racetrack patrons walking around the track with the entries and writer selections cut out from their favorite NY tabloid sticking out of their hand or back pocket. 

Here in upstate NY I can still read the daily entries and selections of the NYRA tracks in my local paper of choice, The Times Union, but how much longer will that last?

I will miss Moran and his way with words and his biting wit that would shine through in his columns. The game goes on, just now without one of its' best writers.

Breeders Cup 2013 Halftime Thoughts

Day One of Breeders Cup 2013 is in the books. Here are my thoughts thus far:

Track Bias anyone? I'm no expert but looked like a speed track to me. Following those who do seem to know on Twitter it seemed most agreed track was souped up for speed.

 And Todd Pletcher had this to say after watching the Dirt Mile : "“This track is so speed favoring and everyone is just send, send, send. It changes everything.”

Watching on TV the crowd seemed full but not that lively. Attendance listed at 35,833 but I saw plenty of empty seats.

NBC did  ok with Day 1 broadcast. Plenty of coverage before each race of the Paddock and Post Parade with Odds constantly running on bottom of screen. Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey did usual good jobs.

 But don't understand the purpose of the miles per hour time shown during the race. Why do this when the viewer is used to seeing split times all year long watching simulcast races?