Does anyone else find it pathetic when commentators and sports broadcasters who are PAID to do have World Cup knowledge, know less about the players and squads than many average viewers? Two examples after just a few hours of ESPN2's coverage: Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa being so surprised that left-back Phillip Lahm cut in on his right foot to score that opening goal.....when he's RIGHT FOOTED, and if you've ever seen him for Bayern Munich, he does tend to cut on to his right a lot. Balboa seemed to think Lahm was a left footer who'd just scored a peach with his weak foot. Allen Hopkins discussing England's formation for Paraguay, said that because of Rooney's absence, England might switch to a 4-5-1 and use a holding midfielder like Michael Carrick or Ledley King. LEDLEY KING? That'd be great if he was even in England's World Cup squad. They should bring Darren Bent and Shaun Wright-Phillips off the bench too.
Re: ESPN/ABC: The only bad part about the WC. that irish dude is absolutely pathetic. love the "david beckham & co" advertising scheme.
Re: ESPN/ABC: The only bad part about the WC. That's 1 of the reason why I rather watch it in spanish.
Balboa BE QUIET! I rarely post but I just had to to express how much I detest listening to Balboa's running commentary. He also gets simple facts absolutely wrong. For example, Paraguay played the ball out when a player was injured and Balboa explained how England did the right thing in playing the ball out. He just can't shut up and his comments are just iflat incorrect! Please get anyone else out there.
Re: Balboa BE QUIET! I switched to Univision already...not that I understand Spanish...beats babbling Balboa any time.
Re: Balboa BE QUIET! Funny thing is that they are doing it from I assume ESPN's Studios. Tommy Smith called yesterday's Poland/Ecuador game and then was Live on World Cup tonight in the studio from Connecticut...
Re: Balboa BE QUIET! My understanding is that ABC/ESPN are doing all commentaries (excepting, maybe, the Final) from the Connecticut studios. Who is commentating on Sweden v Trinidad and Tobago please?
Re: Balboa BE QUIET! Just because you guys don't know Michael Beckham and he does.....!!! Oh and did you know that Germany and USA played in 2002 and the US had a PK denied......?????
Re: Balboa BE QUIET! Then the other, I assume is J-P DellaCamera. Thanks. From what I've been reading of the commentators' faux-pas, thank goodness for the UK commentators. We complain about them a lot but they're generally accurate.
Re: Balboa BE QUIET! God ESPN people are such dumbasses. They are showing Germany-Costa Rica highlights on Sportscenter... before they show anything they display some "facts" about the match, one says: "Costa Rica's team is nicknamed: 'the Ticos'". Tico means "someone from Costa Rica". Might as well display a fact that says "United States' team is nicknamed: 'the Americans". And they also said it was the opening game because "the host always plays in the first game". Never mind that the host has not played in the opening game for almost half a century...
Re: ESPN/ABC: The only bad part about the WC. If it makes you feel any better, at least in America, all 64 games are on free. Here in Germany, they're hosting the god damn thing and yet only 56 games will be on free television, with only one of the two parallel games from each group on the last day being on (and usually the "better" one, you can bet your ass USA-Ghana won't be considered "better" than Italy-Czech). The only network carrying all 64 is Premiere (think a really expensive HBO that you only get for Bundesliga soccer, but end up paying 45 bucks a month for). Also, we German viewers were just treated to a fascinating feature on how Argentina and the Ivory Coast are practically brothers because 180 million years ago, Africa and South America were connected instead of separated by an ocean. And if that premise wasn't bloody ridiculous enough, there was a beautiful graphic of a globe with Argentina and the IVC outlined. And then when the two animated continents were moved together, you could see that they were still about as close to one another as St. Petersburg is to Madrid. But hey, practically blood brothers, those two countries.
Re: ESPN/ABC: The only bad part about the WC. Wait - I'm not sure I understand - Could they explain "passive offsides" and that the ENTIRE ball has to cross the line one more time Oh yeah - I understand the game better when they give me a baseball or basketball analogy BTW - did anyone know that the Ivory Coast is plagued by a civil war - Wouldn't it be great if the two factions can come together to support their team. Please, stab me in the head - better yet, stab the ABC/ESPN announcers. While I'm on a rant - I just love Julie Foudy - she is sooooo insightful
ABC/ESPN commentators are terrible! I know it's not just me that thinks this but these commentators are basically a joke. If you told me this is the first games they have ever seen I would believe it. The guys for the England game and Argentina game were the worst of the bunch. The guys for the Sweeden game were a little better and actually just commentated on the game and didn't go on and on about meaningless stuff. For the England game they actually had to explain that Beckham is not the best player in the world and there is a guy named Ronaldinho and some other guys that are better. They also felt the need to mention that there are only 3 subs allowed. Thanks for the insight! But the worst might have been the guys for the Argentina game. The guy that was a former GK kept making stupid comparisons with baseball and basketball. It really takes away from the game and if I wasn't watching in HD I would be changing over to the Mexican channel.
Re: ABC/ESPN commentators are terrible! for me, it's the damn graphics. there's two borders on the screen: one on top and one on the bottom. pick one or the other. and the top line isn't completely at the top, there's a space then the bar. it's just annoying. really, do we need a sports ticker? and do they have to cover the screen with text the player of the game that covers half the screen. the worst were the messages saying kids, your saturday morning shows will on in a couple weeks that covered the bottom half of the screen.
Re: ESPN/ABC: The only bad part about the WC. AWESOME POST!!! I still haven't stopped laughing! I couldn't have said it better myself. FANTASTIC!! I also liked how they had Foudy and Lalas with BM at the Belmont. What?? Now THAT makes a lot of sense. I LOVE watching the games ... but the broadcasters are just pathetic! It is REALLY SAD AND DISAPPOINTING! Again ... TERRIFIC post!!
JP and Harkes are relatively decent but everyone else has been awful. Has anyone ever gotten more undeserved exposure out of an Irish accent than Tommy Smith. I've been sick of his faux credibility forever. Dave Obrien and Balboa are the absoltue worst though. Beckham's own goal free kick was apparently a rocket. Must have been so fast that it appeared to the home viewer as a lobbed in pass. Stupid HDTV, can't bring myself to go to Univision. The D is not H enough...
It's pretty sad when the A-team gets the most negative comments. That would be O'Brien and Balboa (opener, England). God, I hope they're not calling the Netherlands game tomorrow.
You can contact ESPN here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?page=contact/espntv and ABC Sports here: http://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html?cat=ABC Sports Let them know how you really feel.
I been watching Univision for the reasons stated and to brush up on my horrible spanish but a couple comments -- ESPN and ABC and everyone else treats us like we are retarded. During the recent FrenchOpen the stream at the bottom has told you the result of the match you are watching if you didn't get up at 2am and watch the damn thing live. If you are a NASCAR fan, how many times have they told you how the draft works or what it means for the drivers car to be 'loose' or about 100 other things the casual fan can pick up on in about 5 races? American Football -- You obviously don't know what offensive pass interference is cause they tell you every damned game. American Cricket -- thanks for explaining what a 4 seam fastball is or that the runners will be going on a full count with two outs. I've only watched the sport since I was in the womb. They treat us dumb on all sports -- Soccer/football a little bit more so.
Re: ESPN/ABC: The only bad part about the WC. I posted my displeasure at the new decision to make analogies to US sports in another thread - before I found the official thread. Since this is official Are we going to mail this link to someone? If I hear one more analogy to American sports I'm going to shoot someone. It's obvious they've said, "We have new fans, let's make sure they understand the game by making an equal comparison to an American sport." "So Celo, you see when that player is lying on the pitch hurt, it is kind of like in basketball when they lie on the COURT hurt. Think of it that way and you'll understand what that means to the rest of the world. To make one more, it is kind of like a baseball player laying on the grass or dirt injured. Wow, what a moment." "In case you fans don't understand what it means to try to hit the ball and miss in an important game, think of it this way: It is the World Series and players tries to hit the ball and misses!!! Whoooa! Big deal, huh?"
Re: ESPN/ABC: The only bad part about the WC. LOL i think ESPN had a meeting n told the commentators to EXPLAIN everything dealing with soccer, instead of commentatiing the game! i think they should stop talkin botu the rules n analogies treatin us fans who watch it like newbies n allow us to teach ne1 who is confused bout the game...this way we can make new friends,just hopefully wit sum good lookin ladies...++++ UNivison is a million times better than abc for one reason only....HOT CHICKS from around the world dancing around, sorry i dont speak spanish n not understanding them, but for the ladies IM THERE
Today it took Harkes and JP 20 minutes to realize that Shaka Hislop was the keeper from T&T and not Kelvin Jack, despite the fact that they had several close camera shots of Shaka either in front or in the back with his name on his jersey! They kept calling him Kelvin Jack!