Yes, that was greatness from Stoner. I saw that question posted right before I left work last night and was wondering what Rob was going to answer back. I'm glad he didn't hold back too much, the poster deserved it. I've watched soccer broadcasts from all over the world, all kinds of styles, and every single commentator gets off the play by play for a stretch when things are dull. Soccer commentators don't have the luxury of a timeout, a deadball, or the time between pitches to interject interesting stories about the players. 90 straight minutes of "by the book" play by play would bore the hell out of anyone.
One bone of contention about virtually ALL MLS broadcasters I've heard. STOP telling me constantly where players went to school, what city they grew up in, and/or what country they are from! NOW! Braoadcaster's crutch that has no business being used over and over and over...
Stoner is awesome. We need announcers like him. That dude was way off base. But then again he is probably used to listening to the EPL with there sophisticated announcers in the Queen's language. Stoner is the best announcer for the league and national team. By the way, have you seen the Fan Zone presentations on Fox World? They are hilarious, especially when you are not prepared for it. GO ON DUFF, GO ON DUFF, GO ON DUFF in a high pitched scream right into the microphone during a Chelsea game recently. Funny stuff with there thick accents and how they rip on the other teams or their own players. Check it out. That would be cool if they brought a rabid fan in the both with Stoner and Wynalda to just rip on teams or go crazy with support.
True, but I'm sure you're aware that this is not a specifically American phenomenon. Whenever a player in the Premiership is not English, you can count on being reminded of this fact by most EPL announcers at least 6 or 8 times. As the the other two thirds of it, that is probably to establish some sort of connection with 'new fans.' Hopefully there will at some point be anough 'old fans' that it won't be as necessary, and they won't do it as often. (e.g. Yes, I am quite aware that Brian Ching is Hawaiian, thank you.)
I forget to add, well done Stoner. I enjoy "Funky Cold Medina" et al. Look forward to seeing you on the sidelines Sunday and hopefully back in the booth for the Jamaica match. Oh and just to piss off Alex and let us know you read the boards can you throw in a "Jamaica me crazy" Cheers,
Way to go Stonie! I didn't like Stone in the booth when he first started, but I think he has gotten much better in the past year or so. I think he works good with Eric, too. And I enjoy the occasional off-the-wall comments he makes.
Dear Rob, I'm writing this here because I'm pretty sure you follow these boards. Thank you. Thank you for taking a few seconds to tell SoccerFan, or at least this variation of him, where to stick it. I have never respected your work more. As the Bitch Brigade (my term for multiple instances of SoccerFan) lines up to complain about your work here on BS and elsewhere, please ignore them. You're doing great. And if you ever see Jack or Ty around, please thank them for their work on my behalf. Nutmeg
WHat is with all the hate for Bretos. I love that guy - he' s a nut. Love the way he calle dthe DC goals on Sat.
i can't stand the two broadcasters .. i agree they are too negative about the players. they don't want to be broadcasters they just want to critique them and basically in the negative. that is not what broadcaster are suppose to do. There are some that are calm and just tell the play by play. sometimes i feel they are jealous or something as to why they have to be so negative...
That happens in every game, of every sport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Put in some ear plugs and turn up your stereo, punk ass!!!!!!!!!!!!
As everyone rushes to fellate Stoner, I'll play deviladvocate. The issues is not Stoner himself. Stoner, Jedwards, whoever. Consensus Reality of the people paying the bills is that they need to dumb down the telecasts. I hate it, but i'm not paying for it. So I just tune it out. I still watch. But I don't listen. The dumbed-down pbp and color, however, if it was designed to bring in new fans, now has more than 5 years track record of failure attracting new viewers. Way too many I/O's and front offices are erect for the SoccerSmiles crowd, and the onscreen manifestation of pandering to kids nets you 4th-grade level pbp and color. No offense to Stoner, you're still as humble as the night I met you in Indianapolis in '97 after the USOC Final. I'd rep you too for the smackdown. But Bob Ley and Seamus Malin brought far more class and rep to the National Team than anyone has since, and in my book they will be the gold standard that no one will equal or surpass for probably the next 25 years. Excelsior. -bs
How do you know that the "dumbing down" of broadcasts hasn't attracted new viewers? I think it is safe to say there are more viewers of soccer now than 5 years ago (ratings are up at least for this year), so perhaps some of these new viewers were initially attracted by such commentating to some degree?
Yeah, it's definitely not unique to the U.S. announcers. If anyone has ever watched Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, you'll know what town a Canadian kid is from, what junior team he played for and what kind of cake he had for his 9th birthday.
Yeahhhhhhh Good job Stoner.... Seemingly lots of people do not, but I like ESPN's Broadcasts. Especially when you put them up against some of the other tandems out there.
I think most of your comments are directly on point, but there's an inherent conflict in your logic. Here's my read. 1) The people paying Rob ask him to announce the game a certain way. 2) Rob announces the game that way (which happens to fit his personality). 3) Everyone involved is happy, EXCEPT for the knowledgeable adult soccer fan, who may wish the analysis was more sophisticated, that the announcers spoke less, and that the whole production focused less on irrelevant issues. Your logic implies that Rob change #2. But I'm pretty sure #1 is true. That's an inherent problem. I will say that I've noticed over time that the announcers for MLS and the Nats are slowly assuming a greater and greater amount of knowledge on the part of the viewer. However, MLS Cup, the highest-rated game of the year, really isn't the time for that - it's the time to be as much of an infomercial as possible. All that being said, I do think Ley and Malin were great, and I remember Malin from 20 years ago (my dad had a love/hate relationship with his announcing). I think the overall production quality now is similar to other ESPN2 fare (college hoops and college football), and for that, I'm very grateful.
Malin was a pompous bastard, like Gardner the writer, and the original poster was exactly right- the "color" guys are morons who can talk but don't really think, and for some reason are hired as color guys despite poor knowledge of the sport. Or did you like it during MLS Cup when Lorrie Fair was driveling on about ass zits or something- while on the field DC scores their second goal. At least she understood that she should stop pronto and get attention back on the action. Or maybe you liked when Gomez then Nelsen made nice tackles/saves to stop a KC chance and Color Guy goes "It looks like he was taken down in the box!" Just yelling it several times. Thing was, it wasn't even close if anything the Wizards player wacked Nelsen in the leg as ryan calmly poked it out of bounds...how is misrepresenting some of the most basic stuff in the game any good for anyone?? Wynalda's the best one...at least he understands. He basically called the game for DC in the 10th minute with DC down 1-0...
You get the same prattle in an EPL match -- comments on the players, etc. It's just a different tone of voice, that's all: ANCR: That's Beretta with the ball.... what a poor effort from the Italian... that won't win him favor with the management, will it? ... I don't expect he got away with that during his stint with Roma... etc. You just need to sound as though you're delivering a lecture on the mating habits of snails.
Ok. If you watched MLS cup on ABC this past Sunday, and then watched the nats game on ESPN2 just yesterday, I think you will see why so many people can't stand Rob Stone. The quality of the commentating between the two matches was simply night and day.