A few gems in here. Full interview at the link at the bottom.
Gambling does not drive the industry.
AND
The thing that makes the National Football League so strong is they lock all the owners in a room and they argue and fight, but when they come out, they’re unanimous in what they’re going to do that’s best for the league. That’s exactly what we need to do.
https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/articles/d-wayne-lukas-why-racing-should-be-run-same-way-nfl/
Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Watching the \'96 Derby again wasn\'t easy but it reminds me to ask the question to this board.
Is Chris McCarron the greatest Classic distance rider of all time?
Good Luck,
Joe B.
I\'ll bite and say no; there are too many great jockeys to pronounce McCarron the best. I just watched 3 races, 2 classic distances: the Breeders Cup Classic with Sunday Silence and a great ride by McCarron, no doubt. The only things better, the horses performance and the race call by Tom Durkin. I also watched the 1976 Derby (a great ride by Angel Cordero; another one in the Belmont) and though I always couldn\'t stand Chic Anderson (he called Bold Forbes Belmont), I look back now with fond memories of Chic being unable to get the screeching of Larry Colmus out of my head after most races. Sorry to Chic fans; didn\'t appreciate him enough (actually at all!) and honestly didn\'t remember that he\'d passed away almost 40 years ago at 47 (heart attack), replaced by another I\'d gladly take now over LC, Marshall Cassidy.
So in answer to your question, an unrelated question for anyone wanting to comment, related to announcers: Anyone better than Durkin, or worse than Colmus?
Sorry for my provincialism, but Phil Georgeff (Chicago tracks) was a great one. He was fired by Madison Square Garden (who had just bought Arlington Park) for \"calling race 1 with as much emotion as the feature race 9.\"
skitimber Wrote:
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> So in answer to your question, an unrelated
> question for anyone wanting to comment, related to
> announcers: Anyone better than Durkin, or worse
> than Colmus?
At his best Denman was fantastic on a day to day basis. I liked Durkin better for the biggest races. He ramped up the excitement and anticipation like no other.
Collmus should have been replaced after butchering one of the greatest races in BC history, the Songbird vs Beholder Distaff from a few years ago. Stuttered and stammered at the 1/8 pole, he didn\'t know what the hell to say. Inexcusable. Wrona with the on track call nailed it, as usual.
Collmus also gives us some of he corniest calls ever. The sht he comes up with is bad.
I think Travis Stone is fantastic, and the young kid at GGF Matt Dinerman is really good. He will be going places.
What is amazing is that Chic had two calls that will live forever:
\"Secretariat is widening now. He is moving like a tremendous machine.â€
\"Affirmed\'s got a nose in front as they come on to the wire.\" His call of the 1978 Belmont stretch run was flawless.
Day to day I wasn\'t a big fan but the guy stepped up when the lights got bright.
what About Vic Staufer, for pure love and excitement no one was better
philywheel
Vic is probably not done, but he already has two that are first ballot HOF stuff-- the earthquake call, and the last one at Hollywood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5vgNxKMML4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlXiwR7893M
Thanks to all who answered the \"call.\" The above two reminded me of a Tom Durkin in the fog call as another with more things going on than the race. Sure there are many others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCMKmAI479E
thought Durkin was terrific. I never had a fascination with the West Coast guys for no apparent reason...I\'m surprised Fairmount has not chimed in with a list of those who started at his home track, including the very excellent Dave Johnson...
STL is simply blessed with great announcers, not sure why. KMOX I guess, right Bob Costas? Jack Buck? Harry Caray? A zillion others...
BTW - Durkin\'s 10 greatest are still up on the web from DRF I think...in any case I saved it and still watch occasionally. Cigar - being my all time fav - is classic call winning, of course, The Classic.
shanahan Wrote:
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> thought Durkin was terrific. I never had a
> fascination with the West Coast guys for no
> apparent reason...I\'m surprised Fairmount has not
> chimed in with a list of those who started at his
> home track, including the very excellent Dave
> Johnson...
>
> STL is simply blessed with great announcers, not
> sure why. KMOX I guess, right Bob Costas? Jack
> Buck? Harry Caray? A zillion others...
>
> BTW - Durkin\'s 10 greatest are still up on the web
> from DRF I think...in any case I saved it and
> still watch occasionally. Cigar - being my all
> time fav - is classic call winning, of course, The
> Classic.
I\'m sure everyone thinks their local announcers are a bit better than others, no matter the sport.
Few did it any better than Bill King, who was great at NBA/NFL/MLB. No idea why the man had to pass away before finally being enshrined in the HOF. He was far better than many inducted years before him.
Those Stauffer races were great JB, and listening to him exhort Zenyatta home had me cracking up. I thought the final Hollywood Park race call was fantastic.
Durkin had so many epic BC calls, I don\'t know how anyone could narrow it to 10. His Tiznow calls some of the best ever, and the ill fated Bayakoa/Go For Wand race had some incredible lines.
The Greatness of Durkin and Denman is amplified after listening to that hack Collmus scream and stutter thru epic stretch runs. I\'ll start a Go Fund Me if it helps get him replaced.
When Collmus is calling the horse I bet in front, it\'s a great call. When he\'s calling a different horse, he sucks.
Guys like Durkin and Denman had extensive careers and got several opportunities for memorable calls, but my favorite of all time is definitely Luke Krytbosch who died suddenly of a heart attack in his 40s just a few years after assuming the Churchill Downs job. A real shame because he definitely would have had a hall of fame career as well.
It is beyond me as well as to how Larry Collmus has one of the most prestigious race calling jobs in the industry. EVERY comment I see posted about him on social media is negative and it\'s incredible how numb to reality NYRA officials are. Sure, the guy could have a job at Sam Houston Park or whatever and not saying he doesn\'t belong in the industry, but he detracts from the experience at the major tracks.
toppled Wrote:
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> When Collmus is calling the horse I bet in front,
> it\'s a great call. When he\'s calling a different
> horse, he sucks.
You must bet a lot of losers, he sucks most of the time.
My favorite track announcer of all time was Gordon Wood, the voice of Gulf Greyhound Park in Texas. He moonlighted as a ring announcer on Thursday night fights on USA Network. Gordon also died in his 40\'s, he succumbed to a brain tumor in 1994.
skitimber Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I\'ll bite and say no; there are too many great
> jockeys to pronounce McCarron the best. I just
> watched 3 races, 2 classic distances: the Breeders
> Cup Classic with Sunday Silence and a great ride
> by McCarron, no doubt. The only things better,
> the horses performance and the race call by Tom
> Durkin. I also watched the 1976 Derby (a great
> ride by Angel Cordero; another one in the Belmont)
> and though I always couldn\'t stand Chic Anderson
> (he called Bold Forbes Belmont), I look back now
> with fond memories of Chic being unable to get the
> screeching of Larry Colmus out of my head after
> most races. Sorry to Chic fans; didn\'t appreciate
> him enough (actually at all!) and honestly didn\'t
> remember that he\'d passed away almost 40 years ago
> at 47 (heart attack), replaced by another I\'d
> gladly take now over LC, Marshall Cassidy.
>
>
Prejudiced in favor of Anderson, in large part because he was my key drinking buddy when I was calling charts for DRF in Kentucky (except for the Derby) in the spring of \'76. The professional press-box support crew at that time was was beyond-first rate, and that season was one of the great sustained in-game experiences. Every night, an event.
enpe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry for my provincialism, but Phil Georgeff
> (Chicago tracks) was a great one. He was fired by
> Madison Square Garden (who had just bought
> Arlington Park) for \"calling race 1 with as much
> emotion as the feature race 9.\"
Grew up listening to Phil, so I\'m also prejudiced in his favor. An ego? You bet, but retired too soon, and he had to live his life.