[Claymore]

I watched the NE/DCU game tonight (DCU goes scoreless - AGAIN), and the announcing team is from the Revs. During the first half, Joey Franchino executes the textbook from-behind tackle THRU Milton Reyes - real bad stuff. He's immediately booked, as he should be, and this f*$kwit color guy Doug Chapman launches into how Franchino shouldn't have been booked "because he got the ball", and he goes on for three minutes about how poor little Joey The Hack now won't be able to play the next game against LA in front of his family and friends because the referee gave him an "undeserved" yellow.

It is idiots like this guy who make our job so difficult. Parents and players hear this clueless twit and think that "getting the ball" automatically erases any foul.

[BerwynBlazers]

that's not as bad as these announcers doin the a-league game on fsw right now

[IASocFan]

Maybe MLS should require announcers to go thru level 8 certification and do a youth or adult game, so 1) they learn the rules, and 2) they get an appreciation of what it's like to be in the middle.

[JohnFree5]

Friday Nights A-League commentary was atrocius. The Dallas Burn commentary team is probably the worst in MLS. They seem to conversational.I think one person in the booth would be better. These people should take note from the English. Enough said.

[pacref]

Originally posted by IASocFan
Maybe MLS should require announcers to go thru level 8 certification and do a youth or adult game, so 1) they learn the rules, and 2) they get an appreciation of what it's like to be in the middle.

A while back I suggested that we all send a buck to ESPN/Disney/ABC to pay for the entry level clinc for Ty and friends.

Maybe we should flood them with our old law booklets. They may be out dated, but they still are useful!

on second thought it wouldn't work, they probably wouldn't grasp the concepts anyway.

Want to really hear some dumb stuff watch the WUSA games. The announcers are the WORST!

[pacref]

IMO
I think that the best commentary and game announceing is on Fox Sports world. They have two or three guys who, for the most part, are recreating games from foreign feed (non-english commentary) They don't second guess and they keep there talking to a minimum

[Greyhnd00]

Originally posted by IASocFan
Maybe MLS should require announcers to go thru level 8 certification and do a youth or adult game, so 1) they learn the rules, and 2) they get an appreciation of what it's like to be in the middle.

It is hard to take the league seriously when a nationaly televised "soccer saturday" match is played on a field with football lines and what looked like a maximum of 3 cameras that provided very marginal coverage of the game.......sometimes it feels like the league isnt even trying.

[billf]

Grey,

I know this is a little off topic, but why do you think it looks like the league isn't trying because of the field at Naperville? Don't you know how the Fire ended up there?

The league and the referees have noted a number of problems with the stadium there, but the league tried very hard to construct a modular stadium in the parking lot of Arlington Park. It would have been similar to the old home of the Fusion. The politics of the Chicago area made this impossible, so the Fire had no choice but to stay at Soldier Field after the rennovations are completed in two years. In the meantime, they had no place to play. They couldn't make a stadium with a nice grass field just appear out of thin air. It was the best that could be done on short notice.

I agree that this looks second rate on TV, but this is not for lack of trying on the part of MLS. My feeling is that this game should not have been on ESPN this week, but this is a temporary home.

[seahawkdad]

What bugs the hell out of me is when announcers (and they do this often) make a "late whistle" or "late flag" comment.

First, it shows they haven't studied the game, which, as with any sport, includes understanding the rules and how they are called.

Second, it seems to be implying some sort of deficiency on the part of the ref and ARs. Which is funny in a way, since it really shows a deficiency on the part of the announcers.