Arlington memories
- Thread starter blueline
- Start date
Was arrested by the Arlington Park security department in 1981 for transmitting race results from a pay phone outside the racetrack.
At the time, the racetrack had instituted a 15-minute embargo on the dissemination of race results and Director of Security Tom Rivera was enforcing the racetrack's rules.
My company (Phone Programs) sued Arlington Park and won.
I received a $1,000 bonus check on payday and the arrest was expunged.
Les Grobstein of WLS interviewed me so I could express outrage at the ridiculous situation.
I worked for SportsPhone during my college years at Northwestern.
At the time, the racetrack had instituted a 15-minute embargo on the dissemination of race results and Director of Security Tom Rivera was enforcing the racetrack's rules.
My company (Phone Programs) sued Arlington Park and won.
I received a $1,000 bonus check on payday and the arrest was expunged.
Les Grobstein of WLS interviewed me so I could express outrage at the ridiculous situation.
I worked for SportsPhone during my college years at Northwestern.
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Demetri's Boy and Harham's Sizzler. Two of my favorite Ill-breds. Rossi Gold was a tough old horse. I can't remember who trained him. Goldfine or Joe Bollero?
Looked it up on Wikipedia. It was Ray Lawrence Jr. Rossi Gold won that race from 1981-1983.
boston massacre
EOG Master
You Promoted That Race Results Phone Line as a Guest of Arne Lang on The Stardust Line Radio Show, Setup Inside The Stardust Race and Sports book on Sunday Nights.
Our Guest Tonight is John Kelly.
Who ?
blueline
EOG Master
I should have known that....I'm getting old
blueline
EOG Master
Were the phones at the train station? Did security follow you there?
I think Tom Rivera ended up as publicity director and then onto something involving promoting Woodfield businesses.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
Grobber is still on The Score overnights also.
Grobstein was the only guy who got the recording of Lee Elia's famous Rant. The greatest tirade in the history of sports.
Grobstein's memory and recall of games and players that he just goes on about during his show is just amazing after all these years.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
I remember him on WLS back in the 70's. I think he has family by me across the lake, Lakeside/Union Pier area.
The ultimate in white collar crime. Defund the Arlington Park security department, oh wait, they're gone ...
JK, this must be the first time you telling this story on EOG because i would remember. i was arrested in 1981 outside Hawthorne for calling in race results.
Across the street on 35th at the Clubhouse inn bar. Hawthorne security and Chicago vice squad pinched me.
Only difference was the organization i was calling into was well "organized" if you catch my drift. Not as legit as the company you worked for. LOL!
That got me a trip to 11th and State for about 8 hours before my guys got me out.
i knew every pay phone in the area of Arlington, Maywood, Sportsman, Hawthorne, and even Balmoral in them days. i was young and spry.
You are right about that. i made it to 26th and California a few years later for about 30 hours. World of difference, especially for a white boy from the suburbs. LOL
blueline
EOG Master
My uncle was a Marine in Viet Nam....nothing scared him as much as spending a night at 26th & California....I remember the phone call to my mom begging and pleading to get bailed out of there
i was put in a bullpen of about 120 guys. Four of us were white. i get talking to many of the Brothers. Almost all were there for street selling drugs. All talking about their territories and gang affiliations. Forty years later and it is still the same shit. Shows the insanity of the "drug war" by police.
I forgot about the locks on the phones.
The racetracks were protective about their product.
Now they can't get anyone interested in the results.
Forget broadcasting rights, racetracks in recent years have been forced to buy their way onto network television.
blueline
EOG Master
I think ridden by Alan Patterson
trytrytry
All I do is trytrytry
only went once was in Champaign at that time. there was going to be a special summer race ARLINGTON agreed with the owners with a huge pot, 4 year old season for both was the idea. with EAsy goer and Sunday Silance, they had it set up I think tickets went on sale and sold out so grabben them on day one they went on sale. then one or both pulled out. race was moved way down in purse was still a decent race but not a classic. thought the place was a bit too nice for a track as I recall it. then later I saw ASCOT and thought man that Arlington was pretty cool....wish I would have done an EOG raceday event...
was going to be the the second million race at Arlington as I recall, not a match race but the big two and others.
www.chicagotribune.com
was going to be the the second million race at Arlington as I recall, not a match race but the big two and others.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago news, sports, weather, entertainment
Chicago Tribune: Your source for Chicago breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic
www.chicagotribune.com
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WildBill
2
If karma worked Churchill would get it's nuts handed to them by investors because they are have no clue in sports betting and are giving away money left and right with little return. Yeah they can bring in a few more bucks from the Derby, but racing nationwide is a shit show for profit seeking companies. Casinos holding them up for now, but all of their casinos looked like they have peaked to me.
Everyone seems to think racing is dying, and as an in person sport to see, it is. But betting handle keeps going up and up. Most that I know who bet racing bet from the comforts of home. Who needs to pay all that extra for overpriced concessions, parking, and waiting in endless lines? Sure, it helps to see paddock inspection but the live feeds are pretty good; get a good idea of who looks sharp and who doesn't. It won't be more than a niche sport but people have been saying racing is dead for 40 years. But betting handle keeps going up.
If they want to increase the handle 10x... put it in the legal sports books online.. with a video of the races. Then match ups ...parlay with Sports teams.. etc. All one Account
this would bring racing back.. i would play it until they throw dirt on me.
The betting handle means very little these days. the handle is only up because of the computer groups that bet for rebate. Outside of the big rebate groups betting the handle is not going up. Horse racing has been dying the slow death for 25 years now.
An interesting article about the massive subsides made by state governments to race tracks.
Lots of casino state taxes redirected back to tracks. Article written by Ryan Goldberg who did the expose of pregame.com.
defector.com
Lots of casino state taxes redirected back to tracks. Article written by Ryan Goldberg who did the expose of pregame.com.
Is Horse Racing Still Too Big To Fail? | Defector
Although the sport loses public interest with each passing year, at least 24 states directly subsidize it with public funds, likely close to $1 billion annually. “This is an industry that is completely hidden from public view. They’ve got a direct cash pipeline and they don’t want anybody to...
defector.com
Brayden11
EOG Dedicated
Saturday was a sad day for me. i have many good memories of Arlington spanning nearly 50 years. From the annual family trip as a kid in the early 70’s betting Pat Day and Earlie Fires for $2 a race. Driving my 1961 VW Beetle down from Milwaukee in the late 70’s and not having enough money left to pay the tolls on the way home. The First Arlington Million and the EOG days at races. Had some really good times and will miss the opportunity of taking my 3 grandsons for a day at the track. RIP Arlington Park and fuck Churchill Downs.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
I think it has been dying for a couple of generations now. I remember Balmoral, Harthorne, Maywood, Sportsmans Park, and Arlington - all gone now. I think the Bidwell family owned Sportsman's Park.
WildBill
2
My comment has little to do with the industry as a whole. Its about CHDN and their attempts to move away from horse racing because it is losing profitability. Whether its dying or not I have an opinion but I'll let others debate it. CHDN saw that they didn't make much off anything but Kentucky Derby weekend and the racetracks that have casinos. They are going to underinvest or sell racetracks going forward, they are putting lipstick on the pig with the investments in Kentucky Derby. Those are just trying to extract more money from corporate types, they don't grow or sustain the racing industry. I would think a lot of you would have figured this out already, but seems people can't resist sending money to CHDN when they are quietly working to screw over most of the industry.
Hawthorne is not gone. They just ran a summer harness meet and are running a thoroughbred meet starting in October until the end of the year. They are building a casino at Hawthorne. Rumor is that the Casino construction is not going well.
You are right the Bidwell family family owned Sportsman Park. Then they made the disastrous decision to turn Sportsman into a combination Horse and car racing track. That lasted about three years and the track closed shortly there after.
The Johnson family owned Maywood and Balmoral until one of them was caught on tape trying to bribe Governor Blagojevich to get slots. They lost a big lawsuit and had to declare bankruptcy. Tracks were then sold at auction.
This
Sportsman's was a great track. Then in the early 90s, an apprentice rider named Rodney Dickens was killed during a race. And while the track had an extremely sharp turns, they had nothing to do with Dickens getting killed. He was thrown over his mount, and trampled to death. D Wayne Lukas then came out and said he'd never run another horse at Spt with those turns. In the early 90s, Lukas had a lot of power. If he said something, the industry listened. He was wrong here. And like you said, they changed the track; ironically the turns were just as sharp; just that the straightaways were longer. So if anything, the track became more dangerous and horses could get a full head of steam before heading into the turn. The auto racing experiment was a disaster. RIP Sportsmans and Arlington.
On track is dying. Overall betting handle is flourishing.
WildBill
2
The rise of the offshores has no doubt siphoned some of the handle away from conventional sources.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
The Bears signed a agreement to purchase Arlington Park.