The Cincinnati Post from Cincinnati, Ohio • 28

'TVri rvwv'if WiynrW)W wiw 'rrr wiy 2D The Cincinnati Post Tuesday May 6 1980 sports commentary When horse racing and sin were an entry ivyHr OVER $1 MILLION was bet on the Derby alone at Churchill Downs and even more was wagered legally at Off Track Betting Corporations in New York and Connecticut Untold millions were undoubtedly wagered Illegally Now not going to give you a sob story about the children who will go hungry and and unclothed because dad Is blowing all his money at the track But I am going to say this: my lasting memory of the 106th Kentucky Derby will be the total disregard of property by some In the Derby crowd There were numerous beautiful beds of flowers at Churchill Downs Saturday morning but most were stripped bare by Saturday night The pious pleas of the Georgia legislators are of course exaggerations on their part Those guys after all wanted to get re-elected But maybe the devil did make those people ruin the flowers Preakness a couple of years ago I won $1780 on a horse named Breaker One Nine Now how could a horse named after CB lingo lose? MOST OF THE bettors at Churchill Downs Saturday were like one-day-a-year bettors How else could Genuine Risk have gone off at 13-1 in the Derby? Every woman I talked to had a bet on Genuine Risk because she was the only filly In the field Not because her past record was all that great I can see how gambling can be Infectious for some people If the horse you bet on wins the smartest guy In the world won something by doing practically nothing And If your horse loses there are a thousand and one excuses at your easy disposal I guess why a Administration Study showed that over 10 million Americans are compulsive gamblers And why a National Gambling Commission study showed 80 percent of Americans approve of gambling Americans gamble because they like to and see nothing wrong with the study said either on the side of God or against him the devil has something to do with this He put it in the minds and hearts of those who are pushing this Rep Dorsey Matthews oil Moultrie Qa "Mr Matthews would you and the devil be willing to give the state of Georgia 80 million (the amount raised in Florida In a recent year by legalized State Rep David Lucas of Macon da Aslwatched millions of dollars being bet Saturday at the 106th Kentucky perby I help but recall exchanges such as the one above when the statfc of Georgia legislature was debating the legalization of pari-mutuel wagering a few years ago The bill was eventually shuttled off to some subcommittee and probably never will be If it ever even gets back on the floor for debate My the columnists and editorial writers In Georgia had a field day cheap enough to sell our character -for revenue? Do we want heaven or hell right or wrong God or crime and murder rates In Atlanta Those-volleys represented my first exposure to horse racing and parimutuel wagering My horizons have since been by visits to several tracks Including Santa Anita Pimlico and Churchill Downs But no my views have not changed drastically My Southern Baptist heritage notwithstanding I still do not consider horse racing and sin Nor do I consider wagering on horse races to be a question of God or the devil But I must say that the mofe I attend horse and certainly admit that the few times I have been qualify me as an the more my viewpoint erodes I am' at most a pedestrian gambler I wager my 92 on a horse for Intelligent reasons like the name rhymes or because a friend has given me a on a longshot If Racing Forms are the blbles of true bettors I should take a collection of the comic strips to the track with me At a race at Pimlico prior to the ON TV telecast may mean new era Rick Millions the devil? You get up a right hill traveling a left hand Dr William Holmes Borders pastor of the Wheat Street Baptist Church In Atlanta wrote for The Christian Index a Southern Baptist Publication "Some have chosen to attack horse racing on the same basis as burglary rape and assorted countered Atlanta Journal sports columnist Furman Blsher OR AS ATLANTA Constitution sports columnist Jesse Outlar put It racing and sin have become an Outlar went on to point out a matter of record that the devil Is having a banner1 year in Georgia but it has nothing to do with horse He was referring to the then high and still high postmarks First the 1869 Red Stockings did not win all the games they played In 1869 A reason being that on Aug 27 1869 the game with the Haymakers of Troy NY ended In a tie score of 17-17 after 5 innings (Ret George Ellerds History of Baseball in Cincinnati ClntL Historical Society Page 171 Second In the game with the Baltics of Wheeling Va on June 30 1869 the score was 44-0 in favor of the Red Stockings However under the rules of the association the game did not count (Ref Ellerds History Pg 171) Third on pages 153 and 154 of Ellerds History he states that the first regular season game (Opening Day) was played May 31 1869 at Yellow Springs Ohio with the Antioch College nine The score being 41-7 In favor of the Cincinnati Red Stockings Sorry this Is Incor- rect as the game was rained out and the team moved to Mansfield Ohio the next day June 1 1869 I have an account of this from an eye witness reporter who travelled with the Red Stockings on their tour (Harry Millar son of Cons Miller the veteran Ohio River reporter) I William Conrad Cincinnati The demise of hockey Professional Ice hockey has left the Cincinnati scene once- very likely for the last time and never to return a shame but quite frankly the citizens of Cincinnati do not deserve this wonderful sport They have had numerous chances at various levels of expertise through the years but have always rejected It I seriously doubt that the National Hockey League could ever make It here analyzed the reasons for failure many times and I keep coming back to the same two basic Items: Rick Mllllans is executive sports editor of The Cincinnati Post Pay-TV only has one percent of the market now but what will It have a year from now or five years from now or by 1990? If pay-TV mushrooms the same way cable TV Is growing it could become a whole new ball game for the Reds SPINNING THE DIAL-Two former Cincinnati play-by-play announcers have landed radio Jobs with the Oakland Dom Valentino former radio voice of the Cincinnati Royals pro basketball team Is the No 2 announcer behind Red Rush a longtime sports-caster In Chicago Ted Robinson who 'did the Cincinnati Stingers Central Hockey League broadcasts last fall over WLYK and served as the publicity director also will do an Inning of play-by-play for each home game Robinson 22 will combine his radio chores with his duties as director of promotions and group sales for the a Job he starts this week WXIX Channel 19 had such good response to the telecast of last Saturday's National Hockey League game that it has picked up Philadelphia Flyers-Mlnnesota North Stars contest for delayed showing at midnight Technical problems with the picture late In the game marred an otherwise fine production Saturday WCIN (1480 AM) will run Indianapolis 500 Interviews at 4:55 pm Monday through Friday for the next three weeks WLYK (107 FM) will broadcast the complete Moeller High School football schedule next season Dick Carlson ON TV sporte director has added the championship game of the College Baseball World Series to the station's pay-TV lineup Carlson and the ON TV crew will telecast the game live from Omaha Neb at 830 pm EDT on Friday June 6 This weekend ON TV will tape seven hours of action from the Metro Conference Spring Sports Championships at Tallahassee Fla for showing Thursday May 15 at 8:45 pm and again Tuesday May 20 at 10:45 pm ON TV will edit the program to two hours of selected highlights with an emphasis on University of Cincinnati participants Cheerleaders from Ohio State Memphis State Indiana State Kentucky and Florida will compete In Third Annual National-Collegiate Cheerleading Thursday at 8 pm on Channels 7 and 9 Lee Majors and Jayne Kennedy will host the show with appearances by Sugar Ray Leonard Earvlh Johnson Wilt Chamberlain and Willie Shoemaker WBTI Channel 64 has added three sports attractions to Its schedule The station will carry the LPGA Lady Mlchelob Golf Tournament Saturday and Sunday from 4:30 to 6 pm the National Collegiate Bowling Championships at 1 pm Saturday May 24 and the US Gymnastics Eastern Women's Championship at noon Saturday May 31 Channel weekly wrestling show will be seen an hour earlier May 31 at 11 am WLWT sportsc aster Buddy Pittman will leave the station In August to- become Involved with a video production firm In Florida Pittman Joined Channel 5 last August after working at WESH-TV In Orlando Fla Barry Cobb is assistant sports editor of The Cincinnati Post Indy called good sports town Right now It's only an experiment but the Reds-Houston Astros game which was televised by ON TV subscription television station last Thursday could be the beginning of a new era In local sports television Five Reds home games one each month through September will be shown this year to ON TV subscribers who pay $1835 a month plus tax to watch three uncut movies or entertainment specials each night If the venture Is successful more -Reds home games could be televised by the pay-TV outlet In the future And someday not beyond the realm of possibility that every game played at Riverfront Stadium may be available to TV viewers who are willing to pay for the privilege of watching them Televising games at home even for ON limited audience of almost 9000 subscribers Is a change In policy from the one which the Bob Howsam-Dlck Wagner group Initiated when Howsam became general manager of the Reds In 1067 The previous year 1966 the Reds televised 11 home games and 27 on the road over WLWT Channel 5 with Ed Kennedy and Frank McCormick as the broadcast team IN RECENT SEASONS Including the current 45-game agreement with WLWT the Reds have permitted only three home games to be televised each year with a stipulation that the station announce the home telecasts until 72 hours In advance of the game The 72-hour rule even applies to opening day which always Is a traditional home TV game Jim Winters who Is director of broadcasting for the Reds and puts together their successful radio and TV packages Is taking a dose look at the pay-TV medium and Its future postibllltles Winters was In the broadcast booth when ON TV announcers Dick Carlson Mel Allen and Jim handled the commentary for the first pay-TV telecast last week Monday he spent several hours watching a tape of the telecast difficult to say at this point how much we can expect In the Winters said about the plans for pay-TV in succeeding years now treating It as an experiment Los Angeles the Dodgers have had home games on pay-TV since 1977 They started doing seven and now up to 15 the same ON TV subscription service but not the same ownership They are' pleased with the results and Winters pointed out that television has changed drastically since Howsam took over the club as general manager In the 1960s and changed the club's TV policy was no cable TV or ON TV Winters said whole electronics world Is changing day by day and almost hour by hour MORNING when you get up and look out the window the world has changed a little bit got to be able to accept change and try to move forward We want to keep the best Interest of the ball club and the fans In mind and' still stay current with the At WLWT which supplied the production unit for the ON TV telecast last Thursday under a spilt feed to Houston and to United Artis ts-Colum-bla's cable TV network officials are watching the pay-TV experiment with Interest going to keep a close eye on says WLWT general manager Jim Hart right now they Just have the Hart says WLWT can reach 647000 households In the Cincinnati market ON TV having less than 9000 he says only a little more than one percent of the total I was sitting In Market Square Arena (Indianapolis) the other night enjoying a good hockey game between Indlanap-oils and Ft Worth (Remember the Central Hockey League?) It was nice to know that I was In a good sports town for the evening By the way the Indians (Reds farm team) were alsolritewh and they drew 287 fans (approximately) the Checkers drew 5601 Not bad for a non-hockey area I wonder If my critics would pay for my move to Indianapolis? Don Rogers Villa Hills Ky Note: In a recent letter in Postmarks Rogers said he hoped his next Job transfer takes him to a good sports town) An Olympic 'no' vote Marcia For once I heartily agree with President Carter In saying to UJ8 athletes who want to go to the Olympics I do not blame them However I think many athletes and other people too overlook the fact that In this Instance we have an opportunity to hit the Soviets where It will not only Insofar as prestige Is concerned but they will be deprived of a lot of currency which they so desper-ateirWKPtc I dOTidt-Conslder It a matter of he patriotic UJ3 citizens for a change Miss Hedwig Keller Cincinnati 1 Cincinnatians do not understand and appreciate the finer points of the game (a primary requisite for the enjoyment of a professional sport) This Is In all probability due to the fact that Cln- clnnatlans do not have an opportunity to participate In and experience the' sport at a young ageala Knothole baseball and sandlot football 2' The citizens of this city are too complacent and conservative possibly even too lazy and too tight fisted They are content enough to sit back and say have our Reds and pur Bengals why should we bother to learn a new game (some other national sport at that) Just to have another place to our entertainment When you lump these two Items together you come up with the knockout blow for professional hockey In Cincinnati An extensive educational program Is necessary to overcome the first Item and all of the organizations that presented hockey to the city either did not realize this or felt they could not afford It A very active large scale speakers bureau could have helped Immensely but none was ever really formed The second Item Is even a tougher nut to crack How do you get conserve ative people to spend their hard earned dollars on a sport that they are somewhat alien to? evident that the Reds offer first class entertainment and ooze with professionalism but the true sports fan needs sports the year round What does he do when baseball season Is over? I guess now Just have to wait for my weekly edition of the Hockey News to arrive from Canada and to check the dally box scores of the NHL games In The Post (thanks to Jim Zentmeyer and the sports department of The Post) There Is one other hope on the horizon the people of this city will realize the value of cable TV and work to bring It here A Callles Cincinnati Team was not 65-0 Recently (Post sports editor) Pat Harmon1 stated In his column that the original ted Stockings baseball team in 1869 w6n65 straight games all they played I wfrflldjlke to set the record straight for the spbrts fans who are interested a.