A few years ago I used to earn a coin working in golf. I got to know most of the journals and members of the golf writers association. Most of them were good blokes and all of them knew they had the best job in the world for a golf nut. Which all of them were.
But therein lay a dilemma. Because just like rock n roll writers who get too used to being backstage with Mick and Keef and the Hedge, so many of the golf writers were desperate not to miss out on their trip to the major tournaments where they could hobnob with the stars, inside the ropes as it were.
So what do you reckon they would do if, say they saw a top golfer behaving badly (heaven forbid) ? Well I'm sorry to say that some of them would turn a blind eye. Some would even immediately go into bat for the bloke to defend him. Few if any would publicise it.
I'm not eulogising about any one incident or player, just the trap that some journos get into when they brush with fame. And my point? Well it's exactly what we saw happen at Randwick last week. Within minutes of that incident (and let's be clear I think Singo was well within his rights to ark up, long overdue, but anyhow) certain racing spokespeople were tweeting about how how owners and trainers fall out all the time, or worse implying that Singo had a few beers under his belt. The worse I saw was a famous racing personality who said "look I know these people, there's nothing in it".
The implication that they knew the people and therefore we, the reader were a bit dumb in coming to our different conclusion was condescending enough, but even worse, they seem to have forgotten why their employer pays their wages. Last time I looked the job description said this "report on the news...find out all sides of the story and let the reader decide". Nothing about looking after your mates.
And as for the performance on Sunday morning..."no I didn't speak to him"..."oh yes, well its true I spoke to him but"...blah, blah, blah....
I do hope truth will out. But I know who won't be writing it when it does...shame on them.
This weekends racing sees two great bets.
Illo will win the Wagga Cup. Secessio has not gone to the worlds greatest race track for the shopping.
Very confident on both, bet up and then put half the winnings on that nutcase BOBAN.
Happy punting. Comments welcome...
