This cannot be a mere coincidence

By Mike Hamilton, June 26, 2014

“Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) today announced another phase in its goal of offering the highest quality racetrack experience to horseplayers and passionate fans of the sport.”  At least that’s what John Siscos, WEG’s Director of Media Relations and someone I would consider to be a very good friend, trumpeted yesterday in a release that went out to media outlets near and far.  Beginning Wednesday, Woodbine’s Thoroughbred simulcast feed is produced in HD (1080p; 16:9 aspect ratio).

“The fans will love watching the races on the hundreds of HD TV’s we have around the facility,” said Doug Flaherty, WEG’s Senior Director of Broadcasting. “The sport is shot so beautifully in ‘high-def’, and it will also provide sharper graphics and odds displays for bettors.”

Now, I ask you this:  Is it a co-incidence that WEG’s simulcast production went HD the day after I left the show?

I think the answer is pretty obvious to anyone who has seen the pores on my nose.

According to the release, TVG, the premier horse racing TV channel in the United States, on which I appeared regularly, “will get Woodbine’s 1080p HD signal right from the start while other locations will continue to receive a standard definition (SD) feed and can view the production in SD (4:3 ratio) on older televisions, or converted back to 16:9 ratio on newer, wide screen TV’s.”