Racing On TV Debate: "Horseracing is a minority pastime viewed by most sports' fans an unnecessary annoyance that gets in the way of them watching real sport."

General / Jack Houghton / 10 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

Jack Houghton isn't too keen on people with opinions, but he's certainly got one on the BBC's plans to cut back their racing output. For one thing we'd be seeing a lot less of Willie Carson, and for that we should all be thankful

Political apathy gets a bad rap. Listening to some commentators, you'd think contemporary youth was guilty of no greater crime than its civic indifference. This is patently bollocks. Contemporary youth's biggest crime is their youth; of which we are all jealous. Set against this youthfully heinous act, avoiding wannabee activism is no crime at all.

In fact, there's an argument to say their political apathy is more virtue than crime. Apathites rarely cause harm. You don't see them atop soapboxes barking, for instance, Jew-hating bile. And they don't wear hooks for hands while posting grainy videos on the internet demanding dreadful deaths to non-believers. No, apathites are too busy lying on the sofa, watching Big Brother. And given a choice of two - one a political fanatic; the other a layabout - which version of youth do you prefer?

People who have strong opinions about things are tricky characters. Given a limited intellectual capacity, humans are as capable of being wrong as they are of being right. So isn't it better that, as humans, we try not to have strong opinions about anything?

And people with strong opinions can be such frightful bores at parties. They're forever talking, reasoning, arguing. With all their opinions, they ignore more pleasurable pastimes, like drinking oneself into a stupor whilst trying to touch up someone else's wife. And if they happen to catch you in their opinionated missile-lock, you don't get to enjoy those things either.

Pippa Cuckson looks as if she may have an opinion or two. She's responsible for a petition on the Downing Street website, demanding the BBC "retain its current levels of horseracing coverage." She asks the BBC be "reminded of its obligations" and "scraps plans for emasculating its reportage of a sport which appeals to the widest demographic of all."

Emasculating? Reportage? Crikey O'Reilly. How about: "The BBC should show lots of horseracing because people like it"? And what exactly does she mean by "the widest demographic of all." Is she claiming that all of humankind wants to watch BBC racing?

Perhaps she meant something different. Yes, it turns out her petition-ambition is to get near 40,000 signatures. That will prove "the wider public is as bothered about racing on the BBC as we all think/hope they are!"

Oh dear Pipster. It turns out that demographic isn't quite as wide as you thought. At the time of writing, the petition has reached 1,220 signatures. Someone whose first-name is Toppo has signed it though. And he sounds like he might be a lot of fun at a party.

To put the petition in context, 38,000 people are prepared to sign something about water companies treating churches as charities. Nine-thousand people do not support a state funeral for Maggie Thatcher. Double the response of the BBC Racing petition, 2,400 people think there is too much bad language on television, the tossers.

Racing, as a sporting entity in its own right, is not as popular as Pippa, and others in the industry, would have us believe. There are not, as Pippa suggests, "six million TV licence payers that annually visit racecourses." There are a far smaller number, who visit racecourses a number of times during the year. And I'll let you in to a secret about those who do go racing Pippa. Most of them couldn't give two hoots about it and, given a choice between watching racing or a re-run of Mary Poppins on television, would choose the latter.

The reality is that horseracing is a minority pastime viewed by most sports' fans an unnecessary annoyance that gets in the way of them watching real sport. The BBC recognise the apathy with which the wider public view racing and, having seen the industry subsidise a competitor's broadcasting programme whilst simultaneously enjoying the existence of two specialist non-terrestrial operations, has decided its required role should naturally diminish. Sounds about right to me. So I won't be signing the petition. And anyway, Big Brother's on.

But if you'd like to help Pippa out, the petition can be found here: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/bbcracing/