I'm glad to see that this is not the usual TVG bashing thread. They aren't perfect, but I believe they have done much more to help racing than to hurt it. It was awful to see a thread of the same topic on another site have members gloating about these layoffs. Just awful in my opionion. I have similar experiences as others when meeting the crew live. I met Simon Bray, Todd Schrupp, Frank Lyons, Ken Rudolph, Greg Wolf and Vic Stauffer at Del Mar in 2005. Every one of them was a 100 percent class act. They are really ambassadors for racing. I swear, my friend Hajck Hillstrom seems to know all of these guys personally and was even picking them up at the airport when they come to Seattle.
Some improvements that I wish TVG would make, especially if they are trying to gain and develop new fans:
* Don't be so beholden to DRF and using the racing form to handicap. Acknowledge that are professional products such HTR and others available to handicap quickly and effectively.
* Less harness. Maybe it is just me, but I can't believe people bet on that stuff
* Never miss showing a race live unless the races fall on top of each other.
* Call out SoCal and other track execs who are harming the game. I realize they are in a difficult situation in that it is those same track execs that they have to negotiate signal, fees, etc with, but they basically ignore the subject altogether.
* Stop pushing their Pick 4 tickets so much. Sure it is a great bet, but not for beginners and not all the time.
Like I said, I don't like the personal shots taken against the TVG hosts, but they could make some general improvements. I hope that Mr. B, Chris K. and the many other off camera employees land on their feet soon.