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Kentucky Derby Telecast:
NBC Got It Right This Time
By STAN ISAACS
of TheColumnists.com
The drama of the Kentucky Derby on the racetrack lay with Big Brown’s smashing victory and the tragedy of the filly, Eight Belles, collapsing after the race and being euthanized on the track. There was also the behind-the-scenes drama of what was going on in the NBC production truck.
NBC suddenly was confronted with a triumph and tragedy story. The decision on how to handle the matter fell on producer Sam Flood. When Flood first got word about Eight Belles in the midst of the exultation for Big Brown, the first thought that went through his head, he said, was Barbaro, the fallen hero at the 2006 Preakness.
Flood worked that race, and there was another race that undoubtedly influenced how NBC went about the matter of covering Eight Belles. That was the Nascar race at Darlington, South Carolina in 2001 when it appeared that racer Steve Park may have died from a crash.
Though early word was that Park might not make it, Flood held back on making that announcement. It turned out that Park survived and Flood recalls that “if we’d jumped the gun, we’d have told his parents a lie and caused some unneeded suffering.”
So NBC was cautious in handling the tragic scene of Eight Belles lying on the track where she collapsed a good distance after crossing the finish line second to Big Brown. The public was shown 19 seconds of Eight Belles on the ground, but that was all. They had more shocking shots of the horse at the time, but Flood wouldn’t show them.
When I saw Eight Belles on the ground, my thoughts immediately went back to the time Washington quarterback Joe Theismann suffered a grotesque broken foot in a game in 1985. ABC showed replay after replay of the happening and drew much criticism for its insensitivity.
Flood said, “Theismann’s injury occurred at 10:30 at night before an essentially adult audience. This was happening at 6:30 p.m. This is family viewing time. Kids were watching. I had to think about the effect of staying on Eight Belles would have on, say, little girls who love horses so much.”
NBC reported that it got e-mails from parents who applauded it for not lingering on the sad scene of the fallen filly.
Flood got word of Eight Belles' situation in the midst of announcers Tom Hammond and Gary Stevens talking about Big Brown. He did not rush off that interview to cover Eight Belles. “There is a tendency in the business sometimes,” Flood said, “to get it first. I believe it is more important to get it right. We learned that from some of the inaccurate election coverage.”
I agree. Sensitivity triumphed here. Viewers
don’t have the get-it-first mentality that too often soils
journalistic enterprises. We learned soon enough what happened
to Eight Belles. It wasn’t as if NBC had competition from
another network to get the story first.
There was a tender balance for NBC in the immediate aftermath
of the tragedy. While many expressed sorrow for the fallen filly
and its people, there was the uncomfortable moment of the screen
showing winning trainer Rick Dutrow exulting about his horse
while Hammond was talking about the tragedy. There was also the
embarrassment of the usual overblown Rotarian speeches in the
winner’s circle while the death of Eight Belles hung in
the air.
A sidelight to the aftermath was the extraordinary
description of the race over the replay by winning jockey Kent
Desormeaux. This is the way Desormeaux talked over the pictures
of Big Brown making his Run for the Roses:
“Well, I’ll tell you. He broke listening to the crowd.
He was attentive to the cheers. He knew something was happening.
He took a light hold through here. And I swear and I think in
about 50 yards you are going to see me and my head is on the
swivel. I’m trying to figure out where I want to tuck in.
But this colt starts moving that left ear. It’s like let’s
follow this guy. He’s a real intelligent horse, a pleasure
to ride.
“[The exercise rider] Michelle’s done a great job with
him. He’s right in my hands and right through here he’s
stopped pulling. He’s just getting to a very comfortable
cruisin’ canter and he stayed in that form, in that canter
probably all the way to the half-mile pole. Right about here
we’re turning down the backside.
“He gave me a nice lead change. In other words if it were
a golf swing, he’s going through the basics right now. I’ve
got my hands in the right place and I’m taking it all the
way back, talking it up and just giving me a nice ride. Now as
we got to here, I’ll explain it to the fans like being Tom
Cruise in 'Top Gun.' This colt has got his ear on the target.
I’m locked on now…and all I got to do is pull the trigger.
“Right about here you see my hands, I’m asking him now. I ask him to reel this guy in on front of me. I gave him a light scrape on his ear there and he took off. That’s okay now. I’m happy. Let’s continue with this cantering here. Actually I let him get a breather. I spank him here. Look at him now. He’s just all within himself. He’s not straining, yet, and he’s not throwing the gauntlet yet for the wire.”
(At this point, announcer Mike Battaglia interjected, “The rest of them, you can forget it here.”)
Desormeaux continued: “And then right here I asked for him to give me his best stride and he just started stretching his legs. He actually didn’t stretch ‘em. He just started adding power to the stride that he had, and he’s got some power.”
A golf swing and Tom Cruise all packed into a two-minute replay. It was a description worthy of his ride.
©2008 by Stan Isaacs. The Stan Isaacs caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. The photo of Eight Belles is courtesy of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. This column first posted May 12, 2008.
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