The Derby Draw TV Coverage
 

just venting a bit but i have seen high schools create better television and have seen better acting in porno movies then that circus that was on yesterday...all 3 people on stage seemed to be totally clueless to their cues, timing or anything else...don't they know that dead air is death in the media? there was more dead air then activity for pete's sake....can we not get some cut aways to the horses race history or something instead of looking at these 3 boneheads looking like deer caught in the headlights????

i know it's the draw but they could make it 10000000x more entertaining...the nfl draft gets ratings, the bracket unveiling gets rating...you can turn make any hopeless activity interesting by filming it correctly....jeez o man

It was the Derby draw, how riveting can it get? At least you got 5 or 10 seconds of Union Rags owner picking his nose in Hi-Def.

I agree that the production value is really poor, and wish that if they don't want to put any time into planning a watchable event, they just draw the names in 5 minutes and get it over with. Churchill does a great job with every other aspect of derby week, it's too bad the draw is as bad as it is.

And they probably spent a pretty penny on the production. All they had to do was go down a few blocks to Little John if they wanted to also have laughs while making a parody of themselves.

Oh yeah the card today is fantastic. :rolleyes:

like i said have some cutaways with some music instead of the dead air....i've seen more life in the county morgue then in the secretariat room yesterday

i didn't bother to tape it. i figured it would be comparable to the hour-long heisman award show. mostly boredom and wasted air time, with a few seconds of drama. maybe a few seconds...

If they went back to letting the connections pick their post it might be a little more interesting. They could ask them why, etc. IMHO

I listened in the car on XM, and thought Asher did a pretty good job.

The way they do the draw is a bit weird, pills first and then a "random" pick of the papers with the horses name. The timing of the guy with the papers seemed a bit suspect at times IMO.

instead of a convoluted process, they could just let them choose in order of earnings.

i agree the papers part was suspicious...i wasn't even sure if it was random or not..only because i would think that for something of such high magnitude as the derby the random number generator program wouldn't be a guy turning his head and picking a paper out of a file.


Asher was horrible just like the others...the pill box and random paper picker were waiting on asher for the cue to start picking and everyone just stood there. this gets treated like church bingo every year....its like an Ed Wood film

It is what it is. We have trouble getting national coverage for major races, just be happy that the draw is even covered. Really what do you want, Springsteen to come out and do a song after every horse get their post?

I thought it was a more festive atmosphere when they held it in downtown louisville, on fourth street. Seemed more like a party. I guess they lost their sponsers for that.

As soon as the #3 pill was pulled, he went to the front for Take Charge Indy's paper.

The papers shouldve been picked first, no questions asked. Bush League at best.

Glad I wasn't the only one who thought the guy picking the paper was a little odd.

That is how they draw races there, don't know what would be considered weird or bush league?

The fact that it's 2012 and that is how they draw their races (esp the country's biggest race) is why it's weird AND bush league.

I thought it lived up to my expectations. They drew numbers and names, the field was set, and morning lines were given out. How the hell do you make it exciting?

Take off the blinkers, it looked shaky at best. The guy watched the pills being picked and then thumbed through the papers with his eyes open. A first grader could come up with a better system. Was it fixed?, probably not, but it was weird.

What would you like them to do? Have Roger Goodell hug each trainer after they draw a post position?

I didn't have any problem with it -- and obviously it is terrible TV.

However, why not have the guy pull the paper first and declare the horses name before the pill is pulled?

It really did look weird to see the pill being pulled first as the poor hapless guy is thumbing through the papers.

If the guy is going to thumb through and read the papers... the sequence probably should go 'horses name announced first - pill second' instead of 'pill first and horses name announced second'

Thank you, it's pretty simple really

They might as well throw the gimp from Pulp Fiction in there to spice things up.

I agree with Drugs that the papers shouldve been pulled first. That would be a start.

Seriously? Blinkers? It is how they do it dude. Your dislike of the way they draw races doesnt change the fact that this is the way it is done. The entry slips are turned over when they are drawing meaning they have no idea whose name is on the other side and I dont have any idea why anyone think that they would care.

Yeah except he isnt reading the names on the entries.

Yeah and if Im pulling the pills and I'm waiting on a certain name to be drawn then I can easily hold a pill in my hand with the desired number. Dont you think this hasnt happened before and there is a reason why they do it this way? It is called palming pills and no it wont happen in 2012 with Derby coverage and cameras around but as I said there is a reason that it is done like it is and it isnt for viewers pleasure.

OK, I'm wrong. But it still looked awkward, and a few times he looked on both sides of the paper.

Didn't see it this time around but count me in with the group that thinks it coulda / shoulda been better.

It wouldn't be hard to pepper it with Derby highlights from years past, etc.

Another instance where racing could have done more, presented itself in an exciting / romantic / historical / whatever light but instead it's another missed chance.

(Not that many would have tuned in, but still..... no excuse for dead air. Ridiculous).

Well, you know Chuck, there was a second shooter.

In past draws the papers were in a tall holder and the guy wasn't touching them at all -- let alone repeatedly thumbing through and reading them.

Obviously the draw was clean. The guy just looked bored out of his friggen mind.

Same here, and late last night I watched the NBCSN coverage that I had DVR'd. They filled in the blanks pretty well between picks.

Exactly. Only pretty hard-core fans were watching, and there would be little that could be done to spice it up for anyone else.

On second thought, they could have had the Derby hat models doing the little pasting of the silks thing.