The big story all day yesterday on sports radio (and the news) was 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro being put down, due to a broken leg.

To start with, let me say that I am an animal lover. I say this not to make light of the plight of the horse, I have no problem with horses even though most of the ones I've met seemed to be giant smelly beasts who hated me.

Anyway, thanks for the all-day wall-to-wall coverage guys, but here's a newsflash.

It's a horse.

It's just a horse. They didn't put down Michael Jordan. It's a news story, sure, but it's not the lead. ESPN approached the story like Peyton Manning had just been arrested for picking up teenagers on MySpace.

If ESPN didn't keep telling us who the Derby winner was last year, 98% of people wouldn't know, and the other 2% only remember because they either won or lost money on the race.

Horse racing isn't a sport anymore, it's just an activity to bet on. Craps, roulette, and Lotto aren't sports, neither is horse racing. The vast majority of people only see horse racing as an occasional way to donate money to the mob. It's like the lottery for rich people and organized crime figures.

If you disagree with the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner's death not being the top story, riddle me this. Where is the 2005 Kentucky Derby winner? Signing autographs and hoofprints at a card show somewhere in Georgia? Does anybody know?

Say what you want, but I prefer to watch a sport where the athletes know they're competing.

Labels: ESPN