ESPN coverage: What did you think?

[Barbaro06]

I thought ESPN was horrible in its coverage. I was yelling at the TV during the Juvenile because they were showing the rest of the field rather than focusing on the winner.

I could have done without Hank Goldberg's handicapping. Just shut up and show the races. I could have done without all the commercials. Felt like I was watching NASCAR (their coverage of that sport is pretty lame too).

Rehashing the jockey's hazardous duty video was lame...could you have put something new together?

[Tucumcari]

Ya, that's right... they totally showed that during the triple crown at some point, didn't they!?

[winds]

I thought I'd watched that video before. Good God, they couldn't have put together something else? Maybe not about the jockeys, but something.

winds

[sparta]

Not as bad as before, as long as I had the remote handy and could mute Jeanine Edwards.

Oh, and Emirates Airlines...PLEASE get a new jingle.

[Tucumcari]

Korbel got better coverage than Breeder's Cup.

[docjocoy]

I thought the coverage got better as the day went along. They finally showed a normal post parade and introduced the horses right as they came on to the track during the Classic, and I found it annoying that they didn't do that for the other races until I figured out their little system of introducing the horses with their own pictures and taped video earlier while the horses were saddling. They probably correctly figured that most people were going to tune in for the Classic, and they had a lot of air time to fill with unfortunately some ridiculous blather, but I thought the live interviews were informative, I liked the Coolmore segment, I enjoyed the young English guy who had quite a few insights on the Europeans, (as opposed to the awful hairy English guy that they brought in to mix it up with Kenny and Hank, who are also awful, but I think they are awful doing other sports too so I may be biased).
I thought Lafitte Pincay III did an admirable job in the winners circle in a role that can sometimes be problematic with exuberant owners bouncing about. He held his own between the owners and trophy sponsors.
I wish they would tell Dr. Bramledge (the vet) to be slightly less matter-of-fact when they interview him when a horse breaks down. He always has the same persona, kind of ho-hum, and while that is probably his personality it comes off as not as sympathetic as it could be while most of the viewers are usually understandably upset and could use a personality exuding more empathy.
Given the length of the broadcast I thought it was great overall. There really isn't a sporting event to compare it to, 6 hours of non-stop coverage. Some ups, some downs, and they finally got the camera unfogged. Hard to keep the rain off the camera, they get rain in the broadcast of both football and baseball games (the other sports that I watch the most), and it always gets onto the camera.

[choltz]

Hank Goldberg, while he may be the charming life of the party off camera, on camera he presents himself as nothing less than a blithering fool. Anyone unfortunate enough to be in audio range of his semi-incoherent ramblings, cruelly extended with awkwards pauses, certainly cringe at what must be considered a linguistic felony.

LP III performed admirably; yet we actually have a finish line. We know who won. No panel of judges...no kiss and cry room so no need for the obsession with the winners' circle interview; sure the neighbor, gang from school and Grandma are on the edge of their seat, yet that's about it. And speaking of interviews, unless there is a big booming baritone on the back of that horse galloping out, just wait until the jockey dismounts.

Kenny Mane needs a better sidekick, or simpy needs to be someone's sidekick. Randy Moss and his technical analysis hardly warrants center stage (read why put the boring guy front and center?). Nice to have ex-jockey JBailey throw in some perspective on the goggles; same thing with trainer LJones talking about the mud caulks...both things that actually matter to people who may develop an interest in the racing of horses (rather than the incessant People Magazine 0-for Pletcher trivial dithering).

Camera work was again continually pathetic. During the post parade, show the horse, not the stable pony, the actual competitor...and the entire horse, not just head, shoulder, and the jockey. After the race, show the horse, and again, all of the horse...not a close up of somebody sitting on top of a horse. Not to mention, REPLAY! Show the stretch run (sort of a like a touchdown, homerun....they even replay a strike; baseball or bowling).

Human interest? The humans aren't racing! Focus o the performance and the pedigree; talke about the 200+ years of selective breeding that created the horse built for speed and stamina; dig up footage of sire, dam and as a foal; recap the history of the particular races or preps (here's a crazy thought, explain who the race was named for and why); show the trials and triumphs of getting a foal on the ground and into the starting gate...let alone the winners' circle on BC Day. Promote the handicapping aspect (application of knowledge to predict a solution to an unknow rather than simply pulling a lever on a slot machine...or that blithering thing that Hank does).

Ahhhhhhh!

[geowarrior]

I prefer NBC coverage of major racing events. The Hank Goldberg betting stuff was new, but not informative. Almost any of the TVG people could run him into the ground with plenty of backstory on their betting selections (even though there are plenty of TVG people whose personalities I don't care for - most of them seem to know their stuff). It seemed quite strange watching 'The Works' all week on TVG, then switching to the totally different style of ESPN. The only ESPN reporter who lights a light is that fellow Luck that they import from England to give the 'European' perspective. He could carry the whole show on his own.

I don't think TVG would have done any better than ESPN. Their 'talent' would have been more knowledgeable about the horses (although depending on who was front and center, no less annoying than anyone from ESPN), but TVG is a network that has attention deficit disorder, jumping from race to race. They don't leave time for much post-race analysis, and they fill a lot of time (relatively close to Prime Time as far as Pacific Time goes) with paid programming, when they could be talking pedigree, analyzing performances, looking at past horse legends, and classic races, with segments that last longer than it takes to blink. They could also try having a few segments that explain aspects of handicapping and other elements of horse racing (like racing conditions), for those that are new to the sport.

They said 'The Works' was going to be the best ever. I can't imagine what it must have been like before if this was the best ever. What's informative about someone standing at Belmont talking about a cell phone conversation with a trainer who had a horse work at Aqueduct, with no footage of the actual work?

A good thing about ESPN though was that I didn't notice any celebrity interviews (or maybe I was asleep for those).

The thing that neither network seems to have got a hold of is that a proportion of the viewers for this kind of event have the potential to be hooked in to the sport of horse racing. But it's assumed that viewers know everything, and that their main interest is in betting. When some network gets the clue that many viewers are interested in the HORSES, then we'll start to get some good coverage.

[zinn21]

I TVO'd it. My kid was in a softball tourney-but from a fast forward perspective @ sixty times normal frame, it appeared a bit too blabby for me..

[BenB]

For us european the BBC is showing the breeders cup this afternoon at mid europe time. 14.25 (PM) hour
The BBC is all ways up to the best in this kind of TV coverings.
With Willie Carson Claire Balding etc.

[mikec]

Geez ; I've had all I can take of Hammerin' Hank Goldberg. And how does Mutton Chop add anything but insanity to the broadcast ? Please ; next time turn him back at airport security.
Honestly I'd prefer to see Jerry Bailey & Gary Stevens together handle the commentary with any other network guy as the " anchor " - say even Bob Costas. I used to like Randy Moss and to a lesser extent even Kenny Mayne but it's getting old.

[Galileo]

I thought the commentator was absolutely awful. Listen back to the Durkan commentaries down the years and he is in a different league.

[Tucumcari]

OMG... AND I don't believe hey ever did show a complete order of finish. It was sooooo generic. Like ABC and NBC did the name brand for years and now we are getting the no name brand.
As for having Stevens and Bailey co anchor the thing, it would be "I rode more KY Derby winners than you did... so I won BC more times than you did." No thanks. How about a good mix of the GOOD personalities from the racing networks. Not Jon White types, but Pete, Laffit, Nancy...etc. They know the people and they can show the stories of the people involved with the horse. I always enjoyed Charlsie, and she was so good because she know of what and whom she was speaking of and about.

[docjocoy]

Absolutely, I loved Charlsie, I wish she would unretire and the networks would give her almost any type spot just to hear her analysis and commentary. I used to love to see her riding up to the winning jockey or losing favorite, microphone in hand (back in the days before all the little clip-on gadgets), and ask all the unscripted questions that we all wanted to hear. She is I suspect not riding much (if at all) these days, but just give her a mike and let her go, taped video spot or live.

[majxmom]

There's a lot I don't like about ESPN, and very little I do like. Going back to 1984, I really, really enjoyed the very first Breeders Cup telecast on NBC. I have them all on tape. In 1984, NBC worried how they were going to fill up 4 hours of programming, so they had seven or eight special features on the TB business that they ran in between races. They were all very good. In 1985, the powers that be decided that they were too rushed, so thy switched to emphasizing the betting and odds, and did not make so many features. I've never felt since then that any of the broadcasts were better than 1984. With all the modern graphics these days, they could run a crawl with the odds and stop talking about them so much. Is it really important that we know that Street Sense went from 4/1 to 9/2? Is that an update worth having? There are so many features that they could do on breeding and the Bluegrass, the Ky horse park, racing history in NJ, whatever. They could have thirty second features on the horses themselves. George Washington certainly would have been a good story, before he broke down.

I loathe the Hammerin' Hank segments, and this year, he seemed really cantankerous, and several times, it didn't seem like a schtick. When Todd Schrupp came on for a few minutes, it was like a breath of fresh air, and Hank looked like he couldn't stand him. I have always hated Kenny Mayne since he called them "animals" all the time. Dude, they're horses. They're noble. Stop it. And Mutton Chop? Please!

One complaint I have against ESPN that I never thought I would is the 6 hour broadcast. When NBC had it, they started with the first race within just a few minutes, so there was action right away. ESPN started out talking about odds, and it went on and on for a half hour before a race, and man, if I'm bored, the ratings are in trouble, because I'd watch a rocking horse on TV.

And one complaint that is a little unfair, considering the conditions: the technical problems undoubtedly caused by the rain were juvenile. If it was the Superbowl, I feel certain Jeannine's microphone would have worked.