Jessica Paquette calling Parx

[paulbenny]

I want her to succeed. It was a little rough but given that is her first day lets give her time. When Anthony Stabile started he was smart enough to limit his words. She seemed to say too many things. I know they look down on the color and horse name list they have and it was obvious with her.

If I knew her I would have her listen to Marshall Cassidys last call in 2008 as a guest at Saratoga because he clearly lost a step but knew how to minimize words and take a breather. Then when he got near the end he upticked.

[Inner Dirt]

I think even if she started out like the female version of a young Trevor Denman some guys would find something wrong hearing a woman's voice calling a horse race. For some it will take some getting used to.


I used to live in California and unlike here in Virginia, you could pick up some sports talk radio on the AM dial most anywhere. Two women were fill ins on a Saturday AM slot. I thought what the hell is this? They finally got that slot full time and were quite good, but it took a while to get over listening to two women talk the 4 major team sorts. Mind you this was 30 years ago.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by mostpost

Ken Rudolph was my immediate guess also. I don’t know if he has ever picked a winner and usually they aren’t even close.

I like Rich Perloff. He relates well with the audience, explains his picks and frequently hosts solo and does a good job.

OMG!
The pigs are flying!

I agree with you.

When he used to due solo on Mon/Tues, I was "Tom Thumb" with picks and comments (FL is known as thr Thumb)

I gotta go lay down......

[Inner Dirt]

Originally Posted by Tom

OMG!
The pigs are flying!

I agree with you.

When he used to due solo on Mon/Tues, I was "Tom Thumb" with picks and comments (FL is known as thr Thumb)

I gotta go lay down......

That is all I member him from, I haven't watched TVG in a dozen years.

[VeryOldMan]

Originally Posted by horsefan2019

Rough crowd, when I heard her call it sounded like she was new to the job. Obvious first day jitters, but she'll get better once she gets it down.

I'm with you and Inner Dirt about this being a tough crowd - I listened to a few of the underlying race calls and thought she sounded nervous, first and foremost.

Let's see how it plays out.

I like the callback to Marshall Cassidy upthread - he was concise and that's not a bad place to start from as a foundation.

[Inner Dirt]

Just curious, why doesn't a track announcer use the video feed we all see to call the races, instead of looking through binoculars? Wouldn't that make it easier a lot of the times?


It always amazes me when people constantly bad mouth football referees even after you explain to them they are not sitting on a coach getting an above the field view from multiple camera angles. They often have obstructive views.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by paulbenny

I want her to succeed. It was a little rough but given that is her first day lets give her time. When Anthony Stabile started he was smart enough to limit his words. She seemed to say too many things. I know they look down on the color and horse name list they have and it was obvious with her.

If I knew her I would have her listen to Marshall Cassidys last call in 2008 as a guest at Saratoga because he clearly lost a step but knew how to minimize words and take a breather. Then when he got near the end he upticked.

I think this is right. Get the mechanics of the call down first. Then start trying to earn style points.

[chenoa]

Absolutely brutal.

6 months from now, the "give her time to improve" comments will still be coming in.

Parx is a shit hole anyways.

[jimmyb]

Originally Posted by mostpost

Ken Rudolph was my immediate guess also. I don’t know if he has ever picked a winner and usually they aren’t even close.

I like Rich Perloff. He relates well with the audience, explains his picks and frequently hosts solo and does a good job.

I'm with you on Rich Perloff. I especially like that he gets viewers involved via reading emails/tweets on air. lest anyone think I'm a TVG basher, I love Gabby Gaudet, Rich Perloff, Matt Carothers, and Simon Bray. Missing you, Vic. Wish you'd come back.

[Brisk Urging]

Originally Posted by chenoa

Absolutely brutal.

6 months from now, the "give her time to improve" comments will still be coming in.

Parx is a shit hole anyways.

Shes worst today then yesterday..Twitter -"great job""

wtf

[$w1fT]

Originally Posted by Brisk Urging

Shes worst today then yesterday..Twitter -"great job""

wtf

People here are saying it too, I don’t get it.

It’s like the first time she’s EVER called a race was yesterday. In a real industry, you work your way up, submit a demo tape etc.

Do you think racing did this? No way.

[dnlgfnk]

Originally Posted by paulbenny

I want her to succeed. It was a little rough but given that is her first day lets give her time. When Anthony Stabile started he was smart enough to limit his words. She seemed to say too many things. I know they look down on the color and horse name list they have and it was obvious with her.

If I knew her I would have her listen to Marshall Cassidys last call in 2008 as a guest at Saratoga because he clearly lost a step but knew how to minimize words and take a breather. Then when he got near the end he upticked.

I agree with this and hope it works. But the extended emphasis and effort to call the right horse is detracting from whatever fluid and more colorful terms may be in her toolbox. Maybe have a solid grasp of the favorites' colors and speed horses, not feeling the need to call every yard of the race. Tough job.

But at least she's not talking me up to the gate like the Twin Spires crew.

[jimmyb]

Originally Posted by $w1fT

People here are saying it too, I don’t get it.

It’s like the first time she’s EVER called a race was yesterday. In a real industry, you work your way up, submit a demo tape etc.

Do you think racing did this? No way.

I believe CJ said he went to high school with Larry Collmus. CJ said Larry was constantly practicing his race calls in the cafeteria. Don't know how much work Jessica put into race calling, but on the job training is not the way to go. Not when you have seasoned pros looking for a winter gig. Someone like Peter Berry would have been ideal.

[HorsemenHeist]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

I think even if she started out like the female version of a young Trevor Denman some guys would find something wrong hearing a woman's voice calling a horse race. For some it will take some getting used to.

Dani Jackson called some races at Turf Paradise last year and she is by far the best female caller I've ever heard, better than most male callers. A shame Parx was unable to find her if they were hiring based on gender.

I don't think Turf has their replays on Youtube, but check out the replays on January 20, and she did a great job.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

Just curious, why doesn't a track announcer use the video feed we all see to call the races, instead of looking through binoculars? Wouldn't that make it easier a lot of the times?


It always amazes me when people constantly bad mouth football referees even after you explain to them they are not sitting on a coach getting an above the field view from multiple camera angles. They often have obstructive views.

This is a good question and, honestly, I wondered about whether it would better too when I started calling at Sam Houston. The real answer is that you just don’t have the same perspective on the TV. If you’re at a track that doesn’t split screens and you’re dealing with a tight pan then you can find yourself in big trouble picking up moves and identifying horses at the back.

I’ve been in booths and in the presence of announcers who had to go to the TV late because of where their booth was relative to the wire. That’s a huge challenge. I’m about 10 feet in front of the wire at SHRP and am really thankful for it.

The key for me was getting my eyes conditioned to the binoculars. I bugged a number of announcers before I started full time to see what brand they used, I researched it myself then I ended up settling on a certain pair. When I got them I’d spend time each day looking through them out the window to get used to it. If you’re not using a professional pair and spending time looking through them from the time the field gets on the track then you’re doomed. Then there’s the memorizing part, which is a whole additional challenge!