Belmont day

[Caradoc]

It appears that the new Chief Experience Officer has her work cut out for her.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/teresagenaro/2014/06/09/belmont-stakes-a-for-racing-but-customer-service-fails/?commentId=comment_blogAndPostId/blog/comment/1752-1784-504

[miff]

Lotta whinning about conditions but one should expect that with a crowd size NYRA handles once every 8-10 years.Being desperate for revenue, NYRA raced on Sunday with mountains of garbage all over the place.Even a hardened regular gambler who goes most days was disgusted.

New CXO will be up against it as gamblers are tired of excuses and the same generally poor treatment by NYRA.Charging $5 for a bottle of water or a soft pretzel just stupid, like NYRAs lightweight top management.

[Boscar Obarra]

If charging $5 is stupid,  what would you call buying it?

[Edgorman]

Very thirsty.

[RICH]

A friend of mine just gave me his thoughts on his day there, he was on the apron on top of stretch in the portable seating, he mentioned everyone was pissed because the big white tent blocked the view of the stretch. Beer was 10 bucks each, the wife was pretty scared coming out when they had to jump on the LIRR? no crowd control and 20 cops just standing around, betting was impossible, even though that section had their own windows, the tellers did not know how to punch out tickets.

 He has been to several, and said he wouldn\'t bring the wife again. He did say there were plenty of fine women around. He wrote 2 letters the next day to NYRA on his experience. He did have a good idea, they should have had windows for next race only. People were spending way to much time betting later races.

[joemama]

I had a bad experience myself some years ago at one of the breeders cups.  Not sure of the year but it was the year Pleasant Home romped by 10 lengths or so in the distaff.  The tellers could did not know how to take bets at the windows hence the long lines and I myself being forced to bet 3 races or so at a time in a attempt to not get shut out.  This is probably one of the reasons the breeders cup is not being held there.  Had a great day betting wise but the experience sucked to put it bluntly.

[magicnight]

I actually had an enjoyable day, but only because I knew what to expect from years of dealing with NYRA\'s \"big day problems\". Once the racing started, all I did was go from my seat to the betting line and back to my seat. I was very lucky that we had a competent usher guarding my section. She even kept the four-deep General Admission crowd from blocking the aisle, but pretty sure she was the exception and not the rule. Never had a trace of a wi-fi connection from my seat.

You could tell it wasn\'t a real \"racing\" crowd there when Andrew Cuomo was introduced and he did not get booed off the stage.

(shameless self-promotion alert) my bloody details at the below link:

http://around2turns.com/2014/06/09/guests-of-the-association/

[richiebee]

Thats some excellent reporting from bagarre Belmont. Hoping to read a more
tranquil dispatch from \"over there\".

[magicnight]

Thanks! The \"over there\" stuff is in the pipeline and coming up next, but a Saturday at Longchamp followed by the French Derby at Chantilly followed by four long days of work and drinking with the boss at night, flying back Friday and then \"bagarre\" Belmont (had to look that one up, have enough trouble with \"gagnant\" and \"couple\"), I\'ve got too much material and not enough time and energy right now. But I\'m really looking forward to hearing from Frank. That is, once those tears stop falling on his shoulder. And how was your Saturday, Richiebee?

[Silver Charm]

Once again well done. You really are quite talented.

$150M was wagered on Belmont Day and only one Super Bowl has had more than a $100M. This years Broncos-Seattle game. The Belmont alone (80M+) took more wagering than all but about 10 Super Bowls.

21M people watched on TV and there were 15M watching Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Game 1 was played with NO air conditioning. This years Super Bowl was over at halftime and there were no GET OUT Even games left.

I\'ve heard from countless people who said they had a blast knew there would be problems or inconveniences but no matter. They wouldn\'t hesitate to do it again. I\'m sure there were operational issues. I think they played a Super Bowl once where the electricity went out.....so the following year they set a record on wagering. Learn from this.....

[richiebee]

magicnight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks! The \"over there\" stuff is in the pipeline
> and coming up next, but a Saturday at Longchamp
> followed by the French Derby at Chantilly followed
> by four long days of work and drinking with the
> boss at night, flying back Friday and then
> \"bagarre\" Belmont (had to look that one up, have
> enough trouble with \"gagnant\" and \"couple\"), I\'ve
> got too much material and not enough time and
> energy right now.

Bagarre was a word I first saw in George Plimpton\'s \"Open Net\", written
about Plimpton\'s experience in training camp with the Boston Bruins. The idea
was that Plimpton would play goalie with the Bruins in training camp (I seem
to recall Plimpton had to sign a waiver releasing the Bruins in case of death
or dismemberment).

Plimpton played the first period in goal in an exhibition game for the Bruins
v the feisty Philly Flyers. Right at the end of the period, Plimpton went to a
hospitality room to address some high powered Sports Illustrated advertisers.
While Plimpton was antecdoting, a huge brawl, which Plimpton called the
\"bagarre generale\" broke out.

> But I\'m really looking forward
> to hearing from Frank. That is, once those tears
> stop falling on his shoulder.

Think Frank just got home to Schenectady Monday morning...

> And how was your Saturday, Richiebee?

Kind of brings to mind the Nineteenth century journalist who felt compelled to
ask the question \"So how did you enjoy the play, Mrs Lincoln?\"

[Niall]

I have to admit as Saturday wore on I was feeling somewhat empty that I was missing the Belmont. It was and always be more than a race as Floral Park is my hometown and it is more of a reunion than anything. As Richiebee eloquently pointed out, there were going to be hiccups but so what ... Anyway me and maybe a 500 others packed the bar at Hunter Mtn to watch the race. 40 inches of plasma for all to see ... no audio and too small to see anything ... but man as they hit the stretch the energy and excitement were real ... when they hit the wire not one person knew who the winner was but it sure felt like we had a Triple Crown Winner. Nobody cared ... I\'m glad that I broke my tradition and did something different. Catching some breath while waiting for the Spa to open ... look forward to seeing (or not) everybody again.

[Bet Twice]

I experienced most of what she describes in the article, with the exception of the LIRR issues as I drove myself, but found them to be minor inconveniences to what was an amazing day.  I can see how those less interested in racing (e.g the wife) would be put off by the shortcomings, but for a fan, the quality card and the excitement of the crowd was worth the trip. Hopefully NYRA uses the experience to improve the offering next year.

Regarding the $5 bottle of water, if you think that\'s bad....the stand outside our seats ran out of bottled water by the 8th race and started selling tap water in a cup for $5.

[Silver Charm]

Niall, I have been to the Super Bowl, several Final Fours, several Derbies, 7th game of the World Series, NBA Playoffs and a lot of other major sporting events.

But the Breeders Cup year Zenyatta was beaten on the Finish Line of the Breeders Cup Classic I can flat out say I have NEVER heard people screaming that loud in the stands of any sporting event as they were that nite coming down the stretch. EVER!!!! Some people had taken the bus and the train for 15+ hours to be there. They didn\'t want to go home disappointed even though they did.

All I could imagine was as the horses hit the top of the stretch Saturday in the Belmont Stakes they were 4-wide and it was anybody\'s race. The screaming from the stands had to be EPIC if not literally shaking the place. They ran like that until the 16th pole and one horse dropped back and another moved up. California Chrome was there the entire way but could not punch it home. Given a few days to think about it and add it all up really no one lost.....People keep saying the sport is dying. I bet for about 30 seconds there nobody was thinking about that.....good nite!

[miff]

Game is not dying, just stuck in neutral,tough to identify any upside.Reality is there will be about 3,000 at Belmont today......back to earth.