Espn and The Euros

[celito]

Ray Hudson is funny as hell, but he doesn't offer that much tactical insight.

Tommy Smyth seems very reluctant to admit when he has made a mistake in a comment. He wouldn't even retract his assertion that Panucci hadn't really fouled the Romanian guy for the penalty in that match, even after a replay showed him pulling the Romanian guy to the ground with a choke hold. That kind of gets on my nerves.

I find Gray much better, but I can tolerate Smyth as well.

Very true. Tommy almost never admits he was wrong even after the replay proves him wrong. He is also very inconsistent in his commentary. At least I can laugh AT the stupid things he says sometimes.

Andy Gray seems more knowledgeable, but he is just annoying overall.

[Makandal]

I don't have a problem with Andy Gray complaining about the officiating and the negative tactics by players. I think it's entirely warranted and kudos to him for stepping up rather than going with the flow.

These "nonsense" acts, as he calls them, need to be complained about more because its one of the only ways to bring the attention that results in changes being made.

If more soccer writers and broadcasters were vocal about these things we'd have a period of irritation, sure, but it would speed up the pressure on the empty suits at FIFA and UEFA and COMNEBOL, etc. to finally get their heads out of the sands and do something.

Last year (IIRC), the Scottish FA attempted to institute post-match reviews and bans. FIFA (or was it UEFA?.....can't quite recall ) stepped in and forced them to drop the idea because they want to retain the absurd "authority" of refereeing decisions. So we continue to have this diving and cheating garbage.

Thank you for loving the sport enough to try to save it from these clowns, Andy Gray.

I agree with you about more people in the media should voice their opinions about this. But watching this Euro, it seems to me Andy Gray complaint stop at the referees. He rarely criticize the players diving or acting like they just got shot when they've just been touched by a defender. His motto seem to be if a player goes down the referee should call foul, regardless whether the player is faking or not. He was definitely annoying in the Italy-Spain game because that referee wasn't buying all the divings and antics yet Andy Gray kept complaining about his non-calls.

[red lass]

So a referee standing twenty yards away takes the advice of a linesman standing seventy yards away and UEFA backs him up! Does that make sense to you? Could it be that the UEFA spokesman (a spokeman for an organization which has never been known to have irrationally backed officials, be they referees, administrators, etc. even when they are obviously wrong-please excuse the sarcasm) chose once again to back the official? I am not a "know all" but I do know that Tommy Smyth is a poor excuse for an announcer. When Ballack scored against Portugal, he described Ballack's push of the defender as a "nudge" when earlier he had criticized a Portugese defender for the same thing! It is that lack of consistency, understanding of the game, and pig headedness when he has been proved to be wrong by replays which adds to his overall ineptness.

Thanks Mr Gray we have heard you use that angle a couple of times. Like on the Dutch goal ,Henry case. We get the story you cant not be wrong.

[chelsea new yorker]

A note to the European Broadcasting Union.....
ever hear of lightning rods?....invented by one Benjamin Franklin... or is this another example of staggering third world ineptitude. maybe I ought to eat my veggies tonight..there are poor starving people in Europe, you know....

[Amsteldam]

A note to the European Broadcasting Union.....
ever hear of lightning rods?....invented by one Benjamin Franklin... or is this another example of staggering third world ineptitude. maybe I ought to eat my veggies tonight..there are poor starving people in Europe, you know....
Err, get out of NY much???
Since when is Switzerland a 3rd world country???!!! :rolleyes:
Their cities are probably a lot better run then the big apple.

Power failures can happen to any TV network, no matter how many backup generators they have in place

[chelsea new yorker]

apparently my sarcasm was lost on you...
(and yes, I know that Jane Jacobs, god rest her soul, lived in Tronna)
we were informed that 3 lightning strikes affected the worldwide feed......
a lightning rod would have channeled the energy away..that's why very few home fires caused by lightning strikes....

[M]

apparently my sarcasm was lost on you...
(and yes, I know that Jane Jacobs, god rest her soul, lived in Tronna)
we were informed that 3 lightning strikes affected the worldwide feed......
a lightning rod would have channeled the energy away..that's why very few home fires caused by lightning strikes....

Yes, it's a well known fact that houses are frequently burning down in Switzerland due to the lack of lightening rods :rolleyes:

[LaxBandit]

There will be two replays of the Germany-Turkey game with no technical difficulties. Tonight on ESPN Classic at 9:00 pm ET to 11:30 pm ET and Thursday morning on ESPN2 from 1:30 am ET to 4:00 am ET. Note: The ESPN Classic showing may only go to 11:00 pm ET however if you have to set your recorder ahead, set it to 11:30 pm ET, just in case they decided to show the complete coverage like they are doing on ESPN2.

LB - who has the DVD-R already sent for the ESPN2 showing.

[jlscrub]

IMHO.

the tommy Smyth and Derek Rae commentary is horrible. They dont call the game. They spend the entire 90 minutes talking about back subplots about each player and giving unfunny jabs to each other.

The other duo with the funny scottish color commentary guy is much better. They actually actually call the game and give great analysis.

For you spanish speakers, i hope you agree, the espndeportes duo is the best. The lead commentator calls the game as it is being played, the entire 90 min. And Mario Kempes is in a class of his own. Im not sure becuz he has that WCchampionship to be a forever ego booster or its becuz he is just Argentinan. Who Cares. He does a fabulous job doing the color analysis.

I am watching the semifinal and final up here in toronto where they have TSN instead of ESPN and the commentators are way way better than Tommy and Derek.

I think espn likes Tommy and Derek becuz they have that captivating voice.

[benztown]

I really can't say much about the ESPN coverage, but here's an interesting article about this:

http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/208397

[chelsea new yorker]

I've seen TSN - not bad. I know of Craig Forrest, but not the other duo in the studio. Is the sole announcer for TSN the canadian announcer, or is he the worldwide (non-ESPN) English announcer?
I agree - Deportes is also good -Mario Kempes!
The NY Times also raved about Andy Gray.... and I've always liked Derek Rae.

[Warbuxx]

The comments here about the excellent quality of some of the ESPN Deportes announcers are spot on. There are analysts in a number of Latin countries in this Hemisphere and in Europe who could run rings even around the venerable Andy Gray. I would hope that ESPN resists the urge to maintain an anglocentric or british-centered focus and bring in some of these other guys from countries where they can really take apart a match tactically and make it superbly entertaining and edifying.

The question is whether such professionals will be competent broadcasting in English, but it's a worthwhile project and I'd like to see such people brought in to join the likes of Gray and -in particular- to provide a much more incisive level of analysis for the studio shows than we are getting at present.

[chelsea new yorker]

WB et al:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't ESPN's CL Final coverage had Clarence Seedorf doing first half analysis w/Rae..then he did second half with the Deportes team!?!
I can probably think of someone like Ricky Ardiles or others who know English well enough to explain the nuances to an American audience, but not be excessively "Anglocentric" (though I will admit that England is "America's team", and also admit that the strength (fan appeal) of MLS lies with its Hispanic following......)
They say familiarity breeds contempt, and perhaps those of us in the States have yet to be exposed to enough of Gray..still, I am far more grateful he's in the studio/booth.
Now if the EBU could fix their backup problems? Hell, if a tornado can hit the Georgia Dome and somkeoen could still broadcast a basketball game in the midst of it., I think there's a "learning opportunity" present.

[Makandal]

The comments here about the excellent quality of some of the ESPN Deportes announcers are spot on. There are analysts in a number of Latin countries in this Hemisphere and in Europe who could run rings even around the venerable Andy Gray. I would hope that ESPN resists the urge to maintain an anglocentric or british-centered focus and bring in some of these other guys from countries where they can really take apart a match tactically and make it superbly entertaining and edifying.

The question is whether such professionals will be competent broadcasting in English, but it's a worthwhile project and I'd like to see such people brought in to join the likes of Gray and -in particular- to provide a much more incisive level of analysis for the studio shows than we are getting at present.

My thoughts exactly, it's frustrating listening to analysts who seem very good and can go on and on when talking about british football, but do not really say much when they have to step outside of that circle.

[Visca...]

For you spanish speakers, i hope you agree, the espndeportes duo is the best. The lead commentator calls the game as it is being played, the entire 90 min. And Mario Kempes is in a class of his own. Im not sure becuz he has that WCchampionship to be a forever ego booster or its becuz he is just Argentinan. Who Cares. He does a fabulous job doing the color analysis.
I have to disagree, Yeff. Kempes is not very good. He sucks, actually. Can't understand what he says 90% of the time. It's like half of his mouth and lips are paralyzed. He babbles on and on and you can really see he doesn't know much when you pair him up with the others on Fuera de Juego (football discussion program).

The narrator is great though. No complains :p They should pair him up with the uruguayan Eduardo Biyascaran(?) to do matches. That would be a quality commentating crew.

Jorge Ramos is doing a great job on ESPN Deportes Radio. And since it's the EURO, he's left his mexican bias (he has it in Libertadores/Sudamericana) at home :)

[zippy85]

We get Real Madrid tv here and i hate it when they shout GOAL!!! for ages.:mad:

[TheGrimSweeper]

We get Real Madrid tv here and i hate it when they shout GOAL!!! for ages.:mad:

Its very necessary. GOOOOOOLLLAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[zippy85]

Why, it does my head in!

[kopiteinkc]

I can probably think of someone like Ricky Ardiles or others who know English well enough

Do you mean Ossie Ardiles or Ricky Villa?

[chelsea new yorker]

my bad! Either one - though I probably meant Oswaldo A!
DOH! Think I'll get meself some coffee.........