Quote:
Originally Posted by Inner Dirt
Just curious, why doesn't a track announcer use the video feed we all see to call the races, instead of looking through binoculars? Wouldn't that make it easier a lot of the times?
It always amazes me when people constantly bad mouth football referees even after you explain to them they are not sitting on a coach getting an above the field view from multiple camera angles. They often have obstructive views.
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This is a good question and, honestly, I wondered about whether it would better too when I started calling at Sam Houston. The real answer is that you just don’t have the same perspective on the TV. If you’re at a track that doesn’t split screens and you’re dealing with a tight pan then you can find yourself in big trouble picking up moves and identifying horses at the back.
I’ve been in booths and in the presence of announcers who had to go to the TV late because of where their booth was relative to the wire. That’s a huge challenge. I’m about 10 feet in front of the wire at SHRP and am really thankful for it.
The key for me was getting my eyes conditioned to the binoculars. I bugged a number of announcers before I started full time to see what brand they used, I researched it myself then I ended up settling on a certain pair. When I got them I’d spend time each day looking through them out the window to get used to it. If you’re not using a professional pair and spending time looking through them from the time the field gets on the track then you’re doomed. Then there’s the memorizing part, which is a whole additional challenge!
