Jessica Paquette calling Parx

[dnlgfnk]

Originally Posted by cj

Well, he was still terrible and he got a pass. I don't know if he was ever any good because Tampa wasn't a blip on the national radar when he was younger. But he was not even close to good once Tampa became popular. Jessica is also an incredibly nice person but she doesn't get a pass.

There was a guy at Charles Town for a long time before Paul came on board. Paul is great, by the way. He was absolutely brutal. Jessica is already superior to him. This guy actually got another job and continues to be poor. But we don't hear a peep about him.

There are others out there too. They are all white men. None of them get the scrutiny that Jessica gets. The don't get 1% of the scrutiny she does. Why do you think that is?

Paul is excellent. I wasn't consistently exposed to him until he filled at Colonial recently.
Jessica is the daughter you bring to recital, rooting so hard for but sitting on pins and needles, painfully awaiting the missed notes. The scrutiny may be due to the "D, E & I" sense of the hire without qualification.

My favorite thoroughbred announcer actually calls Harrah's Philadelphia. Mike Bozich supplied the perfect blend of accuracy, description, and emphasis without yelling, when bridging the gap from Keith Jones to Chris Griffin.

I'll take Jessica's current state of apprenticeship over any feed that incessantly talks me up to the gate with their personal opinions, ala Twinspires tracks.

[cj]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Completely missed the point of the post I wrote. But that's nothing new for you.

Every time I read something you write I become more convinced that you just don't get it. And that's on a myriad of racing subjects.

You make numbers and that's also an art and very difficult. But your lack of empathy for others who do hard things in racing is just so very disappointing.

It's almost as though there's some solace you take in knocking others.

Who are you to decide who does and does not GET A PASS?

Try as I might, as well as important others I know. It's become impossible to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Glass houses! OMG!!

I didn't miss the point, I was pointing out why I don't agree with it. Lack of empathy? This from the guy who DMed my Dad would be disappointed in me shortly after his death. That's rich Vic.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

You have a memory for names that I don't, obviously. I can't even remember how to spell the last name of the back up announcer at Santa Anita, I liked during the Dave Johnson era. I can't even get close enough to get a Google hit. I even called Santa Anita and asked years ago and turned around and forgot. I think I am correct about his first name of Alan, last name started with a B. I even think he was in the mix of the announcers that came after Harry Henson retired at Hollywood and Vic showed up.

You're thinking of Alan Buchdahl. IMO he is a really good announcer. I've always thought some announcers just have a big race track feel and Alan always had that.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by cj

I didn't miss the point, I was pointing out why I don't agree with it. Lack of empathy? This from the guy who DMed my Dad would be disappointed in me shortly after his death. That's rich Vic.

You know very well that is being taken totally out of context and we "I thought" we had reconciled that. You said we had.

I've been around the block with you for more than a decade.

I'm getting off that futile train.

Say what you will. Think what you will. Follow your heart.

Mine's in fucking A FIB until Oct 23rd.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

I do know Durkin did this, and interestingly, some of the best announcers in other sports were huge critics of this sort of thing. Vin Scully, Dick Enberg, and Al Michaels all said at various points of their career that this is not a good thing to do. The basic argument is that it's a contrivance- you are fitting what you are seeing to some pre-existing script rather than saying what is actually happening.

Now it's true that especially Scully and Michaels could wax poetically after something big happened in a game-- but they always swore that they would think it up on the fly (and sometimes Scully would pause and let crowd noise take over so he could then think something up to say).

I can tell you that, for instance, there's a lot of people in the industry who think Jim Nantz, to name one example, is something of a phony for having canned phrases that he thinks up in advance to use at the Final Four or the Masters. It's, at the very least, considered a controversial practice in sportscasting.

And I can say personally that at least some of Durkin's stuff came off as very contrived and phony and not a genuine reaction to what he was seeing on the track. (For example, see his call of the 1995 Breeders' Cup Classic, where he invented an entire drama of Cigar wanting to go and Jerry Bailey saying no, not yet. He clearly made that up before the race and it didn't actually describe anything happening on the track. See also his "just a minute more" call during the 2004 Belmont at the 5 furlong pole, as if that's a meaningful thing people care about in a horse race. Again, he clearly decided to say it before the race as long as Smarty Jones was in front no matter what was actually happening.)

Apples and oranges. You're also on record as not liking Durkin, so it's clear what's behind this post.

The "just a minute more" part of his Belmont call, to me, is one of the best lines he ever used. Do you have any idea how many non-racing people were watching that race? That Belmont call is among the greatest of all time. To capture the drama of the scenario at every turn, from the anticipation of the 5 furlong pole, to the euphoria of the 1/4 pole to the soul-sucking finish thank God Durkin called that race. No one ever could have done it justice.

I can't think of anything Durkin said in a race call that sounded contrived or scripted. Was "a picture's worth a thousand words, this photo is worth $5 million dollars!" contrived or scripted? How about "This is the greatest comeback since Lazarus" or even "Tiznow wins it for America" or any of the other dozens of iconic things he said?

Say what you want about announcers, but the good ones have an innate ability to enhance the race you're watching with their words. The rest aspire to be at that level. Durkin will always be the king in that regard in my opinion.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Another major factor is confidence brought about by knowing you've done it before and can again with the proper preparation. I spent 3 Breeders Cups in the booth right behind Tom Durkin. He had a notebook with him that showed every silk of every horse running throughout every BC race. He told me he started to prepare for the BC from about a month out. Including different phrases he was ready to incorporate in different scenarios. One that blew me away was when BLACK TIE AFFAIR won the Classic with "Brother" Earlie Fires. He was even ready to say something poignant about a 40-1 shot that few thought was a serious contender.

If I'm not mistaken, BLACK TIE AFFAIR had Jerry Bailey in the irons while winning the BC Classic. And the horse was 4-1...not 40-1. I remember because I knew trainer Ernie Poulos personally.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

I do know Durkin did this, and interestingly, some of the best announcers in other sports were huge critics of this sort of thing. Vin Scully, Dick Enberg, and Al Michaels all said at various points of their career that this is not a good thing to do. The basic argument is that it's a contrivance- you are fitting what you are seeing to some pre-existing script rather than saying what is actually happening.

Now it's true that especially Scully and Michaels could wax poetically after something big happened in a game-- but they always swore that they would think it up on the fly (and sometimes Scully would pause and let crowd noise take over so he could then think something up to say).

I can tell you that, for instance, there's a lot of people in the industry who think Jim Nantz, to name one example, is something of a phony for having canned phrases that he thinks up in advance to use at the Final Four or the Masters. It's, at the very least, considered a controversial practice in sportscasting.

And I can say personally that at least some of Durkin's stuff came off as very contrived and phony and not a genuine reaction to what he was seeing on the track. (For example, see his call of the 1995 Breeders' Cup Classic, where he invented an entire drama of Cigar wanting to go and Jerry Bailey saying no, not yet. He clearly made that up before the race and it didn't actually describe anything happening on the track. See also his "just a minute more" call during the 2004 Belmont at the 5 furlong pole, as if that's a meaningful thing people care about in a horse race. Again, he clearly decided to say it before the race as long as Smarty Jones was in front no matter what was actually happening.)

Fans either like or don't like the final product an announcer says and that's fine and their province as fans.

I am also one who not only thought of but practiced things I wanted to say in advance.

Ad lib is fine as long as it works and mostly the norm. But when a caller tries to say something especially significant and it they don't pull it off it can go really badly really. I could give you some painful examples but I don't ever go there.

Are you saying that Al Michaels said "do you believe in miracles, yes" was a total adlib? I thought he has said he thought of it in advance.

But there's the point. A great call is a great call regardless of what took place before it was shared.

IMO there have been about 100 truly GREAT race calls made and the GOAT Tom Durkin is responsible for about 80 of them.

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by cj

Well, he was still terrible and he got a pass. I don't know if he was ever any good because Tampa wasn't a blip on the national radar when he was younger. But he was not even close to good once Tampa became popular. Jessica is also an incredibly nice person but she doesn't get a pass.

There was a guy at Charles Town for a long time before Paul came on board. Paul is great, by the way. He was absolutely brutal. Jessica is already superior to him. This guy actually got another job and continues to be poor. But we don't hear a peep about him.

There are others out there too. They are all white men. None of them get the scrutiny that Jessica gets. The don't get 1% of the scrutiny she does. Why do you think that is?

You're right about Grunder, not sure why he got to be awful for so many years because he was a "nice guy". Another good recent example would be the guy who started at Delaware last year. He was terrible last year and then improved to just be pretty bad this year. Never heard one word about him and how he should be fired, but Jessica gets tons of criticism. It's a double standard.

[Bustin Stones]

Vic, we all hope that you're feeling better. Take care of yourself.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

If I'm not mistaken, BLACK TIE AFFAIR had Jerry Bailey in the irons while winning the BC Classic. And the horse was 4-1...not 40-1. I remember because I knew trainer Ernie Poulos personally.

You're 100% right. What race am I thinking about with Earlie? I think it was a Glen Hill Farms Horse trained by Tom Proctor?

[jimmyb]

Four track announcers who used to take a beating here were some of my favorites.
Richard Grunder
John Imbrial
Mike Battaglia
Vic Stauffer

I enjoyed listening to all these guys. Used to tune into Turfway every evening they ran to listen to Mike Battaglia call a race. To each their own

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by Bustin Stones

Vic, we all hope that you're feeling better. Take care of yourself.

Thanks Stones. I'm scheduled for an ablation on Oct 23rd. That's "supposed" to fix the problem. Hoping. Hasn't been fun.

[cj]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Mine's in fucking A FIB until Oct 23rd.

Good luck with that. My wife had the procedure and it worked well. It isn't a tough thing to go through either so you should be fine.

[dnlgfnk]

Originally Posted by castaway01

You're right about Grunder, not sure why he got to be awful for so many years because he was a "nice guy". Another good recent example would be the guy who started at Delaware last year. He was terrible last year and then improved to just be pretty bad this year. Never heard one word about him and how he should be fired, but Jessica gets tons of criticism. It's a double standard.

I like him. His toolbox of canned, descriptive metaphors are usually offered at the right time, and he's accurate and mostly unhesitating.

[thaskalos]

I've always thought that Denman was better than Durkin...but I must admit that Tom Durkin has supplied the race call that has been most memorable to me. I don't remember the race, or who was leading as the horses were rounding into the stretch...but the horse CONCERN was charging from the rear of the pack, and as Durkin named the horses on the lead he bellowed out..."BUT THERE IS CAUSE FOR CONCERN!". Contrived or not...that line will live with me forever.