Espn and The Euros

[johndaly]

Tommy does not like competition, and is trying to boss Andy around.

Andy laughs it off, which infuriates Tommy even more...

:D
Tommy Smyth is the most annoying, inept, ill informed, egotistical announcer I have ever heard. I use the word announcer loosely. He does not qualify. He is a painter and decorator who is rapidly spoiling Euro 2008 for me and almost everyone with whom I discuss him. He has the gall to argue with Andy Gray, one of the more informed announcers, certainly of the English speaking ilk. Time and again Mr. Smit is proven wrong by replays but still maintains he is right. Yes, Tommy, you are right, and the whole rest of the world is wrong. You are causing the mute button to be used more and more throught the US with your inane, inaccurate, cliche ridden prose. I would like to see you stuck in your own old onion bag to stay!

[cuyseco]

Better try ESPN Deportes en espanol, at least their announcers are good and they scream GOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL very nice :D

[Beast_Ed]

I haven't been following this thread, but I must say that am extremely happy with ESPN. I think for the first time, they've really got this right.

Here's the good:
- High-Def
- Good Commentators in Derek Rae and Tommy Smith
- No Dave O'Brien or Balboa or other amateurs
- Wide camera angles
- Quick replays
- Excellent half time coverage
- Excellent between game coverage
- No commercials or interruptions, such as the "Side by Side" crap
- No "Goal Cam" gimmicks
- No camera on a chain
- No crazy special effects on shots on goal (forgot what that was called)

Here's the not so good:
- Can't think of anything, really

GREAT JOB ESPN !!!!!!!!

BEAST_ED

[Cris 09]

Here's the not so good:
- Can't think of anything, really


Julie Frodo or whatever her name is is not only "not so good" but "horrible".

Love the HD!!!:D

[Rainer24]

I don't have many problems with ESPN. I wish they would do away with the ticker. I'm tuning in to watch a soccer match, not learn about who isn't going to fight De La Hoya.

Julie Foudy adds nothing. If she can't be bothered to watch the games she is commenting on, which it often seems she isn't, then they should find someone else.

[Cris 09]

I don't have many problems with ESPN. I wish they would do away with the ticker. I'm tuning in to watch a soccer match, not learn about who isn't going to fight De La Hoya.

Julie Foudy adds nothing. If she can't be bothered to watch the games she is commenting on, which it often seems she isn't, then they should find someone else.

Thats just it - she DOES watch the games and still cannot speak intelligently on the subject!

Poor Andy sitting next to her has to be like, "How the hell did I end up here...next to this?"


This is what Frodo sounds like 90% of the time;

lj3iNxZ8Dww

[Jonny Bishop]

are you serious? are you really that petty? why wouldnt a network advertise having the NBA finals? jesus...you should be thanking them for putting as much into showing a EUROPEAN tournament in the US as they are. its people like you that help perpetuate soccer players and fans as whiners.

Really, it's not so much that they mention the finals are going on, it's the way they go about it. The announcers drone on about "their" opinions about how the finals are going and how they heard how some basketball players like soccer and the whole thing is so clearly scripted it's a little embarassing. Toss in the fact that these phony asides last 30 seconds a piece and interfere with the calling of the game and it does begin to detract from my enjoyment of the broadcast.

let me put it this way, when I'm watching basketball on ESPN I don't want them to quit calling the game in the middle of a play in order to tell me that Thierry Henry really likes basketball before opining on the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

[MNAFETSC]

Really, it's not so much that they mention the finals are going on, it's the way they go about it. The announcers drone on about "their" opinions about how the finals are going and how they heard how some basketball players like soccer

Thats kind of funny when you consider how people on hear are on the verge of creaming their pants when they hear a mainstream US athlete likes soccer. I always felt it was weird when an expert on sport A starts talking about sport B, don't know why.

[Andy Bulldog]

We get ESPN,ESPN2 and ESPN CLASSIC :p

[ttujosh]

yeah but that is the way ESPN does all sports, so I guess I don't really care. I am just happy they are showing the games, and in HD no less.

I would also like to add that I think sticking Reese Davis was a good move. I dont know if he is a soccer fan or not, but he adds a much better presence in the studio than the 3rd tier guys they had in before. His work with college football is great, and seems to help him bring in the two analysts with the awkwardness the other two kind of had.

[srabijr]

Yeah i don't know why foudy is there. sure she knows a lot but this is the men's game, a little bit different then the women's. And i don't think anyone really takes her seriously.

[Cris 09]

Yeah i don't know why foudy is there. sure she knows a lot but this is the men's game, a little bit different then the women's. And i don't think anyone really takes her seriously.

As I said before - she is the Paula Abdul of ESPN. Nothing worth while to contribute.
http://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/tvdecoder/posts/0108/american-idol.jpg

[Visca...]

Thats kind of funny when you consider how people on hear are on the verge of creaming their pants when they hear a mainstream US athlete likes soccer. I always felt it was weird when an expert on sport A starts talking about sport B, don't know why.
Americans are the ones that do that...cream their pants when they hear mainstream US athlete likes soccer.
I haven't been following this thread, but I must say that am extremely happy with ESPN. I think for the first time, they've really got this right.

Here's the good:
- High-Def
- Good Commentators in Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth
- No Dave O'Brien or Balboa or other amateurs
- Wide camera angles
- Quick replays
- Excellent half time coverage
- Excellent between game coverage
- No commercials or interruptions, such as the "Side by Side" crap
- No "Goal Cam" gimmicks
- No camera on a chain
- No crazy special effects on shots on goal (forgot what that was called)

Here's the not so good:
- Can't think of anything, really

GREAT JOB ESPN !!!!!!!!

BEAST_ED
You tried to say Andy Gray, right?

Right? :o

[Visca...]

That's correct. I suspect that they'll send the guys over for the Euro 08 Final, but not 100% sure on that one.
That would be great.

[MNAFETSC]

Americans are the ones that do that...cream their pants when they hear mainstream US athlete likes soccer.


Yah I should have specified but thats who I was referring to, I highly doubt your average Liverpool supporter would cream their pants if they saw Jason Giambi wearing a Gerrard jersey.;)

[Pre1321]

I thought it was very unprofessional of Andy Gray to openly say he enjoyed watching Italy lose because he likes seeing a defensive team get dismantled. He caught himself while he was saying it but went on to say it anyway. What a joke.

[Spartak]

I thought it was very unprofessional of Andy Gray to openly say he enjoyed watching Italy lose because he likes seeing a defensive team get dismantled. He caught himself while he was saying it but went on to say it anyway. What a joke.
Even if he wanted to see defensive teams eliminated, which is understandable from a neutral's perspective, Italy is not a defensive team. At least not in the past 4 years. I personally feel they are a more attack-minded side than France or Romania. But Andy Gray(like most British pundits) still rely on stereotypes when analyzing anything outside of the Premiership. If I hear one more time that Italy are notorious slow starters, as evidenced by the last WC, I'm going to explode. For the record, Italy started off great at WC 2006 and eventually won the whole thing. Conversely, they started off poorly at Euro 2004 and were eliminated in the first round.

[ssri]

Can Reece Davis get a little bit more excited? It sounds like he's in an somambulant state when hosting the studio segment.

[MasterShake29]

I thought it was very unprofessional of Andy Gray to openly say he enjoyed watching Italy lose because he likes seeing a defensive team get dismantled. He caught himself while he was saying it but went on to say it anyway. What a joke.

What's wrong with that? How dare he like teams that play attractive football! He should root for boring teams!

Can Reece Davis get a little bit more excited? It sounds like he's in an somambulant state when hosting the studio segment.

He sounded sick Monday, so that might be part of it.

[Rainer24]

Andy Gray was a striker. Of course he is going to favor a more attacking brand of the game.