Durkin is the best, hands down no argument. I'm not a fan of Denman, let's just leave it at that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LryUYkWR3tM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70BAs0p9enA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EufebE8bcH4

I was gonna try to put a few more up, but got swamped at work.

If Zenyatta, Rachel and Larry Collmus were in a race, I wonder who would win...

:D

this wife doesn't know....

Make it stop! :p

How about, "they'd need to sprout wings ? " Hand me the barf bag. Then he stole a line from Johnston at CD , "the more they asked, the more she gave"

Who waits to mute Denman, who names every horse entering the gate. The man is on permanent mute. His catch phrases are redundant. Oh, and his job as shill for the Pick 6 bet $$$ totals and potential carryovers, guestimating how much the carryover will be too.
The only reason the sound is left on is to get a bet down before the start, then mute. Meh.

i have battaglia muted from start to stop if i watch turfway.

Seriously? It's pretty clear. " ‘Mywifenosevrything’ more than ‘Thewifedoesntknow!” Obviously Mywifenosevrything won. Took me forever to figure out how they spelled these names. Ridiculous. If ya gotta do this level of gymnastics to make something silly fit, name the horse something else.

Trevor is by far the best announcer out there. He is like Tiger Woods, where he raised the bar for announcers in calling races, when he came to the US and stared working at Santa Anita . Also who is this Johnston guy you are talking about? Trevor has been saying that for years.

Toe-may-toe / toe-mah-toe

Personally, Denman isn't even the best announcer in Cali. While I realize i'm in the minority, i'd give that distinction to Wrona.

Agreed, it's like arguing who is the greatest horse of all time, but when someone says Trevor is not good, they don't know what they are talking about. I like Wrona also, it's too bad he is stuck at GG.

you do realize people have different tastes? not caring for an announcer does not mean someone doesn't know what they're talking about.

I agree on that also, but some of his comments were laughable

Are race callers even needed? With live video, trackus and graphics that post fractions, a race caller is simply a traditional part of a race. People dont listen to race calls on the radio anymore so it has to be more than the mellow mundane mono-tone voice of Larry Collmus. I could care less nor even know the horses name I bet on in a 25k claimer.

Durkin does more than tell you who is in front or who is in fifth. He tells a story and provides the appropriate emotion for the specific race. He captures the moment perfectly as evident in his many many race calls. This goes with Denman as well with his vernaculars. They provide accurate race calls as well as commentary during the race. Most callers avoid that or do not know how to incorporate it in the race. Hence the lengendary status of Durkin and Denman.

Collmus is perfect for telling me departure and arrival times at JFK but as a race caller.....YAWNfest. Even when he tries to provide emotion, his voice cracks and is simply awful.....2012 Preakness stakes for example.

T.D. and denman have been the 2 best for 20 some years.

Trevor is a shadow of what he once was in his calls. He now relies on trite cliched catch phrases. He [B]used to be[B] excellent. ;)

Durkin is not exactly what he once was either, while we are being critical.

Both of them still bring more excitement than LC does, but it is what it is. The announcer is way down the list in terms of importance in the sport.

Saw this and thought oh wow... someone finally said it.

Brave you (...and yes, I do agree).
An interesting point / question and one I'm surprised I hadn't heard before.

Announcers are only needed on track, and for simulcasts that don't have TRACKUS. Otherwise who listens? I just follow the chicklets. The chicklets will let you follow the complete trip of your horse. Who needs an announcer with TRACKUS.

If you take other sports for example Football, Basketball, Hockey, there are more color commentary and comedic relief than it is play by play calls in recent years.

I personally didn't think anyone would be good enough to succeed Marshall Cassidy but Durkin came along to become the second best caller in the country behind Denman so I'm willing to give the next guy a shot.

I work for Trakus, and love it.

But with any sport on TV, the cameras show you the action. It sure gets more exciting and enlivened with the play-by-play though. Vin Scully, the late Harry Kalas, the dulcet Pat Summerall, etc...some legendary voices made the pictures even better.

I haven't heard anyone in the US quite capture the race like the melody offered by Tom Durkin.

Enough of Denman already. Whenever I hear his call of Blame (whose name somehow acquires two extra syllables at the wire) winning the BCC, I think "Jesus, this guy sounds like he had an impacted turd blocking his sphincter."

You mean his call of Zenyatta losing the BCC? He called her name more than Blame's the entire way. :rolleyes:

This is dumb, national attention wise she was the star of the show coming into the race, not Blame, why wouldnt he call her out more?

People just are hell bent out of making something out of nothing.

The stretch of that BC Classic will not be on his highlight reel. The fact that he more or less rooted her home and barely gave the winner any mention is probably the biggest faux pas an announcer can commit.

:D

I could listen to Trevor all day.

:tro:

Yes, this exactly.

Yes, the millions and millions who were listening to the race on the Radio were upset.

Denman said his most upsetting race he had ever called was Zenyatta losing in that race. What you heard wasnt a faux pas, it was human emotion.

99% of the people watching that broadcast were as well. I don't understand this at all, when I watch the last Olympics didnt you think Dan Hicks was rooting for Micheal Phelps in his call in some of those close races? I am sure on some swimming board someone was critical but the rest of the people would not have seen it strange at all.

There's a way to accurately and fairly convey emotion, even negative feelings in a race call. The 2004 Belmont is a perfect example of that. The 2010 BC Classic is the definition of how not to do it.

Respectfully (and with lots of it too! :p ) I think it's really easy, years after the fact and not having been the one in the announcers booth, to forget that he's just a person. You know? It's not like they get to do it over.

Could you be at the BC watching the Classic go off and call it simultaneously?

Again, what 10 Point said. She was (not the only one, but...) the star of the day. :)

Is there a book on how to do that?

Seriously, that statement is absurd. There is no right or wrong method. People convey emotion in their own way. It is the way he chose to do it and you did not like it. Agreed?

I think 99% of the people watching were focused on her jockey ruining the race for her.

Yeah, it's called "How to not be a blatant homer in a field that requires impartiality."

The whole thread is about opinion. I think Trevor Denman is an outstanding announcer and will be remembered fondly when he has the graceful exit Durkin is taking. That call, however, was terrible in my opinion.

How many Smarty Jones races did he call before that one? Over how many years? And I thought there was plenty of let down in his call when the horse was being caught.

agree, horse never would have lost with a better rider that day. Glad you agree it was not the horse.

Tom Durkin: Erudite influences behind a celebrated voice

Denman used to be great, but now his overplayed catchphrases are really annoying. If you listen to South African racecallers, some have very similar styles. What set Denman aside previously was that he had become more original and had his own style. Now, it seems like he relies more on annoying sayings rather than ability. If I hear "they would need to sprout wings to get to ______ today"...

But again, as others have mentioned, we all have our own opinion on what is good and bad, or what we like or don't like. I do agree that the Belmont in '04 is a much better example of how to call a champion getting beat. However, for me this is the standard for how to impartially call a national hero losing while keeping the race caller etiquette. Unlike Blame/Zenyatta, this was interjected with excitement and spine-tingling.

http://youtu.be/CTHZrdyta5o

I tend to agree ! :D

UOTE=Benny;992955]How about, "they'd need to sprout wings ? " Hand me the barf bag. Then he stole a line from Johnston at CD , "the more they asked, the more she gave"

Who waits to mute Denman, who names every horse entering the gate. The man is on permanent mute. His catch phrases are redundant. Oh, and his job as shill for the Pick 6 bet $$$ totals and potential carryovers, guestimating how much the carryover will be too.
The only reason the sound is left on is to get a bet down before the start, then mute. Meh.[/quote]