Saturday, May 16, 2009

NYT Live-Blogs The Preakness Stakes, With Runyonesque Attention To Simplicity And Detail.


Below is the thrilling, moment-by-moment transcript of the NYT's live-blogging of the The Preakness Stakes on "The Rail," reprinted here in full:

Update | 6:19 p.m. They’re off!

Update from Peter | 6:22 p.m. RACHEL ALEXANDRA wins the 134th Preakness Stakes!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is a very funny post on so many levels.

To be fair, I listened to the horse race on the radio while driving yesterday. The overblown announcer didn't say much more. First he told us which horses were breaking for the lead. Then he listed every single horse at the 1/4 mile in order, a nice touch since Mine That Bird was at the end. Then he said something about history once or twice. Then it was time for Rachel Alexandra to come down the home stretch. What do you know? Mine That Bird was closing all of a sudden. Where did Mine That Bird come from? We'll never know. But boy was it a close one. Rachel Alexandra almost didn't make history.

After a few minutes of hyperventilating, the announcer cooled down and explained that a filly hasn't won the Preakness stakes in 70 or 80 years. This is "history"? I thought you had to be first or something like that to "make history".

Sometimes the more you say, the more the audience will have to pick apart. Sometimes it's the opposite. You can't win.