They don't have to be high profile. Hingst certainly wasn't high profile. High profile doesn't necessarily equate to good in the studio. (and, in Hingst's case, lo pro doesn't either).
love Love LOVE Ariane. Loved her in Canada and love what little I’ve seen of her this time. And who the H decided to send Rob Stone with his perfectly quaffed hair instead of Kate Abdo.
hingst sucks. If HAO came on and said "I'm American, I'm for America, I don't want to hear about Nigeria" the way Hingst did this morning, she'd be slaughtered for it.
I think you've totally misunderstood her mentality, or perhaps she cannot express her thoughts in English as well as she does in her native tongue of German. I've seen her commentary many times, and of course she's all for Germany, as a German national and ex-German player. I think her comments are akin to saying, "If Germany focuses on the things they do well and executing them, then they will win, regardless of Nigeria's game plan and tactics." Overall, she's respectful of all teams. She's not a hater.
I mean, English is her second or third language to be fair. Kate Markgraf on the other hand is hard to listen to on ESPNFC. She said something similar in that OF COURSE THE USA ARE GOING TO WIN AND I'M FOR THEM.
Hingst: So are y'all saying that if Hingst knew what she was saying it would be disrespectful? Otherwise, why are you bringing up the language excuse. Also, why the hell was Cat Whitehill openly cheering for Germany against Nigeria? Regarding Markgraf - this is the USA. Since when is it not ok to cheer for the home country? That doesn't mean it's I want to hear some goof from Country B actively cheering for B against Country A, which is not represented in the studio. And, saying "I don't want to hear about A." It's ridiculous.
Announcers and pbp people used to strive to be neutral. Homers were seen as unprofessional and poor quality. Sadly, that has gone by the wayside.
Bill Russell never did that for the Celtics when he did NBA games. Since he is the greatest team sport winner of all time, that is the gold standard. The commentator above is failing to meet that.
Akers and Chastain are very opinionated, not "homers" and extraordinarily knowledgeable. Chastain, in fact, is an excellent color commentator. She knows the game well, the strategy well and the role of the commentator well. Plus, she has a pleasant broadcasting voice. In my opinion, she is the best soccer commentator in America. Please understand that I am not limiting that to women's soccer. Chastain as color commentator and Andres Cantor as play-by-play would be a fantastic team.
While his running PbP is pretty good if I am remembering correctly he has the worst goal call there is.When I hear him on the commentary team I am often found praying for 0-0.
I liked Chastain as a color commentator I believe during the Olympics on NBC with that one British dude. I think a lot of people were not happy that she often questioned the defense of the USWNT during those Pia Sundhage years. I remember Hope Solo getting ruffled by it and my question to Hope was always, why are you so offended on what Brandi is saying? Also why are you focusing on the commentary? Do players seriously listen to replays of the broadcast to see if any of these people said anything bad about them? I’m genuinely curious cause that sounds like an easy way to feel bad about yourself. I hope they don’t look at what we say about them.
He is a Latino announcer. That is how the announcers from that part of the world call "GOL". I admit, I preferred Tony Tirado (the SIN great from the 1980s [GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!], but I can settle for Cantor.
I have never heard any announcer, Latino or otherwise, with such an unnecessarily exaggerated goal call. He spews it out for an unreasonably long time. To me it just shows contempt for his audience by making the goal all about him and not about the player that scored or the match being called. I tune out matches called by such a self centered personality unless it is a match that otherwise I really want to watch. I also keep my hand on my remote during matches called by him so as to mute the obnoxious goal calls. With other announcers the remote stays on the table but for him I hold it in my hand so he does not get to verbally regurgitate excreta into my viewing room.
You do realize that changes have occured in regard to commentating since Bill's generation? How many neutral commentators do we see any more in the U.S. media?
It often depends on the sport involved. In hockey (my second favorite sport) it is often nearly impossible to tell by the call if you are watching the home or the away feed for large parts of the broadcast. The only way often is that the home feed talks a lot more about home rosters and about things the home players are doing. Other than that the home and away feeds are often mostly the same for in game calls. I know a lot of folks like homer calls of matches but I am not one of them. I like objective calling that allows me to decide if the plays and calls are good/bad/accurate. For me the best announcers call the game and expound on extraneous junk very little and never show bias in the way they call and/or report the match.
Sadly, very few. I'd much rather listen to a neutral broadcast. The Dodgers' Vin Scully was one of the best.
Not many. But I would prefer one like Chastain who is willing to criticize substandard US play. By the way, Russell was a rarity in his generation, too. Heinsohn, who succeeded him, was horribly biased in favor of the Celtics when doing national games.
True. Also, depends on the type of feed. If it's a national feed of a domestic league game, you expect a neutral commentating duo. Although, both teams have their own commentators doing a "team" feed over the radio or local TV station. However, in international competition, where it's the U.S. vs other nations, you almost always have biased or "pro U.S." commentators nowadays.
I can’t speak to this WWC because I haven’t watched our Match replays 20 times yet - -that comes when I get back but I always thought Aly Wagner pointed out/criticized all shortcomings in the US play. Cat does when it’s glaring. Of course please, please don’t hold your breath waiting for me to say anything bad about one of our ex-players. Most of this traces back to when sports became “entertainment” from the media’s prospective. They gave themselves the green light to say and do anything.