TVG and Jeff Mullins

[JustRalph]

I am starting to get a little sick of TVG talking about Jeff Mullins. I was watching tonight and when one of his horses won at Del Mar they had to follow him to the winners circle, again, and then regale us with his win percentage off the claim. Something like 37%. I am starting to get offended by this. I think informed horse players have read, heard and put up with enough of Jeff Mullins for a lifetime. I understand that he trains Frank Lyons horse (Castledale) but come on? I know they feature other trainers the same way, and maybe I am a little sensitive when it comes to Mullins, but this guy gets under my skin. Anybody else feel this way?

[toetoe]

My gripe is just with TVG in general. So many stories and daily events in the sport, and they want the Baffertized take, cool shades and trophies on the head. Like the worst of ESPN, which is prid-tee darn bad.

[kenwoodallpromos]

Maybe TVG is guilty of assaulting you with Mullins' mug, but at least Mullins did not assault any cameramen!
Next year all the bad boys of BBall and hockey are back, so maybe you will view racing as a calming influence. Racing is even more mellow than T-Ball!

[andicap]

ralph
I happened to be watching at that very instant and almost gagged on my mouse.

do they take racing fans for idiots?
Yes, I think they do.
Some of the anchors aren't terrible or at least not too annoying -- but the guys from the LA tracks are the worst.

but, you know, I like to turn the audio down low until the races start....

[NY BRED]

listen, there are redeeming features to the show

a: if you are ever in a photo finish, listen to the anticiapated result
from any announcer other than matt... they are almost always wrong

b: 15-1 against you staying awake when mr b is on.
a hell of a nice guy, but if you have no coffee or other stimulants
in you, and it is early evening, you'll be hard pressed to stay awake:sleeping:


c: if you really want the opposite end of the spectrum
(zanies who believe they are experts) watch hrtv.

d: recent addition of vic (stauffer?) hp announcer is a huge plus to tvg.
he is witty, knowledgeable , and really tells it the way it is.
i'm predicting he will replace tom durkin in when tom retires.

e: guys who equally good: matt, and simon bray
comical and admit their faults: todd and ken
obnoxiuous and self serving : frank:mad:

[cj]

Everyone keeps saying Vic is new to TVG, but I remember him doing it at least two years ago when I was in the US. Did he stop for awhile? Probably just during Gulfstream is my guess.

[so.cal.fan]

JR,
I share your sentiments, exactly! :mad:

[Valuist]

To answer Andicap's question, yes they do take us for idiots. Listening to them, ALL people watching are newbies and horse racing didn't exist before 1999, when they went on the air.

[Speed Figure]

I think the best thing about any show on TV is, if you don't want to watch it just turn the channel!

[chickenhead]

I only got TVG about 3 months ago...and I see now why all the complaining, they can be pretty terrible.

I do have to say I was happy to see them giving so much love to the CA fair circuit, Sonoma County in particular, but they even gave props to my little Ferndale, which was funny to hear. West Coast bias, yeah, a little. ;)

One suggestion that they really need to do, is have a decent recap show, like Sportscenter (but not too much like Sportscenter). It is amazing to me that they don't have a regularly scheduled thrice daily 30 minute show to recap and show all the days big races (unless I'm missing it?)

[Valuist]

They show the replay shows of the major tracks the next morning, except for Sundays in which they run about 4 hours of "Americas Horse". I guess they show the replays real early; long before I'm ever up on Sunday morning. Why they run America's Horse is anyone's guess. Let it run on Oxygen or Lifetime.

Bubbles or anyone else out there college aged or so, I've got an idea for a Master's thesis using TVG as a case study: "Why MBAs and sports do not mix well".

[Bubbles]

Bubbles or anyone else out there college aged or so, I've got an idea for a Master's thesis using TVG as a case study: "Why MBAs and sports do not mix well".

LOL. Hmm...for journalism, that might actually work...:eek:

[Whirlaway]

TVG did have a weekend stakes wrapup for a while, sponsored by Keenland, but I gather the sponsorship ended and so did the show.

TVG deserves some slack, IMO. I think it's important to remember that they are trying hard to promote the sport, much more so than HRTV which has more of a "just the facts, m'am" approach.

They did a great job promoting the American Oaks at Hollywood Park and were probably responsible for attendance being 50% higher on track that day than it would otherwise have been.

Racing needs to rebuild its fanbase after long years of neglect, and TVG is the best hope for that. If they just showed as many races as possible with minimal commentary they would have no chance of bringing new fans to the sport.

[chickenhead]

They show the replay shows of the major tracks the next morning, except for Sundays in which they run about 4 hours of "Americas Horse". I guess they show the replays real early; long before I'm ever up on Sunday morning. Why they run America's Horse is anyone's guess. Let it run on Oxygen or Lifetime.

Bubbles or anyone else out there college aged or so, I've got an idea for a Master's thesis using TVG as a case study: "Why MBAs and sports do not mix well".

I watch the replay shows when I can, weekdays they are on after I leave for work, weekends I guess before I get up. :bang:

I just want a recap show, 8pm and replay at 10pm, and then replay again at say 7am the next morning. Showing what happened of note
that day...replay the stakes, new track records, 0-99 maiden finally winning, horse hurdling a crocodile....the stuff most people are actually interested in, assuming they didn't watch TVG all day long.

[Valuist]

I don't want to sound like a complainer so I'll list some of the things they do well. The picture quality is excellent; better than HRTV. The graphics and on sight interviews are very good also. The scroll at the bottom is good although in the results area in the lower right corner they do not show P3 or P4 payoffs. I'm hoping that as they get older as a network they worry a little less about the newbies and maybe focus a little more on the hardcores (i.e. showing some more races, less talking, less W.C. bias).

[KingChas]

. I'm hoping that as they get older as a network they worry a little less about the newbies and maybe focus a little more on the hardcores (i.e. showing some more races, less talking, less W.C. bias).

You just summed up the whole problem.They are in a no win win situation.If they speak our language it would be French (should I say) to the newbies.And if they cater to the newbies it would be Sesame St. to us.
How do they reach a happy medium?

I personally find them very comical.I don't understand some of the people's comments on their banter.Does it affect your handicapping abilities? Do you let them affect your wagers? I have my horses picked,they have never affected my concentration or my wagers. :confused:

[JustRalph]

After 3-4 years of watching TVG I find myself muting the sound about 80% of time and just watching the clock for post times. I might hear the last 1-2 minutes of banter before a race and the first minute after the race. Otherwise, not much of what they say is digested anymore.

As for the on air staff, I think they are getting pretty bored. Many of them want to be in the movies or in television. They go on auditions and such. Since Chris Harrison left TVG and became the host of "The Bachelor" I think the other on air types really felt like they could jump to "broadcast tv" as I have heard it referred to. In fact I think Greg Wolf is currently doing a play in Santa Monica or somewhere like that. So I don't think their goals are to stay with TVG. Ken Rudolph has been in some movies etc. I still communicate with a few "behind the scenes" types and every once in a while I still communicate with some on air personalities too. The behind the scene types have more time to put up with horseplayers and they are very nice guys.

[Valuist]

Chas-

They don't affect my handicapping. They do affect what races I see. I play both AP and Ellis, and often they are shown on tape delay, which I can live with if it isn't delayed too long (thats not always the case). But I do have a problem only showing stretch runs. Thats total bull$hit and there's no reason for it. Even Jeff Siegal at HRTV said the other day, "you'll never see just stretch runs on HRTV." If they want to have one reporter at a remote for interviews, fine. But why have 3 hosts at a remote when they aren't telling you anything they wouldn't say in a studio?? Instead the 3 onsite hosts end up yakking too much and races either aren't shown, or aren't shown on time. It shouldn't be that hard for their management to figure out but apparently it is.

[KingChas]

Can't argue with that V-agreed

[tonto1944]

Jeff Mullins is the Dutrow of the West Coast. They claim a horse and it starts to win . They get caught us Puppy uppers . After their suspension they are back lay low then start all over again. They Mullins and Dutrow are the Oscar Barrara and Frank Matin and Gaspar Moshara of this generation. Along with Shuman can't leave him out.

[kingfin66]

listen, there are redeeming features to the show

b: 15-1 against you staying awake when mr b is on.
a hell of a nice guy, but if you have no coffee or other stimulants
in you, and it is early evening, you'll be hard pressed to stay awake:sleeping:



Mr. B has nevey met a favorite he didn't like. What would impress me about the analysts is if they actually backed some pure value horses. Carrothers seems to understand this, while the others just pick chalk, chalk, chalk...

What has been funny for me as a fan of northwest racing is seeing Joe Withee, the EmD media director, on TVG. He gives his daily Pick 4 for the Emerald races. The boys have taken to clowing him a little bit since he never manages to hit one. In fact, not only does he never hit a P4, he never comes close.

I actually like TVG quite a bit. They are getting better about showing more races.

[ceejay]

I, for one, thought that their hype and rooting for the "house horse," Castledale, Sunday was over the top and unprofessional.

[levinmpa]

I agree with JustRalph. Turn off the sound until they're in the gate. I'm lucky enough to be in the Philly area and get PhoneBet TV on my cable, so I can watch several tracks without all of the garbage that TVG delivers. The Phonebet TV commentator basically gives a short comment on the morning line program picks, then it's back to the odds and music until post time. I watch TVG occassionally on DirecTV, but it's tough to take when 2 or 3 guys are fighting for airtime.