Suff
03-04-2019, 10:03 PM
This was written with such a genuine fondness that I thought it was a memorial. Fans of Durkin a must read... lots of history from a front row seat.
Reader Comments are also worth a skim because the author engages with the readers.
I grew up listening to Fred Capossela and started working at the racetrack when Dave Johnson and Chic Anderson were at the top of the game. Durkin has surpassed them all, and all who have come along since owe him a debt for his legacy of words and phrases that have become the stock and trade of the modern race caller.
His body of work should land him a spot as the first announcer to enter The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. For now, Durkin conducts personalized tours at the museum during the Saratoga racing season. He belongs there and not simply as a tour guide. He needs to be listed in the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.
The words he used to describe horseracing action were words he himself wrote. His voice is his instrument and his mind the lyrics. For horseplayers, he wrote the songs.
Link to the full article. (http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Inside-New-York/comments/durkin-he-sang-the-songs)
Reader Comments are also worth a skim because the author engages with the readers.
I grew up listening to Fred Capossela and started working at the racetrack when Dave Johnson and Chic Anderson were at the top of the game. Durkin has surpassed them all, and all who have come along since owe him a debt for his legacy of words and phrases that have become the stock and trade of the modern race caller.
His body of work should land him a spot as the first announcer to enter The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. For now, Durkin conducts personalized tours at the museum during the Saratoga racing season. He belongs there and not simply as a tour guide. He needs to be listed in the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.
The words he used to describe horseracing action were words he himself wrote. His voice is his instrument and his mind the lyrics. For horseplayers, he wrote the songs.
Link to the full article. (http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Inside-New-York/comments/durkin-he-sang-the-songs)