Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Do You Know This Horse?

It's not Barbaro.

If you think the WWL has bombarded you with mentions of John Amaechi's autobiography (published, of course, by ESPN Books), you ain't seen nothing yet.

Today's WSJ (subsciption required) reports on ESPN's efforts to conquer one of the last sports markets it has not already overwhelmed. An editor at ESPN Books says they look for books that will work "for the magazine and for television," confirming (at least in my mind) that, without the marketing muscle of Bristol, many of these books would fail. Sure, the Sports Guy sold 80,000 copies' worth of column reprints, but how many of you remember Billy Bean?

In any event, the horse pictured above is "Ruffian," a racehorse from the 70's that was put down following a one on one sprint against the 1975 Kentucky Derby winner in which it broke a hind leg. Later this year, ESPN books is publishing a racing writer's memoir of his time covering the filly (forgive the pun), complete with an ESPN-produced TV movie to be broadcast on ABC television (and later on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNetc.). Think Man In The Middle crossed with "Hustle." They're hoping the offspring looks like Seabiscuit, but... well, maybe that is Barbaro after all.

3 comments:

Jock Jarrelson said...

Other ideas for ESPN books:

Think Before You Hug: The Harold Reynolds Story.

Picking Up Chicks With a Cell Phone And Only Half a Brain: The Uninspirational Memoir of Sean Salisbury.

Hyperbole, Histrionics, and Hairspray: A Day In The Life of Tony Reali Moderating The Blowhards on Around the Horn.

Jock

Anonymous said...

It wasn't her hind leg, it was her front leg. And it wasn't a little "sprint", as you called it, it was a match race. (:

Anonymous said...

right, it was a foreleg. and it was one of the greatest match races, not a little sprint. she was unrivaled, show some respect ;)