ABC and ESPN to broadcast 2008 Breeders' Cup

[Alan07]

The Breeders’ Cup and ESPN announced today that the 2008 Breeders’ Cup World Championships on October 24-25 from Santa Anita Park will receive an unprecedented nine hours of live coverage including, for the first time, 2.5 hours of live coverage on ABC. The 25th running of the Breeders’ Cup will feature 14 races over two days with record purses of $25.5 million and air on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 beginning on Friday, October 24 on ESPN2. The ABC and ESPN combination marks the first ever network and cable telecast of the Championships.

http://breederscup.com/content.aspx?id=32802

[blackthroatedwind]

Let's hope ABC can add the final nail in the coffin of irrelevence that the BC now lies in by adding Brent Mussberger to the Television coverage.

[GBBob]

Originally Posted by Alan07

The Breeders’ Cup and ESPN announced today that the 2008 Breeders’ Cup World Championships on October 24-25 from Santa Anita Park will receive an unprecedented nine hours of live coverage including, for the first time, 2.5 hours of live coverage on ABC. The 25th running of the Breeders’ Cup will feature 14 races over two days with record purses of $25.5 million and air on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 beginning on Friday, October 24 on ESPN2. The ABC and ESPN combination marks the first ever network and cable telecast of the Championships.

http://breederscup.com/content.aspx?id=32802

So they are taking the supposed "feature" races Saturday and showcasing them by switching them from network to cable. I know ESPN is everywhere, but it still seems ironic

[Seattleallstar]

As long as NBC gets some it, I like the way they present races. With the set up music, and having Bob Costas wrapping up things in his own eloquent way.
Plus Battaglia and Neumeier what more can you ask for!

[Scav]

What ESPN should do is that ESPN 360 crap they do for basketball/football games games, camera angles from multiple places, cameras on coaches (trainers) and even put a camera on a jock.....

I would definitely watch ESPN2 if they had a 4 boxed screen with the below cameras

1) Jockey camera
2) two trainer cameras
3) overhead camera

[philcski]

Originally Posted by GBBob

So they are taking the supposed "feature" races Saturday and showcasing them by switching them from network to cable. I know ESPN is everywhere, but it still seems ironic

Probably college football conflicts late afternoon

Originally Posted by Scav

What ESPN should do is that ESPN 360 crap they do for basketball/football games games, camera angles from multiple places, cameras on coaches (trainers) and even put a camera on a jock.....

I would definitely watch ESPN2 if they had a 4 boxed screen with the below cameras

1) Jockey camera
2) two trainer cameras
3) overhead camera
4) Kent Desormeaux's wife camera

FTFY

[GBBob]

Originally Posted by philcski

Probably college football conflicts late afternoon

I know..
but still

[philcski]

Originally Posted by GBBob

I know..
but still

ANY coverage is good coverage, IMO, during that season. Even the crappiest football games have higher ratings than racing. Now all we need to do is show all the people watching N Texas-Louisiana Monroe because they have a bet on that racing is a much more compelling gamble.

[ddthetide]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Let's hope ABC can add the final nail in the coffin of irrelevence that the BC now lies in by adding Brent Mussberger to the Television coverage.

mussberger is doing the radio commercial for the belmont this weekend. that's strike 1 ! i can't stand to hear mussberger do anything.
he has NO interest in any event he does. to him it's a paycheck and the "next big event".

[ddthetide]

Originally Posted by philcski

Probably college football conflicts late afternoon

espn can show an early game, then go to racing. abc always shows the 3:30 game. in the east it is usually big 10 or acc, which is the equivalent NT-ULM.

[justindew]

How friggen hard would it be to get all the races on one network on the same day?

Sometimes I really wonder if people are deliberately bringing harm to the sport.

[ArlJim78]

if Brent Mussberger has any piece of this, it will be strictly a mute situation for me.

[asudevil]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Let's hope ABC can add the final nail in the coffin of irrelevence that the BC now lies in by adding Brent Mussberger to the Television coverage.

Brent loves action. If he ever called the race, there's no question the audience would know who he bet on. When he calls the bowl games for ABC, it is painfully obvious toward the end of the game who he has bet. A few years ago there was a 24 point blowout and he had the team that was up. Problem was that he laid 18.5 points and the team that was losing was driving to score a meaningless T.D. There was a vast difference in his voice tone and dynamics. Once the team scored, the color commentator had to fill the dead air with some BS commentary as Brent must have destroyed the booth. LOL!!!!!!!!

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by Cardus

Don't tell me you're not looking forward to hearing, "You're looking LIVE at Santa Anita park in Arcadia, Californina, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains!!!"

thats correct, any of the polished network types would be a turnoff to me, although for the wider television audience I'm sure they identify more with those guys.

Now I'd love to see Keith Jackson give it a crack, "whoa nelly, this matchup between Curlin and Big Brown should be a dandy".

[Jax Cajun]

I wonder how many times Brent M. will tell the story about Jimmy the Greek betting on every horse in the race?

[TheSpyder]

How about a mic on KD during the race?

Originally Posted by Scav

What ESPN should do is that ESPN 360 crap they do for basketball/football games games, camera angles from multiple places, cameras on coaches (trainers) and even put a camera on a jock.....

I would definitely watch ESPN2 if they had a 4 boxed screen with the below cameras

1) Jockey camera
2) two trainer cameras
3) overhead camera

[TheSpyder]

Very funny....and true.

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

thats correct, any of the polished network types would be a turnoff to me, although for the wider television audience I'm sure they identify more with those guys.

Now I'd love to see Keith Jackson give it a crack, "whoa nelly, this matchup between Curlin and Big Brown should be a dandy".

[Scav]

Originally Posted by TheSpyder

How about a mic on KD during the race?

I doubt a mic would be feasible...

Quick story, the other day I went to Arlington OTB to get a quick bet in for something at Hollywood, there was still a couple races left at Arlington. The OTB is built on the same grounds and is right next to the track. You can actually watch a race from the rail over there, and it is actually a great experience. Well, I was watching the race and as they got to the 1/4 pole, I hear "HEY MOTHA PHUCKA" and it was Douglas yelling at someone, it was pretty hilarious.......

[SlewsMyHero]

I don't care much for ESPN. I can do without their hip-hop coverage and the pointing out of every celebrity within 5 miles. Who cares about the damn celebrities, just show me the odds and horses. I'd rather watch the live feed coming from the track, which is what I will most likely do. If they bring back Tom Durkin as the caller, I'll be very happy. I've had enough of Trevor D's butchered and predictable calls.