Join Now
Dellacamera deserves better than this from ESPN
Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 11:58 AM by Aaron Stollar
Tags espn, jp dellacamera, martin tyler
So ESPN's gone out and signed Martin Tyler to be its no. 1 commentator for the 2010 World Cup.
Good. He's a very good, if slightly ubiquitous, commentator. He won't embarrass ESPN like Jack Edwards, Dave O'Brien or Marcello Balboa and he'll make a lot of US World Cup viewers very happy.
That said, I don't want him doing US matches. That role should remain JP Dellacamera's. He has done an outstanding job as he always has, and he should have a chance to broadcast the US on the highest stage finally after finding himself shunted aside behind an idiot like Edwards and then an incompetent like O'Brien. Dellacamera has earned this chance by being his usual competent, well-prepared self while schlepping across CONCACAF throughout qualifying.
Tyler deserves to be ABC/ESPN's no. 1 announcer based on his pedigree and unrivaled international experience. Fine, I get that. But Dellacamera knows the US national team and these players better than any commentator out there and he has earned his way to South Africa just like the players did. For ESPN to boot him aside in favor a foreigner should be the last straw for the guy. If he were to get booted off US telecasts, he should tell ESPN to stick it where the sun don't shine and march off elsewhere even if its away from soccer. This is battered spouse stuff otherwise, going back repeatedly to a dysfunctional partner that just keeps mistreating you. JP deserves better than that.
Fans of MLS should be behind Dellacamara being the voice of the US. Because you can be sure, if he bails on ESPN, he won't be back doing MLS telecasts either, likely leaving fans stuck with the shrieking, cackling Rob Stone.
I completely understand ESPN going and getting Tyler and I commend them for it. But JP has done a spectacular job with MLS and the USA throughout the years and ought to be our national team's broadcaster on the biggest stage.
Share
Post a Comment
Total Comments 35
Comments
-
+1.
There are some fans out there who don't like J.P. Frankly, I don't understand them. He's always prepared, knows his stuff, doesn't go off on ridiculous tangents, and is a fan of the team without coming across as a fanboy.Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 01:04 PM by Sachsen 
-
I've been a critic of J.P. at times, but he earned that job. If Guus Hiddink took over tomorrow, dream scenario as that might be, I'd still be gutted for Bob.
The one positive is that Taylor doesn't plan on treating the viewers with kid gloves.Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 01:07 PM by Mike Gray 
-
I'm glad we'll have Tyler. I enjoy his calls of games.
And re: Rob Stone, the shrieking and cackling you hear is coming from his perfect hair.
Finally, is 'slightly ubiquitous' the same kind of thing as 'slightly pregnant'?Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 01:20 PM by MattMathai
-
I'm with you. I like Dellacamera.
Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 01:55 PM by cnelson4947
-
Count me with those who hope that JP is kept for the USA matches.
While JP is competent, Martin Tyler is very good. That said, JP has a familiarity with the USA team that Tyler cannot match, due to his weekly MLS broadcasts on ESPN and the fact that he's called the USA games throughout qualifying, and the fact that he's called soccer games in this country longer than some posters have been alive.
(To wit, if you ever see video of Caligiuri's famous shot in Trinidad & Tobago in 1989, that's JP Dellacamera on the mic, calling the game.)
For all the other matches, they're welcome to have Martin Tyler as their #1 PBP man. But I think that the fans would be better served with JP on the mic for the USA matches.Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 02:38 PM by ElJefe
-
i agreePosted 19 Oct 2009 at 02:40 PM by CrewPens
-
JP has been among the best since 1994. He and Harkes at WC 2006 were the best commentary duo for the US ever. Hands down. I really hope that ESPN decides to keep these guys together for their 2nd tier crew.
I think anyone who is the first team crew for ESPN has a really tough job, and JP/Harkes aren't the first to go downhill in that role. If you watch Rob Stone do college football, Dave Obrien do baseball or Jack Edwards do hockey, they are actually pretty good/entertaining/well-balanced voices. They were absolute buffoons on soccer broadcasts.
The best part of the Martin Tyler appointment is that he's not likely to be pushed around. And even if you find him unentertaining, or lacking in US team knowledge, he at least won't come off as an annoying jerk. Or spend 85 of the 90 minutes evaluating the referee (Balboa).Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 02:51 PM by tubby_butter
-
Oh, give me back Jack Edwards already! He's a legend in Boston, for pity's sake!
Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 03:21 PM by TOTC
-
JP deserves better just for having to put up with Harkes and Wynalda..
Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 03:24 PM by Beakmon FC
-
Why don't they use the best American sports announcer, Al Michaels? He's already on the ESPN payroll.
JP is OK. Like so many American announcers, he likes to talk too much, and about things that aren't always relevant to the game being played."Hey, we're doing US vs Spain, so let's talk about Torres possibly leaving Liverpool for 15 minutes and about how great the Premiership is." WTF?
Harkes is not that great either. Better than Balboa for sure, but not much of an upgrade from Wynalda. Harkes doesn't seem to share the passion of openly berating US Soccer at every turn like Wynalda (I always enjoyed Wylanda's little rants). Harkes also has trouble putting coherent sentences together, which isn't a good quality to have when your job is to give insightful analysis of the game. Too many balls to the head?Posted 19 Oct 2009 at 03:35 PM by CBusCrew12
|
Post a Comment
|
Total Trackbacks 0
