Links for 2009-08-09
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"Disenchantment sets in, there's some ugliness and then it's pretty much over. But that rapture you can't forget, and the disillusionment, and so there has to be the long goodbye letter, which, because this is Jim Squires, turns into a book. You could call it a swan song, or you could call it a 250-page flip of the middle finger to his one-time love." A review of “Headless Horsemen” and an interview with Squires.
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Makes a point key to any discussion about paywalls or the value of journalism: Write things people (particularly those outside your known audience) actually want to read. "Whatever you think of the actual piece, it's an almost startling reminder of the power of good writing. My takeaway from the piece had very little to do with Goldman Sachs and a lot to do with my job. Too much of journalism is about serving the existing audience …"
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Don’t call it a ban: "The intent of the line about 'sports-related content' is to get at the fact that we want to uphold the same editorial standards for reporting something, regardless of the medium. That is to say, that if ESPN decides not to publish news about a sports topic, that it should approach that in the same way across media. We’re clarifying and providing guidelines for how to play in this space, not fleeing from it."
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Tracking the HOTY contenders through 2009.
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Why the two may never meet: “For other sports, the presence of two superstars would be manna from heaven, cash at the box office. But most other sports are less complicated than racing. They have leagues and races and playoffs and neatly orchestrated ways to market their superstars and, in the end, get them on the same field of competition. Less so racing.”
Links for 2009-07-21
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The Del Mar president kicks off a blog covering this year's meet by talking about all the celebrities who will be on track opening day. Very California: "First I get a call from Audrina Patridge. Come on guys, you know who I’m talking about. The girl on the beach? The one eating the Carl’s Jr. burger? Yeah, that one. She wants to come to Opening Day and wonders if I could find her a seat. Hmm, where to put her."
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Last-minute advice for horseplayers prepping for the upcoming meet. More: Brisnet on the jockeys, trainers, and horses to watch.
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"Today, at any rate, those who wish to share quotidian updates have a more efficient channel with which to share them. This clarifies the place of blogs as repositories for our bigger thoughts and ideas and for more lasting records of our own experiences and observations."
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"How hardcore policy reporting is paying the bills at a Seattle web startup (in 4 easy steps)." [I've never talked to Ray Paulick about his business plan, but three of the four steps outlined here strike me as similar to how he's built up paulickreport.com, and as a very workable approach for others considering launching a certain style of web publication.]
Notes for 2009-07-13
– Green but Game gives Omnisurface Stars, a new site tracking racing’s top performers across surfaces, a proper introduction.
– In his latest blog post, Alex Waldrop asks readers to tell the NTRA what they consider racing’s biggest challenge, and then asks how they’d address that challenge. (Deja vu, anyone?) I’d say almost all of racing’s problems hinge on a lack of fresh ideas, dynamic leaders, collaboration, and technological innovation implementation. How to address? Better recruitment, a national body with power, and a real commitment to change backed by money.
– There is one sport that could offer several lessons to the racing industry, particularly re: profitable technology and data: Baseball, which is hardly trouble-free, still continues to innovate.
– Sheikh Mohammed, now on Twitter. (Via @mollyjorosen)
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Jessica Chapel is a writer, editor, and web producer living in Cambridge, MA. Railbird is a thoroughbred horse racing blog published continuously since June 2004. More ›
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