It's on right now. Going on about an hour with him. I'm sure Steve will put up a link soon

I'm not sure he would be interested in a year round job with his NASCAR involvement...

:cool:

:tro:

I fully agree with you on Becker, but donot think he would be interested in such a long term job as i believe he only wanted the Keeneland job before. Hope i am wrong. Like his style and calls alot , with no BS.

I second this.

That would make Mirahmadi fifth, not third, unless high school math has disintegrated beyond all recognition.

Not really ,, if you go by PGA leader board type results ;)

http://www.pga.com/news/golf-leaderb...ur-leaderboard

Not true at all. Two players tied for fourth; there is no fifth. We then go to those tied for sixth. Then there is no seventh; we go straight to 11th.

Sometimes, I bleed.

Agree. It was fantastic! Lots of laughs and goosebumps (a few tears too) listening to him recall his memories at the mic. His race calls will definitely be greatly missed.

I feel your pain Peter.

I once had a horseplayer say this to me. Vic, IMO you are the 2nd best announcer that ever lived. Wow that's high praise. I said. Just curious. Who do you think is best? He said it's a 13,848 way tie for first. :eek:

Phil.. Laura..

Glad you enjoyed. Didn't need to do much but tee it up for Tom and didn't expect it to go an hour, but it was impossible to stop once we got going. (And it just happened that we had a number of Durkin highlight reel moments close at hand...)

LINK TO ARCHIVE: http://www.thoroughbredracingradione...y=12&Itemid=35

Do know if it topped the Bobby Frankel tribute show but it was definitely in the top 3. A great hour of radio!

[Originally Posted by Peter Berry View Post

" Not true at all. Two players tied for fourth; there is no fifth. We then go to those tied for sixth. Then there is no seventh; we go straight to 11th.

Sometimes, I bleed."


VJ Stauffer;
"I feel your pain Peter.

I once had a horseplayer say this to me. Vic, IMO you are the 2nd best announcer that ever lived. Wow that's high praise. I said. Just curious. Who do you think is best? He said it's a 13,848 way tie for first "

------------------------------------------------------------------

Gee Vic , this pain you feel, is it related to trying to take (Mr Peter Berry' s) oops ! Michael Wrona's job calling the Santa Rosa meet ? or am I mistaken ? :zz:

BTW PB you are right in correcting my post - sorry :wf

No worries at all, Benny.

I haven't called at Santa Rosa, that's Wrona's gig. And pretty sure Stauffer would have zero interest in taking my job in West Virginia.

Vic Stauffer or Frank Mirahmadi would be great to have as a successor to Tom Durkin

Boy, hard to extricate foot from mouth.:eek:

Sorry to go off topic, all, on the great Tom Durkins thread. Hard to believe that as he progressed in his career that he wanted to be PHIL GEORGEFF. The voice of Chicago racing way back. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Georgeff

Here's a sample of his craft, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdU6A...69962C054E064C

Wikipedia says that he lives in Alabama now, would be great to hear him on ATR.

Like someone said earlier, Durkin could call the phone book and make it sound exciting. Going to truly miss him, the best ever.

I would love to see Dooley get the gig.

I didn't think it was possible for me to hold Tom in any higher regard . . . until I heard the conversation on ATR. Thanks for bringing him to us again, Steve.

It's been said that some of the most reflective moments occur when driving alone. Now I've never met Tom. But when I'm on the road and listening to live racing on XM and they switch over to Tom Durkin with the call, I feel like I'm sitting there with a very good friend, and in my experience the best race caller ever.

Vic I was wondering if you would consider or are being considered to be the new voice of NYRA. Wih your distinguished career and accomplishments I would think you are high on the list. Would you consider moving back east and calling races for us NYRA devotee's?

YES

Thats awesome Vic. Has NYRA contacted you? the Inner vs. HP is quite the contrast.

Imagine the great VJS calling the SPA meet

Martin Panza and VJS reunited... HP EAST

Doing things like they did in the first today and the field size will fall right in line with Hollywood as well.

Barfola :( I'd give up racing :zz:

Why not? Certainly better than the robotic GPS voice we call Larry Collmus.
If he can get a high profile gig, why shouldn't they?

My favorite Durkin Call
 

The 1994 Travers - Holy Bull and Concern

Great race. Great call. Mr. Durkin will be missed and I hate to be the person that tries to fill those shoes.

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

The turn for home in this race is very similar to how he handled the turn for home in Rachel's Woodward. He realized - or predicted perfectly - that something dramatic was about to happen and was ready with a line that captured it. It's those types of lines that made his calls so memorable.

I was standing about six feet away from Tom in the booth at CD when Arazi made his move in the BC Juvenile. Frankly any of us would have seen the move Arazi was making. The Red, White and Blue of Allen Paulson's silks literally passing a horse every stride. He caught it perfectly on time and made the proper passionate call. Many of us would have well handled that. It's what he said AFTER the huge move that set him apart.

"Bertrando is a stunned second" What? Are you kidding me? Who the hell thinks to say that? That's what blew me away. Therein lies the genius.

He seamlessly makes calls I wouldn't even think of to try.

"Mike Smith let's the Bull roll but there's cause for Concern"

"Sunday Silence braces for the oncoming power of Easy Goes"

" 28 years in the waiting comes down to a fateful final furlong"

And hundreds more.

When I was evolving as a race caller people would occasionally say I sounded a little like Durkin. Was that my intention? No, Id say. My intention is to sound EXACTLY like him. But I'll never be good enough.

Later I'll post a TD story about the Sunshine Millions at GP that offers insight into the man not just the announcer.

it's too bad Tom doesn't get the TV call for the Belmont. he does get the on track call, right? it would be great if he could make a triple crown call in his last year.

I wished he would have called any of Zenyatta's races including her Breeders Cups (win or lose).


.....cue obligatory laugh track or sustained post about her being overrated.

Yes. Tom calls on track and for all simulcast outlets. Larry calls for NBC TV. I call for PIZZA.

Of course we was supposed to call Bertrando. He was still running a clear second. It's the way he described the scene that I enjoyed very much.

Really? To me, there's a world of difference between "Bertrando is second." and "Bertrando is a stunned second."


--Dunbar

Did you get call from NYRA yet? are you being considered to come east

still can't believe they didn't bring Zenyatta to Saratoga. Disgraceful. One would think as good as that hoss was to them, they owed her the priviledge to have run past everyone at the best place on earth. Makes me ill.