Trevor was terrible.
Clueless and struggling all day. His favoritisms and biases clouded many of his calls, missing every big winner who came up the rail. His problems and nuances all surfaced yesterday.Advice to Trevor--fall out of love with yourself and just call the races. The BC is a very educated crowd who knows what is happening and doesn't need the mustard.
STREET SENSE was about 5 clear while he was still calling QUAY. Same with ROUND POND while he was calling BALLETO.
Battaglia or Dinver could have done better..
Pletcher was skunked, and the Arabs only had one winner, therefore two Eclipses.
3yo trophy?
Chalk players got their butts kicked, and the deep creative players were getting huge scores. This wasn't polytrack, and Keeneland form was useless and misleading, which should have been expected.
Completely agree! I was there so the calls were not that big a deal but how in the world do you miss the move by Street Sense and having Round Pond surge to the lead? He also missed noting the Pine Island's spill but in hindsight, probably a good thing. I just can only imagine how poetic Tom Durkin may have been yesterday, particularly on Ouija Board's win and with Invasor's upset.
I could not agree more. There was no excitement to his calls which is part of what makes the Breeder's Cup so great. I think about Tom Durkin's call when Cigar won the Classic. With Denman, it sounded just like any other old race day.
Being present on track I really didn't notice many of Denman's calls above the crowd, but after watching the races since I got back home I have echo all the previous sentiments; Denman was awful. On track he kept calling Circular Quay as someone is rocketing up the rail, I'm thinking to myself, 'How the hell did CQ get to the rail?' Well he didn't Denman just was calling the race for second. How do you not give a call to a horse who wins a race by a pole until he's been wrapped up and trots under the wire? ESPN seriously needs to investigate how they can secure Durkin's services. For the average sports fan who doesn't really know racing an exhilirating race call could be the difference between hooking a new racing fan and someone flipping the channel.
Excellent point that I hadn't considered, Reggie.
The newer or less than regular race fans watching had to be totally confused when listening to the calls and watching the screen. I doubt Mr.Denman's calls, accent and hot-dogging had to leave them feeling even more detached from the racing business.
Have there been any interesting articles(DRF,Wash.Post.Bloodhorse,NTRA) about Denman's performance,or does the favorite son avoid any criticism?
I'm in total agreement with everyone. Couldn't hear Denman while at Churchill, but watching the replays, the excitement of the race call was definitely missing. I could have given Denman a partial pass on the Street Sense blunder - if he had put some zest into it when he suddenly realized his oversight. But it was totally devoid of passion, as others mentioned. If Durkin didn't see Street Sense until late in the stretch run, at least he would have interjected, "And STREET SENSE has made a HUGE move up the rail to take the lead!!". Denman just called Street Sense as if he had been calling his name all along, like he was trying to cover up his gaffe. I guess he's used to those puny Grade One fields out in California and couldn't handle the 14-horse monsters.
Tom Durkin is the best. He can make a $16,000 claiming race at Aqueduct on a Tuesday exciting. I don't know why anyone thought Trevor would be an improvement.
As I understand it, Denman got the job because NBC wouldn't allow Durkin, who is under contract to NBC, to call the BC races. Only Denman fans might have believed that he'd be an upgrade from Durkin. My vote went to CD's home annouce Luke Kruytbosh (sp?), who, next to Durkin, is my favorite announcer in the game. Another guy I like but who is understated and not a name announcer is Keeneland's man. In fact, he's so under-the-radar I don't even know his name. But I like his race calls nonetheless. He might have been a good choice as well as he certainly had experience calling big fields this last meet.
This message has been edited by GAM-II on Nov 13, 2006 1:52 PM
Kurt Becker is the guy at Keeneland. I agree that he is very good and would have had no problem if they had made the move to him.
He doesn't get cute with his calls and is very precise. Doesn't he have a Nascar announcing background or something like that? Anyone know?
Luke's ok. I could have dealt with him. He does a tremendous Marv Albert impersonation.
Dave Rodman is another one I like. I'd like to see him get a shot at a bigger track eventually. With Vic Stauffer out at Gulfstream, maybe Magna will relocate him from Maryland.
We were spoiled with Durkin for all these years. On a day to day basis, the man has definitely slipped a bit. The thing is that Tom Durkin at half of what he used to be is still ten times better than everyone else out there in my opinion.
Plus the guy just has a flair for the dramatic. Some amazing BC calls he's given since 1984. He just adds that perfect touch of excitement needed in a race call.
Imagine if he was calling the Classic this year. He would have added that extra something special to it.
Hopefully Trevor steps up his game next year. If anything, he can't get any worse.
