Earthquake hits Hollypark DURING the race !!

[BeatTheChalk]

The announcer ( who has theee worst announcing voice in the history of
the world ) did a good job trying to give the fans .. the feel of the race.
Only thing is .... His voice is a mix of whiney .. high pitched .. nasal
and worse.

[so.cal.fan]

Vic Stauffer is great.....this was classic....listen up you guys:

http://www.equidaily.com/bestbet/extras/misc/eq1.mp3

[foregoforever]

They left off the line just after they crossed the wire ...

"I don't know - nor care - who won the photo."

I guess it's just part of the job of being a racecaller that some folks love you and others can't stand you. Vic seems to catch more than his fair share of abuse, but he's one of my favorites. Every year, he ends up with several of my top ten calls of the year. This is a definite for this year's list.

[BIG RED]

I didn't get it.

It downloaded fast and all, then real player kicked in, but then nothing? Hit play button, still nothing. Oh well

[foregoforever]

The same thing happened to me. Go over to Equidaily and click the link over there.

http://www.equidaily.com/

[Steve 'StatMan']

I had the same problem. This one worked, and it is on their home page at www.equidaily.com:

http://www.equidaily.com/bestbet/extras/misc/eq2.mp3

I get a big kick out of Vic Stauffer's race calls! He's mighty good.

[keilan]

Vic Stauffer is great.....this was classic....listen up you guys:

http://www.equidaily.com/bestbet/extras/misc/eq1.mp3


It really was/is a great call -- It'll make you :D

[BIG RED]

Statman that worked on one click.

Amazing how you still heard the crowd cheering at the end :D What quake???

[The Hawk]

As usual, Stauffer's ego interfered with his calling of the race. What's different here from his "non-earthquake" calls? For some reason, he thinks people care about his personal opinions. Of course he had to mention the earthquake. He didn't have to act like he was so shaken up that he thought he might die in the booth. If it were real, fine, but can the schtick. It's similar to his "you'd better take a look at" nonsense, when a horse is making a move five lengths behind the leader. Or, when there's a close finish, we get "I think it was XXX, but it was an inch either way", instead of honestly calling the narrow-but-obvious winner, or just saying it's a photo. He wants us all to know how smart he is. I think he wonders how we ever watched races before he came along. I wonder how much longer I can watch races that he's calling.

[JustRalph]

I like Vic..........and I think he was just having fun with it. The first time I felt a quake I wondered how they put up with that crap in Socal......... I owned a house right on the San Andreas fault line. I mean right on it. It can be a little scary. But I think Vic was just hamming it up.

[Speed Figure]

Of course he had to mention the earthquake. He didn't have to act like he was so shaken up that he thought he might die in the booth. .

When your 8 year old runs out of her room, you know it's an earthquake. A 5.3 quake is nothing to play with. It was some very hard shaking going on. If it was me I would have ran out of the booth.:faint:

[racingrev]

As usual, Stauffer's ego interfered with his calling of the race. What's different here from his "non-earthquake" calls? For some reason, he thinks people care about his personal opinions. Of course he had to mention the earthquake. He didn't have to act like he was so shaken up that he thought he might die in the booth. If it were real, fine, but can the schtick. It's similar to his "you'd better take a look at" nonsense, when a horse is making a move five lengths behind the leader. Or, when there's a close finish, we get "I think it was XXX, but it was an inch either way", instead of honestly calling the narrow-but-obvious winner, or just saying it's a photo. He wants us all to know how smart he is. I think he wonders how we ever watched races before he came along. I wonder how much longer I can watch races that he's calling.


You've obviously never watched a race from a booth attached to the top of a grandstand. The slightest movement eg- people walking up stairs can cause a rocking and a swaying sensation.

I've had some hairy moments with powerful wind and torrential rain, but never an earthquake.

:ThmbUp: Well done Earthquake Vic. With his great standard of calls certain to shake up :rolleyes: some of the other US announcers...

[Dan Montilion]

When your 8 year old runs out of her room, you know it's an earthquake. A 5.3 quake is nothing to play with. It was some very hard shaking going on. If it was me I would have ran out of the booth.:faint:

I hear ya Speed. But where does one run to?

Dan Montilion

[plainolebill]

I don't think Vic has a big ego, in fact it seems like he doesn't take himself too seriously which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

[The Hawk]

I'm not saying it wasn't serious. That's why I wrote this:

He didn't have to act like he was so shaken up that he thought he might die in the booth. If it were real, fine, but can the schtick.

If it was serious situation then treat it as such, not as an opportunity to get yourself on the local news.

Racingrev: When you had your hairy moments in the booth did you considering telling the fans that you loved them all?

[toetoe]

Hawkster,

I have been in the depths of antipathy for Vic Stauffer, and now am slowly climbing out. I think it's the Tony Calo thing --- trying WAY too hard. The problem? These guys are the type to go to 'Friday's Alive!' at Bay Meadows and hobnob with the Corona-drinking crowd, and think it can't get any better than this. Then during race calls, they try to impress that crowd with 'hip' calls.

Personally, Vic is okay, Tony too. What they do is NOT easy at all. I say, just stop trying so hard. I swear, an old fashioned drone can be got used to. The terminally hip patter and snarling are old by the second time you hear them.

[Suff]

I don't care for Vic Stauffer's race calling. Personal preference. With that said, I thought the EarthQuake call was good. It showed off his intellignce, wit and professionalism. He stuck to the task, incorporated the obvious interuption, and delivered the call.

As an aside. Tom Durkin, who I have liked for a long time, has been noticabley off his game recently. Is it me or has Durkin been sub-par on the big calls , and asleep at the wheel for the regular day to day calls. Has Durkin lost his entusiasm and edge? I recall an interview he did with Mary Ryan two years ago. Durkin is very self defacing, but I detected a hint of its my Job to lose tint to his manner. That'll lead to mailing it in occasonally.

[Tom]

I like Vic and I hate Durkin - he always reminds me of a geek getting his first POA and screaming so loud his pocket protector falls out, pens flying all over, and him trying catch them in midair.


But an earthquake? Man. How do you left-coast guys live there? I can accept floods, fires, locusts, hurrikanes, blizzards, maruading bands of dopers looting neighborhoods, freezing rains, but when the room starts shaking, I gotta find a new cave.

What does this do to the horses? Does is shake them up, affect their mental focus, does it bother shippers the first few times?

[depalma13]

Have you ever been in what could be a near death situation, where you had no control of the outcome? Many people joke when they panic. It is a reaction, and they have no idea why they do it. I doubt very seriously he was doing it to get on the local news.

[so.cal.fan]

So do I, depalma13.
I think he was trying to calm the crowd with a joke so people wouldn't panic.
I know Vic, and that is what I imagine he was doing.....also his own reaction, like you say, as well.

[racingrev]

Racingrev: When you had your hairy moments in the booth did you considering telling the fans that you loved them all?

Certainly not... When I was saturated with rain and struggling to see through the 10 x 50's...

However Earthquake Vic has given me some good food for thought... :D

Seriously though Hawk.. There's not a caller in the States that has improved as much as Vic has in the last twelve months.. I never thought anyone could be as good in Cali racing as Trev but I must say Vic is becoming my favoured announcer.

Some of the more established names have dropped back a notch while Vic, Larry Collmus and Aussie (YAY) Peter Berry are to quote another announcer that has featured heavily on this forum... Gaining Ground... :cool:

Just as an aside... The young guy that called Philly over the weekend, Pat Cummings or Announcer Pat on a few forums, is also a gun announcer of the future.. Why he hasn't been picked up for a major gig is way beyond me... :bang:

[The Hawk]

Have you ever been in what could be a near death situation, where you had no control of the outcome? Many people joke when they panic. It is a reaction, and they have no idea why they do it. I doubt very seriously he was doing it to get on the local news.

I might buy this if his ego didn't get in the way of nearly every one his other calls. Sorry, I just don't think it was genuine in any way.

Maybe Vic has improved over the past 12 months, Racingrev, but I still can't bear to listen to him call races, and I am not alone.

[racingrev]

I might buy this if his ego didn't get in the way of nearly every one his other calls. Sorry, I just don't think it was genuine in any way.

Maybe Vic has improved over the past 12 months, Racingrev, but I still can't bear to listen to him call races, and I am not alone.

One thing I'll say is that the earthquake has made Vic famous... :cool: People were commenting on the call at the races I was calling at in New Zealand today....

We only had a mini tornado hit us, unfortunately not news worthy.. Although if the cameraman had been filming in his usual place................. :eek:

[cnollfan]

I'm not a Vic fan on the whole but thought the earthquake was a great call all the way around. Love to see horseracing crack the mainstream public consciousness for something other than bad news.