Oh Great. Jockey's join NASCAR greed-heads.

[Ripley]

From an article in my paper today:

Two days before the country's premier horse race, US District Judge John Heyburn II blocked a state ruling barring such corporate sponsorship. He sided with jockeys who argued that the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority's regulation violated First Amendment rights.

"Look what happened to NASCAR," said Sellers (a jockey)..."All of the sudden, NASCAR is one of the biggest sports. It's because of the endorsements."

So jockeys want to look like the sell-out NASCAR drivers? Frankly I'm disgusted with this. I hated it when Nike's swoosh showed up on NFL players uniforms. But NASCAR...how can you even tell what kind of a car is there under all those logos?

Sports stadiums being re-named in honor of the corporate Gods just so rich people can have more climate-controlled cushy box seats really bothered me. I'm not a horse-race fan, but where will this end?

Horses and players tattooed with Exxon and Tide?

[tonyraytx]

1. When you see the politician do it

But at least you know who side they on.

[rfranklin]

2. I'm selling space on my dick for ads...

Of course, the rate varies from moment to moment according to what state of arousal or detumescence it's in.

[alfredo]

4. How about Microsoft?

Har Har Har!!!!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. Me too

If IBM, for instance, buys it, the ad can read "IBM" at one moment and "International Business Machines" at, er, another.

[Tellurian]

3. link?

[alfredo]

5. Jockeys don't make a lot of money.

Their job is extremely dangerous, and they go through a lot of shit just to stay at the correct weight. Compared to other athletes, they are grossly underpaid.

I don't like the commercialism, but I do support the jockeys in their attempts at making enough to support their families.

I live in the middle of horse country, my sister in law works in the industry, and I see the jockeys that survive being thrown and trampled.

[No2W2004]

9. Right...they should watch "Jockey" on HBO

and then see if they can blame them for trying to make some extra cash.

Jockey gets hurt in a race...the "industry" just says "see ya!"

and the pay is a tiny bit above what the horse gets.

[alfredo]

17. Jockeys are a tough breed.

They are very underrated as athletes.

[Merrick]

6. here's the response I've always met with when making such complaints:

(not from anyone on this site)
"What are you talking about? Who cares? You should just lighten up."
But I agree with you - the gratuity of it all is obscene and diminishes the enjoyability of such things for those who are consciously aware - i.e. not the zombies such ads are meant to influence.
What bugs me more than the sports advertising is the pervasion of corporate plugs in movies/tv programs. For instance, try watching a Sopranos episode. There'll be extended dialogue with an Office Max store in the background such that its name takes up half the screen, the characters will be shown eating Mcdonalds, krispy kreme, etc. they insinuate names of corporations inconspicuosly into dialogue, ("If I'd known you weren't feeling well, I wouldn't have stopped for those ribs at Outback" NOBODY WOULD SAY "AT OUTBACK" THEY'D JUST LEAVE IT AT "RIBS"!) and so on. Another good example is the movie Minority Report - its supposed to be set 50 years into the future, but all the company logos, commercials and products that are inserted profusely throughout the movie are all from current day corporations. You'd think maybe there'd be some new ones by then! Yes, for the discerning mind there is no escape. Even our amusing little diversions are getting corrupted to become sources of irritation.

[jmowreader]

7. The best example is Total Recall

That film was packed with ads--they even had a Lockheed ad in there! (It was the one on the little TV on the train; they were selling space-flight vacations.)

[Ripley]

8. Interesting...I don't recall placements in Sopranos.

But then again that show is so bad this year, I don't pay much attention to anything in it.

Why should I "lighten up"? Don't Americans understand the massive assault on their brains by these ads? For example, look at the corrolation of ads allowed on TV for prescription drugs and the number of said drugs prescribed.

Duh.

Regardless of whether the drug (in real quickly worded language on TV) will cause your butt to leak, or liver to dissolve or lungs to clog...

Take this drug for your minor inconvenience of achy joints or springtime sneezing!!

[No2W2004]

18. Sorry,

My point was that insurance for the jockeys is expensive and hard to get. The horse racing industry does not provide as jockeys are considered kind of a "sub contractor". They get paid to ride the horse. Don't ride the horse, and you don't get paid.

If they can sell the space on their silks to make some extra money to get them through the season, why not? Just about everyone else makes money from running the Kentucky Derby, why not the jockeys?

[AP]

10. Let the jockeys make some money. They're labor. Don't democrats

side with labor.

Furthermore, these guys aren't exactly coming out of the uper classes.

And they work ward and risk their lives.

They should be entitled to make the money.

[Ripley]

12. Wow, it's weird how people take my post...

I'm not against jockeys being paid a decent salary and getting insurance for their job-related injuries!

How does being in sports "entitle" one to make millions and corporate endorsements are the answer?

Should high school children also wear corporate logos on their jerseys? After all, the Universities and big leagues are scouting them for the Big Time.

Siding with Labor does not mean siding with Corporate take over. Do you also believe poor public schools should rely on Taco Bell and Coke money by placing their products as lunch and snack food as a remedy for their lack of funds for books?

[AP]

14. You go to school and it's expressly NOT about commercialization.

You go to a track or a movie or watch TV and you think it ISN'T about money?

Right.

I'm shocked, SHOCKED that there's commercialization of this commercial activity!

I just don't know how people get so worked up about the idea that they these chinese walls are so important. It's like movies. You spend $18 on tickets, $12 on food, some major entertainment business gets a lot of that money, and people get worked up about having to sit through some commercials which are trying to generate some money for the theater owners. So what. I didn't go to the movie thinking I was going to a public park, library, school, courtroom, or city council meeting. I went there to engage in consumerism. And then I say, whoa there nelly, there's only SO MUCH consumerism I can accept. Give my a break.

It's ALL about money, and it's also about who makes the money. As someone pointed out above, the horses are better paid than the jockeys. Let the jockeys get a cut.

By the way, the obvious distinction is that the GOVERNMENT should be in the business of endorsing products are giving a leg up to any one company over another. But a jockey and a race track isn't a public endeavor. It's private, for profit, all about money.

[Ripley]

13. And another thing.

Furthermore, these guys aren't exactly coming out of the uper classes.

Where exactly do you think basketball players and football players come from?

Who said anyone wasn't "entitled to make money?"

Are corporate placements your answer to all groups of Americans who work hard and risk their lives? Should firefighters wear logos of Merck and AOL/Time Warner so that they can afford their safety gear?

[AP]

15. I think more commercialization of commercial activities would probably

help people realize that it's all about money.

And you're still confused about the distinction between the public and private sector.

I don't think any government activity should sell space to advertisers.

But I really don't care if the private sector does. And you know why they don't let football players sell space on their helmets? It's not because of morals and ethics. It's because the league isn't trying to project an image FOR COMMERICAL REASONS, and because the league want's to control what gets advertised FOR COMMERCIAL REASONS.

Get it?

[Elwood P Dowd]

11. Each jockey makes $56.00 unless they finish in the top 3.

At least that's what I was told by someone who's into horse racing.

[annagull]

19. Any one know what time the race starts btw? nt