Guys, ESPN are anxious to hear your feedback and recommendations. We are flying to New York in a few weeks to meet with them and they are eager to hear what the public thought of their coverage of the World Cup along with any other football they broadcast. You can leave feedback by clicking the link below, then click the 'drop us a line' tab then leave your info. Thanks for those who take the time. www.beyondthepitch.net I felt sorry for the Uruguayans today even if they where a bit lucky to get there. I cant pick a winner between Spain v Germany although i think the Spanish are probably slight favourite.
Yeah, especially when teh commentator mentioned that the big question now is if Maradona would return to Coach his team in Brasil. That was an ESPN soccer coverage classic!
The best for them to do is contract out all rights of broadcasting to some foreign entity. If there is a clear case for outsourcing then it has to be the business of broadcasting and commentaries in football. As for ESPN classic lines; my favorite is the line by Jeremy Schaap, in his unique and annoying voice, on the eve of the game between USA and Slovenia. Here it goes: "the physical and mental genius of Londan Donovan will manifest itself"
Yeah, I'm sure ESPN will chalk up the entire month as a failure because a human being, during the course of speaking aloud for two hours, made the verbal equivalent of a typo.
Guys a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to visit our site and send in your comments. On behalf of myself and Anto we are also extremely grateful to those who have also taken the time to listen to our broadcasts. We will continue to improve as more is learned. www.beyondthepitch.net
Worst of ESPN: 1. Underuse of Derek Rae. You guys never use Derek Rae enough. He is the #1 play-by-play man in the world, even better than Martin Tyler. 2. Underuse of Ally McCoist in late rounds 3. Alexi Lalas (Seriously, the guy doesn't have a clue) 4. If the final had been non-UEFA nations, Efan Ekoku would have been dreadful, as he would have had no clue who anyone was. I hope ESPN recognizes that. Efan had a bad cup, in my opinion, though I can't entirely blame him. Best of ESPN: 1. Derek Rae 1a. Roberto Martinez 2. Ian Darke 3. ESPN Axis
ESPN's coverage was 99% better than in 2006. Enjoyed all commentators except for a few Americans. Lalas talks too much & uses a lot of filler words. Chris Fowler, Mike Tirico & Jeremy Schaap clearly were unfamiliar with the game & mispronounced the names of some of the most prominent players in the world. On the other hand, Martin Tyler was sublime as usual, Ian Darke a revelation who was a much better foil for Harkes than anyone he's ever worked with, and the other announcing teams were very good. Efan Ekoku and Robbie Musto were a little lowkey, almost hard to understand occasionally, for my American taste. And of course I had to translate everything Ally McCoist said in my head from Scottish to English before I could understand it, but he really knows the players and the game so that was OK. Overall I give ESPN an A- for their coverage. A huge step up from 2006 when they got a big F.
My only complaint was having to listen to John Harkes "Commentator-for-Life" way too much. It seemed he was showing off his pronunciation of foreign (to American) names but can't even get his pronunciation of English words right. I didn't like the way he talked down to the audience and his fellow announcers and would just babble on with useless statements. I'd be happy if I never had to listen to him during a game again.
Efan Ekoku needs to go through a complete refereeing course before he ever commentates on another game.
Martin Tyler was great, he brought a great stature to the game. Efan Okoku (sorry for misspelling) was good, most humorous commentator. I love his dry wit. He doesn't offer much substantive analysis. Ally McCoist was great, I was sorry to not hear him anymore. He is similar to Efan in that he doesn't offer much tactical analysis, but he has a great feel for the game and adds humor. Ian Darke was good, but he goes overboard - every referee's error is dreadful and disgraceful. You can be understated. I love Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe. Derek Rae is top-notch, just as good as Martin Tyler in my eyes. Robbie Mustoe is understated and doesn't have as much presence, but is the one analyst who would mention that the team has made a defensive substitution and changed from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1 or whatever. Adrian Healy is good, but a small step down. He just doesn't have as commanding a presence, but he is earnest. I thought Chris Fowler and Mike Tirico were both very good. They weren't incredibly knowledgeable, but kept the conversation going and are top-class studio guys. Alexi Lalas offers virtually nothing except extreme opinions and I cringe whenever I hear him. The one dark spot on ESPN's coverage. Steve McNanaman is one of those guy's guys in the studio who knows the players at the highest level and was good enough. He went a little overboard. Roberto Martinez was fantastic. Best tactical analysis and very serious. My favorite studio guy. Ruud was great - really brought levity to the studio and wore his heart on his sleeve. I forgave his slight problems with speaking English (such as using therefore five times in one sentence). Overall, I really enjoyed ESPN's coverage and it was leaps and bounds better than the last WC. I enjoyed the British voices and that ESPN doesn't need to force unknowledgeable American voices or make everybody say soccer, but I wouldn't have been upset if someone like JP Dellacamera was there.
Great montage from ABC/ESPN at the end of the telecast. "Magnificent" from U2 [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPyR_Uw_zi4&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- World Cup 2010 Montage (ESPN/ABC)[/ame]
I thought Chris Fowler and Mike Tirico were underrated. This was a hugh step for ESPN to use these guys. Fowler is the #1 college football host and Tirico is the lead MNF announcer. Using them legitimized the Cup for the average sports fan. It would be interesting to hear their comments on hosting an event lke this.
-More Derek Rae! -Why not use Tommy Smyth for a few matches (not important knockout round games) -Love McMannaman, Gulit (entertaining), and Roberto Martinez (excellent analysis) -Less Alexi Lalas
Selfish capitalization post: If you loved Bobby Martinez and need an English Prem club to support... pick Wigan We could do with some US fans. The novelty of being the only one at the pub when I walk in wears after awhile lol
Mike Tirico and Chris Fowler did a great job. Gullit was good he speaks good english unlike someone said he didn't. Lalas and Harkes where awful. Why didn't anyone tell Harkes its pronounced Slovenia not Slovania. Ian Darke was really good bring him back for 2014. Martin Tyler isn't that good please don't bring him back for 2014.
Um, Martin Tyler was the first name renewed for 2014. Gone are the days when ESPN used 3rd and 4th choice womens basketball commentators for the world cup. thanks so much to ESPN for taking this seriously. Lalas, I could do without but he does have access and insight, which I appreciate. Martinez was a great addition to the pregame team. How much would it cost to pry away Andres cantor? I think just for the games in brazil among spanish-speaking countries it would be awesome having him do the play by play in English, with fits of Spanish when scoring occasions took place. Dream a dream
How did you miss Jurgen Klinsmann? And Shaun Bartlett? Overall I think most, if not all, commentators did a good to great job. I would like to have somebody with a background in South America and Asia in the studio, though. If the final were played between an European team and a South American team, ESPN's team of commentators would be too European.
It was fantastic overall. I love how they brought in football individuals like Gullit, Klinsmann, Roberto Martinez, etc. who actually understand the game in-depth. But I was hugely disappointed how they stopped the coverage of celebration ceremony after Spain lifted the WC. True sports channels should cover such events since it's the ultimate climax of the past 30 days of the competition. It would be like watching a movie in the theater only to have the ending cut off.
Selfish capitalization post: If you loved Bobby Martinez and need an English Prem club to support... pick Wigan We could do with some US fans. The novelty of being the only one at the pub when I walk in wears after awhile lol Only problem with that is wigan will disapear from epl