OK, the camels back finally broke Saturday, when, whilst watching San Jose vs Colorado on ESPN, I heard Rob Stone (I am sure it was he) say "Graziani called offside for that throw in". Are the rules different in MLS, or is Rob Stone really a complete idiot? BTW: the ball went straight to Graziani, without touching anyone else, and yes, he was in an "offside" position when the ball was thrown, and the linesmans flag did go up, but I think it was for a subsequent foul by Graziani on a Rapids Defender as he tried to bring the ball under control.
You mean a color man made an error? That is unprecedented in any sport....fire him now. and if I remember correctly....he WAS offside when the ball was played immediately back to him.
I can say one thing confidently: None of us at Bigsoccer have ever mis-spoken at any time, drunk or sober, with or without a microphone. ESPN should sample the Bigsoccer user list and pull 2 names at random and assign them to MLS games. Then and only then will we have knowledgable, enthustiastic and eloquent announcers for the game we love. Rob Stone and everyone else must go. Right now.
This becomes a good segue for the other thread I just started. If you think the announcing sucks that bad, do it yourself. I did. Later, COZ
I spit out my beverage on that call. It's one thing to miss a call, but to not know one of the basic rules of soccer is poor. Other than that I have to say he's the best of the 3 we've got at the Mouse House.
Most announcers, coaches, players, parents, and BigSoccer posters, don't have the faintest clue what the Laws really are. Offsides [sic] and handball [sic] being the prime offenders ...
Morons Stoner played some college ball and knows the rules. You guys are coming off as wanna be refs and coaches. Give the guy a break he is in tight with most of the players and has some great off the cuff comments that make him one of the best we've got.
I thought he sounded kind of distracted at the moment. Some assistant was probably handing him something at the time and he just looked up to see the flag go up. You never know what's going on in the booth to take their attention away from the game. Personally, I think Ty K has a bladder problem or something, seeing how he seems like he disappears for minutes at a time. Also, I still get a chuckle out of Stone's call for the United game (was it last week?) where he pronounced United up 2-1 or something before Moreno proceded to flub an open goal. Classic.
In defense of Stone, I was yelling "GOOOL!" at that moment, as well. I really thought that went in. It really should have. I like Stone because he's not unwilling to take players to task when they foul up. I know it's a young league and all, but if you want to be taken seriously you need to call the game as you see it, not be a constant cheerleader. He strikes me as a guy who knows damn well he sometimes makes dorky comments. I think the constraints of being on live TV and having to watch what he says cramps his style sometimes. Love to have a beer with him off-camera sometime.
The annoying thing about Stone from the Colorado-SJ game was the # of times he said players were "dragged down." He must have said that on nearly every foul, not matter whether it was a push or a trip or even not a foul at all. Poor Valderamma must have been dragged down 50 times. Stone can get very painful to listen to. -KMJvet
will you guys lay off rob. i like the guy, ************ off. and lets forget who the real enemy is here... jack and ty.
HAHA...i agree on the excessive "dragged down" remark he chirped in every second, i noticed that too. And yeah, even if he's loserish, that's ok, it's hard to commentate sometimes. Heck, i'd love his job!! They should use Giorgio Chinaglia...he rocks!
Rob knows the rules, just made a mistake. And I have had a beer with him after a game. He plays for the ESPN soccer team (indoor and outdoor) and is generally a nice guy to talk to and play against. Is he the best, "no", but he's the best we have right now.