Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] After three (four?) matches announcing I think the jury has reached a verdict -- and your post is it. He simply does not know the game well enough -- I'd prefer the annoying Edwards or someone obnoxious with some knowledge to him. I was keeping an open mind until now but this match closed it. Fortunately, I will be in germany so I won't actually have to listen to him . . .
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] i posted in the other post too, but it cant be said enough. DOB sucks. he makes Celo look good.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] Anyone with knowledge of and a passion for the game is better than this poof. Univision, here I come. Mis-hearing the occasional sentence in spanish is still light-years better than this torture. also... why do announcers calling US games feel the need to be jock-sniffing apologists? If a player misses a shot, its because its a CRAPPY SHOT most of the time, and not a cumulative result of the evils of the world.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] It seemed like Balboa stopped talking with DOB as the game went on. I could practically hear Balboa's thoughts, " STFU". DOB is bad and he makes Balboa worse and Celo is already bad enough, thank you.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] So true. If they wanted this guy to do the World Cup they should have brought him in in 2003. He'd have had three years to learn the game. As it is we'll have a lead announcer who seems to have been just barely briefed on the rudiments of the sport and the U.S. team. He works off of talking points, rather than the events going on on the field, because he doesn't have a clue about the finer points and apparently no history to draw from.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] I have never seen a guy drop such a load over the weather before. I swear I heard a primal grunt over "the evening started out at 28 degrees". He adds almost nothing at all to the broadcast. Zero. I can forgive his decfences and other mispeaks; to me that's not the biggest deal to me. But this guy clearly doesn't know the team nor the game. If we want em for World cup weather reports cool. Otherwise how about ANYONE else. And you guys thing Stoner is geeky, take a look at this freakin bozo.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] I've been pretty easy on DOB, but he was very poor today.At least three glaring errors: We did not play Poland in the "consolation round" of the WC(whatever that may be),TH did not play in the Cup Final vs. Wigan,and Dolo did not have an assist and he keep insisting that he did instead of Lewis(guess he forgot they switch ends at HT) Plus he missed at least 3 freekicks due to blathering.And this was NOT the first soccer game in history to be played in snow as he made it seem. But I also want to mention that the director,whoever that is, was terrible, kept missing action due to closeups,unprepared for quick free kicks,and did not have any sort of decent view of the only close offside call.Unacceptable lack of quality here. Celo was Celo, enough said.....
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] He also told us Frankowksi plays with 'the Wolverhampton Wolves.' As i said when he was on first this guy is the worst i ever heard. i will write to espn to complain. I won't listen to o'brien in june. There is a link at espn.com then go to contact us. others should do the same. maybe we will make a diference. useless broadcaster.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] They also really need to tell the story based on the game in front of them rather than deciding beforehand what they will be stressing.....
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] here's the thing, Lloyd, some ESPM people do read these posts because 'Celo dropped his "here's the thing.. what he has to do is ..." broken record. I will however defend DOB ... IF it turns out that the erronerous Carling Cup info was given to him by his research assistants/ producers. Maybe the problem is that none of these ESPN people really understands the game. PS. If anyone saw any NBC/USA Olympic hockey coverage, Mike "Doc" Emrick threw in as much side info as DOB but his segways and the feel for the game of hockey were perfect. DOB is totally clueless by comparison.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] "I love snow, 'Celo. It's so beautiful. In fact, Clint Dempsey told me earlier today that he loves snow too. Also, get this - he told me that his most treasured childhood memory was building a snowman with his mom when he was eight." What? Dempsey scored? Dang, I missed it! ESPN has that Ombudsman guy now. Maybe we should send him emails non-stop.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] It is shocking to me that for an event like this, ESPN would name as it's PBP announcer a guy who knows absolutely nothing about soccer. I don't think he even watched the last World Cup. He KILLED the entire telecast in my opinion. I just can't get over how awful O'Brien was. I can't believe I'm missing Jack Edwards, but Jack & Ty as bad as they were, are light years ahead of these two clowns. I can't believe US Soccer and ESPN would allow a stiff like O'Brien to announce the premier sporting event in the world. It's an insult having to listen to this guy and he absolutely destroys your enjoyment of the game. He couldn't even tell you how well the US played in the 2nd half because he wouldn't know good soccer for bad soccer. Edwards, any of the Champions League guys, half the local announcers in MLS, Stone, Max Bretos and anyone onf FSC....there are probably two dozen announcers in the US who could at least do a passable job in O'Brien's role and ESPN gives us this stiff. O'Brien, you're an EMBARASSMENT!!!
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] ESPN hates soccer. no, really. i mean as much as i respect the honest effort that is given by DOB and even Celo or whoever else they put in the booth, it always just seems lacking. it can only get better, right? i'd say some constructive comments in emails to the ESPN Ombudsmun or the programming department or wherever, might actually do some good. Let them know their commentator choices could very well send viewers to Univision for the WC. i want to like these announcers, i want to. but they make it so difficult for me. Where are Mike Hill and Eddie Mighten when you need them?
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] Can we have Phil Scheon back? These guys are really, really, really, really bad. The thing that annoys me the most is the fact that they lie about the game. Beasley takes a terrible touch that goes right to an opposing player but instead it's "stolen" by the defender. Soccer is great because of the nuance and O'Brien doesn't understand the game. How are they going to deal with the close decisions in the World Cup? I watch a lot of Match of the Day so maybe I'm spoiled but a great commentator can make almost any match interesting. O'Brien and Celo make me reach for the remote. I'm still going to subscribe to HD cable when the World Cup comes. I'll have to deal with these guys but hopefully we'll be able to download the BBC telecasts of the World Cup games off the internet.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] I will however defend GWB...IF it turns out that the erroneous intelligence on Iraq was given to him by his intelligence agencies. I disagree with you. At the end of the day, it's Obrien's own fault. His manner in handling this assignment is not professional. sorry to throw in a political thing, all i could think of quickly.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] Tommy Smyth is a joke as well... O'Brien is rather weak but has potential... Balboa is a disaster...
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] Guess what guys... the US is on the road to germany and they were playing in germany!
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] Ultimately, this is ESPN's responsibility for not letting its announcers to get bad info. Should DOB have known about TimHo not playing at the Carling Cup? I suppose so but his info had to have been vetted by his producers. Where do you think the "1,000 year old castle" info comes from? Of course, the "it's snowing in Germany" nonsense was his own ad-libbing, which was utterly inane.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] I don't usually get too worked up about the announcing, but, it's true, this O'Brien guy is the pits. I watched my tape of the game and when it was over, I turned over to the rebroadcast of the England-Uruguay on FSC. Man, what a difference.
Re: O'Brien/Celo - US v Pol [R] I'll go so far to say as that was the worst performance by an announcing team that I've ever heard on a major network telecast of any sport. Honestly, O'Brien sounded like one of those guys on local access cable calling his kid's soccer match. And he was about as knowledgable about soccer as one of those guys. It wouldn't at all surprise me if this guy gets yanked prior to Germany. A couple of phone calls from the major sponsors of the World Cup package might well do the trick. O'Brien was actually that overmatched by the assignment. Balboa wasn't much better but a decent play by play guy can cover up for a stiff on color. The fact that Balboa sounded worse than I've ever heard him (and that's saying something) is testimony to how awful O'Brien was.