I'm away in philly for fa cup semi on saturday. Supposedly it's gonna be streamed on FS Go app on my iphone. Have any of you had any experience streaming with this app? Is it generally reliable? Does it give you probs if you leave your home zipcode?
Wow! Rob Stone really takes you back. Like back to where soccer coverage was in this country 10 years ago. He has the ability to sound like an idiot even when what he says is technically correct (PSG winning the CL group earlier this season was not one of these occasions, however). A pet peeve of mine with panelists has always been when they say something stupid in the intro of a broadcast. Say something dumb during a 90-minute play-by-play session, that's understandable. But when you have 30 seconds to a minute to introduce a match, don't you have a prepared statement? When all you have to say when the Barca team bus pulls up to the stadium is "There's Lio Messi. Maybe the best player in the world", maybe you're in the wrong line of business.
Stone is definitely one of the best of the American PxP guys. He's got the lingo down, as long as you're not fussy about stuff like 'sideline' vs. 'touchline' and relatively minor things like that. At least he doesn't confuse "play on" with playing advantage like certain announcers working MLS games. Also, he knows enough to watch the AR and interprets their signals correctly as a rule. I like him, and his errors, when they happen, aren't the cringe-inducing kind like happened occasionally with Gus Johnson. However, his problem is the same as with any American announcer I can think of: He just isn't steeped in the game like many of the foreign announcers, and is missing that instinct that tells him what is really going on and not just what is happening at that moment. Again, I don't hate him, but I don't like the overall agenda that Fox Sports seems to have of expunging foreign influence from their broadcasts, even at the cost of quality. What you get is this sort of Affirmative Action program to get more American voices in the booth. I know there are some who have been calling for this, but I just want quality and at the moment (and I expect the foreseeable future) the American announcers just don't have that deep knowledge of the game that could take them to the level they need to be at.
You do know that Rob Stone played college soccer at Colgate and was captain in his senior season, right? He may not have played professionally, but I find it hard to believe that he "isn't steeped in the game".
I'm not saying he doesn't know how to play soccer. What I'm talking about is the global game, not just the insulated nature of American amateur soccer and the tiny amount of interest in the US compared to the general antipathy toward the game. Back then you could have played all kinds of soccer and not really known what it was like at a high level. Even now, the exposure average college soccer players have to the global game is really dependent on how much they want and are able to expose themselves to it. The opportunity is there now like never before, and mostly they do that, but years ago you could go your whole career not really knowing much about what was going on in La Liga or Serie A (for example), and certainly not growing up with it just being in your blood. "Being in your blood" is what I mean. He (like most Americans, player or not), just didn't grow up watching high level game after high level game, reading stories, articles, being taught nuances by your father, uncles, brothers, kids at school, kids in the neighborhood, and just living it day after day since you were first big enough to kick a ball. No amount of "going to soccer practice" can make up for not having that.
Yeah, I think he's confused. Or, just really dislikes Rob Stone. If you want to really experience horrible announcing, tune into the English language feed on the Friday night Univision Deportes MLS game. Words cannot describe how truly terrible the PBP guy is.
I hope FS+ is showing something really important on Thursday during the Europa League spots, something like a rerun of a rugby match, because $15 per month for this channel only to have 2 live Europa games aired on FS1 and FS2 has we wondering why FS+ would even exist if they aren't going to show a match on this channel.
http://www.foxsoccerplus.com/schedule 3:00 PM Details MULTIMATCH90 Live UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE: QUARTERFINALS - 2nd Legs Edition So a whip-around?
Looking at that, tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. Fox Soccer Plus has a "CONCACAF Champions League Highlights" show when I didn't know there was such a thing. The category for the show is mistakenly listed as "International Freindly," with a spelling error. I don't get Fox Soccer Plus and I'll give rep to somebody who watches and describes the CONCACAF Champions League Highlights.
The first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Final is being played on Wednesday - Club America vs Montreal Impact - 9:00 pm ET - Fox Sports 2 (United States-English) - Sportsnet World (Canada-English) - TVA Sports (Canada-French). This is a show featuring highlights of Club America and Montreal Impact matches in the league. Basically a short look at how the two clubs made it to the CONCACAF Champions League Final.
I've never watched a whip-around but guess that such an approach can be attractive for some viewers. The odd thing here, though, is that two of the four games are on the other Fox channels, so really there's not much around to whip. Moreover, during Leg 1 they showed 3/4 games live. Now we're into the second legs where some ties are up for grabs and they are going to switch to a whip-around? If I was a conspiracy theorist, I'd say that their choices are also tied to some other scheduling on these channels and avoiding 2nd leg ties that could require ET/penalties. Finally, I am like a broken record with this, but the thing that kills me about US TV coverage of football is the inability to be consistently good. Again, they showed 3/4 of Leg 1 but now they are going to change? If whip-around wasn't good enough for Leg 1, why is it good for Leg 2.
Maybe because the ties will now be decided and not simply the first leg. I'm not sure really. And whip-arounds aren't necessarily for the matches you aren't able to watch, they're for those who just want constant updates on all occurring. I'd probably watch but I'm one of the 99.99% of America that does not have an FS+ subscription/level of service. That said, you would hope that FOX would give their FS+ subscribers exactly what they want for that amount of money. Of course all matches are available via streaming too thanks to ESPN sub-licensing the online rights.
http://www.locatetv.com/listings/fox-sports-en-espanol#23-Apr-2015 and my TV both think Fox Deportes is showing a replay of Bayern Munich-Porto now, but they're actually showing a replay of Real Madrid-Atletico Madrid. Does anybody know why?
Well then they should have changed their schedule so somebody looking for a replay of Real Madrid-Atletico Madrid would know it was on. I understand which game was more attractive and have no problem with Real Madrid-Atletico Madrid being the game replayed, I just think what is shown should match what is listed.
Copa America 2016 looks to be on its way to Fox Sports http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/copa-america-2016-looks-to-be-on-its-way-to-fox-sports.html
Pretty cool. Hopefully they hire some good English speaking South American commentators and analysts and keep them under contract for 2018.
Fox Deportes will have shown Barca-Bayern 3 times before 2am and only aired 1 Libertadores match. I get that they are looking to fill time slots on Thursday because ESPN Deportes has Europa League. And I understand that Barca-Bayern really is the CL final spread over two legs. But once again I can't believe that there are very many people who will be watching these replays. It's as if execs at soccer channels have not heard of the DVR.
Pep Guardiola's tactical approach should've been the main focus of post-game analysis, but the first thing Rob Stone talked about after the match was Neymar's alleged dive and how it was the single most important moment of the match that swung the momentum in Barca's favor, when in fact it was little more than a red herring in what was a brilliant footballing spectacle that was largely free of controversy. He is as clueless and annoying as his pundits.
But, but... he was captain of the Colgate soccer team in 1991, *must* know what he's talking about! Hambone! On a serious note, unfortunately, this reflects the Anglo-American obsession with diving, which absolutely hurts the sport's popularity in the States. I hate to sound like Paul Gardner, but he's right about this. Overly focusing on the diving issue, and alleged dives in games without clear evidence is bad for the game. Casual viewers don't hear that and think, "Oh, look, they are serious about getting rid of that crap." They think, "See, I told you soccer sucks." Plus, it's kindergarten level analysis, as you noted.
In the midst of all the grousing, let's thank Gus Johnson for coming to his senses and focusing his career on what he (apparently) does well. If he hadn't backed out, the Martin Tyler/Gary Neville commentary would have been replaced by him and probably Wynalda+Lalas.
For those of you who hate Dr Joe and his rules Analysis... ...at least he is not as bad as ESPN's Monday Night football Captain obvious Geriatric voice. My goodness it sounds like he is announcing from a retirement community in South Florida.