I thought FSW did a nice job with that Open Cup match Wednesday evening. Max Bretos showed why one announcer, if it's the right announcer, can be preferred to two in televised soccer. I don't know if they used the same camera crew as Fox Sports Bay Area uses, I presume they did, but they seemed to do well with not zooming in too much a la ABC/ESPN. And they handle the problem with the wall on the near side of Spartan Stadium pretty well by using the handheld camera for action in the corner. One thing I wonder about, a couple of times Max mentioned that KC played that day in the CONCACAF event. I left work before that match was over and didn't know theoutcome, would it have been hard for Max to have the result and share it with viewers, just as they did with the Open Cup matches? I was thinking maybe FSW would want to show the return leg from KC (probably no competition for the bid, a match that would appeal to the English and Spanish-speaking audiences). When I arrived this morning and saw the 6-1 result, I must confess it goaded the conspiracy theorist in me (as to why he wouldn't share the result; hard to promote interest in the return leg if it's considered fait accompli). Not saying this is so, but it seems curious they wouldnt' report the result. As I say, otherwise I thought they did a solid job.
Positives: 1. The TV stats, replays, scores from other USOC were good. 2. Camera on and above the field were excellent. 3. LA-SJ game was a classic match as well as the crowd atmosphere. Negatives: 1. Max getting the player's name wrong (or calling one player name by another player's name). 2. A minor TV blur on the right hand of the screen during the middle of the second hand. Overall: much better coverage than last year. Hope to improve on the next Open Cup match.
it was nice to be able to see the game, don't get me wrong. but if I hear Max get all lathered up over some trivial play one more time...
I don't mind any announcer that calls a soccer game like he's interested in it, so I like Jack, Ty or Rob (and Veronica). Last night, one thing I did like that Max did different was commenting when a player did something dumb or poorly.
The directors needed some work though. Max asked for a replay of a through ball to Landon in the 2nd half and it was never done. It was nice though not to hear Ty babbling about Lagos causing hav-ok up the left side though.
Max Bretos is sort of like anchovies. A little bit goes a long way. Can't imagine it as a steady diet.
Max was awful. I honestly don't think he follows the MLS much as he made numerous factual errors. In addtion, he sure sounded like he was homering for the Smurfs (but I might be a bit bias there)
I think you are correct in your assessment that Max doesn't follow the MLS much, but then again it is pretty difficult to view more than 2 teams a week. I didn't see the game, but i'm not surprised he made mistakes regarding player ID's. At the begining of the gold cup he was doing the same thing, but once he saw the team once or twice he was pretty much on the money. Also depending whether in was at the game or in studio (which usually is the case), would also impact his ability to call the game acurrately. I confess I am a huge Bretos fan. His "sublime" call of Goose's goal in the gold cup was great. The one thing he does well is he isn't afraid of a little "dead air" when the game is in a lull.
Max is enthusiastic. Max knows soccer. Max is competent. That being said, he drives me UP THE FRIGGING WALL with his INCREDIBLE YELLING and his constant poser references like "mate" and "futebol" and the like. He's annoying, and I'm sure that given a steady diet of him, he'd be as annoying (though in a different way) as Jack. I quite liked him on FSW's old EPL show, but then it was in small doses. 90 minutes (or, in last night's case, 100 or whatever it was) is a bit much.
No, it's safe. I like JP Dellacamera, who does not yell, nor does he pretend to be cooler than he is. I like Mike Hill. I like Bob Ley.
Bretos is a complete idiot but I won't be complaining when the DirecTV guy gets here. I can't wait! We should all be thankful we can even see these games.
Ley was good, I thought. Though he says the same 10 phrases or so over and over on my MLS Gamenight Playstation game.