I know there have been many threads over the years on this forum about track announcers, but I feel compelled to start a complaint thread about the substitute announcer at Philly, Pat Cummings. Yes, I know that the talent pool for qualified track announcers is thin, but gimme a break! Among all the other indignities that Philly fans have had to endure the last few months (just check out what they've done to the paddock area and first floor recently - if you thought there was no room before, wait until you see it now), having to listen to Cummings fill in for Keith Jones may be the last straw that drives me to wager somewhere else the next couple of days. Today, Cummings let loose with a few limp Larry Lederman-like imitations as horses came down the stretch, but the kicker in the finale was when he tabbed the winner as a "Charles Town shipper" when, in fact, the horse is based at Philly but happened to race at Charles Town in its last start. He just sounds like a guy who thinks he's better than he really is, and I curse track management every time I hear his voice. Bring back Jack LaMar, the old Keystone track announcer, who was unceremoniously dumped many moons ago! Grab somebody from the grandstand and hand them the microphone! But for crying out loud, give Cummings the boot!
Doc
