The Paulick Report staff recently gathered virtually for our annual planning meeting – a day-long brainstorming session about new content and website improvements that usually leaves each of us feeling like we're a bit more storm than brain by the end. The cleverest minds in business say there are no bad ideas, but there certainly are ideas that merit eventual rejection.
This year, for the first time, we are giving our readers a look at some of the rejected ideas for new series, along with the group consensus for turning down those ideas
(And yes, this is satire. We need to point this out at the get-go. See Idea 5.)
The Cricket Report: A monthly series reminding readers about all the court and commission cases that are open, but silent. Rejected because: Frankly, between the slew of old drug positives without rulings issued by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, the boatload of civil lawsuits involving Zayat Stables, more than two dozen federal defendants, and lots, lots more, we can't keep straight who did what, when, where, and whether they're on their first round of adjudication or appeal.
They'll Really License Anybody, Won't They?: A series of profiles on racing's repeat offenders, usually trainers who were suspended for a period of time and have now returned, or who were run out of a series of racetracks but welcomed by others. Inspiration drawn from the many, many emails we still get asking about our pal Marcus Vitali, who, yes, we're aware is saddling horses at Turf Paradise for a second winter season. Rejected because: 1) It's unfair to focus on trainers when there are plenty of repeat violations by jockeys; we just can't trace riders as well because in this, the year of our Lord 2022, there is still no centralized national database for rider infractions; and 2) The subjects might sue us.
Getting To Know Top Achievers: Profiles of the weekend's Grade 1-winning connections you've never met before, in their most triumphant of moments. Rejected because: You've met them all. Years ago now. Also, we'd eventually be running back-to-back accounts detailing Brad Cox's childhood spent in the shadow of the Twin Spires … again.
Armchair Jockey: We make readers who email us to complain about jockey rides hack my OTTB around at a trot for 10 minutes. Rejected because: 1) We can't be liable for any kind of physical damage that may (/will) befall horseplayers after 30 seconds of jogging a horse; and 2) It would be a skewed representation of your typical horseplayer – we only seem to get jockey complaints from bettors who have lost money on the race.
Sarcasm From Ray: Ray writes out his original and biting takes on the day's news to inject a bit of humor into the Paulick Report. Rejected because: We still get emails/tweets from people who did not realize that his column on drug testing in New York was intended as sarcasm. No joke – lots and lots of people missed what we thought was pretty obvious there.
New Website Widget Idea: A counter that lists the number of days since a source without any direct knowledge of the situation told us with great authority that another round of arrests and federal indictments were “imminent.” Rejected because: It'd be stuck at 0.
Well, I Guess We're Doing Ok Then: A monthly pair of screenshots showing Facebook comments which accuse us of two opposite kinds of journalistic bias. Inspired by (though certainly not limited to) our having been informed during the same week that our staff were both the biggest Baffert fan club and showed irrational hatred of him because we published news items covering important developments in his ongoing civil lawsuits. Rejected because: Holy crap, are we tired of having to write about Bob.
The Sponsor Spotlight: A weekly video series where we beg for advertising dollars from people and companies the Paulick Report is accused of being in the bag for. Rejected because: Lack of funding.
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