Hi guys. A friend of mine from England wrote me a rant and asked if I could post it on this board (he doesn't have an account). I was thinking of typing something similar years ago, but I think he wrote it better than I ever could. Note: I probably can't reply for him. _____________________________________ James Sharman, Danny Dichio, Craig Forest (who's vernacular is so hilariously English that he might as well be), and another English pundit I never heard of (Nigel Reed). What is this obsession with English pundits in Canada? Do the networks think that their accents will trick people into believing that they have any credibility? I moved to Canada thinking that it was a thriving multi-cultural society, which was reflected onto its soccer landscape. Where are the Italian/Arabic/Hispanic/Eastern-Central European-Canadian pundits? As an Englishman, it's baffling to see your entire soccer landscape dominated by our rejects. If they were prestigious or respected in some way, I would easily understand. But these guys? Let me introduce you to these guys: - - James Sharman: A pudgy-man with a very limited understanding of soccer, who is not very talented. Oh, and he happens to have a degree in Journalism. That's it. Other than having an accent, he has no reason for being a main voice for Canadian soccer nationwide. To make it easier for Canadians to understand, this is the equivalent of having "Steve from Kelowna" be the "voice of Ice-Hockey" in England. An ex-pro? Nope...just...some guy. Is he talented? Nope...not really...at all. It always makes me uncomfortable to see a man with such little journalistic integrity on TV. - Nigel Reed: I even recognize the announcers who work in Australia. When I first saw heard him in a broadcast, I said: "WHO?". After falling asleep nearly 20 minutes into his broadcast, I understood why he worked in Canada: a) He could not make it anywhere else. b) He has that famous "accent" that gives the broadcast credibility (apparently). My friends who visit from across the pond are baffled when I show them that this man is a major voice for Canadian soccer. The other two, Dichio and Forest, I can understand (club legend and the other one is Canadian and has good TV presence). But, again, it reflects their network's obsession with "the English" for credibility. It's very odd, reflects a very narrow point of view (their collective obsession with Manchester United is vomit-enducing. Even Sharman who masquerades as a Liverpool supporter), and shows a profound lack of vision on behalf of the networks. Please people, start diversifying your pundits. If my friends and I (who are English/Welsh) can't stand it, I can't imagine what the non-English feel.
Tell you friend that I say: THANK YOU!! from the bottom of my soul. I'm an ex-pat to. It's actually painful to watch them.
As someone who has spent a fair amount of time in the biz I think the above is overly critical. I do agree with the main sentiment though. I think some execs feel that an English voice lends credence to the broadcast as they feel ex pats won't accept a Canadian "voice". That to me is total BS. The game will never amount to anything until we get our own "voice", until then it will always be the game of immigrants. I don't want to hear an Italian, Latin or English accent either. I want to hear the Danny Gallivan of Canadian soccer. Most criticisms of broadcasters are personally biased BS. Anyone is fine with me who can avoid the cliches. Seriously, what is worse than EVERY Latin announcer yelling GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL for 2 minutes. That is as cliched as the old British "clinical finish". I wanted to dislike Nigel Reed for the above reasons but he so immersed himself in the Canadian culture and didn't try to "high hat" listeners with an "I'm from England, I know soccer better" attitude. He goes out of his way to use Canadian verbiage and pronunciations and I appreciate it. On the other hand, there are those who dislike the Dobber because he doesn't have the accent and he doesn't get a fair shake even though he wields a fair amount of influence and is a pretty fair news gatherer, which is something that is woefully deficient in this country since Neil Davidson and Norm Dalla Costa don't seem to write much anymore.
Well... any English announcer who is not so crap would probably be able to find themselves a better gig elsewhere. These announcers may not be so great, but consider that they're calling for TFC, which is a pretty bottom of the barrell club. I don't know if they're specifically chasing after English announcers, perhaps they're still better than anyone in Canada can provide. Probably aren't many non-Anglo announcers jumping at this opportunity either. As a Canadian, I wouldn't balk too much at a bad Canadian annoucer calling hockey games in the UK. Same reason, there probably aren't very many British announcers who could do a decent job of that.
Sorry but I think that's bull. Lots of Canadians can do soccer and lots of British guys could do hockey. Any decent PBP guy can transition to another sport, that's the reason you have the colour guy there, to add insight and expertise.
If you say so, but on the few occasions where they've had a Canadian announcer or colour guy, we invaribably get complaints on these boards about how bad they are. Of course, in the future, that will likely change, but I have yet to hear of any Canadian announcer lauded as even being decent.
And these "critiques" come from people who aren't in the business, know nothing of it and don't have two clues. Here's the first lesson in respect for PBP I learned. For the whole game, turn down the sound and do your own voice over commentary while watching your TV monitor. Don't do it for 2 minutes, do it for 60. It ain't easy, and the prep work that goes into doing a good job is large. You should have at least three pieces of information about every player. These are just basic things, but I get a kick out of people, everybody can do somebody's job better. I like to take on the "Euro snobs" who crap on the Dobber. Come up with specific legitimate criticisms and not personal BS and snobbery that he isn't "foreign" and therefore doesn't know anything. This is a guy who transitioned to soccer and basically created a niche for himself. Well done, I say.
I fully respect Dobson too, and trust me, I know that calling a game is a very hard thing to do (I've tried that experiment that you outlined above). What I'm saying is though that no matter who you get, people are going to complain. It's not just Euro snobs who look down on Canadian announcers, there are plenty of Canadians ready willing and able to do so as well. There are too many people in Canada ready to crap on anything done by Canadians that isn't hockey related. Sports, film, TV, music, books, art, you name it, too many Canadians love to butcher their own.
I think most people on here are focusing on the Nigel Reed comments (he's not bad). But you've missed the main point entirely. The post was a critique on the Canadian networks obsessively contracting British pundits (not just announcers). All of them are fine (except Sharman. I still can't figure out how he's employed in this business), it's the lack of diversity that's a bit worrisome. This is Canada. Not Britain. Its football culture should be well represented. And pundits are not difficult to find. Announcers maybe. But pundits? haha. Jog on... It's not about "Gooooooollll" vs. "Brilliant finish!". It's about having your soccer world completely dominated by 1 group of people and their little chums. (see: James Sharman somehow being paid money). (The Serie A lads from TLN (who filmed their show in a garage) were as entertaining as Sharman/Dichio/Forest.) lol. It's not that hard.
Understood, but we don't really have one. Nonetheless, it's a good point though that we should evolve one rather than riding the coattails of Britain (but at least that's a refreshing change from riding the USA's coattails on everything else).
Pundits as a whole are dull and useless, but a special shout out to James Sharman who is a whole new level of annoying. He's a fat, biased, anti-Italian Liverpool blowhard. Stop trying to be witty and clever you tool. You're awful and cringeworthy and an automatic 'mute' when I see your untalented fat face on the TV. Dobson and Forest are fine, but punditry as a whole I don't care about.
Once I know the starting line ups, most often I just push "mute" on the remote and then watch. Haven't been disappointed.
I get the point. Seems like the majority who cover EPL / MLS have British accents. Italian speakers cover Serie A. Next to no cross-over. But to be fair, have any of the critics listened to other English-speaking broadcasts from elsewhere in North America? The reality is, the game's popularity is still in its infancy here. Most broadcasters did not grow up dreaming of calling a footy match. And having worked in sports broadcasting for a number of years, here in Canada, the vast majority of employees are hockey bibles with little to zero knowledge of soccer. The Sharman's, Reed's and Wileman's are the best of the bunch, and quite frankly, we are very lucky to have them for whatever reason they chose to live here. Canada's version of Martin Tyler or Ian Darke will sprout eventually. Edit: And like Dichio, hopefully other retired players will choose to stay and take up a mic.