Dear Jason, Here is the relevant paragraph from 'Metrication in Australia' by Kevin J Wilks:
'Because of its expected impact on the ordinary citizen, conversion of sporting activities was seen as an important factor in the subconscious education of the public in metric units. For this reason horse racing, a highly traditional sport, was converted, with the support and cooperation of media commentators, in August 1972'. Cheers, Pat Naughtin LCAMS Geelong, Australia Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by sending an email containing the words subscribe Metrication matters to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- on 2004-06-06 16.29, Jason Darfus at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Did anyone here in the U.S. (or elsewhere) watch the Belmont Stakes to see if > Smarty Jones could cinch the Triple Crown? I've never watched horse racing > before but I thought it would be interesting just this once. Anyway, I found > myself laughing out loud but at the same time wanting to yell at the sports > casters. Horse racing must be the last bastion of practice for 100% pure > imperial measurement. So, the track is 6 furlongs and that horse is 17 hands > tall? Hmmm... come again? What the heck does that mean? Under what > circumstances does one decide to measure using their hands instead of their > feet? They still gave the horse's weight in pounds so I'm surprised they > didn't use stones. > I'm sure it's just tradition that these measurements are still used but it > just struck me as funny because I've never heard anyone describe something > using 'hands' and 'furlongs'. > > jdd >
