Johnson and Durkin

[copying]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

That's mighty hard to do when you've never read a fraction in your life.

You clearly don't understand. That is exactly what I'm trying to say. If you rely on Durkin to tell you "Oh! the half in '46" - that doesn't tell you a damn thing - maidens may run the half in 46; the track plays differently day to day.
You need to know who is right behind, tugging on the reins, looking for room, full of run etc. Who's running easily, who is being pushed, who is all out. Telling you what happened is useless. Tell me what's about to happen.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by copying

You need to know who is right behind, tugging on the reins, looking for room, full of run etc. Who's running easily, who is being pushed, who is all out. Telling you what happened is useless. Tell me what's about to happen.

You forgot to mention that we also need to know who.....would....have....to.....sprout......WINGS. ....to catch so and so.


In my opinion, Denman is one of the worst announcers in the sport.

Durkin was fantastic in the 80s and 90s, and I still like him, but he has lost a bit over the last ten years or so. I like Dooley the best now, but the CD guy is really good too.

[pointman]

Originally Posted by copying

You clearly don't understand. That is exactly what I'm trying to say. If you rely on Durkin to tell you "Oh! the half in '46" - that doesn't tell you a damn thing - maidens may run the half in 46; the track plays differently day to day.
You need to know who is right behind, tugging on the reins, looking for room, full of run etc. Who's running easily, who is being pushed, who is all out. Telling you what happened is useless. Tell me what's about to happen.

So if you bet on a frontrunner in a claiming race and the quarter has gone 21 flat and the half 43, you don't want to know that your horse is almost certain to back up in the stretch? Or if you bet the closer in the same race, you don't want to know that the same fractions are setting your horse up for a big run?

We can see a horse during a race and whether the rider is sitting still or pushing the horse or whether the horse is getting a bad trip, but we can't always see the fractions. I suppose that information is useful when you are for some reason only hearing the race without watching it, but where does that really happen other than ATR or when TVG is on Sirius. While time is not everything, it can certainly give clues as to who is getting the best and worst of it that many, including me wish to know.

BTW, personally, I leave the east coast, west coast thing to Rappers.

[NTamm1215]

I'm kind of neutral on the fractions, especially if you're watching the track feed.

However, Trevor Denman makes proclamations about what's going on that are wrong way too often. He tends to anticipate moves that don't occur, he'll shift his focus to a horse who he THINKS is making the winning move only to hang. Besides, and I'm recycling this joke, his street sense when noticing who's coming up the rail leaves something to be desired.

Tom Durkin may be past his prime but no one captures the moment in a big race the way he has for the last nearly 30 years. You'll never find a Trevor Denman call that's 1/2 as exciting as the 2002 Test. Trevor would have s.hit the bed in the stretch of the 1998 Belmont and there's no way Trevor would have been able to illustrate for a wide audience what was going on in the 2004 Belmont. Not to mention that Durkin's call of the 2005 Derby was about as flawless a call as you're ever going to find.

On a daily basis he's not nearly as crisp as before, he's much more prone to error but Durkin's 2nd to none in my opinion.

NT

[jballscalls]

it's so funny how many observations on this thread are dead opposite to what i think and some are exactly. goes to show you taste in announcers is subjective as tastes in ice cream.

i've never gotten the "i can't understand trevor" i mean, he's speaking english, i can't say i've ever had to double take on something he said.

i also thought vic's sound and style was far more like durkin than trevor, even though someone stated the opposite earlier.

all the guys at the big tracks do an amazing job, and i think most of us small track guys do a good job. it's just different tastes for different folks i guess.