"Ace Blue will watch those two run away" - Vic Staufer
 

:D :D :D

I love when announcers are wrong :p Anyone else catch that Saturday?...hilarious

BTW, I mean this lite-heartedly...not making fun of Vic...

I had a large exacta with Lava Man on top with Magnum. I was hoping he was right. I really wanted Vic to start singing in his best Johnny Cash voice" they have fallin into a Ring of Fire.

Just curious, not busting your stones, what was that exacta coming back?

I was surprised he stuck his neck out and called Ace Blue as "the horse he thought got his head down first" in such a big time race. I give him kudos for trying and I thought the same things (Ace Blue may have gotten there) but to me that photo was too close to make that kind of call to that large of an audience. Maybe a cheap claimer at Saratoga in the middle of a day on a Monday, but the Hollywood Gold Cup? :confused:

I mentioned the same thing to my brother after the race!! Very funny! I do like Vic though.

Please note that Vic always says " I think it's so n so ,but it's very,very close" etc. He is making a best guess,and usually he is right. I like that he gives ya his best guess(and that's all it is.) Best thing about Vic is that he likes to do the job(he likes to bet,and is a sheetfreak.)I think he would do it for very little money.Not so for Trevor(who I don't think even bets.) Vic comes on TVG(THIS IS SO YOU CAN PROTECT THE KIDS ,CUZ THEY WILL GET SCARED LOOKING AT THAT GUY.)

This is a false statement...

Also, Vic does show more enthusiasm for the sport than most do and I appreciate that, BUT I here he may be just as much of a prima dona as the rest of them...most of those guys are like jockeys...they are extraordinarily well paid (I believe they are overpaid) and most of them that I know are a little prima dona-ish....I like them, but they do make a lot of money for coming in to work late and never having to do any administrative type work or anything really sophisticated or brain-crunching...just my opinion

This is interesting. I did not think they would be paid much. I really like Vic. He is good for the sport as a whole. He captivates people that dont know the sport unlike the others. And that can only be good. He may be wrong, and way overdo it, but he is damn exciting.

They all have a gift though. That is not an easy job. Just listen to some of the guys at other tracks like LOne Star. OMG. They are horrible.

I think any competent announcer would have said the same thing as Vic. When a horse gets put away at the 3/8 pole, it usually means the horse is done. It's probably less than 1% of the time that a horse who gets passed at the 3/8 pole comes back.

Well,I am just telling ya what Trevor said one time(that he doesn't bet.)I thought it was odd,but that's what he said.

I don't think he was disputing that part of your statement. I believe you are correct about Trevor not betting. I think he was disputing that Vic would work for very little money.
Speaking of track announcers, they did a feature on Luke Kruytbosch the other day. It's funny how when you see what these announcers look like, they don't look anything like what you would expect. Luke is a big, fat guy and his speaking voice is nothing like his announcing voice. He also seemed like a little kid. He was very animated. They showed him preparing to call a race and he used crayons to color in the silks to help himself remember what colors each jockey had. His personality was like Tom Hank's in the movie "Big". He was like a little kid. His voice is not nearly as low as the voice he uses when he calls races.

Where did you see this feature? I would have liked to see what he was like.
I had a feeling that it was nothing like what was in my mind.

Denman sucks.

He might be accurate, but he mispronounces WAY too many names to be calling races nationally.

I'm still trying to figure out who MedagliO d'Oro and Geeacomo are.

Imagine him calling this year's Derby..

"And Barbayro is running away from them! It's Barbayro in the Kentucky Derby!"

I've always felt the job took incredible skill. Getting a handle on 8-12 horse names in a single race and putting each name with the proper silks would be hard enough, but doing it 9-10 times a day seems extremely difficult to me. Of course, I can't remember the name of a person I met 30 seconds ago, so...

How much is "extraordinarily well paid"?

--Dunbar

Reminds me a lot of "Funny Cide has dropped out of it" (or something to that effect) from the 04 JCGC. I was watching the race and just thought to myself, what's this guy talking about, Santos hasnt asked Funny Cide for anything yet. I do appreciate Durkins short lines from big races such as "and Rock Hard Ten begins uncoiling that massive stride of his" and such...

As far as the statement of "Ace Blue will watch those two run away" goes,I have heard Vic say many times that Lavaman is the best horse around etc.,and so a little "personal expectation" or "bias" towards that horse would probably be a factor.

I don't think it had much to do with personal expectation. Lava Man blew by Ace Blue at the 3/8 pole. I doubt there was anyone watching the race that thought Ace Blue would come back on after being blown by. I bet even Jerrry Hollendorfer thought the horse was done.
With regard to favorite track announcers, for me it's no contest. My two favorites by far are Vic and Durkin.

The feature was on TVG the other night. It must be realtively new because this was the first time I had ever seen it. Luke does some great impersonations. He does a great Marv Albert. I didn't know that Luke did impersonations. I knew that Frank Mirahmadi did several impersonations but I did not know that Luke did them too.

Ok OK I just couldnt resist: ARE YOU PEOPLE INSANE?


First off I challenge any of you to memorize 12 horses and there silks , then once you have done that , mix them up every 5 seconds and speak to 10,s of thousands of people. Ok well thats what a track announcer does, I might only announce harness which is 8 horses and the same silks all the time (drivers) but lets put it this way if you never tried it dont critizize . I despise most of durkins calls these days and can say that from a stance that i do what he does and can do what he does but hey take it easy these guys and myslef are doing the best we can and if it aint good enough i offer anyone out there the chance to step up to the mic any night just ask.

Oh and for you folks that think we are over paid well let me tell you most announcers make $150.00 per day or race day or race card figure that out by the amount of days your home track races , It aint much or even close to what the job is worth . The top announcers durkin denman etc are only making 100k including there national appearences

If you're calling Harness ,then you obviously know that your check is paid for by losers.Think about it.People who don't mind losing money when a horse goes on a break? If somebody doesn't have more respect for themselves than that,then they are losers.Only people with crappy self esteem would accept losing money just because a horse goes off stride.Talk about being somebody's bitch.Sure,some of us play that crap when we are weak,but only losers will play it for very long(cuz your money is fried whenever a horse breaks,and who puts up with that? losers do.)

...kasept..hmmmmmmm

ive seen many a greek restr. lost on the "mellaka hunch play"..then the thing breaks stride ...all you hear is" mellaka ,mellaka ..son of bietch..mellaka"....sooo comedy....

"greek diners, indian newsstands, korean delis..." lol. all have been lost on "easy money."

Rodney's horse in "Easy Money."

If I had a dollah for every Ron Wrenn 3/5 trotter that broke before the start at Maywood ....

What is the job worth?

It's just like the value of anything else. Like your house. It is worth exactly how much somebody is willing to pay for it at the time you want to sell it. No more. No less ("here lies Les Moore. No Les, No more?").

This is exactly why I said they are gifted. Making the call seem like it matters just adds to it. Vic sounds like he has bet on every winner.

Ill also take a stab at the fact that Vic get's excited not because he has a wager on any particular horse but because he has major passion for the sport that he announce's. When I was training to announce , A announcer whom was in the business for 40 years gave me the best advice . First he told me you could be the best announcer in the world but if your not getting paid to do it , it means nothing. Second he said your job is simple make people stand up , make the hair on the back of there neck stand up when the horses turn for the money . This is what vic tries to do every race, every day ,and thats his job thats what he gets paid to do. We could go round and round about good ,bad, or mediocre announcers its a style and only 40% are going to like you thats the facts. In any event things could be worse the top 2 announcers in the country could be JIM DOOLEY and ROSS MORTON . Id be happy with vic myself and luke . Oh well

Do you mean John Dooley?

Ah yes, from the '04 Preakness. Durkin was great in the entire Triple Crown that year.
"And Smarty Jones is ROUSED TO THE LEAD under journeyman jockey Stewart Elliot!"
"and Birdstone is going to make him it earn it today"

Durkin can be WAY over the top spmetimes (see "Invasor is AWESOME!!") but I'll take him over Vic any day. I guess it really just boils down to personal preference though.

I'd say the California guys are both overrated but also have it harder in some ways.

It's got to be far easier calling 5 and 6 horse fields than fields of 10-12. Stauffer's call was not good, but he was probably trying to come up with something to say in the short field. A better judge of talent, I think, is to compare announcers calling a 12 horse field race.

In any event, I really never listen to an announcer when I am on-track. At home, it is different, because I'm limited in what I can see. So, to me, the most important part of an announcers job, aside from quickly and accurately calling the start, is to let those watching on TV/Internet know what , if anythng, important is happening outside of camera range.

John dooley , Jim dooley , yeah ok if thats it , You know whom I speak of

Hey Tao: What are some of your favorite lines you have used while calling a race?

Wow favorite lines, I try not to script my call's but . Here are a few that I seem to utter sometime's



Clippity clop through the slop

Feel's the sting of the right handed wip

There coming home for the pay off

ONE FINAL SURGE

Closed shop early

I use upper and lower turn instead of clubhouse and final turn

Locked up and the key is gone

Farther outside than Danny Bonaducci of the partridge family

Thereeeeeeee COMING HOME NOW

For harness what's your opinion of Sam McKee at the Big M? I think he's pretty good.

Thanks for sharing. LOL!

But I am not getting this one...

Farther outside than Danny Bonaducci of the partridge family

Is this the red haired meatead from quite possibly the worst TV show of all time?

my favorite line that one of the harness guys used to use is so and so 'has the best view of them all' for whoever is last.

That was Jack Lee. He was awesome. The guy who called about 15 years ago at Yonkers or Roosevelt used to say " and here come the vultures!!!!" after a speed duel had obviously taken its toll on the leaders.
Of course that nut at the Meadows(roger huston?) has some good ones. GETTING UPPPPPPPP!!!!

Sam Mckee: My opinion is he is the best harness announcer of his time, He is consistent , He has a perfect voice , Accurate, A pleasure to listen to.


As far as Dannie Bonaducci yes you are correct he was the redheaded kid from the 70,s show the partridge family. He never fit into the family loop he was an outsider how he got picked to be on the show is beyond me but I think he was portrayed as adopted or something im not sure alls I know is he was outside the family very very far outside , so when a horse is wide in the turn and is losing ground thats what I use sometimes , instead of my old line which is he is heading for the hot dog stand.

that's right I think it was Yonkers that I'm thinking of--the boss had a horse that used to run there a lot