[tambo]

What's the set-up, exactly, and why is it so bad?

We've endured the same frustrations with both the Gold Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League: ill-timed replays, lingering shots of benches and players while the action is elsewhere, weird cuts at weird times, etc. The replays in particular are maddening -- they constantly cut into the flow of the game to show multiple angles of some innocuous foul or offside. (I'm pretty sure we missed at least one live Gold Cup goal this summer because of it.)

Does anyone know how they handle these games? Do they have their own crews at each match site, all cursed with the same irritating tendencies? Is it all done out of some master production lair in Jack Warner's basement? Is there any logical explanation for the direction style (e.g., this is how it's done by Central American broadcasters)?

It's not like it's just randomly bad production -- it's the same (ugly) template for each of these games.

And it must make the FSC guys insane, because they know there are clueless viewers out there blaming them for all this stuff.