Unfortunately, time to hang it up Trevor

[HorsemenHeist]

Trevor is an icon that deserves to go out on his own terms, but it is obvious that his talents are in decline. Completely butchered the last two races today as well as others this meet. Time to let someone younger like Collmus take the mic.

[Andy Asaro]

Originally Posted by HorsemenHeist

Trevor is an icon that deserves to go out on his own terms, but it is obvious that his talents are in decline. Completely butchered the last two races today as well as others this meet. Time to let someone younger like Collmus take the mic.

[cj]

I've said this for a couple years, but it really is time now. Hopefully he can finish out the meet strong. The guy is an icon.

[chenoa]

Butchered 3 races today, wonder if he even wants to finish out the meet after today.

Enjoy the final few weeks, Trevor will go down as one of the best of all-time, he stuck around 1 or 2 years too long. Durkin went out a champ.

[Brisk Urging]

He was awful

[chenoa]

Originally Posted by Brisk Urging

He was awful

So bad, it would come as no surprise if it was John Lies on the call today, and they said Trevor was under the weather for a few days. Just to regroup.
That had to have given him nightmares last night.

[dilanesp]

There's a legendary story in California racing that Santa Anita told Terry Gilligan, an experienced announcer, to be ready at any time because Joe Hernandez was in decline. (As it turned out, tragedy struck- Hernandez collapsed in the booth during a race after being kicked by a horse, and Gilligan stepped in and finished the call.)

If I were Joe Harper, I'd fly Larry Collmus out to California and have him standing by.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

If I were Joe Harper, I'd fly Larry Collmus out to California and have him standing by.

Why? Aren't you the guy who has said more than once in the past that race callers are pretty much the most unimportant thing in racing?

Now you need one on retainer?

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

Why? Aren't you the guy who has said more than once in the past that race callers are pretty much the most unimportant thing in racing?

Now you need one on retainer?

It's not important in the scheme of things, but given Collmus is the heir apparent, might as well be ready.

[cj]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

Why? Aren't you the guy who has said more than once in the past that race callers are pretty much the most unimportant thing in racing?

Now you need one on retainer?

At this point, the calls are so bad they are actually distracting. I think that matters. I'm sure Del Mar doesn't want their voice botching race after race no more than a MLB team would want a play by play guy calling the players by the wrong name or badly mispronouncing them.

[GaryG]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

There's a legendary story in California racing that Santa Anita told Terry Gilligan, an experienced announcer, to be ready at any time because Joe Hernandez was in decline. (As it turned out, tragedy struck- Hernandez collapsed in the booth during a race after being kicked by a horse, and Gilligan stepped in and finished the call.)

If I were Joe Harper, I'd fly Larry Collmus out to California and have him standing by.

Gilligan sounded good, I liked him. His style and phrasing were straight from Hernandez, my all time favorite race caller. Joe was also great at Del Mar.

[Sheffwed]

Originally Posted by cj

At this point, the calls are so bad they are actually distracting. I think that matters. I'm sure Del Mar doesn't want their voice botching race after race no more than a MLB team would want a play by play guy calling the players by the wrong name or badly mispronouncing them.

Trevor likely could call some of the races but maybe not all, maybe they should have him just do some of them and someone else as well

Hoping the best for him, he is an all time great, and deserves to go out on his terms a la Vin Scully

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Sheffwed

Hoping the best for him, he is an all time great, and deserves to go out on his terms a la Vin Scully

I should say, that while I understand the sentiment, I'm not actually sure people do "deserve" this if they are screwing up their job. Maybe it speaks to the unimportance of the job (the thing PA always razzes me about), although as cj points out, when the job is done truly poorly, it can become a distraction or worse for the fans. (Could you imagine a novice bettor tearing up a ticket after hearing Trevor call a different horse the winner?)

But if one actually sees a job as important, doing the job poorly is cause for termination, no matter how great you once were. We wouldn't allow a doctor or a lawyer to continue committing malpractice at an advanced age because 20 years ago, he/she was an all-time great surgeon or advocate. It's harsh, but you're being paid to do a job, and if you can no longer do that job, it's time to go. They can always honor Trevor by naming a race after him, putting up a plaque or even a statue of him, having "Trevor Denman Day" where the track honors him, etc.

[chenoa]

Pulling for you today, Trevor!!

[craigbraddick]

Originally Posted by Sheffwed

Trevor likely could call some of the races but maybe not all, maybe they should have him just do some of them and someone else as well

Hoping the best for him, he is an all time great, and deserves to go out on his terms a la Vin Scully

In the last year I faced a similar situation replacing someone (whose name shall go unmentioned) because it was becoming more difficult for him. As they were long races (2 miles to 4.5 miles) I suggested he calls the start and the finish and I will take the part of their race where they are furthest away, fallers usually happen and so on. (these were not one mile oval tracks) In the end we could not do that but I think it would have been nice to do.

Some of you may be familiar with the work of the late Cricket Commentator for the BBC/Channel 9 in Australia, Richie Benaud, who can rightly be called one of the best sports commentators of all time. In his latter years on Channel 9, they made him the "Skipper" of the Channel 9 team, always had him around in the broadcasts. Sometimes summarizing, presenting highlights of the day and doing enough play by play that he could be called into full action for the bigger occasions.

There may be a lot of merit to that idea. But I am just happy to hear Trevor back and undoubtedly he deserves to leave on his own terms but I hope we will hear some more of his brilliance very soon.