ONE YEAR AGO TODAY 12/22/13

[v j stauffer]

Hollywood Park closed after 75 years of operation.

So very very SAD. :confused:

[Stillriledup]

Hollywood is missed and so is your voice, its just not the same without the lakes and flowers.

[Stillriledup]

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[Stillriledup]

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Unforgettable moments from Hollywood Park, Bring em home Vic!

[Stillriledup]

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More memorable races from Hollywood. Vic's greatest racecall! :D

They can steal the track, and bulldoze the grounds, but they can't take the memories away.

[Augenj]

My memories go back to the early 70's with Harry Hensen and his gravely voice. "The flag is up". :)

[RacingFan1992]

"And there they go!."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVOEIBIA80Q

[gheuks]

So what exactly if anything is going on with the property? Any demolition yet?

[v j stauffer]

So what exactly if anything is going on with the property? Any demolition yet?

I have ZERO idea. Don't want to know. I've flown into LAX a couple of times and didn't have the heart to even look when we flew over.

[HPFridays]

There's a recent video via drone up on Youtube. Looks like the grandstand is still intact and but the infield is pretty much dirt. Cushion track is still looking good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1t-20Z0hxg

[Fingal]

But there are plenty of signs saying the casino is still open for business.

As someone said on Facebook, for us it was the day the music died.

[delayjf]

I was there, went to pay my final respects - has it really been a year?

[Dark Horse]

In the words of Chief Seattle:

"How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man -- all belong to the same family.

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. he will be our father and we will be his children.

So we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us. This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father's grave behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care. His father's grave, and his children's birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.

I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of a red man. There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in sprint or the rustle of the insect's wings. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the winds darting over the face of a pond and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with pinon pine.

The air is precious to the red man for all things share the same breath, the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days he is numb to the stench. But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children that we have taught our children that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. All things are connected. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know which the white man may one day discover: our God is the same God.

You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land; but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and for the white. This earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator. The whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

But in your perishing you will shine brightly fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.

That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tame, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.

Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone.

The end of living and the beginning of survival."

[Cholly]

Thanks to Dark Horse for posting those words of Chief Seattle.

[Stillriledup]

Funny and ironic that the "Red man" is the reason for the demise of that place, being greedy with their alternative gaming, there's a reason that there are no slots and games in So Cal at the tracks, and it isn't because the "white man" didn't try.

Red man watch white man sell and resell Inglewood blot of land while laughing all the way to the bank.

[gheuks]

Apparently, the owner of the St Louis Rams wants to build an NFL stadium at the Hollywood Park property....

[Exotic1]

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/89438/nfl-stadium-planned-for-hollywood-park-site?source=rss

[elhelmete]

I drove by Hollywood two weeks ago after dropping my family off at LAX.

Depressing as hell.

The track is all torn up (turf and AWS) and it looks like nothing more than a construction site with piles of refuse and material everywhere. However, the grandstand/clubhouse look pretty much untouched. Even the silks artwork panels on the building overlooking the paddock are still up. All the barns appear to be long gone.

[Stillriledup]

I drove by Hollywood two weeks ago after dropping my family off at LAX.

Depressing as hell.

The track is all torn up (turf and AWS) and it looks like nothing more than a construction site with piles of refuse and material everywhere. However, the grandstand/clubhouse look pretty much untouched. Even the silks artwork panels on the building overlooking the paddock are still up. All the barns appear to be long gone.

You went inside the track and looked around?

[elhelmete]

You went inside the track and looked around?

No, snooped around the fences, plenty of gaps to look through.

[EMD4ME]

Apparently, the owner of the St Louis Rams wants to build an NFL stadium at the Hollywood Park property....

So, was this planned from last year??? The owner of the rams owns property adjacent to the track.

If yes, disgusting. Reminds me in a way of how they tore down Roosevelt .

[davew]

So, was this planned from last year??? The owner of the rams owns property adjacent to the track.

If yes, disgusting. Reminds me in a way of how they tore down Roosevelt .


You have to wonder if it has been a plan to move the St Louis team for a few years, or just an 'if we build it they will come' plan to get an expansion team.

[clemkadiddle]

Hollywood Park closed after 75 years of operation.

So very very SAD. :confused:

I remember you Vic from the old DRC days...it now is a Costco and a Meijer Supermarket...

I agree about Hollywood...so much history...GONE... The big stars, the glitz, the glamour...and the great horses, trainers, and jockeys...

Shame about Hialeah...but at least they're running quarterhorses...I wish they would let Calder run the quarterhorses and bring back the thoroughbreds to Hialeah...

[dnlgfnk]

You have to wonder if it has been a plan to move the St Louis team for a few years, or just an 'if we build it they will come' plan to get an expansion team.

Maybe Kroenke has been planning for a few years. He is a virtual no-show to STL media and won't meet with STL planners serious about keeping the Rams. The NFL has avoided LA for a few reasons. Who will build the stadium, who will pay for it, what franchise will occupy it, and can it all come together?

Kroenke & Stockbridge Capital Group now make this very possible. The NFL may cave on their own bylaws (STL is in serious discussion mode with the NFL for a new stadium to keep Rams, and a team cannot move simply to make even more money), or Kroenke may simply defiantly bolt for LA ala Al Davis.

I am in the minority among my STL brethren in thinking the tragedy here is not the Rams leaving St. Louis, but the magnificent thoroughbred leaving Hollywood Park.

[OTM Al]

You have to wonder if it has been a plan to move the St Louis team for a few years, or just an 'if we build it they will come' plan to get an expansion team.

Today's headlines on ESPN.com

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nfl/story/_/id/12125028/project-nfl-stadium-los-angeles-going-forward

[dilanesp]

RD Hubbard and Al Davis tried to build a football stadium there long ago. It's a good site, and is still a good site-- after all, the Forum was a viable sports arena next door for many years.

Interestingly, the NFL and television have never liked the site, because they can't fly blimps overhead (too close to LAX and directly under the flight path).

I mean, all things being equal, I'd prefer never having an NFL team in LA again, and I had season tickets to the Raiders back in the day. But most fans can't afford tickets, and you get better games on television when you have no team.

And all the roadblocks remain-- the NFL wants public financing, because they don't want to set a precedent that will cause other cities to demand that stadiums be built without taxpayer subsidies. The Raiders and possibly Chargers will try to block any other team from moving. Etc.

Still, this is probably the most viable possible plan to get a team here-- more likely than either Farmers Field or the City of Industry.

[Ocala Mike]

Another link to the story: http://www.dailybulletin.com/sports/20150105/st-louis-rams-owner-plans-to-build-nfl-stadium-in-inglewood

[thespaah]

Hollywood Park closed after 75 years of operation.

So very very SAD. :confused:
I saved the final photo finish picture. I use it as an avatar.
Printed it out and stuck it to the wall in my bonus room.

[thespaah]

You have to wonder if it has been a plan to move the St Louis team for a few years, or just an 'if we build it they will come' plan to get an expansion team.
IMO Los Angeles does not deserve another shot at an NFL team.
They have had two....The people just did not show up.
Dodger fans show up in the 3rd inning and leave by the end of the 7th.
Lakers fans.....Loyal to the core. But now I think they just show up to see the Hollywood people who have season tix in the courtside seats.
Worst sports town in the country.

[Stillriledup]

IMO Los Angeles does not deserve another shot at an NFL team.
They have had two....The people just did not show up.
Dodger fans show up in the 3rd inning and leave by the end of the 7th.
Lakers fans.....Loyal to the core. But now I think they just show up to see the Hollywood people who have season tix in the courtside seats.
Worst sports town in the country.

The more there is to do, especially outdoor activities, the less people are going to go to sporting events. Its that way in warm weather locales, look at South Florida. Other than the Lebron experiment, nobody goes to games down there for any sports, same is somewhat true for LA too.

[Robert Goren]

Stop cry over Hollywood Park. It was broke. And they went broke on merit. The NFL is a lot better use for the land. If the power that be in racing don't wake up, a lot more tracks will be going the way of Hollywood. At least the LA area still has Santa Anita.

[clocker7]

LA is a cruddy area for traditional American sports. The demographics are terrible. The immigrant flow is Mexican and Chinese. The traffic is miserable ... after fighting 6 days a week to go anywhere, why do it on Sunday, too?

There is probably no better indicator than UCLA basketball. Pauley has been remodeled nicely and it's not very big. Historic as heck. Yet highly ranked teams come into the place and it remains only 3/4 full. Sure, the team sucks this year, and it is a rebuilding one. But lesser teams elsewhere fill when an interesting invader comes to town.

All things considered, Santa Anita doesn't do all that badly.

[dilanesp]

Stop cry over Hollywood Park. It was broke. And they went broke on merit. The NFL is a lot better use for the land. If the power that be in racing don't wake up, a lot more tracks will be going the way of Hollywood. At least the LA area still has Santa Anita.

"Broke" isn't quite right. The track hadn't been profitable since the 1990's, but it wasn't insolvent. They could have kept racing there quite awhile.

The reason they stopped is because they could make a lot of money developing the land.

I miss BHP, but seriously, Santa Anita and Del Mar are doing much better with its old dates. The only track that does worse is Los Al, and I have a feeling that experiment is not going to last forever.

[delayjf]

I mean, all things being equal, I'd prefer never having an NFL team in LA again, and I had season tickets to the Raiders back in the day. But most fans can't afford tickets, and you get better games on television when you have no team.

I totally agree.

[Stillriledup]

Great video in HD.

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