Dumpy - the Sentimental choice?

Neighmaster Wrote:

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> Only in Africa can you actually have a debate
> whether it is OK to be really bad at your job or
> not..............hysterical.
>
> Wow, talk about getting dumped on! But it was
> quite fun setting the cat among the pigeons. The
> points about the need for accuracy and
> professionalism are well taken, guys, believe me,
> but there's just something about Dumpy's uncanny
> ability to rise to a crescendo in the first 50
> metres, and sustain the note right to the wire,
> that get's me where I live.

I think the cat was already well into the pigeons Neighmaster. If I'm honest you simply annoyed me. I don't mean that nastily to you, we all have opinions and we are entitled to them of course but this isn't a game to me, this is my money and when I spend money I want value, whether it be from the horse and jockey or from the commentary or whatever.
And personally, I hate that crescendo you talk about, like listening to a drunk guy in a pub slurring away and raising his voice to be heard by all.. and we all know how annoying that is!

Dumpy is the only caller capable of giving a punter both a heart attack and a hard-on over the last 50m of a race...... and as soon as you hear his voice you are reminded to pour another rum and coke and hang on to those tickets !

Why does Dumpy not get invited up for the big meets in other centres then Jimmy?

hibernia Wrote:

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> Why does Dumpy not get invited up for the big
> meets in other centres then Jimmy?

FFS Hibs... don't give the powers that be ideas to fark us off even more!!!! You'll make an alcoholic of me before I'm 47!!!! :X

INFULLFLIGHT Wrote:

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> Dumpy is the only caller capable of giving a
> punter both a heart attack and a hard-on over the
> last 50m of a race...... and as soon as you hear
> his voice you are reminded to pour another rum and
> coke and hang on to those tickets !


LOL... only from you IFF...

I would like to see Dumpy call The Hunt Cup or The Wokingham...
Surely his bosses must get some stick and complaints from the public.
Is there no competition for his job.He is probably a nice guy and i dont like seeing people
lose their jobs,but is he old enough to be retired.
This is a topic that we shouldnt be debating on such regular occasions.

SPORTING POST

.A commentator’s bad line-call added some fun and games to an entertaining programme at Fairview this afternoon. The way punters have reacted, one would think we live in a perfect world.

The long-knives brandished by the all familiar character assassins that inhabit the corridors of horseracing were out in force following a bad call in the fourth race that saw commentator Alan Schoeman awarding the race to the wrong horse.

The Fred Crabbia silks are all over the show in Port Elizabeth and the Singapore-based owner had two runners for two different stables in the MR 90 Handicap run over 1400m. Justin Snaith sent Citizen Dante out with the standard cap, while Allan Greef’s Run Rorkus Run carried a gold cap.

An excited Schoeman shouted the storming Citizen Dante home as he flew past the pacemaking Havasha. Except it was not Citizen Dante. It was in fact Rorkus running to victory!

Love him or hate him, Schoeman is a legend. He started out as assistant to Larry Weir, Doug Fox and Pat Hurley and has been the voice of PE racing since 1981. He was also commentator in Kimberley for twenty years until being replaced by the young gun Alastair Cohen recently. Schoeman’s dedication to and love of what he does is illustrated by the fact that he religiously drove the long road with the Clerk Of Scales from Port Elizabeth to Kimberley every Monday, leaving at three o’ çlock in the morning and getting home way after midnight – a round trip of some 15 hours for all those years!

He could also write a book on some of his experiences. No doubt the Rorkus incident will take up a chapter. He recounts the Kimberley story of a day a cloud of sandy dust choked him as the horses swept passed the winning post for the first time in a distance event.” It was a very windy day and the sand almost choked me. I fell on the floor in a fit of coughing as I tried to clear my throat. All the while the race was on and the punters were moaning about the silence – not knowing that I was rolling around on the floor of the commentary box. It’s quite funny now – but wasn’t then”, he chuckled.

He went on to mention the day the late legendary PE trainer Oom Nic Claassen tipped him his horse, All Three A King:” I am not a big punter and the horse was 100-1. I put a couple of rand on him and when he hit the front I battled to contain my excitement and screamed with joy and almost fell out of my chair – the public must have realized that I had punted the winner!”

The nickname ‘Bumpy’, was christened by his late brother. “ He gave me the name and it has stuck like glue. In our younger days we enjoyed dancing – you know the boogie and jive thing. I loved it and was a talented dancer – at least I thought so – and was guilty of bumping into folk on the dance floor, as I used to move like crazy.”

There are those that are now calling for the colourful character’s head and if one looks at it, the mistake probably borders on the unacceptable. Firstly Rorkus is a chestnut. Citizen Dante is a bay.The change of caps were correctly declared in what was just an eleven horse field. It is difficult finding mitigating factors. Playing with punter emotions is a dangerous game. But there was no malicious intent. It was a genuine mistake.

For a man who started calling in 1981, he really should have been able to call this race with his hands tied behind his back and while phoning to check his Telebet account balance.

On the flipside of the coin, making mistakes is what human beings are all about. Bumpy adds so much colour and humanity to the usual humdrum drone that we listen to every day. Nobody died, as they say. The Fairview commentary box is also not the best positioned eagle’s nest we have ever seen. It is also a thankless and tough job, that isn’t particularly well paid. A sitting duck really.

We will be very surprised, and disappointed, if Phumelela take action on this trivial oversight. There are, after all, so many other serious issues that need addressing in so many aspects of the package that is the horseracing product. It’s a case of priorities, and Bumpy adds more value than stress to most of our lives.

And the problem is we really cannot afford to lose genuine colourful characters. Let’s move on and enjoy the racing.

Attached files

The writer misleads the public by forgetting how often this chap makes mistakes -

That article has just proven what the title of thread asks

And the problem is we really cannot afford to lose genuine colourful characters. Let’s move on and enjoy the racing.

Can racing afford to lose punters?

mr hawaii Wrote:

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> And the problem is we really cannot afford to lose
> genuine colourful characters. Let’s move on and
> enjoy the racing.
>
> Can racing afford to lose punters?

Phum only needs the R20 punters who could,nt give a fark who calls the race,ppl with computers dnt count lol

pity that the punters that keep them going might have jobs and phone for the commentary