Just wanted to say I thought this was one of the better telecasts in terms of production and commentary. IN past matches it has seemed as if they were lacking with the audio quality from the stadium. I'm sure part of this is due to the 4 p.m. kickoff, but tonight you had a sense that something exciting was going on, based on the atmosphere. I thought the comms were good as well, with a greatly reduced frequency of inane comments made. I still want to see Dwight Burgess on, but these two did a pretty decent job tonight. What do the rest of you think?
Somehow, I got this vibe from Rob Stone that DC needed to win to keep its playoff hopes alive. Maybe it was just me. But seriously, at least Jack was covering 12 year old sumo wrestlers or something.
I noticed that when ESPN does DC matches, they make an effort to mike the crowds better, and I hope Rob and Ty's lips aren't too chapped from kissing United's ass....
on the contrary, i did not think the crowd was mic-ed very well... it was nearly impossible to make out anything other than the drums... and that is always how it is i know they use words, and when you get a chicago match (in chi, clb, or kc)... you can make out what we are saying the whole game i know those fans were going nuts, but i still couldn't make most anything out (i did get some "d.c. united" in the late second half) as for the commentary... i thought that was the best commentary for an mls game this year... great job from rob and ty... big thumbs up, rob made a strong case for getting the mls job of pbp for next year tonight
I also think they did a decent job, especially toward the end of the game. Rob rode the second half emotional roller coaster well. If you like a little emotion out of your announcer, then that was well done. If you don't, then obviously not. The only gripe I have about Rob tonight is that he needs to stop reading a promo, or whatever graphic is on the screen, when something interesting is happening on the field, like, say, a clear scoring opportunity. Ty had the same ponderous delivery problem as always, but it's not like that's gonna change, so what can you do? I still really like the effect on Ty of tossing Waldo in there, but this was good enough.
I thought the coverage was excellent and the game itself was one of the best I've seen in MLS all year. By the 70th minute I was completely absorbed by the action on the pitch and stopped noticing all the empty seats!
I thought they were pretty good. Rob did overdo the "DC must win" angle, but at least he admitted he was repeating himself unlike Jack who acts like everytime he says something is the first time he's said it.
It's a big stadium -- holds 55K plus. Attendance was 13,889 -- not too shabby for the last place team on a week night, particularly a team missing the playoffs for the third straight year. But DCU attendance is falling, and might continue to fall if something isn't done to improve the on-field performance.
Anyone get the idea that someone got to Rob before the game and said..... "uhhh, let's try NOT to use so many teeny-bopper cliches tonight" ?????
Was Ty correct is saying (repeatedly) that the one Dallas goal was a mistake, that it was supposed to be a cross but wound up in the net? I'm not sure how he could have determined that.
It's pretty easy to tell, the look of disbelief on the face of the player that scores pretty much gives away something like that.
I generally like Rob, mostly because he's so into it. Last night, I thought he missed the opportunity to make some exciting calls. There were at least two very dangerous runs into the box by Dallas in the first half where Rob was absolutely silent, as if he were catching his breath afte babbling about other stuff.
If results matched performance and heart, you would have won last night. The effort looked maximum, but, yeah, the fans want positive results. Why more people aren't drawn to a sport that generates the kind of excitement seen last night is beyond me.
I thought Ty and Rob were awful. We turned off the sound in about the 75th minute because we couldn't stand listening to their inane babble.
It was one of the most compelling games I have seen this year... 7 goals, 6 in the second half... Question: This is the third Thursday night in a row. I noted that they had about 20 or so games in row on Saturday's at 4. Next week they will have a 4th Thursday night game, all at 7:30! a) Was this (Thursday night telecasts) planned at the beginning of the year, or is this another example of a potential world cup bounce.... b) Regardless, what are the ratings for these games so far? c) Did the DC v. Burn game get ANY coverage on last night's sportcenter? Thanks!
1. Yes, it was planned from the beginning because of the glut of college football after Labor Day on Saturdays. Or as someone put it to me, "We don't have a home after Labor Day." 2. No clue 3. Personally, I really don't care. I saw the game.
Weird - I think Stone is great (even though I had to remind myself that I wasn't for DC after listening to him), so much better than Jack. Anyone else notice when he said something like "nice speed...uh...move." I also think Ty is so much more bearable when he isn't with Jack.
I would say safely that you will not be seeing ANY soccer coverage on sportscenter any time soon as the majority of Americans hate soccer. Secondly if you don't cover all the teams it begins to look odd. Right after the World Cup they were showing some highlights, but after that high wore off they stopped (As I imagine that they had a lot of complaints from the NeckCar fans)
Since I was at the game, it was definitely supposed to be a cross. You can usually tell from the lack of celebration or at least the subdued "man that was luck" look the player gives. Also the reaction of just about everyone on the field to the ball when it was initially played was that it was a cross. Also the slow reaction of the goalie as it became apparent the ball was goal bound. ty may get a lot of things wrong but not that one.
The one comment of Rob's that bugged me was when he was talking about how remarkable it was that EVERY team was sill in contention for the playoffs going ont the final weekend. He said something to the extent of "That's never happened in ANY major league sport!" Umm Rob, you think that might be because no other major league sport sends 80% of it's teams to the playoffs?
Thought they both did a nice job. Ty in particular made some nice points which Stoney clearly missed and/or were ones a color commentator needed to make. I thought Stoney's excitement towards the end was great. It just matched the game, which was an incredible contest.
That was the one where he lost me too. He's not perfect, but I think he's much better than Jack. Still, I was happy when Jack came on board so who knows where we're headed. With Rob and/or JP, I should be happier with the announcing next year.