i really enjoyed rob tonight. i thought he called his best game so far. the "whoop" yells and "cobi pinata" call were priceless and he came across as genuinely funny and informed. ty was weak as usual, though. that was color commentary??? what did everyone else think?
Terrible camera work. Too much time spent looking at coaches on the sidelines and Cobi's dreads and not enough time showing action on the field.
Please tell me you're kidding about the "whoop" yells. The "whoop" yells must go. Overall, a pedestrian effort from these two. However, 89 minutes of vapid blathering was utterly redeemed when Rob said "I haven't seen jeans and a sport coat since my 8th grade Christmas dance." That was priceless. Nearly sig material. Actually, I think I'm being too hard on them. Ty has improved noticably over the last few years. The trouble with him isn't what he says anymore, but how he says it. He must learn about economy of language. Rob was no worse than Jack Edwards. Jack was unintentionally funny, while Rob, on occassion, is truly funny. He's no long-term solution, but he is a servicable stop-gap. I don't understand why hockey -- also a foreign, niche sport -- has great announcers on ESPN, while soccer has some of the worst. The broadcast felatio of Beasley got annoying. Yes, we know he is fast. Yes, we know he is young. Get over it. Their adoration wouldn't be so annoying if they tempered it every now and then with a mention of his poor final touch (whether it be crossing or shooting). Camera work was good last night. Not as tight overall, not as many long, untimely close-ups of coaches on the bench and players away from the ball. I hope this is part of a trend.
i think Rob was pretty good last night. Ty was horrible . i don't what he was talking about , but he went on with something for what seemed like 2-3 minutes. I actually yelled at my TV for him to shut up. The Video was better , except for 2 things... 1.- too many close ups 2.- can we get rid of the ticker at the bottom of the screen please. it's bad enough we havethe scoreboard/ advertising at the top . I don't think the producers take the ticker into account when showing this. how many times did you lose the play in the ticker last night ??
I couldn't agree more, but you could add Donovan, McBride, Mathis, etc. to the list. We finally have some players worthy of praise, AT TIMES, but the constant fawning is ridiculous. Especially when you notice the score ended 0-0. For all the blather, you would have thought we scored 8 goals. All of our announcers suffer from trying to hype or explain the game too much. Don't they realize that the only people who are watching know the game well, and find it ridiculous? Simplicity and balance would go a long way, and we aren't gonna get it w/ those two.
There was a stretch when I actually found myself enjoying the commentary. Ty and Rob were riffin', and keeping their comments short, relevant, and interesting (who knew Ty's mom is Mexican?!). And Rob dropped the typical cheerleader everything-soocer-is-perfect facade so common among U.S. broadcasters long enough to rip on the field conditions. But I knew it was too good to be true, and it was. After McBride pulled his dipsy-do nutmeg and shot into the side netting, the old Ty came rushing back. He filled his big old windbag with air and started huffing about the "class" of McBride and how much he learned in 8 games in England and on and on and on and on and on. Meanwhile, the ball was at the other end, Mexico was threatening, and Hedjuk nearly got thrown out of the game. But we missed all that because Ty was trying to sell us all shares in Brian McBride, Inc. It got better after that, but the damage was done. Rob Stone is great, and he makes Ty better than Jack Edwards did, but he's only one man, and can only do so much.
If the broadcaster doesn't have a foreign accent or use the words pitch, table, trot .... no one here will be happy. I enjoy listening to Rob Stone. I don't know what everyone is so critical about. Oh wait, welcome to BigSoccer.
i really liked when there was a play late in the game and the mexican player didn't hear that a foul had been called. Rob: "I said... there's a whistle on the feild. I said.... there's a whistle on the feild. I SAID..." just cracked me up.
I am VERY thankful to ESPN and SUM for being able to watch this match in the English language. But: Stoney's the biggest gak in the history of sports television, but of course that's only my opinion. Ty's kind of growing on me believe it or not, though I agree with someone else above that he doesn't know how to express it too often. Otherwise, I agree with nancyb: only ESPN can miss about 20 minutes out of a 90 minutes match with all the crowd shots, coach shots, meaningless replays, closeups, promotional spots, etc. We missed a helluva lot of action and flow of the game, including Frankie's yellow (which we never saw a replay of).
Totally agree. ESPN and winnercomm still don't know how to broadcast a soccer game.When are they gonna take some lessons from ESPNinternational or the MFL. They're showing us a closeup of the Mexican keeper while play is going on at midfield. Truly pathetic. They show replays during the match instead of waiting for appropriate breaks in the game, causing us to miss more action.Even Telemundo shows closeups of fans, but they do so when there is a break in action, not when the goal kick is in flight.
Rob's "whoop" is tolerable maybe once a game, but many times (and in quick succession) drove me nuts. For me what they choose to comment on is completely off base: -Tons of time praiseing fitness and speed. These are professional atheletes for christsake. Unless somone is lagging in the first half or something, a player's fitness never merits a comment. -Good quality moves on the ball are celebrated like they are Maradona's run vs. England in 1986. These guys are good, we expect them to be able to hold the ball in tight space. I'm as happy as the next guy that, as a team, the US couldn't do this 4-5 years ago and can now. But that doesn't make the moves more exciting, it just warms the heart a bit. I saw a noticeable difference in play in the 2nd half, the US pressured more effectively and started their defense well in the middle third of the field, rather than in their end. But I heard not a peep from the TV guys about this change. There is virtually no discussion of tactics or a larger understanding of the game. I want something that I don't know already, not an opinion on if that play was "good" or not. This is a fluid game and the commentary just doesn't reflect that. All we get is staccato chirps of what we can already see with our own eyes.
Has anybody on this thread clamored for a Eurofication of the broadcasting? Didn't think so. I'm glad you like listening to Rob Stone. I'm jealous of you. I wish I liked him. But I don't. For me, he would suck every bit as much if he said pitch, table, trot, delightful, unlucky, kit, etc. Just curious -- what do you like about him? Maybe if I listen with your ear he'll grow on me. I'm open to the possibility, however skeptical I may be.
I agree with you. Foreign broadcasters whine and coo as much as anyone. it is their job to try and make as much excitment out the game as possible. No one on this board except maybe NotABBOT could do a better job!!
The best broadcast duo I've seen this year? The A-League guys who did the Seattle v. Portland game last Friday. I actually enjoyed the broadcast. They were thoughtful, knowledgeable, understood tactics, knew history, didn't talk too much, etc. A pleasure. Don't know who they are though and don't know if they do ALL the A-League games or just Seattle or Portland games.
yeah, not that there's anything wrong with that also, loved Tye's new use for the word "predominate" in the opening segment, I hope the usa continues to "predominate" mexico
While I agree that the fewer camera shots of coaches is a good thing, US broadcasts are hardly the worst offenders. Look at the Champs League, which ESPN does not produce the telecast, or the weekly RAI broadcast that is shown on the International Channel. Or the EPL matches. How many shots do we need of Hector Cuper smoking? Arsense Wenger is well dressed, wow, that really adds to my understanding of the game. Also, without Wynalda on last night's broadcast, the lack of analysis was evident. Tony
While I generally agree with most of the opinions posted, I actually didn't find those two as bad as usual. In the past, I've actually yelled at Ty (TV) to shut up a few times myself. My biggest problem with most US PBP guys is what Mosler said. There is no real discussion of the game itself. Only trivial info and related BS (Valderamma's nickname, McBride/Everton ad naseum). This is the only sport I've listened to where the quality of broadcasting is consistently poor.
All in all I think the production for the Champions League matches is excellent. I don't care if they show shots of the coaches as long as what's happening on the field is nothing more than the GK setting up the ball for a goal kick or something equally unimportant.
I long for the day when the announcers DON'T tell us continuously in the first 10 minutes how great certain players are and continue to do so irrespective of what actually happens on the field. Is it that hard to just judge each player according to the way each plays in a particular match?
i thought it would have been great to update the MLS season stadings and show a couple MLS goals since we had a little larger audience last night. things like this could tie in the national team and MLS even clearer which would be good for both sides.
I long for the day when the announcers DON'T tell us continuously in the first 10 minutes how great certain players are and continue to do so irrespective of what actually happens on the field. Is it that hard to just judge each player according to the way each plays in a particular match?