harnessracing.com

Good morning. Carol Hodes for Harnesslink has a great feature piece about John Campbell as he nears 10,000 wins in his sterling career. My favorite part? Here it is:

"Since then, Campbell, who turned 53 in April, has risen to a preeminent role in the harness racing community not only for his horsemanship but also for his leadership. However, any efforts to draft Campbell to be harness racing's commissioner or czar, to right the wrongs of the industry, might as well be abandoned.

'It's impossible to get anything done because of all the bureaucracies involved,' he said. 'It�s unfortunate, but it�s just the fact of life. With all the different state entities involved, government entities, they�re never going to relinquish control. A commissioner is unrealistic. The supposition of it is a moot point, in my opinion.

'With all the different organizations and commissions we have, we couldn�t even agree on where to have the meeting let alone what we would do at the meeting,' he mused. 'We should have universal rules throughout North America. But we can�t get the basics done.'"

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Paul Siegel said...

Carol, just because it's who John Campbell recommended an equipment rule change doesn't automatically make it a valid recommendation.

In the USTA District 12 (New Jersey) meeting, we voted against the proposal based on the advice of two of our district directors, Jeff Gregory, a full time catch driver, and Jacquie Ingrassia, a driver-trainer. They advised us that the proposal would not have a significant impact on safety, and would also be costly, as the manufacturer and patent holder had been uncooperative about licensing the product to other manufacturers.

So, as you can see, other drivers had a different opinion.

posted at 8:49 AM on Jul 2nd 2008

Trotter Bob said...

As a fan, I have respected John Campbell's on track abilities since watching him as a teenage driver at Windsor Raceway. With everything he has done for the sport since, and the respect he has gained within the racing industry, I'm not about to question his pessimism. He's on the inside.

Accepting that racing's leaders can't (or won't) become part of the solutions rather than perpetuate the problems, it seems logical that federal lawmakers or judges will step in. I'm not sure which is worse, "help" from the government or inaction by the industry.

posted at 10:32 PM on Jul 1st 2008

Murray Brown said...

If Carol Hodes was referring to the rule change suggestion that John Campbell made to the USTA, then in fact it was discussed, considered and voted down by at least two committees of directors at the annual USTA meeting - at least one of them was the drivers' committee. To be truthful I do not remember the actual suggested change, but I do remember it being discussed and the fact that there was not much support for it by the directors..

posted at 7:59 PM on Jul 1st 2008

Bill Mulligan said...

If baseball and football can do it ; it can be done in racing.. Where there is a will there is a way. The threat of extinction will eventually create the will.

posted at 5:24 PM on Jul 1st 2008

CarolNJ said...

In all fairness to John, it isn't that he hasn't tried to be a racing activist at times. He has participated on various boards, committees and panels. But I think he has reached the point of frustration. He asked me not to get into it, but he cited a recent situation where he tried to get an equipment rule change that would have added to driver safety. The powers that be didn't vote it down -- they wouldn't even consider it.

From Andrew: Thanks Carol. And great work on the interview.

posted at 4:45 PM on Jul 1st 2008

Allan said...

Here is my predicition of what is going to happen....

First the harness, t-bred and greyhound industries (yes the dogs get lumped in with us) will do nothing with regards to setting up a comissioner or national rules.

The Federal government is going to establish it's own agency to regulate racing which will promulgate standards by which racing will be conducted. State commissions will survive, but if they don't adopt the federal standards, the tracks they regulate will no longer be able to simulcast to/from other jurisdictions. First area they will address is drugs; second area will be whipping (animal welfare). Of course, there will be some type of assesment (tax) on the gross handle to fund this government agency.

The ironic part of this is if the pari-mutuel industry (harness, flats and dogs) refuses to put their house in order, it may be the best thing to happen.

posted at 11:34 AM on Jul 1st 2008

Tim Konkle said...

I understand John making the comment that he made. I think most reasonable horsemen would love to have a uniform set of rules for everyone to go by and I love that there is dialog about that and other things within our sport BUT is it a battle that can be won? I feel certain that people who govern harness racing in each state CAN get on the same page but I'm equally uncertain that they WILL. Too many egos will get in the way. Too many concessions will have to be made. Let's put the exectutive directors of each states race commissions on a board but put a horseman in charge of them so they don't get lost in the bureaucracy of the task at hand. Let's borrow that slogan from NIke: Just Do It

posted at 11:20 AM on Jul 1st 2008

Paul Siegel said...

While we all understand why JC made the statement, it's unfortunate he did.

One of our biggest problems is the so-called industry leaders continually expressing that sentiment rather than working hard to overcome that obstacle. Throwing up your hands in frustration never got anything done.

While Campbell is obviously one of the all-time greats of the sport, and has generally been an excellent spokesperson, readily making himself available to the media, this isn't the first time he's taken an "it's not my job" type of position. A number of years ago, several of the leading drivers at the Meadowlands, including Campbell, were interviewed for an article in Hoof Beats. One of the questions asked was why the Meadowlands drivers never lodge an objection, while jockeys commonly do. John gave the "it's not my job, it's the judges' job" answer. This type of attitude just reinforces the opinion of many bettors that drivers have a far too cozy relationship.

posted at 9:51 AM on Jul 1st 2008

JC Speaks on Uniformity: "We Can't Get the Basics Done"

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