I'm a racecaller. I will ALWAYS have the back of a fellow racecaller. Period.

If NOBODY was entertained then we did a poor job. Will try to better next time.

Perhaps you could call him and help him with the tough names like ED, JIM, BILL, JANE, and VIC.

I have typically liked your work at TVG but picking on Beyer because he accurately repped a stumble bum "race caller"(not the person) doesnt have the entertainment value you seem to suggest. In fact all you did was stick your nutz on the line for a race caller, if you think that will endear you to the race community g-d bless..

While admirable to defend a fellow race caller, the way you did it was asinine and juvenile.

Finally someone gets it. Asanine and juvenile is a little harsh but inflamatory and a bit much is cool. Again I must reiterate that it's TV. I have known Andy for 30 years. I like and respect him. It pissed me off that he had to pick on Richard and I reacted. This isn't espionage it's just horseracing.

You've ruined horse racing.

Old news :)

Well, I wouldn't call it picking on him. It was well thought out and fit with the article. I guess since there really was nothing to attack in the article, you made up stuff about his betting and knocked his horse of the year pick, the very one you agreed with right here on DT. That makes sense.

:{>::{>::{>: durkin

I actually love Vic's race calls..I am in the minority but who cares I really do like his calls. The crap he pulled today on TVG is inexcusable.

Byk takes issue with people in the game all the time and does it professionally and it can be plenty entertaining.

From the DRF:

Watching races isn’t helped by the cluster of trees that obscure the start of all 6 1/2- and seven-furlong sprints. (Sorry, tree huggers, but they need to go.)

Sorry Yoda, they are Banyan trees and they are protected. If you don't like them, take it to the Dept. of the Interior, Dipsh1t. It isn't like it's been causally ignored.


Nor is following the action helped by the race calls of Richard Grunder, the track’s announcer. Grunder makes countless mistakes, but even more maddening than his race-calling errors are his daily assaults on the English language. In race after race he mispronounces words and proper names that ought to be in the vocabulary of the average 10th grader. He has even managed to mispronounce the names of the horses Deny and Awe (“Denny” and “Ah-wee”). When a horse fell in the stretch run of a race a week ago, Grunder called, “Sunday Delight has went down!”

The guy has more enthusiasm, passion and energy than any race caller I know. I'm sure he was heartbroken when Sunday Delight broke down midstretch- and as such am sure he would offer his apologies to you for his grammar after the fact. That is if you would have bothered to converse with him prior to your assault on his character.

But that isn't part of your journalism, much like it isn't part of your journalism to ask Berube about the godamnity Banyan trees that you obsess upon...


He mispronounces a few names - big fuc1<ing deal... It's part of the charm of this place. You call maiden 8's, 8NL2's and 5NY1's all day and see how well you fare.


You do a piece on one of the rare positives in the sport, then go out of your way to find something about it to take a sh1t on.



Way to go :tro:

I find drinking and posting to be a bad mixture....though sometimes it is good for a laugh or two.

Sometimes.

A little early for that, though I agree it is good for a laugh or two.. sometimes.

So the conditions of the races are a pre requiste for professionalism? I guess the owners and fans of an 80 claimer are entitled to better? Beyer wrote the place is thriving and needs a face lift to go with the new body that management has developed, why is that not well received?

No not at all... Just that it's not like you get a 7 month course in how to properly pronounce Eskendereya there... Like it or hate it - it's a great product, and the focus should have been on that - not to find something to bitch about (without provocation for the first part at least)... but then again it wouldn't be thoroughbred racing if we can't find something to draw negative attention to it- so I shouldn't have been so alarmed... My apologies :rolleyes:

What Beyer failed to mention is the disgusting purse structure at TB. I dont know why he did not elected to point out the most obvious blemish but he did. How the heck do they get away with 22k for 65k opt claimers. I get its 76 and sunny but please handle is great so were is the coin?

Higher purses? No that would bring in the big shots! We don't want the opportunity to make more money. We're fine just like it is.

*spits*

Now pardon me there is a buy one get one free sale at Wal-mart on Jorts.

This has already been addressed in this thread by folks way more knowledgeable than I.... If you find the guy that has a gun to the head of every trainer/owner responsible for the 10 horse fields damn near every race, let me know. It is upsetting that a criminal like that is on the loose.

I know you are sticking up for your track and your guy and I totally get it and can appreciate it. But I think you are taking the overall message of the column the wrong way. You have one of the biggest names in the sport writing about Tampa and how much he likes it. He thinks it's a great product and offered up his opinion on how it could be improved.

Grunder could be the greatest guy in the world, but how hard is it to pronounce deny and awe correctly? There is no charm in butchering the English language, especially from someone who's job it is to talk.

Instead of looking at the fact that someone is actually writing about your track, you want to shoot the messenger. I don't really get it.

Journalism? Are you serious? It's a fun show designed to toss jabs back and forth and talk horseracing.

I didn't say he was a bad person I just kidded him about betting and HOY. Btw I decided to change my vote to Zenyatta when no one could actually tell me what the criteria was for HOY.

I didn't do anything that any one of you have also done when just sitting around and busting each others balls.

I remember now why I took the DT hiatus.

Back to the dungeon.

I'll be watching and reading.

Cheers.

VJS

Hossy - The overall message of the piece is obviously positive. No one in the game needs Andy Beyer or anyone else to explain that - the proof is in the handle and seeing as this was in the Form, not the Washington Post, the target audience already knows this...

It was yellow journalism to bitch about the view of the 6 1/2 - 7F gate without even so much as asking the Track President about it - a guy he friggin' quoted in the article... It's not like he didn't have an opportunity to discuss it with him.

I felt it was bad form to call out Grunder without so much as an opportunity for either he or the facility to rebut - and I called that out - that's all.


It isn't the first time he's made salacious assumptions and got called for it - it is another in a long list. Listen, the guy is great - he as done more for the advancement of handicapping and I applaud his efforts and appreciate what he has done to change the game for the better - but his dig was unwarranted. And I called it out. sue me.


I'm really done with this - If people hate the purses, hate the announcer, hate the friggin trees - bet somewhere else. I really couldn't care less. I was just making a point. I'm not the voice of Tampa Bay Downs and could really give 2 sh1ts about what anyone thinks about the place. Honestly.

You're taking it way too personally man. You know I respect your opinion and I'm not looking to argue at all.

Beyer obviously really likes Tampa. So what if he made mention of trees? Why does that bother you? I get the Grunder stuff. You're defending your home town guy. But come on. Good guy or not, some of the mistakes are crazy. I've seen you guys joke about it a lot before, right?

I'm glad we have Beyer, who at least has the balls to write about stuff we as gamblers care about. Sometimes that means bringing up stuff a lot of people think, but can't or won't say.

Really not. I don't know how many different ways I can say it. If he likes the place or doesn't like the place, my world keeps spinning. I don't care.

My only point. and I can't explain this any differently, is that if his issues with the track are worthy of print, he should have addressed them with Berube and/or Grunder for a counter-point. He didn't. That's shoty.


If you couldn't see the first 1/8th of a mile of a race at Santa Anita, Belmont or Saratoga, wouldn't you expect a journalist to inquire as to why? Or simply accept it as part and parcel of the facility and blame it on "Tree Huggers"?

It's just weird.

He's a great in the business, I'm not taking shots at him, just his work has gotten peculiar lately.

So, the correct timing of horse races is not something you consider important?

There wasn't a group of people sitting around busting balls.....it was you taking lame shots at someone who wasn't there.

The laughter you seem to be hearing is only an echo of you laughing at your own jokes.

An actual question that was asked and was answered. :tro:

I thought it was obvious the tree hugger line was tongue in cheek. I'm not sure why a counter point was necessary. He gave his opinion on Grunder. What exactly would be Grunder's response for botching easy words?

Tampa doesn't get my money. They pay $hit purses for the $$'s they take in. If you want to see a poster child for what is wrong with racing - look at Tampa. I know many of you fantasize about Tampa but, for what they take...... they don't pay $hit.

Sounds almost like a personal boycott. Or, maybe you are an owner that would like to race there.

From a bettor / handicapper point of view, do the purses really matter as long as the field is large and competitive? If there was one race that had 11 horses ran for a purse of 22k or another race with 7 horses and a 45k purse, I know which one I am betting.

Very important. They have had timing issues with the turf course since they put it in. Now it seems to have migrated to the dirt course too. Hopefully Beyer pointing it out publicly will shame them into stepping up their investigation and repair.

The simulcast shortcomings are duly noted. Their cameras look like hand-me-downs from NYRA.

The trees are a non issue. Would it be better if they were gone? Yes. Do the trees put simulcast players at any disadvantage? No.

Grunder is a non issue. I have never heard a horseplayer say, "I play Belmont because I love Durkin" or "I don't play Turfway Park because I hate Battaglia". I fail to see how upgrading a track announcer will change anything.

You certain make a fair point with regards to purses. The question is why in the word would owners jocks and trainers support racing there? I suppose its warm and geographically idea? BTW I doubt a bright student of the game llike Beyer doesnt recognize the crappy purses but he speaks from the gambling side. As long as owners trainers and jocks are willing to compete for popcorn and peanuts what are you going to do?