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Fantastic stuff Jeff.
While i'd be in favor of a boycott, i think that boycotting might send the wrong message. The message that a boycott sends is this. A boycott says, "we love you and you deeply hurt our feelings, so we want to stay away until you say you're sorry and try and make things whole again. We will forgive you if you come to your senses"
I think something stronger than a boycott is to just ignore California racing. A boycott seems to indicate that you would go back if the takeouts were switched back to old levels. A boycott is sort of like a lover who cheats on you but then if they say they're sorry, you'll take them back. The bettors of the So Cal product have to be the lover that says, "even though i completely believe you would never cheat on me again, i still can't take you back because i won't compromise my morals"
I think the key is to just 'break up' with California racing and don't ever look back. A boycott shows that you got your feelings hurt and then you're going to 'show them'. I think instead of a boycott, just ignore them and find a new lover.
Its bad enough they're raising the levels of takeout to obscene heights, but they had two higher ups (Brackpool and Israel) come out and make comments that are nothing short of a smack in the face to all horseplayers around the country. Some of the things that Brackpool and Israel have said are so insulting to the bettors around the country, that i can't imagine anyone would even consider betting one dollar on California racing after this. The arrogance shown by Keith Brackpool and David Israel has to rank them up with some of the most arrogant people in the USA.
Those two are completely convinced that YOU, the California horse player, is a complete moron and they have actually told you so to your face. Their comments indicate that they think all the California bettors are complete idiots and will play no matter what, and i think that's why they're cheering and celebrating over this 'free money' that they just found. California horseplayers are clowns who are going to bet anyway is what they're thinking.
You know when people say that something is 'better than sex'? Well, i think if the California handle gets destroyed and Brackpool and Israel have to come back and say, "We were wrong" that would be one of those times. To see these two chopped down a peg is worth EVERYTHING. Horseplayers can make it happen by NOT betting a single dollar on this California product.
Thoroughbred horse trainers are a dime a dozen and yet Israel thinks they are 'rock stars' who should command a salary like one. I love Bob Baffert (i'm going to just use him as an example to illustrate my point), but if he decided to retire tomorrow, it wouldnt make the betting handle go down ONE RED CENT. We would say goodbye to Bob and wish him well in his new life, but if he left, the handle would stay exactly the same. On the other hand, If one big bettor decided he had enough with So Cal racing, his handle would be missed, it would affect the bottom line.That particular big player 'retiring' would be more crushing to handle than Bob Baffert retiring, yet Israel wants to give Baffert a 'raise' at the expense of the more important participant in the equasion.
I recently had an 'out of the mouths of babes' moment. A person who had never seen a horse race before was in the same room with me when i flipped on a channel showing horse racing. This young person i was with said, "i don't get this horse racing, its boring, its just anonymous horses running in a circle, why is this exciting to you?" My gut instinct was to say "wait a minute, horse racing is a great and very exciting sport" but before i answered, i thought about it and instead said, "you're totally right, its just random horses running around in a circle, if you've seen one race, you've seen them all, there's nothing exciting about it as a sport for people who are watching on a daily basis. The only exciting thing can happen if you bet on a horse and it wins. THAT is the only fun part of racing"
I know most of you will disagree and tell me about Secretariat or Zenyatta, but the bottom line is that unless you actually own these horses, its really all about how much money can you make betting on the races. This is where race track execs are a little off base, they think that 'the show' they are putting on is so good and exciting, that the customers are willing to pay top dollar to view it.
Horse racing is like ice cream in a way. Its really good on Monday and maybe on Tuesday, but when Wednesday comes up, you don't really feel like eating ice cream for the 3rd day in a row. Ice cream is fantastic, but there's only so much of it you can eat. Same with racing, there's only so far it can go as a 'spectator sport' before the main core of customers need to start profiting on the races in order to keep coming back.
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