REVIEWS: ESPN/NBC Coverage?
 

I didn't think about it until this morning, but yesterday was the first time I'd watched a Triple Crown broadcast in 7 years.. I was switching back and forth early to the hockey game conclusion and OTB TV-12 here for Belmont/CD/PIM, so I didn't see everything, but what I saw was OK I suppose.

I was mystified though when we got Tom Hammond's makeup-laden face at one point while they ran the Schaefer behind him.. "As they finish an undercard race here at Pimlico.." he said. Gee.. Here's an idea, WHY NOT SHOW US THAT RACE FELLAS?

Review from the Baltimore Sun here:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/b...rts-columnists

Any other thoughts about the telecasts? I didn't watch any ESPN prelim stuff at all...

ESPN SportsCenter
 

espn sportcenter leadin...

chris mnkendry:
"... no triple crown winner this year, street sense caught at the wire...and wait until you hear who his jockey blames."

josh elliot: "unbelievable'


story to follow

all grizzle .. no meat as usual

Most everything we saw from EStreet was excellent. For ESPN to dedicate that much time to the undercard is great for the game. By the way I'm in love with Jeanine Edwards. She has a super knowledge of horse racing and beautiful eyes. How old would you say she is. We guessed 42ish.

I was standing in line almost 3 hours waiting for "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's autograph (great guy, real friendly). Watched the race at the Amsterdam OTB, first time not at home or with friends since the '03 edition with Funny Cide's win. It was tough because at the parlor...they had the Pimlico feed, the NBC feed & then the OTB feed came on right after the race. Steve, I have to "crow" a bit because the last week of wagering for me has been the best in 22 years of playing the sport! We all have "up and downs"...but, I'm on a "high" like never before! I just hope it continues for the Spa meet. I know it's a long way away...but for me, that's when it really counts.

In the long run...ESPN will be the worst thing for our sport.

I was able to watch pretty much the entire day....(after I avoided a little emergency at the office)

ESPN was okay....basically what they do is run 2 hours worth of material twice....they have the early crew go until like 2 or so and then Kenny Mayne (who picked Curlin) come in and the discussion is a little different, but the pieces are the same...Jeanine Edwards is a top shelf interviewer...as good as I've ever seen.....the best part of the telecast was that Bailey wasn't there....

NBC was typcial NBC.....I thought the best piece they did was Costas did a little live impromptu interview with Pletcher on a bench near the horsepath...Gary Stevens is so much better than Jerry Bailey and it's always good to hear what he has to say...

So glad you brought this subject up! I was telling my buddy this morning that I'll never watch another all day ESPN telecast again. Why?
Well,all they talked about all day was The Preakness.They didn't show one post parade and as far as I can remember, only showed the odds for the upcoming race once.
I would enjoy it more if there was more time devoted to the next upcoming race...instead they squeeze in Randy's thoughts as they're loading into the gate.
Also, I don't enjoy Kenny (am I funny?) Mayne.
For the Belmont,I'm going to my similcast facility (Plainridge Ma.).
I'm going there today,by the way, to play Belmont today.

I totally AGREE with you! But, everything on ESPN's broadcast are so "phony baloney"
I just like the "basics" when it comes to our sport; talking about the horses, connections, wagering and conditions...
ALL the other "garbage" - I DON'T NEED!!!

...just MY opinion :rolleyes:

I thought they did a nice job with the live stuff....maybe some more time spent on the races, but all in all I thought they did well...Kenny Mayne is a huge lift to program imo...

I guess I just don't get him :confused:

I don't think he's funny and he doesn't bring anything else to the table about horse racing...

I agree....and it's WAY overdue. They took Wire 2 Wire off of the air and pre-empted so many races in the past that I like to believe that they are changing their ways. I have not watched a Sportscenter since they took W2W off.

It's as if the whole undercard is an afterthought,so ESPN can show interviews,behind the scenes stuff etc..instead of the focus on the next race.
To me,it's like one big infomercial for the BIG RACE (which they don't televise).
Time to go...looks like (for now),they're on the turf at Belmont!

Unfortunately...they have the Breeder's Cup this year. :(
This will be interesting.....

I still think they need to find a better way to keep viewers informed of odds, MTP, will pays and payouts. They seem to have a ticker for everything else on ESPN.

Guess without a vested interest in handle it's not top priority. Probably figure horseplayers are tuning in regargdess.

Well but it is kind of an afterthought....it's not called Today at Pimlico, it's called Today at the Preakness....I agree that it would be nice to go from race to race ala TVG or HRTV, but the whole purpose of the program is to get people to turn over to channel 704 (my nbc) for the network broadcast.

I have a different opinion. The coverage ESPN and NBC did was all about the Preakness, and that is fine. At least ESPN showed all the races. If you wanted to see the post parades, etc, go to the otb. ESPN was very good imo. The guy who was in the infield was great, and so is Edwards and Randy Moss and Mayne.

NBC was fine, I wish they would have showed race 11 but, they were focusing on the preakness. I thought Gary Stevens did a great job, and Tom Durkin and all of em'.

Overall it was a blast to watch 6 hours of horse racing on national tv.

If nothing else, they have him on there to counter Hammerin Hank's misfortunes. Can you imagine the silence after one of Goldberg's comments if Mayne wasn't around...it would be painful....

agreed

I totally agree here. To see that much racing-related coverage on ESPN is amazing, especially when they are not even airing the Preakness or the Derby.

The other day, I was discussing horse racing iwth a non-player, and he said something that shocked me. He said that he thought horse racing was making a comeback. I really hope that was true. I was really amazed at how many people ask me about the Derby, and how many of them talked about how "that horse cam back from 19h place". I knew that the move wasn't that unbelieveable, but to them it was a miracle, and if that is what we need, then so be it.

I was overall happy with the coverage of ESPN yesterday, although NBC wasn't that great....

ALostTexan

In a related story, it seems like everytime I go to the track with my non-racing-fan friends, they want to tear up their tickets whenever their horse is in last after 1/2 mile in a 9 furlong race. I try to explain that being in the back of the pack is not a bad thing all the time, but I don't think they are hearing me. I don't think non-racing fans understand pace.

how about hamerin hank shaking like a leaf calling hard sence..lmfao

Tom Hammond looked like an old drag queen who had just taken his wig off. Kenny Mayne tries a little too hard. Also they dont show all of the payouts after the races. P3s P4s Etc.

I liked ESPN...watch most the early triple crown days that they cover.

NBC is another story...I think they are horrible. What do they have 6-8 people covering it, but they don't cover anything.

If you in the infield, let's see the craziness.

If you're discussing the Derby, let's see it and analize it piece by piece.

They should look at more prep races and less human interest stories.

Spyder

ESPN does racing, NBC does drama. Both are necessary. That's how I feel about it.

Steve I agree about the comment from hammond about "That noise is the running of an undercard race..." Show the d@mn race guys!

The issue is that most of us here watch SIMULCASTS all the time. SIMO's are intended to provide racing/wagering info and generally do a decent job.
ESPN and NBC and ABC are in the "sports/entertainment" business not the simulcast business. They treat the event as if no one watching has a real wagering interest, and that is wrong. Twenty or even ten years ago it was OK, now it's not. Twenty years ago if you were planning on betting on the Preakness in the last 15 minutes, you were probably at an OTB. Today, you might be about to call in a wager or place one online and you want the network to give you betting info.
A few comments about both shows.
Ignoring the Schaefer was dopey.
Trying to get Matz to cry on TV was rude.
Hank Goldberg slurred more and more as the day went on.
Costas makes me crazy because he cannot seem to talk without putting his foot up on something.
Jeanine did a nice job handling the brakedown in the Dixie.
Donna Barton was good as usual.
Kenny Mayne gets old fast. His like the wiseass kid in 3rd grade who's funny at first...

ESPN shows nearly every undercard race on their telecasts, so I wouldn't lump them in with NBC in that regard, and I've never watched racing on ABC, so I can't comment on how they handle undercard races.

i'd watch dog racing if ken mayne was on the broadcast. hell, i'd watch a dog show. the man is flat funny. he and moss are a great pair.

low point on the espn show was the infield reporter asking a guy on the clean up crew what the worst thing he ever saw was. when he states "someone urinating", he cuts him off. what kind of answer was he expecting with that question? he should have gone with "what's the most foul thing you've ever heard someone say?". idiot.

i don't like goldberg but putting his slowly melting face next to jeanine edwards for a segment was too cruel for my taste.

why'd they stick beyer in the joke chair?

i like espn's coverage. they have knowledgeable people, that want to be there because they LIKE or Love horse racing!
the major networks have people that it is their next "big" assignment or "big" event, so that's how they handle it. people like bret mussberger, the derby was his next "big" event. ( i can't stand mussberger on a good day at any event)

i understand what they do with the production. they are not after those of us that come together on this board. they tring to get our wives and mothers or the people that think horse racing is over after the triple crown. they know those of us "here" will watch and the production is not for us. do i like the way it's produced? in most cases no but our sport is on national tv, take it how we can get it.

A few thought on the broadcasts:

-Absolutely love the fact ESPN broadcasts almost the entire undercard
-Kenny Mayne is absolutely hilarious and my favorite thing about the broadcast
-NBC is a freakin joke, having a nose to nose stretch duel going in a Grade III in the background as they return from commercial.

LOL, I said the same thing after I saw that nonsense. Like you said, what kind of answer was he expecting?

we went to charles town yesterday to watch the preakness and have dinner.
the tv at our table was on nbc, so i changed it to the Pimlico feed, so i could see the 11th race. as the horse approached the starting gate for the preakness, we had about 10 people standing at the end our table. final one spoke up and asked what channel we had on? the nbc satellite feed had gone down! they all rushed back to their tables and turned on the Pimlico feed, just in time for the start of the race.

very good point. painfull, indeed.

I was having problems with my live internet feed, and I figured that NBC would cover the 11th since ESPN had been showing all of the undercard races during their broadcast. I happened to make my largest win bet of the year on Flashy Bull. What a horrible feeling to not be able to watch that race.

well it cant be too horrible, since you cashed out nice! but I know how you feel, my preakness day wagering was centered around Flashy Bull in a DD so I had to run to DerbyTrail to get the results. DerbyTrail is so great for that.

yeah, they thought you would be more interested in a taped segment containing a boring interview with Todd Pletcher and a review of the finalists for the best hat of the Kentucky derby. I know I was riveted to my seat during those segments. The fact that they were missing a nice race which had major implications for all PK4 and Pk6 players meant nothing to them.

Hank has lost his wits... nothing about his commentary is insightful to me, usually. Moss is good and Mayne knows what he's doing and is a good sidekick. Jeannine Edwards does a good job on the sappy pieces that fill air time. :)

NBC did this on Derby Day as well, I think. I somehow missed the race before the Derby and I wanted to see it because of a P3 I was playing. Sheisters!!

You know what really annoys me about the NBC coverage more than anything? They have absolutely DONE AWAY with the money shot of the horses entering the first turn in the Derby. Don't you guys like seeing the first turn shot with the spires in the background??? What are they thinking doing away with that shot?!?

TV coverage
 

If I ran the production of covering a major horse race, here's the changes I would institute:

1. Eliminate the multitude of camera cuts during the race. Use the regular track feed during the live running. Tracks do this every day, TV networks cover racing a few days a year. If you want to use an overhead view or other view (PLEASE no head ons during the race), they should be used in replays.

2. Forget the trophy presentation. Who really wants to see some old rich guy who's not overly adept at public speaking taking credit for the race? Fill the time with more post race analysis from guys like Moss and Bailey.

3. Make sure the public knows who the 3rd and 4th place finishers are (unless there's a photo and it isn't established) as soon as possible after the race. DOn't cut to a fluff interview with Jeanine Edwards until the public knows the tri and super as well as the top 2.

4. TV must embrace racing as a gambling sport. The human interest stories get run into the ground. Gambling on racing is legal in most states, and obviously in the state where the televised race is taking place. Explain betting strategies and why one came up with their ticket.

5. Talk about other big races, not just the Triple Crown and Breeders Cup. Most of the non-racing public thinks there's 3, maybe 4 big days a year.

I'm sure there's more changes I'd make but these are the ones that come to mind. Why are networks so resistant to change?