Please Excuse Our American Excitement
Horse racing is a sport generally ignored by the mainstream news media but for maybe twice a year. Therefore, we are happily conditioned to expect the USA Today version of racing: a paragraph blurb on the winner of the Derby and maybe an honorable mention of who ran behind him. So pardon me for thinking it’s a nice treat when everyone from O Magazine to 60 Minutes turns their focus on the biggest draw our sport has.
So imagine my surprise when a portion of Tuesday morning’s #bc10 Twitter mentions involved an observation that: “European press feels Zenyatta coverage in American media is “over the top.”
Excusez-moi? Mi scusi?
I readily admit to reading more British papers online than I do American ones — the reporting is more fair, the celebrities more outrageous and the government much more accessible.
Such is the case, however, that I spend an inordinate amount of time reading about European sports, primarily rugby players and footballers who have more girlfriends than goals in a given year, or contract disputes that end with public outcries and protests, or the thoughts of Chelsea’s manager on a Liverpool striker.
But look for a note on Frankel, an English 2-year-old colt that’s hands-down the best in the world? No mention. The bevy of Breeders’ Cup contenders from the European contingent? No mention.
Unless it’s a ticket giveaway sponsored by the paper: the best even their own country’s racing can hope for is a story a month (or so says my unofficial tally). And, for the record, my sample of papers is not simply tabloid: The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, BBC and The Guardian are all rather respectable.
It’s fair to say that equal coverage is given to the sport of kings on both sides of the Atlantic.
I agree that– yet fully partook in — having several RSS feeds devoted to tracking Zenyatta’s journey from California to Kentucky (on flight number K4 725 that took 3 hours 42 minutes) was a tad much. But so are the in-depth reports on the British Royal Mint making a plaster mold of the special William and Kate coin or the hunting trip invitation that seemingly suggests a royal engagement is forthcoming.
English papers will get one, maybe two (if Harry ever decides to settle down), royal weddings this generation. America will never get another horse like Zenyatta.
