I was reminded this very morning of what makes me scream in contemporary media "coverage" of this and that. They had the drawing yesterday for post positions for the Preakness Stakes (this Saturday), and my paper told me a horse named Improbable had drawn the 4th position and was the early favorite.
Thirteen other horses will be in the race. My media outlet decided I don't need to know who they are.
I have had a running scream going over "Felicity Huffman and many other famous parents," the defendants in the college admissions scandal. Since the story is about money, not TV shows, I would think the defendants would be "(The richest family, whoever it is, or the famous family that invested most into getting their child a leg up) and many other famous parents."
Frankly, when I looked up those other famous people (on a court filing), I had never heard of almost all of them, rich and famous as they might be. But I never heard of Ms. Huffman before her current 15 minutes of fame began, either.
Pimlico Race Course has a Web site (not a very good one, btw), so I can get the names the news media didn't give of the famous horses the same way I got the names of the "other famous people." It does make me wonder what the news media have to do that is more important than answering the first question in the old Who, What, When, Where, How.
UPDATE. The first three post positions will be used by WAR of Will, Bourbon WAR and WARRIOR'S Charge. Do the folks in Baltimore know something about Iran we don't know?
Tom, about the "other famous people", it reminds me of the 19 famous theologians who signed the letter accusing Pope Francis of heresy. The only one the media named was Father Aidan Nichols, whom I never heard of either. But according to the signatories the chair of Peter is empty. Go figure. Sort of seems like Groundhog Day.
ReplyDeletePrecisely! Thanks for feeding my scream.
DeleteOne child of a maybe-famous person has been tossed out of Georgetown--and is suing!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/us/georgetown-expels-students.html?searchResultPosition=1
Tom, are you playing the ponies? You seem to be awfully exercised about these races.
ReplyDeleteI haven't won the Kentucky Derby since Decidedly in 1962. But Marilyn and I always pick the Triple Crown races and the Breeders Cup Classic. Just because.
DeleteAt the track, when I can go to the paddock and look, without ads for bourbon and Longines watches, I usually manage to cover the cost of the program and lunch. Used to go a lot with my late son-in-law, who trained horses. Our conversations would go:
ME: Number 5 is good lookin'
GEORGE: Yup. Very good. So is 6.
ME: Yeah, maybe 6. What is 8 doing in this race?
GEORGE: Really sad lookin' horse. What are the odds?
ME: 30-1.
GEORGE: Funny if the horse makes around the track.
(a few minutes later)
ME: I went win and show on Number 5. What did you do?
GEORGE: Number 8, on the nose.