I'm 35 and I also help run one the biggest club organizations in south Texas... So I am around football people from around the world All the time...And the consensus is the same NoOne likes Hudson and Phil... We have some high schoolers that are enamored by their commentary but I know those kids have never heard proper commentary in their life... They DON'T KNOW BETTER... Cantona---
FAAAR more than 3 people on BigSoccer like him. He's been discussed in the Italy forum and everyone there hates him.
I can see why EPL fans would be put off since he is very different than what they're used to. They'd probably get their panties in a twist if one of the Telemundo commentators did a Man United match too. They tend to find that style immature and fake, but fact is it is a global game and different broadcasting styles have emerged from different regions. The 30-200 people I'm with every match are all La Liga fans and that's the league Ray covers the most, so their opinion trumps those of EPL fans.
If Hudson and Schoen were only used for La Liga games I'd be fine with that. It would mean I'd never have to listen to them. Unfortunately they're used for more.
Hudson doesn't keep me from watching Serie A, I watch and put up with it. I just don't care about La Liga.
Funny... I have two guys on my staff one is from Barcelona and the other from Seville ... And they BOTH say the same thing THEY TALK TOO MUCH They can't stand them.. Same goes for the group they watch the games with.. They even made the owner of the bar get the Spanish version of BeIN.... Having them as commentators distracts from the match... Plain and simple... Cantona---
the hate of Phil and Ray is beyond me AND to say that they caused the channel to fail is blasphemous!!! ABSOLUTE BLASPHEMOUS!!!
I'm a Hudson defender and I will admit he is a polarizing figure. Hudson is to soccer commentary to what the Grateful Dead who I am also a big fan of is to music. Hudson is a HOF'er at what he does and has his loyal fans but he also has a ton of detractors think what he does sucks and would rather listen to jackhammers for 2 hours than listen to him. I enjoy the Ray and Phil show because what they do is different. I get my fill of proper English Commentary when I listen to guys like Banyard, Drury, Tyler, and the international guys that call Serie A which I also love. As contrived as Ray's act is I still tune in to see what he is going to say next. Schoen IMO is the best American play by play guy doing soccer. You will get no arguments from me that there is improvements that beIN could make but I'm willing to give them time to work things out and will see what the channel looks like in August when they celebrate their 1 year anniversary of being on the air. As easy as it is to be critical of beIN Sport I'm just glad that I get the channel and I can watch the biggest teams/games from Italy, Spain, and France every week.
Well, to bring Kay Murray was the right move for Bein, I assume? Or she is not boring enough for you guys?
Kay Murray was a welcomed addition. MUCH MUCH better than Ms. Lane. Much like the addition of Jeremy St. Louis, a welcomed addition.
Ray Hudson's approach is not commentary, it is schtick. Or gimmick. He overstates the quality of the "product" he's pushing. His clichés may sometimes be true (like when talking about Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and company). But he says the same things in the same ways when covering mediocre teams. My primary complaint is I want expert insight, not platitudes. I find his particular schtick annoying. And realize he could do better, in the rare moments he has demonstrated he actually does know the game. But for Ray it's usually all about playing ancient Italian violins, various players having laser vision leading to orgasms, and bushels of superlatives. There've probably always been announcers of this sort, I first really noticed it with John Madden's "Boom" etc. But at least Madden shared insights, tactical and otherwise. As counterintuitive as it seems to me, the blustering loudmouth "big word" approach must have proven to be popular. Otherwise why would such people as Howard Cosell, Chris Berman and Dick Vitale been given such prominent roles over the years? ==================== It's unfair to paint Phil Schoen as the same as Ray. Does anyone expect him to make fun of his "side kick"? I can't think of any other Ameri-English speaking Soccer play by play announcer who is clearly superior to him at setting the stage and calling the match. And Phil certainly does not mispronounce player names any more frequent than his British colleagues. (The linguistic flexibility of Derek Rae is pretty remarkable, were he to re-adopt his US accent he might qualify. A couple of other guys are comparable but not clearly superior.)
And everyone you've met represent the entire population of those that follow football in this country? This is laughably absurd. You should demand a refund from whatever school is responsible for your education.
Cosell seems quite a bit different from the Berman/Vitale/Hudson group. Vitale seems a pretty good comparison. And some folks do seem to like Vitale...at least, he stays on the air. I had only heard of Ray before getting beIN this year. He was amusing at first...after repeated viewings I find him a bit much. More schtick than commentary as you say. Or maybe like the later John Madden, perhaps because he's gotten so much notoriety for the schtick, the schtick is overwhelming the commentary. My biggest problem with him is that it's an odd sort of bias. He's primed for something big out of his favorites and then just gushes about them, while not saying much about the non-favored teams or players. After a few Barca games...you've pretty much heard it all before. But Ray's hardly alone in this sort of thing in sports broadcasting, unfortunately. It's like all the gushing over Derek Jeter in baseball, or over guys like Favre, Brady, Manning in the NFL.
You continue to mock people's education, yet in just 3 sentences you make a complete ass-hat of yourself. Sampling or polling isn't done on full populations, yet is a proven technique in statistics and for making educated guesses on the population as a whole.
I remember fights about Vitale's announcing style 30 years ago. Most pros hated it but ... you don't broadcast to the pros. Cosell was, of course, widely hated off the MNF broadcasts but his banter with Don Meredith was quite enjoyable because Meredith made fun of Howard. That said ... this might be the greatest announcing performance ever. EVER! He actually can do that, as a long time US resident.
Blatant failure in understanding a technical prose. He his basically telling you goltv's failure is a direct result of its inability to recognize the broader scope of the business it was in. The myopic ethnocentric view of those in-charge ensured they peddled unwanted products rather than satisfaction. This is the same strategy bein adopted. There you have it. Think critically. Cheers
I'm 35, I've been a soccer fan for many years. Ray Hudson was always good for a quip and one liner during his tenure at DC United whenever he would talk to the media, but any more than a short soundbite and the guy gets on my nerves.
Finally, a voice of reason. Why can't the rest of you guys who will seemingly support Hudson to the bitter end read this and actually think about what he says?