Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel to feature Asmussen interview TONIGHT

[PaceAdvantage]

I'm sure this will be nothing but a positive piece for racing leading up to this glorious potential Triple Crown we currently have brewing...

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/hbos-real-sports-to-feature-interview-with-asmussen/

[PaceAdvantage]

Blasi too...

For those who thought Costas' interview was too soft, this one might be right up your ally...

Real Sports and Gumbel have never delighted much in the positive aspects of racing...

[devilsbag]

I've been wondering what Cash has been up to.

[Grits]

Preview of tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD0KYElRwtQ

I don't have the HBO channel. I wish I did so I could see this tonight. The earlier interview aired weeks ago with Bob Costas has been removed from YouTube. The search states "no results found". Maybe someone else would have more success, but I got zip.

[Stillriledup]

Preview of tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD0KYElRwtQ

I don't have the HBO channel. I wish I did so I could see this tonight. The earlier interview aired weeks ago with Bob Costas has been removed from YouTube. The search states "no results found". Maybe someone else would have more success, but I got zip.

I have a link in post 6, hopefully its still an active link..

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113261&highlight=asmussen

[PaceAdvantage]

If they ever make a movie about this, sign up Woody Harrelson to play Blasi.

[Grits]

I have a link in post 6, hopefully its still an active link..

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113261&highlight=asmussen

Thanks, SRU, it was there.

[Grits]

If they ever make a movie about this, sign up Woody Harrelson to play Blasi.

Excellent choice. I can hear him railing.

[Stillriledup]

If they ever make a movie about this, sign up Woody Harrelson to play Blasi.

:D

There's no one else it could be.

Great call.

[Stillriledup]

Thanks, SRU, it was there.

Sure, any time. :)

[BettinBilly]

Glad I saw this thread. I would have missed it tonight. I'll definitely be tuning in.

It will be interesting to count how many times they have to BLEEP Blasi's hidden camera video rant.

[PaceAdvantage]

Glad I saw this thread. I would have missed it tonight. I'll definitely be tuning in.

It will be interesting to count how many times they have to BLEEP Blasi's hidden camera video rant.Why would they bleep it? It's HBO...I'm sure it will air unbleeped...

[BettinBilly]

Why would they bleep it? It's HBO...I'm sure it will air unbleeped...

True. I just watched the preview and it was bleeped, so thought that the original hidden recording may have been.

Well then, all the better. Blasi in his full glory. :)

[Mineshaft]

can anyone post the interview in its entirety tonite?

[Grits]

Would one of you guys, if you watch it, post a recap on the interview's content, Goldberg's tone, and how Asmussen and Blasi handled questions posed to them.

Thanks in advance.

[RunDustyRun]

Not much interview time was spent on Blasi or Asmussen, but neither came off well..Asmussen came off as deceptive when confronted with some facts and failed to give full answers unless pressed....majority of the piece seemed to focus on video evidence of horses breaking down or horses hobbling around with compound fractures...all very sensational, exploitive, but unfortunately, very disturbing and sad...

[TheEdge07]

Brutal

[Grits]

We didn't need this. Most likely, the goal wasn't popping Asmussen or Blasi, but instead another effort to take our sport down completely. I guess our only hope is nationwide uniformity.

Dusty and Edge, thank you both for watching.

[magwell]

That was ugly, very ugly..........

[Mineshaft]

anyone have the interview that they can post a link to?

[PaceAdvantage]

They spent little time talking to Asmussen/Blasi...it was a another hit piece on drugs and death in racing. Nothing we haven't seen or heard before.

Asmussen needs a PR coach...someone to teach him to stop looking to the right when answering questions...and keep his focus on the interviewer...

All in all, nothing new and tons of clips of horses breaking down, including a nice long shot of a horse running with a compound fracture, as was noted above.

[NJ Stinks]

Shots taken at Pletcher, Baffert, Asmussen. All about drugs.

These guys/horseracing has no leg to stand on. The drugs injected are indefensible for the most part. Yet penalties are mostly non-existent.

Anyway, the repeated videos of horses breaking down were cheap shot journalism but the bottom line that drugs are killing racehorses is not far-fetched reporting.

[Stillriledup]

Shots taken at Pletcher, Baffert, Asmussen. All about drugs.

These guys/horseracing has no leg to stand on. The drugs injected are indefensible for the most part. Yet penalties are mostly non-existent.

Anyway, the repeated videos of horses breaking down were cheap shot journalism but the bottom line that drugs are killing racehorses is not far-fetched reporting.

These people could care less about horse racing, they're not interested in exposing wrongs in order to make them rights, they're interested in, like you say, cheap shot journalism, bunch of sensationalism wrapped up in a nice bow, for you to digest (or choke on).

Also, this isnt REAL journalism, they don't really go "deep" they just scrape off the surface and scrap something together, these aren't an expose, they are taking stuff we already know and stuff we've heard plenty of times and just rehashing it.

[Mr_Ed]

It may be worse in Harness racing.

[rastajenk]

... but instead another effort to take our sport down completely. I guess our only hope is nationwide uniformity.
Right on the first clause, wrong on the second.

[BettinBilly]

As a fan of our sport and as someone whom truly loves horses and other animals, the repeated breakdown footage and Euthanasia footage from PETA was of course hard to watch. Like Pace said, it was nothing we have not seen before. But it was indeed Sensationalism Journalism by HBO, intended to get an emotional gut reaction from those watching. Of course it had an agenda, but IMO, it was not specifically aimed at promoting the ethical use of pharmaceuticals on horses.

Sad.

[bello]

I was actually hoping Asmussen could redeem himself ...at least a bit, in this interview. He made it much worse. You don't need to be a body language or linguistic expert to see he is as guilty as they come. Horrible performance by a guy who, unfortunately, Is beginning to truly look like the sleazebag the press has portrayed him as.

On another note, A few times they discuss 12 horses a week breaking down and dying on the track or right after a race. That I have real trouble believing. I watch a ton of races and I don't see anything close to that. I sure would love to see where they got those stats from.

[goatchaser]

Found a small clip of what was show on Youtube. 2:21 of the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD0KYElRwtQ

[Stillriledup]

It may be worse in Harness racing.
Why? :confused:

[Mystic]

"Would having a horse win the triple crown be a major event for horse racing? Absolutely it would be, but there are more pressing issues that need racing attention that not even a potential triple crown winner like California Chrome can solve."


http://fiveminutestopost.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-triple-crown-winner-would-be-nicebut.html

[Stillriledup]

"Would having a horse win the triple crown be a major event for horse racing? Absolutely it would be, but there are more pressing issues that need racing attention that not even a potential triple crown winner like California Chrome can solve."


http://fiveminutestopost.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-triple-crown-winner-would-be-nicebut.html

What pressing issues would CC winning the TC "Solve"?

[Mystic]

What pressing issues would CC winning the TC "Solve"?
Absolutely none except attention to the sport in a better light I suppose.

[Stillriledup]

Absolutely none except attention to the sport in a better light I suppose.

I agree. I guess that we can't ever complain if something puts a positive light on the sport, we could use all the feel good stories we can get our hands on.

[Redboard]

On another note, A few times they discuss 12 horses a week breaking down and dying on the track or right after a race. That I have real trouble believing. I watch a ton of races and I don't see anything close to that. I sure would love to see where they got those stats from.

It’s probably right. The “industry” claims that it’s one in 500 starts, that’s not 500 races, but 500 starts. If a track has 10 starters in 10 races a day, that’s 100 starts a day. If 10 tracks run per day, that’s 1000 starts or 2 per day, or 14 per week.

[Redboard]

Showtime 60 minutes Sports did a segment on drugs in horse racing last week. It was much “better” than the HBO one and did not include any catastrophic breakdowns. Interviewees include Ogden Mills Phipps, Frank Stronach, and Travis Tygart, head of U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. There were no “gotchas” like the Asmussen interview. I thought it was a pretty intelligent and fair expose. If you have Showtime and OnDemand you can see it. Here is a website which contains the preview video:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/60-minutes-sports-cleaning-up-horse-racing/17uccj7p1

or if that doesn’t work:

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/60-minutes-sports-cleaning-horse-185345591-cbs.html;_ylt=A0LEVzSed5dTFGIAa59XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMT EzZmIzNTg0BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNARjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJ UDQ1N18x

It's worth seeing IMO.