I Think That Fly Just Moved a Little
“Is blogging dead?” was a question posed by my esteemed colleague John of The Race is not to the Swift. He rightfully points out that other options such as Twitter and Facebook are easier outlets than blogging. Indeed.
I commented that as an example, I had posted several tweets of stuff I encountered while twirling around the web last night and had I not been on Twitter that they would have probably ended up as a blog post. As an experiment, of sorts, here’s what I probably would have written had I not had twitter:
While poking around on Hulu after finding an explanation of a tote board to post over here, I found this interview with Mike Watchmaker on Charismatic’s Triple Crown Bid on Charlie Rose. This made me wonder if Charlie Rose did any interviews prior to Big Brown’s Triple Crown attempt, and alas he did!
Since I didn’t really know much about Charismatic or racing in 1999 in general, I looked a little further. I watched the 1999 Belmont to see if any of Watchmaker’s predictions were right (they were not).
And imagine my surprise when I discovered the Charismatic / Chris Antely story, which I knew nothing about! Upon checking out Charismatic’s wiki page I discovered that an ESPN 30 for 30 episode is currently in development on the Charismatic / Antley story (thanks to @raceday360 for the ESPN link), very exciting! Apparently, there’s also a book on the saga entitled Three Strides Before the Wire (via @BklynBckstretch).
And as if all this wasn’t exciting and interesting enough, Haskin also has a compelling post about trainers who are still working that “once ruled the sport“. A true and proven talent not being able to sell themselves and ending up in relative obscurity is not a new phenomenon and certainly not limited to horse racing. History is littered with examples of artists, writers, musicians, etc who suffered the same fate, but as Jessica put it:
I still look at Turner and marvel, that trainer knows what it is to win the Triple Crown.
Here’s a recent trainee of his, Reforestation, hitting the board at 48-1 in the 2009 Grade 1 Prioress at Belmont.
Turner trains for Castle Village Farms, if money bags owners won’t work with the last trainer to win a Triple Crown there’s no reason why you can’t!
Posted by dana on Dec 04 2009
Filed Under: Big Brown, Internet, Racing History, 2009, Twitter, Steve Haskin, Legend, Belmont, Triple Crown, Belmont Stakes, TV, Racing












If you think the Charismatic story is interesting–delve into more involving jockey Chris Antley. Genius/junkie/showman/flake—The Ant was truly one of the great (albeit tragic) characters ever in the game. Besides being one of the very best at his profession—he also had a successful trade paper as a financial analyst-guy was brilliant but haunted by demons.
Anyway one of a million interesting stories from the track.
Even done anything on Sam the Bugler???-what a great character there! Wonderful guy!
Best,
PEM
Blogging is only “dead” if you veteran bloggers waste your time on Twitter and Facebook.
The quality material found in posts such as these are what makes people come here. I think I speak for a lot of people that we’re not interest in one-liners on Twitter that state…
“Hey Paulick is reporting…. ” yadda yadda.
Most of us are going to go to the aggregators sooner or later.
But in the meantime…comprehensive items like Hulu and YouTube videos from the vault provide food for thought and fuel for future posts. Thanks.
PEM - I looked around a bit at Antely too (and added a link to his wiki page above). Looking forward to the ESPN docu! And Sam is a great guy, super nice.
TKS - LOL, I’ll be the judge of what’s a waste of my time and what isn’t but thanks the complement on the post!
So you think Twitter is the only place where people redundantly point to the highly visible? Many bloggers, even veterans, post out the wazoo about every little thing and frankly a lot of would be better suited for the more compact format of Twitter. I think what you’re describing is really more of an issue with the content than delivery mechanism.
dana, i think your take on what u would have blogged about had u not tweeted is an excellent framework for examining content…it’s a new media journalistic interpretation of a cinematic device such as that used by billy wilder in sunset boulevard: bill holden is dead in the pool from the beginning, then the story is told from his point of view, with his narration, about how he ended up there. you are bill holden; gloria swanson represents the blog, and the knight sky is the erich von Stroheim character, the loyal servant in love with the blog and an era that he now finds to be vanishing.
Sid–Love the analogy–perhaps I’d like to think more like Sam Shepards’ perspective of The Dude in The Big Lebowski…………….?
Best,
PEM
Sid, the Sunset Blvd analogy is uncanny. I enjoy Twitter and if you read R2 yesterday there was a terrific piece and how to utilize Twitter for handicappers, Twitter is a useful tool and a great place to find the “seeds” for a post on a blog; it’s a terrible place to try to blog in my opinion.
wow Sid, I suddenly feel very clever… thanks!!
ok, I’ve had a lot of fun this morning thinking about Sunset Blvd & this analogy. for those not lucky enough to have seen Sunset Blvd here are some clips:
Trailer style montage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rzjimQTsnk
Film intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDSRhwSA6f4
Intro to Norma Desmond:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX98UmQZBHU
Saving the best for last, Norma Desmond (the blog) poised to regain her former glory, enabled by her admiring director Mr. DeMille (The Knight Sky):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF-Fv_1uq-w
john, dana, what’s uncanny is that yesterday i read this piece, it’s antecedent on john’s blog, plus the R2 piece that John refers to and thought, WOW, 3 greats posts; blogging is in fact not dying, just developing, growing, and changing with the accompanying angst of a teenager searching for individuality within a sea of conformity. There are some, of course, who drop out, and others who frown on the experimentation and change of their friends. . .
another great analogy! I definitely think having other outlets has helped clarify / streamline my blogging.
PEM:
Chose 1. The narrator of the big lebowski is
a: sam the bugler
b: sam shephard
c: sam elliot
Answer: c
Yeah I realized that about 5 minutes after I posted it…..pretty much everything I did yesterday went that way right down to my beloved Gators…..man I think–or I hope any–I burned up the rest of 2009’s shitty luck on 12/5……maybe I’ll go out to the track……if a giant bird doesn’t swoop down and fly off with me in it’s talons…………..oh well still 2 bottles Jack Single Barrel on the`bar.
Best,
PEM
PEM, know what ya mean…have had my share, 2! good luck if you get to the track.
I don’t know, Dana, you always struck me as more of a Jesus Quintana…
Ok, I guess I have to see that movie now.
I’d say an Eduardo Roel…….
Three Strides From The Wire is a really good book. You should give it a read.
I was also going to suggest Three Strides from the Wire. Charismatic was the first racehorse to break my heart.