Rob Stone Fires back

[Mattbro]

Does anyone remember who did the bulk of the announcing of the broadcasts shown in the US during the last World Cup final round of 32?

That tournament got me hook, line, and sinker on how exciting the game is to watch. I ended up remembering many of the players (be they from US, Europe, Africa, or Asia) from that Final even though I had not watched them previously.

Whoever did the broadcasts, and the style they used, seems to have been effective with me as a new viewer under those circumstances.

This post is stopping traffic all over Europe.

[Soc4Us]

This post is stopping traffic all over Europe.

?????

[PaulGascoigne]

Let's stop with the "dumbing down the game" for people in the United States. If they don't get it, they don't get it. The game has been in this country for 100 years! If your mom and 8 year old son don't get it, who cares? They are never going to sustain the game at the pro level anyway. As viewers we just need to be guided through it with occassional comments, not constant banter, we can see what's going on.

Unless you are very young, you know that the only soccer you used to see on TV was 1. The World Cup every 4 years; 2) "Soccer Made in Germany"; 3) Weekly English league games on PBS (maybe); and 4) very spotty coverage of NASL. I remember the "Soccer Bowls" a lot, but remember very few, if any non-Cosmos regular season games being broadcast.

It has been 100 years, but the public at large hasn't really been exposed until let's say the period covering WC '94 to WC '02, with the advent of MLS and the development of better and more visible US players.

And I'm that 8 year old kid back in the 70s who didn't know anything about soccer, and now I'm the one "sustaining" it.

So just to say it's been 100 years don't mean....

http://www.uapplication.com/public/images_upload/Jack%20Nicholson.jpg

[Mattbro]

?????

Sounds like you're talking about Jack Edwards and Ty Keough, and it's kind of interesting to hear you praise them. Jack was a Sportscenter guy and I think a hockey announcer too, while Ty is a former national team player and was the analyst for MLS and nats games. The pair of them really went to bat for soccer in America. Jack especially was unapologetic in his enthusiasm for the game, but for some reason most BS posters just hated them. Check out this column by our own Dan Loney:

http://www.cybersoccernews.com/columnists/loney/2002archives/020409jack.shtml

Their biggest transgression was that they were real homers and they occasionally got a little carried away. Some of Jack's most frequently ridiculed lines from the last World Cup included "This scoreline is stopping traffic all over Europe!", "Another victory for the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!" and "It's 3-0 and the U.S. is drubbing//drumming/bombing/throbbing Portugal!" (nobody could quite figure out exactly what he said there). Jack got so worked up over in Korea that he lost his voice. And back home he and Ty were basically subjected to a public lynching by angry soccer nerds around the country, until SUM (I think that's who it was) replaced them on the telecasts.

[Mattbro]

Oh yeah, and Ty used to pronounce the word havock like "hav-AWK!!!!" That really drove people here crazy.

[wbd20]

I confused. What makes a good announcer? If you listen to say, BBC Radio during games, those guys occaisionally reference a game, and its radio so you would think the PBP would be a bit more.

For TV, I don't need Stone telling me that Cunningham just dribbled into the corner and got stuck again, I am watching it, I see that. And if this truely bothers you, do everybody a favor, turn the sound down, put on your fav Barry Manilow album and watch the game. Last time I checked, when the schedule said Columbus versus the Metrostars, I didn't think to myself, "Hmmm, wonder if Stone will be interesting this time..."

I do this for football, the TV guys are awful , Madden the whole lot, they are all annoying, so I turn them down and listen to my hometwon homers, at least I know I will agree with what they are saying.

I think that Stone and Waldo are head and shoulders better than TyJack, but that doens't mean it can't get better. It's part of both the announcers growth and the sports.

So just chill out, it's sports commentary. Nobody will agree 100% on it.

[Eskandarian11]

I think most of your comments are directly on point, but there's an inherent conflict in your logic.

Here's my read.

1) The people paying Rob ask him to announce the game a certain way.
2) Rob announces the game that way (which happens to fit his personality).
3) Everyone involved is happy, EXCEPT for the knowledgeable adult soccer fan, who may wish the analysis was more sophisticated, that the announcers spoke less, and that the whole production focused less on irrelevant issues.

Your logic implies that Rob change #2.
But I'm pretty sure #1 is true.
That's an inherent problem.

I will say that I've noticed over time that the announcers for MLS and the Nats are slowly assuming a greater and greater amount of knowledge on the part of the viewer. However, MLS Cup, the highest-rated game of the year, really isn't the time for that - it's the time to be as much of an infomercial as possible.

All that being said, I do think Ley and Malin were great, and I remember Malin from 20 years ago (my dad had a love/hate relationship with his announcing). I think the overall production quality now is similar to other ESPN2 fare (college hoops and college football), and for that, I'm very grateful.


Very well said Casper, not bad for a Metros fan lol

[Eskandarian11]

Oh and whatever the annoucers wanna do, if you are reading, pleasee, pleasee dont use the line "It's in the net", "its in the back of the net", "its in the net" over and over again after a goal.

We arnt catching fish, we are playing soccer. Its obvious if its a goal its in the net, and if your going to say it, at least dont repeat it over and over again.

[McOwen]

Thats DC United announcer Dave Johnson's bit.

--People around here actaully like it man.

Of course thats usually because he does it the most when we score a goal :D

[Z010 Union]

Thats DC United announcer Dave Johnson's bit.

--People around here actaully like it man.

Of course thats usually because he does it the most when we score a goal :D

I love that, I understand he got it from the English announcer on the German game of the week that used to be shown on PBS. :confused:

[Lithium858]

Rob Stone is much better when he announces USMNT games.

[DutchFootballRulez]

I cannot believe I JUST found this thread.

[Jon Martin]

1. What is the evidence that casual viewers can be involved in the sport (or the viewership of the sport) by the announcer making a conscious effort to develop human interest threads during the match?

It seems to me that the last olympics was ruined by so much attention being diverted form the athletics to the human interest stories. I can't imagine anyone choosing to watch a game, because the announcer describes a touching incident from a players childhood. Then again, I can't imagine anyone watching Survivor.

2. WRT Stone, I think there may be a regional/cultural bias. I sense that many of his supporters on this thread are young, from the left coast, or both. It may be that he is unable to reach outside of his demographic, which is not his fault, but a professional hazard.

[rocketeer22]

1. What is the evidence that casual viewers can be involved in the sport (or the viewership of the sport) by the announcer making a conscious effort to develop human interest threads during the match?

It seems to me that the last olympics was ruined by so much attention being diverted form the athletics to the human interest stories. I can't imagine anyone choosing to watch a game, because the announcer describes a touching incident from a players childhood. Then again, I can't imagine anyone watching Survivor.


Can you rephrase the question? There have been human interest stories that have gotten me to watch particular events in the first place. For example, I've followed the Tour de France on an occasional basis ever since high school. However, it wasn't until after Lance Armstrong's comeback after cancer treatment that I started sitting at the computer listening to internet streaming, and then going home to watch the highlights on television.

[Jon Martin]

Can you rephrase the question? There have been human interest stories that have gotten me to watch particular events in the first place. For example, I've followed the Tour de France on an occasional basis ever since high school. However, it wasn't until after Lance Armstrong's comeback after cancer treatment that I started sitting at the computer listening to internet streaming, and then going home to watch the highlights on television.
The argument was made by Stone (and defended by his supporters) that part of Stone's job was to engage the less than hard-core soccer fan. I imagine this means keeping soccer jargon to a minimum, assuming the viewer is not picking up on subtleties in the game, and highlighting points of human interest rather than soccer technicalities. My point was that for the committed fan, these attempts to engage the casual fan were a turn-off. I questioned whether the attempt to reach the casual fan even worked.

I would argue that the Lance Armstrong story is unique, and not applicable to soccer broadcasting.

[tedski]

I like Rob Stone...but one thing bugs me...

Verse.

The word "versus" is a preposition. "Verse" is a noun with an unrelated origin and meaning. So, one cannot use the word "verse" in place of "versus."

It really, really bugs me.

Ted.

[Zivheads]

I think Stoney is OK, I always liked J.P Dellacamara and Tommy Smyth, and they might be the duo that a poster was referring to as doing most of the World Cup Round of 32 games shown in the U.S., because Edwards and Keough only did the U.S. games if I"m remember right, while J.P. and Tommy did alot of the other ones.

I do think Wylanda is a great analyst though. He's not afraid to state his opinion, which whether right or wrong, is always a bold one. The announcing crew might not be the best at describing and analyzing the action, but it is TV, so we can see what's going on.

However, I personally am a fan of calling the game as it is. I'm a sophomore in college, and I announce my school's games over the radio/webcast, and I really like doing radio because it is necessary to describe everything that is going on. Though again, the style depends on who your audience is. When I announce, the listeners are mostly the parents of the players and former players, and they know the game, so they just listen to a game announced straight up and enjoy it. Though I think as an announcer it is very important to get excited. It's soccer, and as a poster said, there are maybe 2 or 3 goals in a 90 minutes, so those are special, exciting moments and should be described that way. I love watching broadcasts of Mexican League games on the Spanish channels, because you can tell what is happen on the game just by hearing the tone and pace of the announcing. They speed up and get more excited as the game does. I think its the way to announce soccer, and I try to emulate that (its harder in English I determined, the language just doesn't flow as well) during my broadcasts.

Would a non-soccer playing teenager just flipping through the channels be attracted to a soccer game if it was announced BBC-style? Probably not. But then again, he probably wouldn't be attracted if it was Al Michaels doing commentary. What will attract young viewers is the game, not the announcers. Sure, some amount of selling the game needs to be done, but I think that the selling needs to be done to get people to watch the broadcast, and that people won't even watch the game if they aren't sold on it already, if that makes any sense. The way to get people to watch soccer is by giving it exposure elsewhere, such as on Sportscenter.

People watch sports for a couple of reasons. 1. Because they're a fan of the team. But also, they watch it because 2. They know what it takes to make awesome plays, and watching them is exciting (for example, they know that it's hard to convert an alley-oop, and also that they don't happen often, so if one does happen, its exciting).
If young people grow up seeing soccer on sportscenter, they'll be able to differentiate a golazo from a goal, and thus they'll watch soccer because of the possibility that they'll see a great goal. (Among other reasons).

Ultimately, I don't think that the quality of the announcers is that important towards the advancement of soccer in this country. What is is more media exposure in all facets of media.

[tedski]

I kinda got tired of the Robbie bashing on here...but one of Rob's habits got to me...

Well...maybe it's not Rob. It just seems there are some teams that get sunshine blown up their butts by the soccer media, and others that are just also rans.

For example, tonight Rob said that the Rev-Crew game last week was a lot closer than the scoreline (3-0) would indicate. Um...maybe Rob didn't see the game. I've talked to Crew fans who were embarassed by their performance, and only Jon Busch prevented a more lopsided scoreline.

Tonight, the Crew barely squeaked by a 1-0 victory in a rather sorry match for both teams. Rob calls it a "big win." Rob? What the heck is up with that?

At least he didn't say "verse" again.

Ted.

[ryankozlowski]

frankly stone and wynalda suck.

i watch a fox sports broadcast and finally all I get is play by play. it's beautiful. stone and wynalda compare every sport to soccer.. "uhh.. now kids a goal is like a touchdown in football." "he kicked that like a field goal." "the kc wizards finacial position and fan backing is similar to the minnesota twins." wtf.. these are all true quotes. they talk about the same ******** over and over again. I'm sorry but nothing they do is going to attract more fans. I think play by play attracts more people cause you can just watch the game without listening to some gay ********. it's not going to bring over anyone.. and please if you are listening lord do not interview THE F-ING COACHES DURING THE GAME.. DID ANYONE ASK HIM ABOUT THAT. that is the most useless second of television. even brandy chastian sucks.. like dude everyone knows that the ball is going to move faster on new york's astro turf. i'm still waiting for a goal during side by side.. lol. frankly espn is a big joke.. stone and wynalda should do us all a favor and go in a hole.. all their doing for the game is setting it back with their goofy commentary. The repeating.. Adu and Szelta shared a room together at soccer camp is etched into my brain.. why should i give a ********. if your going to say it say it once.. if your going to bash wizards fans say it once. if your going to say that campos is a mexican for deportes and he is rooting for them say it once.. mexicans really support both teams.. just a bunch of irrevalent crap.. and i think you guys need to stop sucking some stone dick

frankly espn had higher ratings for champions league.. tommy smith would attract alot of people.. it would be great.. somebody that maybe people would actually want to listen to. and stone can use the argument that they are trying to attract new people while they alienate any true fans they have had.. mls has lost as much fans as they have gained. It would just be nice to see espn sit down and actually think before they put together a ************ broadcast every week.

its not like he checks this forum out.. he is too busy perming his hair.. so you guys can stop signing your name..

ryan kozlowski (not scared of rob stone and eric wynalda and their gay commentary)

[needsashower]

Stoner is awesome. We need announcers like him. That dude was way off base. But then again he is probably used to listening to the EPL with there sophisticated announcers in the Queen's language. Stoner is the best announcer for the league and national team.

By the way, have you seen the Fan Zone presentations on Fox World? They are hilarious, especially when you are not prepared for it. GO ON DUFF, GO ON DUFF, GO ON DUFF in a high pitched scream right into the microphone during a Chelsea game recently. Funny stuff with there thick accents and how they rip on the other teams or their own players. Check it out.

That would be cool if they brought a rabid fan in the both with Stoner and Wynalda to just rip on teams or go crazy with support.

The fan zone on FSW is so ridiculous it's great. That would be cool with MLS, but not on ESPN, it would have to be FSC.

I like Bretos and Hopkins, I think they're the best announcing duo in the US.