"We should not be training kids to become degenerate gamblers, but we can at least present them with the pleasures of an occasional visit to Old Hilltop. They need to be out there, among their elders, close enough to smell the liniment and cigar smoke. They need to see and hear, firsthand, the agony and the ecstasy of the bettor's life. They need to see real live horses rumbling toward the finish line.
Children who grow up in Maryland should know how to pick a crab, how to catch a shad, how to cradle a lacrosse ball...and how to handicap a race at Pimlico. We should have a statewide effort to educate our kids on the importance of the Maryland horse racing industry, and there should be no child left behind."
Dan - I am doing my part, but have you actually brought your kids to the track?
2 comments:
I just had to make a comment on this. I am not a native marylander, but I make my home here now. I can say, that, I know how to catch a shad (see the Delaware river), know how to pick a crab (see the NJ shore), know how to handicap a race (rip Garden State Park, the world is better off without you filling the area on RT 70 in Cherry Hill, where Best Buy, Home Depot and Wegmans now reside.)
Mind you, that because I learned all of the these afformention skills in NJ, I have no idea how to cradle a Lacrosse ball, which seesm to defy the laws of physics to me.
I do however believe there are great parellels in the activities discussed above from a past and future perspective in Maryland and NJ.
The Maryland shad fishery has come back after almost being wiped out from overfishing thanks to a restocking of the species in the chesapeake bay and its tributaries, catch and release only remember.
It seems the horse racing industry and the crabbing industry are both on the brink of being wiped out in Maryland currently based on the local press of the day, as the shad once were, but something was done to keep the shad around, I can only hope the same will be done for the crabs and horse racing.
Otherwise, I fear there will be no crabs to sell at the Wegmans that will sit at the Top of the stretch at the corner of Preakness Way and Northern Parkway.
My eight year old daughter learned how to handicap at River Downs and Keeneland. Call me crazy or what, but handicapping takes skill and learning ,aka, remembering a lot of stuff. My daughter enjoys it, I call it family fun!
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