Some of you may have missed Jim Quinn\'s open letter in the form Sat about this new panel, which is soliciting questions & opinions. Bios of the members, almost all of whom are serious players indeed, appear on the site: www.ntra.com/playerspanel. I already sent Quinn an email asking why no sheets\' reps (from either camp) were included on the panel. If there are issues you want to address, this offers an excellent opportunity for doing so.
According to his response, Quinn intends to solicit sheets\' reps for their perspectives on the problems they & their customers have experienced. Also, in addition to considering the comments coming in now, the Panel will in a few mos. be putting position papers online for review & suggestions.
What if you were to represent a group of us with your submitted proposals?
Maybe we can be heard a little better if we are represented by numbers not just individually.
I will provide a signature.
Maybe you don\'t want to fool with it. Which I can also understand.
Actually, I think that numerous individual emails in favor of a position would probably have more impact than one from an individual representing a group. Also, Brown & Friedman will presumably offer the kinds of comments which apply to many of their customers.
Let me open with an apology to TGJB for using HIS Board and HIS Business to suggest, you Mall, be the leader of some type of coalition. Particularly while he is away on vacation. I just hope he had a good day yesterday at Royal Ascot. My intentions were good if that got misinterpreted in some way.
Mall you wrote,
\"numerous individual emails in favor of a position\"
What is that position is my question?
When I read the NTRA Board they didn\'t say anything about Drugs, is that an issue to discuss or not?
For me, typing something that only has to be reasonably coherent and putting it on a BB, under an alias, is entirely different than a proposal where I will put my \"real name\" on it. That means time and effort, both of which I\'m willing to sacrafice.
I will leave this where it is now until TGJB returns and see if he would be willing to provide some guidance.
After all, I have said many times before that Sheet Players as a group control the tote, maybe it would be a good idea if these people LISTENED TO US !!
The NTRA\'s Players Panel needs to address three things:
1. Drugs-the ones they give horses, not the ones that humans use.
2. Declining field size and quality due to over-racing. (remember, according to Richie Eng\'s article a few weeks ago, three new casinos have opened in Las Vegas this year and none of them have a racebook in them!)
3. Reducing takeout and reforming the tax code as it applies to gambling winnings. -Gamblers are treated worse under the current tax laws than gangsters and drug traffickers and no one seems to give a damn!
If they do and are able to motivate any meaningful change, then they will have served the community of players well. If they don\'t or aren\'t able to motivate change then nothing else matters.
I have expressed my concerns to this group and Jim Quinn has personally assured me that these issues will be squarely on the agenda of the Panel. I\'ll wait and see....