Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro’s injury in the Preakness Stakes and subsequent treatment garnered the kind of news coverage usually reserved for heads of state.
The horse “was a good patient,� according to ABC. Did he take on Mr. Ed-like qualities and tell ABC something that led to that assessment? The horse’s treatment was the subject of news cut-ins throughout the afternoon on Sunday TV.
After the slew (thankfully Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew was spared) of broken legs leading to premature mercy-killing of countless horses, you might think you’d hear some news coverage questioning “the sport of kings.�
I guess there’s too much money and too many mint juleps tied up in that vested interest to question it.
But let me put the news coverage in this perspective: one horse’s injury gets this much news coverage, but what’s the last time the nation’s 45-million uninsured people got this much news coverage?
P.S. The Minnesota state legislature approved stadium bills for both the baseball Twins and the University of Minnesota Gophers football team this weekend. What a relief (we're not talking tax relief) for the citizens of Minnesota. (Anybody know any health policy-related legislation acted on by the legislature this year?)
Posted by schwitz at May 22, 2006 10:57 AM | TrackBack