Friday Hound Blogging

Frequent reader(s) of this blog know the one certainty you can count on in this life is the advance and eventual triumph of entropy...erm...we mean know that we've been monitoring the decoupling situation in Florida which, because it contains 13 of the 22 remaining greyhound racing tracks in the country is like Mordor for the overlords, which we guess would make people like Carey Theil and Christine Dorchak hobbits which probably carries this little analogy a step or two farther than it should have gone.

 Well, the point is things are not looking good for the overlords.

"We need to remove these mandates,'' Rep. Dana Young said. "We need to stop propping up the greyhound-racing industry.''

Well, "propping up" is a pretty strong term, don't you think? 

Even at Derby Lane in Pinellas County, were people do turn out for the greyhounds, Derby Lane spokeswoman Vera Rasnake said some days are better than others. "It could be storming outside, it could be really, really something out of the ordinary, we'd still be forced to run the dogs in order to open the poker room," she said. Plus, the races cost both the card rooms and taxpayers quite a bit of money, as the tracks rely on nearly $5 million a year from the state.

 Oh sure it sounds bad when you say it like that, but look at all the state is getting for that $5 million.

"When you start thinking about the fact that you've got these animals running around the track, day in and day out, in the heat of the day, that many times, and you've got no one watching, it doesn't make any sense," said Rep. Dana Young, R-Tampa, referring specifically to the Bonita Springs track.

Um...well we were looking for something a little more upbeat there. You know, excitement, thrills, exhilaration, stuff like that. Of course if no one is watching it does kind of cut down on the whole we should keep doing this thing. What do you say Jack Cory, a spokesman for the Florida Greyhound Association?

If pari-mutuels were to stop racing altogether, Cory estimates $5 million in state revenue would be lost.

OK, we're not mathematicians or anything, but if you figure the state is giving you $5 million to stay in business, and you're giving them back $5 million in revenue that's like...ah...47...carry the 2...divide...yeah, that's like a wash, right Billy Bob?

 Billy Bob is a three year old who, as near as we can tell, never raced. He was born in West Virginia or Alabama or someplace down there. The overlords aren't really particular about records and such if the unit isn't profitable. For more information about these dogs, and other rescued racing greyhounds looking for homes, go here. If you don't know about the plight of racing greyhounds go here.