Triumph and Tragedy On The First Saturday in May

This year's running of the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, will be remembered less for who won the race--for the record, it was Big Brown--than for what happened to the runner-up.

Eight Belles, who attempted to be the first filly since Winning Colors in 1988 (and only the fourth overall) to win the Derby, was euthanized after suffering injuries to her front ankles. This was rather sudden compared to the long, highly publicized vigil of 2006 winner Barbaro, who was injured at the Preakness Stakes, before succumbing to the needle.

While the celebration for Big Brown was taking place at one end of the Churchill Downs track, horse vans at the other end concealed Eight Belles' final moments.

Questions will be raised about the safety of the track--it was on dirt, in an era when most tracks are using artificial surfaces, and how it takes a toll on horses' legs.

This is exactly what horse racing doesn't need, to have a tragedy happen on the day of its biggest race. But other factors have been chipping away at what was once one of the most popular sports in America:

• Declining attendance and TV ratings.
• Gambling in nearly every state (it isn't just Vegas, baby)
• The race horse best known to most people in recent years is a Depression-era champion named Seabiscuit, immortalized by a Hollywood movie.

Big Brown will likely move on to the Preakness in Baltimore. If he wins there, enormous pressure will be put on the horse's handlers to have him race in the Belmont Stakes in New York in June. No horse since Affirmed in 1978 has won the Triple Crown.

But Big Brown will have that shadow hanging over him as he gallops to potential immortality. Not just for his fallen competitor, but for an entire sport.

Can Al Franken Save His Senate Campaign The Way Stuart Smalley Saved His Family?

It's a good thing Al Franken, the former Saturday Night Live cast member and radio talk show host, is running for the U.S. Senate representing Minnesota instead of for state treasurer. He would have been told to stick to his day job.

Despite raising more money (mostly from his Hollywood pals) than any other candidate in his bid to unseat Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, Franken has been in the news for not tending to his own business. For that, he's in danger of losing his campaign.

Franken had to pay $70,000 in back taxes in the period between 2003-06 to 17 states and the federal government, a miscue he blames on his accountant. One factor is the multitude of tax forms athletes and entertainers (or their accountants) have to fill out, depending on where they happen to be plying their trade. In Franken's case during that period, it was usually personal appearances involving book signings and remote broadcasts of his radio program.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party is standing by its front-runner--for now. But if Franken is denied the party's endorsement at the state convention in June, they might have no choice but to turn to someone else. College professor Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is still in the running. Or they might persuade attorney Mike Ciresi to re-enter the race.

The DFL may have thought they caught lightning in a bottle with a Senate candidate who has name recognition, but is otherwise new to the political scene. But how can they claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility when that candidate is negligent of his own bookkeeping?

In Franken's case, it's better to have all this out of the way now before Coleman and the Republicans make it a campaign issue come November.

Closing The Deal In ObamaWorld

Is Barack Obama about to lose the Democratic presidential nomination? Yes, he leads in the delegate count and the popular vote over Hillary Clinton. But there is this nagging suspicion that all is not well in ObamaWorld.

First, there is the Senator's former "spiritual advisor" Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who has become a thorn in his side ever since excerpts of the former pastor's sermons started showing up on the networks. After weeks of silence, Wright emerged with guns blazing, chatting with Bill Moyers on PBS, and in speeches before the NAACP and the National Press Club. He defended his post-9/11/01 "God damn America" sermon, criticized the media's portrayal of him as an attack on the black church, and continued to support Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, among other things.

Today, Obama severed ties with Wright, deploring the comments he made over the weekend. Wright already had an answer to that one, saying it was just something the Senator had to do to get elected.

Second, Obama is in danger of being seen as a self-absorbed yuppie (or whatever the term is these days), indifferent to the needs of mainstream voters. He was exposed as such during the Pennsylvania primary campaign, making comments such as the one about how small town America was using guns and religion to convey their bitterness at the way things were going. Or making references to an Iowa audience about an organic supermarket chain.

The reason Obama hasn't "closed the deal" might be that he doesn't relate very well to average people who don't drive hybrid cars or drink Chablis. Having his name linked to one of those "rabble-rousing" African-American preachers, reminding folks of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (both of whom have run for president, by the way), doesn't help in the eyes of these voters, either.

Denouncing a man who had such a huge influence on his life may not have been the easiest thing in the world for Barack Obama. But it was necessary if he wanted to maintain a little breathing room over Clinton and avoid a convention fight. Now all he has to do is to be a little more human to the folks who fly coach.

Urinal Report Upstaged by Former TV Weatherman

In a recent post, we told you that popular WCCO-TV meteorologist Paul Douglas was let go by its parent company CBS in a cost-cutting move. Everyone was baffled by the silence coming from all parties, and concern was expressed for Douglas' welfare.

On the first night of sweeps Thursday, Douglas turned up on his first Twin Cities TV station --KARE (NBC) --to discuss his reaction to the ouster, and to tell the folks watching that he's doing just fine with his new business venture, and that he might pop up on another station in the near future. (You can find the interview on kare11.com)

At about the same time on Douglas' former station, anchor Don Shelby did an I-Team report on waterless urinals, and why they are banned in Minnesota. That's right, folks. Waterless urinals. It seems that the devices save an estimated 40 thousand gallons of water a year, and is available everywhere except here. Shelby wanted to know why.

It turns out, according to the report (available on wcco.com), that the plumbers' union raised concerns about the amount of jobs that might be lost due to waterless urinals, and also how inefficient they really are. A Legislator from St. Paul, who just happens to be a plumber, wrote a bill that became part of another bill that got passed.

Later in the newscast, Shelby got a little off base in his commentary segment, whining about how he claimed to have spent six months researching the story on waterless urinals, only to have his old colleague Douglas steal his thunder (and probably ratings) on another station. That's what we call competition, Don.

After Douglas' departure, people are speculating on who is the next big name to face the CBS chopping block. Some say it could be Shelby, whose contract is up in 2010. If that happens, WCCO's ratings will really go into the toilet.

One more thing: There's a big difference between watching video on KARE's web site and WCCO's. KARE has the only news broadcast locally in high definition, which might explain the clarity of the images. Watching WCCO's video is like watching a moving postage stamp.

TV's Morning Star In Evening News Twilight

Various forms of media are reporting that Katie Couric's days as anchor of the CBS Evening News are numbered, and she might be outta there possibly by early next year.

CBS, smarting from the National Guard debacle that ended with Dan Rather leaving, offered tons of money to Couric for the opportunity to change from a giggly morning show co-host into a Serious Newscaster introducing the day's headlines for 22 minutes a night. Oh, and make a little history, besides, as the first solo female evening news anchor (although the title should really go to Elizabeth Vargas of ABC, who had to go it alone when her World News co-anchor Bob Woodruff was severely injured covering the Iraq war).

After a disastrous beginning in September 2006, with celebrity interviews, Couric showing off her legs, and guest-star commentators trying to channel Eric Sevaried, the broadcast has actually improved with a more traditional format. Not that it mattered. In an age where you can get your news in ways other than watching TV, Couric's remaining viewers have fled to Charles Gibson on ABC and Brian Williams on NBC, sponsored mainly these days by pharmaceutical companies to let us know how old we're getting.

Another blow to Couric's viability came when a debate between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, which would have been televised by CBS, was called off by officials in North Carolina, where the next primary will be.

Couric isn't entirely to blame for the troubles at CBS News. Corporate cost-cutting and layoffs, its morning news program never a ratings factor, and a possible partnership with CNN have combined to make the House That Murrow and Cronkite Built start to crumble.

Here's what Couric should have done: Changed her name from Katie to Katharine, if she wanted to project a serious image. And forget this anchoring business. She should have been CBS' version of Barbara Walters, making her interview subjects cry on prime-time specials.

The lesson here is that the only place people want change is in their presidential candidates, not on the evening news. And that, as an old newscaster once put it, is the way it is.

The Race Goes On. And On.

A shocking development in the Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton defeated Barack Obama to get the majority of that state's delegates, keeping her in the race for the time being.

According to CNN.com, the senator from New York still trails the senator from Illinois in the national delegate count, 1719 to 1586. But that doesn't matter, as long as Clinton still thinks she has a shot. She does very well in the big-state primaries, not so much in the little states and the caucuses. It's the latter that's going to be put in play next.

Which means the next "crucial" primaries will be in two weeks, when North Carolina and Indiana voters weigh in. In reality, of course, it all comes down to the "superdelegates" to make sure this thing doesn't drag into the convention come August. And even there Obama has an edge.

Obviously, Clinton is counting on Obama to deliver more screwups such as the "bitter" comments and the Reverend Wright thing to ensure that it is she who should be on the podium that final night in Denver. Unless, of course, she (or her husband Bill) delivers a few herself.

The NBA: Where Stuff Happens

The National Basketball Association's playoffs have already begun, leaving behind some issues that came up during the regular season:

• The Boston Celtics, with the addition of Kevin Garnett, had the best record of the regular season at 66-16.
• The New Orleans Hornets, exiled for two seasons in Oklahoma City because of Hurricane Katrina, returned home to become this year's Cinderella story.
• The Houston Rockets had a near-record streak of consecutive victories, made all the more remarkable by the absence of Yao Ming.
• Kobe Bryant stopped whining about getting out of Los Angeles (where else was he gonna go?) once the Lakers traded for the Memphis Grizzlies' Pau Gasol, and the team started playing well enough to win the number one seed in the Western Conference.
• Shaquille O'Neil is back in the playoffs, but he had to be traded to the Phoenix Suns from the Miami Heat in order to do it.
• Things are finally looking up for the New York Knicks, now that Isiah Thomas no longer coaches the team.
• The NBA approved the move of the Seattle Supersonics to Oklahoma City, pending the resolution of lawsuits. The Sonics leave behind an angry city that has supported them for decades with an arena the new owner deemed inadequate. Unlike Seattle, Oklahoma City has nothing going for them besides proving to the league that they can handle a pro franchise, at least on a temporary basis. Let's see how they handle a team on a full-time basis.
• TV ratings on ABC, ESPN and TNT are up. But not in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where on three Sundays, KSTP replaced ABC's network telecasts with Minnesota Wild hockey games--and drew better numbers. It's not hard to see why. When the local franchise doesn't do well, interest in the NBA suffers.
• That local franchise, the Minnesota Timberwolves, stumbled to a 22-60 record in the first season of the post-Kevin Garnett era. On the court, it was Al Jefferson (who came here in the Garnett trade, but lacks his charisma) and a bunch of journeymen plying their trade before dwindling audiences at Target Center. They do have a shot at getting a good draft pick. But given the Wolves' brain trust and their past performances, there's no guarantee that they won't screw it up.
• Everybody seems to want a Lakers-Celtics NBA final, a throwback to the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson glory days of the 1980s. Hate to disappoint you, but we see a Detroit Pistons-San Antonio Spurs final.