Everywhere I went today, somebody had something nice to say about John Asher. What a tribute to a wonderful man!
He spent years 8 years as a hard news reporter here at WHAS, then 21 years as the face and voice of Churchill Downs, it’s vice president of communications.
Think about the hundreds of people each year who probably asked John – “hey can you get me any derby tickets?”
He's the only guy I know who could tell you no year after year, and you walked away still loving the guy.
In fact, if you call Churchill Downs right now, 636-4400, you'll hear his voice. He’s the recorded greeting.
John was more than horse racing. In June of this year, he and I emceed the Elder Serve luncheon. He served as the fundraiser that day and was also on their board of directors. He knocked it out of the park. You could listen to him all day long.
When I joined WHAS TV as a street reporter in 1987, in 1989, John was in the same room with us at WHAS Radio, anchoring the news for them. He was out there covering the news, and if the story had a horse in it, well, the better.
It meant John was probably on his way to winning another Eclipse award. He won five of them for his reporting on horse racing. It’s how he fine-tuned his love affair with Churchill.
If I owned a company, I would have wanted him as the face of it. He was fair, always professional, and created loyal friendships. He never lost his love for broadcasting. John re-recorded his voicemail greeting every day, brand new, updating the date, or the message there now that says he’ll return from vacation after Labor Day.
Our deep respect and love go out to John's wife, Dee, his daughters Heather, Erin, Emma and grandsons Cameron and Caden. His brother Tim in Elizabethtown and of course, his entire Churchill Downs family.
I'll end this by using the opening line John always used when he emceed something, it brought laughs and applause.
Hello, I'm John Asher from Churchill Downs, it's 250 days until the 145th Run for the Roses, it's always Derby Day here in Louisville, Kentucky.
►Contact reporter Doug Proffitt at dproffitt@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@WHAS11Doug) and Facebook.