WC 2022 broadcast team FOX Sports Reveals Star-Studded Broadcast Team for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ - Fox Sports Press Pass
I think Howard knew full well that if the US was to generate one more chance, he had to get his distributing throw directly to Donovan. His throw downfield looks like a QB picking out his favorite receiver.
Thanks for this, they have a lot of good talent lined up. I especially like Stuart Holden's analysis and I'm always glad to hear Donovan. Likewise for the pairing of JP + Cobi. On a related note . . . Fox appears to have no stand-alone streaming app (like Peacock or ESPN+) for streaming these games without a subscription to a carrier / provider. I searched around for a few minutes and read a couple articles that mention some Fox content is beamed through Hulu or something, I didn't dig very deep .
Should point out that even ESPN+ requires a carrier/provider subscription to watch ESPN, ESPN2, etc. My guess is this is the last men's World Cup where you need a cable subscription to legally watch the games. By 2026 there will be a paid streaming option, like MLS will have next year.
Gotta remember these broadcast contracts are usually signed about 6 years in advance. So an exclusive streaming option probably wasn't considered viable in 2016.
No vision whatsoever if true by everybody involved. And not even vision. Netflix started streaming January of 2016. And why does it need to be a specific clause or contract for streaming? It should be part of the general contract to distribute the thing in a country, region or worldwide. Once you have the rights to distribute you should be able to do so in any which way you please and then they had six years to work on what platform would be used or establish one. I mean, it's just electronics, bandwidth and marketing needed and this stuff sells itself. Oh well. Hopefully they have it covered in the 2026 contract which should already be signed.
Gives me a thrill to watch that again. Scintillating play by Donovan, his speed, acceleration, accuracy on the rocket shot...I will probably never change my avatar. The other players were part of the play, too, it all came together. The announcing teams look very interesting, although what Cobi is doing there, I'm not sure. JP probably wonders as well!
I know everyone is not thrilled with Cobi being on the announce team. However he seems to have built a trust with Fox executives and seems to be the go to guy when they are in a bind. I have heard him do an MLS game and a LigaMX game back to back and he seems to be enjoying himself, so I believe this is a reward for him for his work ethic and availability to do Fox Soccer broadcasts at a drop of a dime, love it or hate it, he is a valuable asset to Fox at the moment
Well, I guess I will remain a contrarian. I like Cobi and prefer listening to him over Holden or Twellman especially when it comes to Galaxy games where it appears they have personal animus because of failures from their playing days.
I think he does a very good job on the Galaxy games. His criticism is always constructive. He's pretty humble, he doesn't use a bunch of unnecessary hyperbole, he doesn't try to make it all about himself. I think he has just the right touch. Twellman is almost always over-the-top, for my taste, I tend to listen less when I think it's being over-hyped.
My take on Cobi is that he is too nice. It's the one thing I do appreciate about a style like Twellman's which is a little more direct and more tell it like it is. While both have their plus and minuses in their style I would like color commentators to fill me in more on why a player may be having a bad day or a great day. What is working and what is not. Why did the coach of either team choose a certain approach tactically for this game or during a game? What they thibk of the timing or player choices in subs. What are coaches trying to gain or counter in these moves. Give me insights and less personal quotes and anecdotes although I enjoy that in limited form. Tell me inside knowledge that the average fan does not have or may surmise from watching the game. I wish the different commentator around the league also did not work directly for the teams they announce but rather get their check from the channels or distribution companies. Sometimes I feel there is too much homerism because of this or a lack of will to tell it like it is and comment freely and with no worries about repercussions.
I've been actually digging Cobi's commentary the last two games, he seemed a lot more relaxed and was joking and kidding around with Joe and I thought it was a nice change of pace then the serious color commentators like Twellman and Holden, it was like watching a game with a buddy.
That is a very low bar! Holden’s passionless drone is annoying as hell and Twellman is, well, Twellman. My problem with Cobi is that most of what he says is pretty obvious. El Futbolisimo gave a good description of what is missing from Cobi’s commentary. It seems like he just wings it, doing little to no advance prep work. There is a color commentator for one of the clubs (I think her name includes St Clair?) who I listened to only once —but was blown away by how many interesting tidbits and intelligent insights she brought to a broadcast. It showed me how valuable an analyst/insider can when he/she really thinks about the game and does their homework. All that being said I also agree with Dawdler that Cobi has been improving recently. I still don’t learn much from him but he no longer annoys me. Another low bar met! Of course tastes vary. Just because I want more in depth analysis and insider info doesn’t mean you do!
I believe the announcer you are praising is Kyndra de St. Aubin, the color commentator for the Loons. She is a former college soccer player and was a color commentator for Fox at the 2015 World Cup for Women. To make it to that level, and be the only female color commentator for a MLS club, means she has to be good. However, having said that, if you have only heard a color commentator once, everything they say may appear fresh and insightful. You certainly don't have a basis for determining that they regularly come up with new insights. This is especially true if they regularly cover a club you don't follow. Conversely, if you have heard a commentator a lot, especially one who covers a club you follow means that you have heard most of what he has said about that teams player's and their strengths and weaknesses. It's "obvious" because he has said it before and the teams players haven't really changed that much since the last time you heard him. This of course, doesn't even begin to deal with any confirmation bias that we as listeners bring to the broadcast. I, for example, disliked the color commentators that do the English language coverage for Twitter. I thought that their praise for Alvarez was based more on his national club affiliation than on his play in those games. I can understand it to a degree because of the target audience for their parent network doubtlessly has a bigger interest in possible players for El Tri and they want to make it interesting to those fans. On the other hand i hated, the apparent know everything attitude from the guy who did a number of the games for the US Open and ESPN+'s USL games. I also found the ACC commentators for the Duke vs UCLA 's Women's game earlier this year annoying homers.
My praise for Kendra has nothing to do with listening to her for the first time. Her in-depth knowledge of the game can’t be faked and her willingness to talk about tactics in a non-superficial way is a plus, no matter how you cut it. And as you pointed out - her success in becoming the lone female announcing MLS games is proof of her abilities behind the mic. And my problems with Cobi had zero to do with over-exposure. I didn’t find his color commentary helpful from day one. In fact, as I said in the post you are replying to, I think he has been getting better recently. If I were grading him he has progressed from a C- to a C+. Definite improvement- but still short of what I would hope for.
LIVE: Full Cristiano Ronaldo interview Part 1 | 16-Nov-22 (171) LIVE: Full Cristiano Ronaldo interview Part 1 | 16-Nov-22 - YouTube
Well, some thought that Mexico turned the corner with an impressive 4-0 win over Iraq... but no, they followed that up with 2-1 defeat to Sweden.
Holden sucks. Twellman is annoying, but sometimes provides useful insight. Cobi is fun, but does no homework and says really really obvious things mostly.
LIVE: Full Cristiano Ronaldo interview Part 2 | 17-Nov-22 You can watch Pt 2 live on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/NoKfv_rHh1E
You really can't go by friendlies. It's a gage but not entirely reliable because if it's really good it could be the other team was not playing well, not focused, missing key people or a coach trying out tactics and people. same thing if it's really bad. Mexico has a way of focusing once the thing is on so to me its just a matter of them hitting the ground in Qatar and it's a different mentality. USA team has really no pressure so the same goes for them. If they can find each other on the pitch and make the TEAM work then it's all up for grabs. No great individual players but the collective, that's what I want to see under load. Canada may go the other way. Great run up to this point but I want to see how well they retain that focus in that freaking group of theirs. They aren't getting any breaks. Costa Rica is happy just to attend I believe. Very harsh group also. I wish them well but I think they are bottom of the barrel from our region. At least this time around.