Jessica Paquette calling Parx

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

Apples and oranges. You're also on record as not liking Durkin, so it's clear what's behind this post.

The "just a minute more" part of his Belmont call, to me, is one of the best lines he ever used.

Oh come on. It was made up before the race and was not an observation of anything he was seeing. And no, there was nothing "dramatic" about it-- it's just a dumb thing nobody actually says during a horse race.

And his call of that race was actually terrible-- he committed the cardinal sin of track announcing and rooted. There were people who bet Birdstone. Birdstone had a very old owner who contributed a lot to the sport. He had no right to defecate on Birdstone's victory the way he did. Just unprofessional and awful. Everything that is overrated about the man in one call.

I can't think of anything Durkin said in a race call that sounded contrived or scripted. Was "a picture's worth a thousand words, this photo is worth $5 million dollars!" contrived or scripted? How about "This is the greatest comeback since Lazarus" or even "Tiznow wins it for America" or any of the other dozens of iconic things he said?

No doubt he sometimes came up with good, non-scripted stuff. I don't argue that.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Are you saying that Al Michaels said "do you believe in miracles, yes" was a total adlib? I thought he has said he thought of it in advance.

Michaels said he thought of it just a few seconds before he said it. And maybe a minute before that he thought he might say something about how this was miraculous.

He has also said that he wasn't concerned about getting the line out-- he was most concerned with the Soviets scoring a goal and tying the game up. He didn't want to blow that, and if worrying about that cost him the ability to throw in a one-liner, he wouldn't try to force it.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

There was more than one announcer for Western Harness. I think Ralph Siraco was one of them but by far the superstar of the bunch was the GREAT Robin Burns who IMO is the GOAT of harness race caller. Niatross paced at Hollywood Park. As did the "King of the Cal Breds" DESMOND! Sadly I was at HP the night the great driver Shelly Goodreau was killed. He was driving a horse named REGANS'S LAD. His rein broke. He went off the side of the bike and was mortally injured. I had the awful job of writing the story for the next day's edition of the Daily Racing Form.

As for the Los Alamitos race caller. It was the legendary one and only BOBBY DOYLE!

Actually, the really old folks say the great Southern California harness caller was Roy Shudt. You can find some of his calls from the 1950's on YouTube actually-- he was a LOT more modern-sounding than either Joe Hernandez or Hal Moore, who were the two thoroughbred announcers in California at the time and who were old-school.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Actually, the really old folks say the great Southern California harness caller was Roy Shudt. You can find some of his calls from the 1950's on YouTube actually-- he was a LOT more modern-sounding than either Joe Hernandez or Hal Moore, who were the two thoroughbred announcers in California at the time and who were old-school.

Here's some announcer trivia. Joe Hernandez went to the stables before going up to the booth. He was kicked in the stomach by a horse. It caused internal bleeding which caused his death later that day while calling a race.

1. What was the name of the of the last horse he called before collapsing?

2. What did he do after saying that horses name?

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Yeah that great memory was incomplete. The call was " Mike Smith Let's the Bull roll but there's cause for Concern"

In my personal top 3....i was working on the backside at Keeneland when that took place, everyone was going crazy.

[Inner Dirt]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Here's some announcer trivia. Joe Hernandez went to the stables before going up to the booth. He was kicked in the stomach by a horse. It caused internal bleeding which caused his death later that day while calling a race.

1. What was the name of the of the last horse he called before collapsing?

2. What did he do after saying that horses name?

Are track announcers too tough for their own good? Look what happened to Luke Kruytbosch, if he goes to ER he is probably still alive today.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Yeah that great memory was incomplete. The call was " Mike Smith Let's the Bull roll but there's cause for Concern"

The “cause for Concern” was the witty remark…that’s why it stayed with me.

[GMB@BP]

YouTube

[GMB@BP]

YouTube

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by GMB@BP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-tCGbynWtg

Yeah, Holy Bull was quite the monster...and as far as the Travers went, 10 furlongs wasn't really in his wheelhouse, he had to deal with a rabbit, and he still pulled it off...he was my favorite horse of all time.

And as you all know, my profile pic is the finish of the Travers...

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Here's some announcer trivia. Joe Hernandez went to the stables before going up to the booth. He was kicked in the stomach by a horse. It caused internal bleeding which caused his death later that day while calling a race.

1. What was the name of the of the last horse he called before collapsing?

2. What did he do after saying that horses name?

He said "Oatman in front". He then turned off his mic and collapsed, and was attended to by Dan Smith, PR man at Santa Anita at the time, who rushed Terry Gilligan in there (he had been the Oak Tree announcer and was standing by) to finish the call.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

Are track announcers too tough for their own good? Look what happened to Luke Kruytbosch, if he goes to ER he is probably still alive today.

Way back in the day almost all tracks had a backup announcer who was there all the time.

That person would typically call the last race every day.

That's a bygone era.

Now if we don't show or get sick it's very rare there's a competent person to fill in.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

He said "Oatman in front". He then turned off his mic and collapsed, and was attended to by Dan Smith, PR man at Santa Anita at the time, who rushed Terry Gilligan in there (he had been the Oak Tree announcer and was standing by) to finish the call.

Good for you. They story I heard was he said "oatman in front" then collapsed to the floor then reach up and turned off the mic.

I knew nothing about the Dan Smith and Terry Gilligan part.

Don't know why they'd give a damn about the rest of the rest of the race call with the guy laying on the floor. But you knew enough that I trust you know the rest.

[dnlgfnk]

Could the Gray Lady be that wrong about the facts a half-century ago?

https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/04/a...ita-voice.html

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Good for you. They story I heard was he said "oatman in front" then collapsed to the floor then reach up and turned off the mic.

I knew nothing about the Dan Smith and Terry Gilligan part.

Don't know why they'd give a damn about the rest of the rest of the race call with the guy laying on the floor. But you knew enough that I trust you know the rest.

So the rest is this- that morning, when Hernandez got kicked, the track had found out about it and had told him to go to the infirmary or the hospital and not worry about working that day. Hernandez had a consecutive call streak (he never missed a day from the track's opening on December 25, 1934) so he insisted on going to the booth. (This is similar to stories about Chick Hearn going to ridiculous lengths not to miss Lakers games. Some announcers care about this stuff.)

But apparently the kick was obviously bad enough that Smith thought they needed to be ready in case something happened and called Gilligan to come to the track that day and sit in the press box.

I don't think the plan was to take over mid call (just to be ready to finish the card if Hernandez had to leave to go to the ER or something), but since it happened in the middle of a call, Smith and Gilligan didn't think anything of it and Gilligan finished the race.