Please Just Die Already
I have officially put out a bounty for the head of Barbaro. $100 and a pat on the back. I am sick of this horse, and I want him to die.
I have to be honest though, and admit that (for the most part) none of this is Barbaro's fault. It's not his fault that his health is being more closely monitored than Pope John Paul's was during his final days. It's not Barbaro's fault that more money is being spent on his "recovery" than is probably being spent on most cancer patients. It's not Barbaro's fault that ESPN was desperate for something to take the place of STERIODS MANIA! as the ongoing saga the sports world apparently needs. All this being said, it IS Barbaro's fault that he broke his leg. He's an idiot, and were he a wild horse living in nature, he would have paid for his inability to run properly with his life.
Think about it. It's the very base of the entire "survival of the fittest" concept. A horse that shatters it's leg is not supposed to survive. A bird that breaks its wing is not meant to live. Hell, a human whose heart stops beating is probably supposed to stay dead.
I'm not saying that I think we should start stomping on nest-fallen birdies when we see them in our yards, nor that Barbaro should be instantly sent off to the glue factory. I'm certainly not saying that doctors shouldn't do everything in their power to save a life.
What I am saying, is that maybe we are taking this whole thing just a little bit to far.
Barbaro is a GODDAMNED HORSE! For crying out loud, if he were on a farm somewhere and this happened, Old Joe wouldn't have hesitated for a minute as he walked into the kitchen to get the shotgun. It's just the way things go. When Old Yellar got rabies, they didn't ship him off to Betsy Ford Medical Center and run a 24h-hour-a-day "Yellar Watch!". They just shot the damn dog. If Barbaro had not won the Kentucky Derby, he would not still be alive. If he had not won his owners millions and millions of dollars, he would be in horsie heaven right now, up with Mr. Ed, The Black Stallion, and that donkey from Animal Farm.
This whole thing is just a perfect example of how athletes get treated better than the rest of the world. If Barbaro is your next door neighbor, no one cares - but since he is horsie-royalty, he becomes the beating heart of America.
I can't talk about this anymore. I hate Barbaro. I will be happy when he dies - oh, and trust me, he will die. Just give it a little time.