No Surprise to the Caller

[bigmack]

With any level of acumen, a track announcer should have a fairly sound idea about the shape of a race. Some are more intuitive than others.

Is neutrality and/or a mere "stone cold call" of a race preferred to one that might hint of the callers expectations?

[Overlay]

Your question reminds me of Robert Klein's routine about the great race caller Fred Capossela where he commented about how Fred was always so objective, and said that in Fred's business, you couldn't get involved (especially by betting) in how the race would turn out. He imagined Fred calling, "Tamburlaine coming up quick on the outside! Run, you SOB, run! There goes the rent! For crying out loud!"

[misscashalot]

stone cold call

[bigmack]

With little objection, one of the all time greats.




Back to the matter:

Stauffer: Expects an outcome
Durkin: Expects an outcome

[KMS]

doesn't really matter to me, but I'm always impressed with the ability of announcer to be enthusiastic (or at lest fake it) in calling the stretch drive of a $5000 maiden claiming race.

One pet peeve: There's a caller at one of the low level tracks-maybe Mountaineer, I'm not sure--who has a bad habit of breathing into his microphone. Very annoying.

[Overlay]

As you say, back to the matter. Although I like individual callers with low-key styles, I think emotion can attract or create greater interest than a more understated approach (as long as the enthusiasm isn't viewed as contrived or repetitive). And I don't think you necessarily have to have an idea about how a particular race will be run to do that. Just "go with the flow" and describe what you see. (Instead of having an idea how a specific race will turn out, I think an announcer should have been around racing long enough to have some knowledge of its "norms" and a historical perspective about it, in order to know what's worth getting excited about and what isn't.)

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by KMS

doesn't really matter to me, but I'm always impressed with the ability of announcer to be enthusiastic (or at lest fake it) in calling the stretch drive of a $5000 maiden claiming race.

One pet peeve: There's a caller at one of the low level tracks-maybe Mountaineer, I'm not sure--who has a bad habit of breathing into his microphone. Very annoying.

Well Send him a PM, or wait for him to read this thread. He is a member here. I think he might just have a new microphone.........it sounds much better lately and it appears to be much more sensitive. I noticed it a few days ago............

[bigmack]

Originally Posted by Overlay

Just "go with the flow" and describe what you see.

Some do. Most don't.

Is it fair to ask that they have, and/or show little in the way of a hint of their own expection of the race?

As their audience is primarly "within reach" chalk becomes "Yippie Kay-yay" No?

[KMS]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

Well Send him a PM, or wait for him to read this thread. He is a member here. I think he might just have a new microphone.........it sounds much better lately and it appears to be much more sensitive. I noticed it a few days ago............

Well I certainly didn't mean to embarass him. He does a good job, that was just something I noticed.

[wonatthewire1]

Originally Posted by KMS

doesn't really matter to me, but I'm always impressed with the ability of announcer to be enthusiastic (or at lest fake it) in calling the stretch drive of a $5000 maiden claiming race.

The guy at Arlington does a good job with the calls - even with the 6 horse fields

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by wonatthewire1

The guy at Arlington does a good job with the calls - even with the 6 horse fields

And the REALLY annoying artificial crowd noise, too!

[TravisVOX]

Understanding the shape of race, or knowing potential race scenarios, in my opinion, is crucial to making a good race call.

I truly enjoy to handicap, and when I'm calling a race, I employ the same tactics I do to a field when handicapping. I typically chart-out the likely pace scenario: Who is the early speed? Who are the pressers? Mid-packers? Closers?

If the race looks extremely speedy, I'll go over my notebook and the sayings I have for such scenarios just in case. Often times I forget to use them, never use them, or have no reason to use them, but they're there just in case.

Yesterday we had a turf race for fillies/mares and it featured two really classy horses amongst the LA-bred ranks. I had a few phrases jotted down in anticipation of a stretch battle between them. It never materialized, I never used them, but they were there if need-be. I find that if I don't write stuff down, my calls can become rather stale in terms of vocabulary and expressions.

Race calling has shifted from being an objective relay of the facts to a more dramatic representation of the events on the track. I think it's evolved for the better... and it's a lot of fun!

[Peter Berry]

Originally Posted by KMS

doesn't really matter to me, but I'm always impressed with the ability of announcer to be enthusiastic (or at lest fake it) in calling the stretch drive of a $5000 maiden claiming race.

One pet peeve: There's a caller at one of the low level tracks-maybe Mountaineer, I'm not sure--who has a bad habit of breathing into his microphone. Very annoying.

Rest assured, it's more annoying to me than anyone else. We are working on it. It seems to have become worse since I switched to double IPAs.

[saratoga guy]

Baltimore Sun profiled Dave Rodman this week and Rodman told a funny story about working on audition tapes:

He also realized that betting on and calling the same race doesn't make for a good mix. "Generally, I would have placed a bet on the race, and I'd get more interested in that. So it was like 'They're off!' and then I didn't get too far."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal...,5665512.story

[toetoe]

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