Belmont coverage
 

They were running the Secretariat footage on ESPN and I got chills all over again. That never ever ever gets old. I liked seeing the movie dopplegangers and hearing from Penny Chenery. I gotta say, one of the things I enjoy every year is a certain level of Secretariat-apalooza when they cover the Belmont. It was also fun to see Billy Turner.

Got an earful of a familiar refrain earlier with Lukas, Zito, and Baffet discussing the TC and changing it. Zito and Baffert of course are 'no dice' and we all know about Lukas' thoughts. Penny was very diplomatic about it. I wanted to ask a couple of the guys at the desk if they've gotten into the sherry again. Sorry Randy, you're just wrong. Angel didn't seem to like it.

Andy Serling...the new ESPN commentator.

He definitely classed it up. ;) They need to get Monsieur Byk in there so he and Andy can get into it. Talk about good television.

In other news, Eightyfiveinafifty actually stayed on the track during the Woody Stephens. Forget betting on D'Funnybone, if you could've put some money down on this, you'd have made a good bit of change. Sounded like everybody, including the trainer, was waiting to see if he would bolt again.

They do a good job, but please for the love of god stop getting so cute with the in-race camera angles. The simple pan shot more than suffices, people.

I try to give the network/ESPN coverage a break, and actually like the odd camera angles. But is there anything dumber than this "Belmont Stakes Jockeys With a Win Today" chart that they keep showing?

Lets get rid of Hank Goldberg. He couldn't pick his mother out of a room full of palestinians!

I was a little frustrated when we got a shot of the assistant starters instead of the break in one race, then the horses' backsides for an extended period of time. Call me crazy, I like to see the front of a horse in the lead.

I just heard that Dizney is donating a portion of First Dude's money for the rest of his career to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to combat laminitis. Now God help us, Sarah Palin has arrived at Belmont to watch FD run. :(

How the hell are we supposed to watch the Manhattan?

Ridiculous.

I guess they think the deli bit is more interesting.

Morons go to a commercial

I think they could at least wait to black it out until AFTER the race before the Belmont is over.. Jeesh :mad:

If they aren't gonna show the races, then why black it out at all?

To torment us.

Steve,since you are part of the media and probably have some kind of connections,I hope you can address ABC not showing the Manhattan with them.

Yet another bomb wins.. Winchester.. Pays $44.00 :wf

brick!


-bt-

Thoroughbred Times put the video of the race up: http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/uti...4BED10_771.f4v (I said video, but I'm only getting audio after I clicked on it...anybody else having that problem?)

Not sure in ABC showed it, but Martin Garcia brought home the Acorn winner for $81.00.

He's collected some nice wins this year.

I had the Harry Caray sandwich in he deli where he used to work at lunch today.

They just cut off "Empire State of Mind" to go to commercial.......

Which ranks as a highlight for ABC I think. Put it on the reel. Whatever the criticism of racing coverage on tv, they didn't force us to listen to this in its entirety.

It is always nice when they show the start of the race from ground level, leaving he viewer with absolutely no idea what is happening. Please tell me that this is "because we need to attract the casual fan and they love to have no idea of what is going on"...

If you are going to show the horses from the satillite view, do a better job of identifing them.

Or better yet just show the pan shot, you know the one where people can actually tell what is happening. You know like they do in every other sport....

OMG, let it go. New Yorkers under 80 loved it.

no shiet..wtf

Under an IQ of 80, maybe.

Yeah you're really in touch.

I liked the one where the gates opened,horses were running down the track,and ABC was showing the guys standing behind the starting gate

Did you even look at the faces of the crowd? Many of them had a look of "wtf?" I actually started laughing, it was so comical.

If this is what you think of as being in touch, thank God you're not running any racing organizations. We'd be in even worse shape. And no, I don't hate the song, I just know what constitutes an idiotic decision by a caricature of a governor.

glad they did, it couldn't SUCK enough!

And for the Preakness and the Belmont they don't show the race prior to the big one.

:rolleyes: there was a big ovation for the song. Either way, it's a goddamn song. If you think the song they play before the Belmont has one iota to do with the "shape" "we're" in, then just wow. You need more important things to worry about.

I guess it would be easier to prove there was an ovation if ABC hadn't gone to commercial during the song.

And I didn't say this song caused the problems of racing, it's just one more piece of evidence that decisions made by certain individuals in NY seem to be done while high. You're the one who seems awfully defensive about a pop song, but yeah, I'm the one wasting my time. :rolleyes:

Thank god they did...that was HORRIBLE!!!

Who picked that song anyway? What a bad idea...

You posted in three different threads about how awful it was. I told you to let it go, and you think I'm the obsessed one. I've never seen someone take something so insignificant and extrapolate it to make it represent some sort of statewide incompetence or something. I'm not even sure who exactly you're blaming anymore for this unspeakable embarrassment foisted upon the good ol' racing fans of Amurrica.

The thing I love the most is how the people who are complaining about what New York song should be played at Belmont are from Alabama, South Carolina, etc. :zz:

I live just outside of Saratoga...

A song less than a year old should not be played as the song for the Belmont. Not to mention the rendition was horrid. Oh, and the fact there is much more to the "Empire State" than the "concrete jungle."

I always loved "New York, New York." I mean, when you are trying to somewhat replicate what "My Old Kentucky Home" is for the Derby, with what this song is to the Belmont the last thing that comes to my mind is a Jay-Z song.

Thank god ABC cut away, we were seconds away of switching the channel and waiting for the Capital OTB replay.

These morons are so incompetent it's unbelievable. It is so frustrating that is almost maddening. I'm trying to watch the race and they won't show an angle where I can see what's going on.

At least they were smart enough to show the pan shot for the final 1/8th of a mile. LOL.

Any post that utilizes the word "foisted" deserves a :tro:.

Why didn't they show the Manhattan???

Yes, thank god. I'm sure your head would have exploded and then caught on fire if they had stayed for one more second.

News flash: No song at any racetrack in the history of anywhere ever will approach the place "My Old Kentucky Home" holds. "New York, New York" is a cheesy song that's been beaten to death at Yankee Stadium over the past 15 years, and god forbid anybody tries to introduce anything youthful into the fusty American racing landscape. Once again, if you weren't in the city, you don't know just how big that song was last year and like it or not, Jay is one of NY's most recognizable citizens, so marginalizing him just makes you look silly.