Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Off Topic => Sports Arena => Topic started by: Woofles The Wonder Dog on September 17, 2021, 06:02:04 PM
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A great commentator enhances the match experience bringing insight to the televisual experience. Or they clatter on enough to turn the sound off!
The key to greatness is, for me, what Richie Benaud did. After retiring he paid to go on a commentary course run by the BBC. I can’t remember the exact words, but they were told that it’s not radio, it’s TV and the audience can see for themselves what’s happening, and your job is to add something they can’t see.
In addition, I prefer a commentary where the speaker acts as though he/she is having a conversation with you. Not shouting, or delivering a monotone blather.
Cricket Greats:
Richie Benaud
Brian Johnston
Jonathan Agnew
John Arlott
Michael Holding
Bubbling Under:
Michael Atherton (speak up sonny!)
Football Greats:
Kenneth Wollstenhome
Brian Moore
Bubbling Under:
Gary Neville (They’re walking! They’re walking!)
Baseball:
Tim McCarver
Golf:
Henry Longhurst
Peter Alliss
Snooker:
Ted Lowe
Tennis:
Dan Maskell
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Not everyone will remember him obviously, but the late great Don Mosey deserves a cricket spot too, I think, as well as Tony Cosier from the West Indies.
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After an Open Golf championship, the PGA president (or someone equivalent) was giving a speech while presenting the Jug and droning on and on and on.
After a while Peter Alliss piped up:
"We don't normally broadcast these speeches. Now you know why."
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My favourite two are/were definitely Benaud and Holding. Insightful, articulate, balanced, passionate about cricket, personable and down-to-earth, each having a no-bullshit integrity and a good sense of humour without the need to force 'bantz' on the listener/viewer.
Cricket is blessed with lots of excellent commentators. One of my emerging favourites is Isa Guha, who I think is fantastic.
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Boxing - Harry Carpenter.
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Totally agree Rory, Isa Guha is an emerging star.
Mikey was on Desert Island Discs this morning and I don’t mind admitting I had tears in my eyes listening. What a man.
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Cricket has loads, I think it being a technical and slightly slower game encourages good commentators, I like Alison Mitchell as well.
In the rugby I like Martin Bayfield and Alastair Eykyn and I think Ben Kay and Ugo Monye (who is also a genuinely fantastic bloke who has been brilliant with my club in the last couple of years) are great as pundits.
I can't think of a currently football commentator I like, the lack of quality was shown very clearly by them all being upstaged by Emma Hayes in the euros.
I thought a few of them in olympics were very good without anyone really standing out.
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I like Flats and Brian Moore. It’s a front row thing.
No idea whether they are technically or tactically astute but they often make me laugh and aren’t afraid to say it’s shit when its shit.
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My favourite two are/were definitely Benaud and Holding. Insightful, articulate, balanced, passionate about cricket, personable and down-to-earth, each having a no-bullshit integrity and a good sense of humour without the need to force 'bantz' on the listener/viewer.
Cricket is blessed with lots of excellent commentators. One of my emerging favourites is Isa Guha, who I think is fantastic.
One of the things I used to love about Holding was after a fairly dry period of the game when someone hit a scoring shot there would be a delay as it raced to the boundary, and Mikey in his deep voice would just say, “runs”.
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Boxing - Harry Carpenter.
Ah yes.
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I also forgot Peter Jones.
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I like Flats and Brian Moore. It’s a front row thing.
No idea whether they are technically or tactically astute but they often make me laugh and aren’t afraid to say it’s shit when its shit.
Flats is good, Moore doesn't really understand the modern game, I don't dislike him but he should probably have retired by now.
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TV Football
I always liked Hugh Johns as well as Brian Moore. Hugh did the ITV wc'66 final in the recently released colour version of the old b&w tape, and of course he was almost always on Star Soccer on ATV on a Sunday. Preferred David Coleman to B Davies and Motty on the BBC, and his athletics research and knowledge was faultless. Also liked Tony Gubba who could describe what was shaping up off the ball some times.
Radio footy
Couldn't stand Alan Green (is he still on?), had about four ways of pronouncing 'Hyppia' (Hoopya, Hippiya, Hoppiya, Herpya), and mostly cut short "the penalty area" to "Penalty Air.." Loved Jonathan Pierce as he escalated the tone as the ball quickened up or went into the box. (he did a bit of TV also). Jim Proudfoot does a good job on TS, as does Ian Danter (yes I know he is a 'nose but is balanced). The club (any club not just AV) commentators on closed channels (i.e. partisan to that club) are hopeless in comparison to the real pros.
Also loved Jonathan Pierce for Robot Wars!
Racing - Peter O'Sullivan
Darts - Sid Waddell, although mostly nonsense he built a picture and was quick to call the maths of the out shot, occasionally checking himself and sticking to his first call! I.e. he made mistakes but was entertaining.
Motorbike racing - Julian Ryder and Keith Huewen had a good dynamic, as did Murray walker and James Hunt in F1 - thought MW went on a tad too long but he was still a great. Ch4 Edwards/Jaques with D Coulthard also work well and as I don't pay for Sky not up to date on M Brundle but he was pretty ace on terrestial TV. A more obscure shout in Motor racing is Bob Constanduros who was mostly a print journalist, then a circuit PA commentator at GPs, WEC races etc. Seems there aren't many (any?) gaps in his knowledgebase.
Tour de France would have to be Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, PS sadly now gone (Liggett was originally a Lance Armstrong doping denier, yet eventually changed his stance). Ned Boulting and David Millar have grown into it pretty well. In the studio, G Imlach, C Boardman, P Kennaugh ace it. I remember G Imlach debuting on Ch4 US Football coverage when no-one much new what it was about. (you could say no-one still does!)
Cricket TV - don't follow it much these days, but 6 day tests (i.e. Thurs- Tues with Sunday off) used to be on the BBC when you got home from school, and I always rated R Benaud before I knew what a career he'd had, and then when I did he went up another notch. Then there was Peter West who just stared straight at the fixed Studio camera, didn't add anything for me. Boycott is Boycott, and a bit marmite.
Cricket Radio - Tests if the timing was good could be listened to on R4 if there was limited TV coverage (esp away tests), the commentator who described it best for me was the Australian Alan McGilvray Retired 1985, d 1996.
Now Mark Nicholas who is/was a more recent commentator took a position on something or other on TV in the '06-07 Ashes series in Oz, that a group of my mates went to for 5 weeks. One of them took exception to this, and had it in his (Bluenose) memory bank when we went to Headingley in May'07 for Eng-WI. This was the coldest test ever played here, and struggled to get going ice/hail etc.!). At one of the enforced breaks Mark Nicholas was doing a Q&A or a small broadcast piece, and Bluenose mate made a fantastic job of heckling him objectively. Something got him going that day.
Rugby U - Nigel Starmer-Smith was good on Rugby Special, also of course the "mighty hoof" from Bill Mclaren, and Cliff Morgan's use of "brilliant" nine times (I think) on the famous Gareth edwards Barbarians 1973 Try vs the All Blacks. John Taylor did a great job for ITV in the RWC 1991, hadn't heard from him before then.
Rugby league - Well just have to mention Eddie Waring and his up and unders!
Tennis - J McEnroe doesn't shirk from saying what he thinks
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Totally agree Rory, Isa Guha is an emerging star.
Mikey was on Desert Island Discs this morning and I don’t mind admitting I had tears in my eyes listening. What a man.
The BLM segment last year was one of the most powerful pieces of television I've ever seen.
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My favourite two are/were definitely Benaud and Holding. Insightful, articulate, balanced, passionate about cricket, personable and down-to-earth, each having a no-bullshit integrity and a good sense of humour without the need to force 'bantz' on the listener/viewer.
Cricket is blessed with lots of excellent commentators. One of my emerging favourites is Isa Guha, who I think is fantastic.
One of the things I used to love about Holding was after a fairly dry period of the game when someone hit a scoring shot there would be a delay as it raced to the boundary, and Mikey in his deep voice would just say, “runs”.
Yes haha, like a not annoying version of Danny Morrison screaming "BOOM!" every time he hears bat on ball.
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Totally agree Rory, Isa Guha is an emerging star.
Mikey was on Desert Island Discs this morning and I don’t mind admitting I had tears in my eyes listening. What a man.
The BLM segment last year was one of the most powerful pieces of television I've ever seen.
Agreed 100%
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Baseball:
Tim McCarver
I consider this the most controversial thing that you’ve ever posted on H&V.
You are wrong, very wrong. McCarver is among the worst of the worst baseball commentators. Not quite Joe Morgan bad, or Hawk Harrelson bad, but close.
My own controversial take on baseball commentators is that Vin Scully was terrible. He’s considered a national treasure but the bloke never stopped to take a breath.
My favourite is Bob Uecker.
Jon Miller is great as well.
I also like listening to old broadcasts by Red Barber and Mel Allen.
As for cricket….
Ritchie Benaud
Aggers
Vic Marks
Jim Maxwell
Alison Mitchell
Tony Cozier
Tuffers (another controversial one)
Jeremy Coney
On Sky, I rate Athers, Nasser, Rob Key, Mel Jones, Ebony Rainford-Brent (who’s also on the Beeb as well)
By far the worst cricket commentator is Kevin Pietersen.
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My favourite two are/were definitely Benaud and Holding. Insightful, articulate, balanced, passionate about cricket, personable and down-to-earth, each having a no-bullshit integrity and a good sense of humour without the need to force 'bantz' on the listener/viewer.
Cricket is blessed with lots of excellent commentators. One of my emerging favourites is Isa Guha, who I think is fantastic.
One of the things I used to love about Holding was after a fairly dry period of the game when someone hit a scoring shot there would be a delay as it raced to the boundary, and Mikey in his deep voice would just say, “runs”.
Yes haha, like a not annoying version of Danny Morrison screaming "BOOM!" every time he hears bat on ball.
Danny Morrison has me reaching for the mute button
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For Rugby, I like Eddie Butler and Brian Moore.
Nigel Owens will be great if he decides to do more summarising work.
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Favourites would be Barry Davies, John Arlott 'The voice of Summer' and the dulcet tones of Peter Alliss.
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What a great idea for a thread!
Football:
Barry Davies - much better than Motson who always seemed to get the big games. Davies was also able to commentate on several other sports and was generally always involved in the coverage of the Olympics.
Brian Moore - didn’t he speak those immortal lines back in 1982?
Gary Neville - I like his passion and he’s quite insightful at times.
Cricket
Arlott - his voice was so deep and mellifluous. There’s a famous quote of him describing a Clive Lloyd cover drive “A stroke of a man knocking a thistle top off with a walking stick”.
Benaud - the master of old-school commentary, he always let the television pictures tell the story and only spoke when necessary.
Johnson - his sense of fun made him perfect for TMS.
Aggers - the last link with the golden years of TMS but he’s a fantastic commentator in his own right.
Holding - a special man and when he spoke you just listened. His emotional speech last year was so moving.
Tony Cozier - I’d have had him commentating on every tour not just on the West Indies tours. He’s not been replaced although Viv Richards is good.
Others who deserve an honorary mention include Vic Marks, Mike Selvey, Athers and Rameez Raja.
Unfortunately there’s far too many poor commentators/summarisers across all sports but some personal nominations are:
Motson - the master of speaking the bleeding obvious
Michael Vaughan - tv and radio click bait, he’s only interested in one thing and that’s Michael Vaughan
Jamie Carragher - he’s like an excitable puppy and is too one eyed. His world is red which is odd because he grew up a blue.
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All the good commentators have one thing in common - they knew when to keep quiet. The best on TV hardly spoke at all.
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Huw Johns and Gerald Sindstadt still top the football pile for me as Star Soccer was my first memory of watching the beautiful game.
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A friend went to a function where Hugh Johns was the guest speaker. He stood up obviously the worse for wear. As he spoke he fell forward and landed face down on the trestle table; it was over the join where 2 tables had been pushed together. They collapsed in a V shape around him and he was covered in food, dishes, glasses, cutlery etc.
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A friend went to a function where Hugh Johns was the guest speaker. He stood up obviously the worse for wear. As he spoke he fell forward and landed face down on the trestle table; it was over the join where 2 tables had been pushed together. They collapsed in a V shape around him and he was covered in food, dishes, glasses, cutlery etc.
Fantastic story.
Just adds to the greatness of the man!
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I used to love Mike Carlson doing the NFL Coverage, but he's probably more of a pundit than commentator. Madden and Al Michaels were a good commentary duo when I started watching the sport.
Can't stand Troy Aikman, who only cares about QB play. He will support whoever has the best QB.
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Good call on Carlson, but he is more of a presenter than a commentator.
However, he does have one annoying trait…..his “he couldn’t be more alone if….” schtick
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I’ll grant you Bob Uecker, but I’ll also stick with McCarver
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I missed out Bill McLaren for Rugby! Capital offence.
Ebony Rainford-Brent has improved her match voice hugely and knows her stuff. Pietersen is scarily crap, and could be replaced by a gerbil on helium. All of the IPL commentary teams are abysmal - everyone and every thing is fantastic.
I’m also convinced The Hundred commentators were ordered to squeal with delight at every ball, and that reflected badly on Dinesh Karthtik, who had been a decent commentator in the Tests this year.
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Sid Waddell was a genius, not too many commentators have the World championship trophy of their chosen sport named after them.
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There was a NY Rangers ex-player (I suspect Phil Esposito) who acted as colour man, and he was a hoot - very subdued during play and then went entertainingly bonkers when a fight broke out, and hockey fans will know he wasn’t subdued for long.
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There was a NY Rangers ex-player (I suspect Phil Esposito) who acted as colour man, and he was a hoot - very subdued during play and then went entertainingly bonkers when a fight broke out, and hockey fans will know he wasn’t subdued for long.
A nomination for annoying, rather than shit…..Don Cherry
From basketball, a nomination for annoying AND shit……Dick Vitale.
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I also forgot Peter Jones.
The greatest ever for me….when football was only on radio 2 he was the best.
Always remember he was the radio commentator on the day of Hillsborough….was obvious how bad it was but it was factual, emotional reaction of someone who was clearly deeply affected
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One thing that Dave W’s comment about knowing when to keep quiet triggered was that the best tend to talk as if they’re in a conversation, with all the inflections that implies. Too many are brought in from very recently ended careers - they may well have the nous and experience but tend to drone, and that’s a bummer.
If I haven’t already said it, the worst group of commentators are the core Star Sports crew that try and big-up every player, every boundary, every catch, every match.
Thank the gods that they’ve inserted Hussein and Atherton into the coverage of the England games. Also Dale Steyn looks promising.
And finally, I wish Holding every blessing, and his horses do the business in his retirement. Sorely missed.
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Sure I saw Danny Morrison on T20 coverage…..easily the most brainless & annoying listen….should be a free hit every day
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Sure I saw Danny Morrison on T20 coverage…..easily the most brainless & annoying listen….should be a free hit every day
The Sinn Féin director of publicity?
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Ebony Rainford - Brent, for so many reasons...
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Some not mentioned already:
Andrew Cotter - BBC rugby but covers many other sports
Ian Crocker - remember him from his BRMB days and mainly does Scottish football now
David Gower - took up the presenter role eventually, but always insightful when on commentary
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One thing that Dave W’s comment about knowing when to keep quiet triggered was that the best tend to talk as if they’re in a conversation, with all the inflections that implies. Too many are brought in from very recently ended careers - they may well have the nous and experience but tend to drone, and that’s a bummer.
If I haven’t already said it, the worst group of commentators are the core Star Sports crew that try and big-up every player, every boundary, every catch, every match.
Thank the gods that they’ve inserted Hussein and Atherton into the coverage of the England games. Also Dale Steyn looks promising.
And finally, I wish Holding every blessing, and his horses do the business in his retirement. Sorely missed.
Of the "recently retired or still playing a bit" commentators, Carlos Brathwaite has been good so far on his TMS appearances
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Another shout out for the ITV Tour de France team who add a lot of specialist knowledge particularly on race tactics.
And a mention for Mike Ingham for his football commentry on the radio. Not always easy for him as he had to share some with the awful Alan Green.
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Another shout out for the ITV Tour de France team who add a lot of specialist knowledge particularly on race tactics.
And a mention for Mike Ingham for his football commentry on the radio. Not always easy for him as he had to share some with the awful Alan Green.
TdF is a hell of a one to commentate on….like the Eurosport/GCN (except the recipe segment that was so annoying in this years race lol) & ITV4, all v knowledgable & add to the coverage
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I liked the bits with Wiggo on the back of a motorbike on Eurosport. However, in general, I prefer the ITV commentators and presenters. Imlach has been a favourite of mine, way back to when he was fronting the NFL highlight shows.
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One thing that Dave W’s comment about knowing when to keep quiet triggered was that the best tend to talk as if they’re in a conversation, with all the inflections that implies. Too many are brought in from very recently ended careers - they may well have the nous and experience but tend to drone, and that’s a bummer.
If I haven’t already said it, the worst group of commentators are the core Star Sports crew that try and big-up every player, every boundary, every catch, every match.
Thank the gods that they’ve inserted Hussein and Atherton into the coverage of the England games. Also Dale Steyn looks promising.
And finally, I wish Holding every blessing, and his horses do the business in his retirement. Sorely missed.
Of the "recently retired or still playing a bit" commentators, Carlos Brathwaite has been good so far on his TMS appearances
Agree on Carlos Brathwaite - he's superb, really insightful. Love his accent too, which always helps.
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One thing that Dave W’s comment about knowing when to keep quiet triggered was that the best tend to talk as if they’re in a conversation, with all the inflections that implies. Too many are brought in from very recently ended careers - they may well have the nous and experience but tend to drone, and that’s a bummer.
If I haven’t already said it, the worst group of commentators are the core Star Sports crew that try and big-up every player, every boundary, every catch, every match.
Thank the gods that they’ve inserted Hussein and Atherton into the coverage of the England games. Also Dale Steyn looks promising.
And finally, I wish Holding every blessing, and his horses do the business in his retirement. Sorely missed.
Of the "recently retired or still playing a bit" commentators, Carlos Brathwaite has been good so far on his TMS appearances
Agree on Carlos Brathwaite - he's superb, really insightful. Love his accent too, which always helps.
He has been good, and so has Shane Watson, I must say. Not very good at hiding his allegiance, but neither are Athers and Nasser, so I don't mind that.
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Would add the two idiots commentating on our game last night to the awful list….the way they banged on about El Ghazi being fortunate to be on the pitch time and again was like a pair of old drunks propping up the bar
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Would add the two idiots commentating on our game last night to the awful list….the way they banged on about El Ghazi being fortunate to be on the pitch time and again was like a pair of old drunks propping up the bar
I thought it was Saints TV
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The Football Supporters Association have voted Alex Scott Pundit of the year, the first woman to get the award and fully deserved.
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Quite good on sports progs, and enjoyed her episode on Who Do You Think You Are? Seems an engaging personality.
The afternoon quiz programme she comperes is as crap as all the other ones, alas.
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Quite good on sports progs, and enjoyed her episode on Who Do You Think You Are? Seems an engaging personality.
A pleasant enough presence on our screens but 'Pundit of the Year'? Unbelievable Jeff!
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I find her really annoying.
Bill MacLaren is my favourite ever. Plenty of others mentioned but I've a soft spot for John Motson. He could be annoying but he'd always done his homework and had stats to hand too, before the internet age.
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I've been watching a lot of the Chess World Championship online and David Howell is excellent at providing what-I-assume-to-be in-depth analysis (he's a grandmaster, after all) in language that chess morons such as myself can understand, and has a nice relationship with Jovanka Houska as they bounce ideas off each other. Made what should otherwise be quite tedious - watching a guy stare at a board for 40 minutes before making a move - absolutely riveting.
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Bill McLaren was great!
"Well, they'll be raising a glass in the club bar in Auchtermuchty * tonight."
* the name of the club side that a Scottish try-scorer played for.
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A very angry Richie, talking after the Trevor Chappell underarm incident.
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Barry Davies - a legend and a gentleman. Could turn his hand to commenting on anything (anyone remember the staring competition in Big Train?).
Peter Brackley - always managed to transmit his love of the game and that he was actually glad to be at a football match rather than it being a chore.
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Also liked Brian Moore. He was always happy to defer to the expert alongside him, didn't talk too much (a major failure of most modern commentators), didn't narrative build and managed to build the anticipation of a goal nicely.
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Really enjoyed Peter Brackley's commentary. I first came across him on Football Italia, where he blended his knowledge with enthusiasm and humour, rather like the folks on the Tour de France do every year.
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I’d forgotten how good a commentator Ravi Shastri is.
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I’d forgotten how good a commentator Ravi Shastri is.
I find all of the Indian commentators very good. Not the most balanced but very insightful and good-humoured.
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I’d forgotten how good a commentator Ravi Shastri is.
I find all of the Indian commentators very good. Not the most balanced but very insightful and good-humoured.
Harsha Bhogle drives me mad. But all the IPL commentators are especially iffy, lionising everyone and everything plus chucking in adverts.
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I’d forgotten how good a commentator Ravi Shastri is.
Agreed, Shastri has been great on TV.
Prakash is on the radio. He's pretty good as well, albeit with a tendency to over-flowery language
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Andrew Coltart irritates me with his overly Scottish accent.
Nothing to do with an ex-girlfriend having had a liaison with him prior to us meeting (the girlfriend that is)
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Ewen Murray and Nick Faldo both very good and a word for Sue Barker excelent, will be very hard to replace.
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I’d forgotten how good a commentator Ravi Shastri is.
I find all of the Indian commentators very good. Not the most balanced but very insightful and good-humoured.
Harsha Bhogle drives me mad. But all the IPL commentators are especially iffy, lionising everyone and everything plus chucking in adverts.
I quite like Bhogle but I must admit that I was thinking mainly of the commentators who have done part-time work on tests (Shastri, Gavaskar, Dravid etc) rather than the IPL breed.
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Excellent call on Dravid. SKY had him for one series and I was thinking he’d be dour, and he was anything but.
Dinesh Karthik has been mixed I think. For the one day series he was trying too hard to generate “fun”, but he dialled it back for the tests and was very good. Appalling dress sense though!
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Good: Richie Benaud, Michael Holding, Sid Waddell, John Madden, Ted Lowe
Bad: John Motson, John Virgo, Alan Green
Staggeringly bad: Clive fucking Tyldesley
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Nobody can touch John Arlott not even Benaud.
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Anyone remember Idwal Robling? A Welshman who , I believe won a competition to become a football commentator ran by the BBC. He was up against stiff opposition in the likes of Ed (Stewpot) Stewart amongst others.
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+1 on Bill McLaren and Brian Moore
Bjørge Lillelien for his excellent rant
Special mentions for comedic effect : Murray Walker and David Coleman's Spitting Image puppet.
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Best: Richie, Brian Moore and John Arlott.
Bad: almost all the rest.
Worst: Alan Green.
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Anyone remember Idwal Robling? A Welshman who , I believe won a competition to become a football commentator ran by the BBC. He was up against stiff opposition in the likes of Ed (Stewpot) Stewart amongst others.
Yes. I thought he was awkward, and didn’t have good voice, a bit gravelly. Didn’t last long I think.
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I've never warmed to Tuffers on TMS. He always seems to me to be trying too hard.
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Okay when he restricts himself to talking about spin-bowling, but too Jack-the-lad for me, otherwise.
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I don't mind Tuffers, I can see how he'd annoy people but I think he is pretty authentic. He needs to be more confident, though, he reads the game quite well but sits on the fence too often.
He's much better than Pietersen or Swann.
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I don't mind Tuffers, I can see how he'd annoy people but I think he is pretty authentic. He needs to be more confident, though, he reads the game quite well but sits on the fence too often.
He's much better than Pietersen or Swann.
Pietersen and Swann can f*** off.
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And for a bloke that was allegedly asleep for much of the time, he has remarkable recall of seemingly every ball of every game he was involved in.
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First time I've been to this thread.
Did I miss the mention for Murray Walker?
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And for a bloke that was allegedly asleep for much of the time, he has remarkable recall of seemingly every ball of every game he was involved in.
Tuffers knows his stuff and I think he's a great commentator
Jimmy and Woody have been impressive on TMS today
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Special shout-out to Chris Waddle -whenever he's on the radio co-commentary, he is able not just to explain what is happening but WHY it's happening!
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Special shout-out to Chris Waddle -whenever he's on the radio co-commentary, he is able not just to explain what is happening but WHY it's happening!
This highlights why I dislike the vast majority of football commentators, all sports have good and bad but in most the commentators at least understand why teams are doing what they are (and are able to critique it on the fly). Most football commentators don't even try to do that, they just say what we can see, share anecdotes, and act starstruck.
That said I watched a dodgy ozzie stream of the England Rugby tests and I came away wondering if anyone involved had ever actually watched a rugby match before the start of the series, it was every bit as shit as our football coverage and made me have a new appreciation for the quality of UK rugby coverage (except for Austin Healey who's just a twat).
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Agreed, though Healey has the merit if being a funny twat, at times.
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Final word on Waddle -how come we don't see more of him on the telly? He's loads better than most of the regulars.
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I think you may have answered your own question there Dave, can't have him showing up the establishment for what they are. Inane.
I've laboured this point on here many times; that a good commentator tells what he sees and not what he thinks. Can you imagine a blind lover of football listening to what passes as a commentator in this day and age? Awful stuff.
I'm sure years ago the Villa used to provide live commentary for the blind, if not Villa some other organisation, I wonder do they still, anyone know?
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On vintage commentators, I grew up listening to the wireless and all the big fights of the day would be broadcast live and if memory serves the continuity announcer used to introduce them thus: 'And now over to (wherever) for tonights big fight and your commentator Raymond Glendenning with inter-round summaries by Barrington Dalby'. The best way I can describe it back then is: Pictures delivered in sound.
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That said I watched a dodgy ozzie stream of the England Rugby tests and I came away wondering if anyone involved had ever actually watched a rugby match before the start of the series, it was every bit as shit as our football coverage and made me have a new appreciation for the quality of UK rugby coverage (except for Austin Healey who's just a twat).
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The standard of sports commentary in Aus is usually appalling, mostly because it's an old boys club. There's been a bit of a stoosh in the past week because one male AFL ex-player/commentator had a pop at a women commentator for crowding out other male ex-players. She is usually pretty excellent but one of the ex-players in question was a brilliant player who is a scumbag human who really should be in jail rather than employed by a TV network to commentate on the nation's most popular sport. And everyone tolerated a bloke called Sam Newman for about 30 years too long because he was one of the lads when in reality Bernard Manning would have asked him to rein it in a bit.
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The best vintage sports commentator for me was Barry Davies, I always thought he was way better than Motty.
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The Nuremberg Rallies were way better than Motty.
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The antipodean keeps saying "Fiji is...." rather than "Fiji are...." in the Rugby Sevens.
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That's fairly common outside Britain and Ireland, seeing a team as an "it" rather than a "they".
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Gold Star for Hazel Irvine who just described Edgbaston by it's correct name of "Warwickshire Country Cricket Ground" rather than the awful generic nonsense of "Edgbaston Stadium"
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That's fairly common outside Britain and Ireland, seeing a team as an "it" rather than a "they".
The Villa OS even do it now. Most dispiriting to see.
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I don't like Isa Guha. And would cheerfully strangle Bianca Westwood to death. I like Alison Mitchell and Sue whatever her surname is at Sky. Andrew Cotter is a good all rounder and Guy Mowbray is fair. Pearce is a shouty prick and there isn't much other talent regardless of gender on MOTD. I enjoyed Farah Williams as a pundit in the ladies Euros.
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You don't get this with Sam Matterface. https://twitter.com/PFTCommenter/status/1554671570676760584
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You don't get this with Sam Matterface. https://twitter.com/PFTCommenter/status/1554671570676760584
Prime example of why I didn’t rate Scully as a commentator. Pointless babbling.
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The commentators at the England/Canada hockey match today frothed, exclaimed, wound themselves up, speculated loudly about a red card being shown and missed the yellow completely.
All they had to do was be quiet and listen to the umpires broadcasting calmly what both their red and yellow card decisions were for, and then comment about why and the likely impact on the game, which is what they are there to do.
They’re not very good at it.
I would have welcomed an anecdote about a snake and a rabbit.
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The commentators at the England/Canada hockey match today frothed, exclaimed, wound themselves up, speculated loudly about a red card being shown and missed the yellow completely.
All they had to do was be quiet and listen to the umpires broadcasting calmly what both their red and yellow card decisions were for, and then comment about why and the likely impact on the game, which is what they are there to do.
They’re not very good at it.
I would have welcomed an anecdote about a snake and a rabbit.
They kept correcting each other too which was odd.
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The commentators at the England/Canada hockey match today frothed, exclaimed, wound themselves up, speculated loudly about a red card being shown and missed the yellow completely.
All they had to do was be quiet and listen to the umpires broadcasting calmly what both their red and yellow card decisions were for, and then comment about why and the likely impact on the game, which is what they are there to do.
They’re not very good at it.
I would have welcomed an anecdote about a snake and a rabbit.
They kept correcting each other too which was odd.
I think they forgot people were listening!
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The commentators at the England/Canada hockey match today frothed, exclaimed, wound themselves up, speculated loudly about a red card being shown and missed the yellow completely.
All they had to do was be quiet and listen to the umpires broadcasting calmly what both their red and yellow card decisions were for, and then comment about why and the likely impact on the game, which is what they are there to do.
They’re not very good at it.
I would have welcomed an anecdote about a snake and a rabbit.
In football, a player commits a foul on an opponent that warrants a yellow card, the fouled player retaliates by punching the opponent and receives a red card, all right and proper. This in the hockey was an example of this but with these two prattling all over it, it was lost to the viewing public that may not have actually known that. I agree with you Lou, this pair were extremely annoying.
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I don't like Isa Guha.
How dare you.
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One of the best is the diving co-comm, is it Leon Taylor? Gets excited but actually explains things
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I agree about Leon Taylor - explains what the divers did wrong or right
Best commentator was David Coleman - fantastic athletics commentator
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Best commentator was David Coleman - fantastic athletics commentator
"That's the fastest time ever run - but it's not as fast as the world record"
"And the line up for the final of the Women's 400 metres hurdles includes three Russians, two East Germans, a Pole, a Swede and a Frenchman"
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He's one of the great unknown champions, because very little is known about him.
If that had gone in, it would have been a goal.
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Best commentator was David Coleman - fantastic athletics commentator
"That's the fastest time ever run - but it's not as fast as the world record"
"And the line up for the final of the Women's 400 metres hurdles includes three Russians, two East Germans, a Pole, a Swede and a Frenchman"
“The big Cuban opened his legs and showed his class“
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Best commentator was David Coleman - fantastic athletics commentator
"That's the fastest time ever run - but it's not as fast as the world record"
"And the line up for the final of the Women's 400 metres hurdles includes three Russians, two East Germans, a Pole, a Swede and a Frenchman"
“The big Cuban opened his legs and showed his class“
That's a myth. It was Ron Pickering.
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Ray Hudson is good for a laugh but I'm not sure I'd want to hear him commentating on every game I watch.
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Best commentator was David Coleman - fantastic athletics commentator
"That's the fastest time ever run - but it's not as fast as the world record"
"And the line up for the final of the Women's 400 metres hurdles includes three Russians, two East Germans, a Pole, a Swede and a Frenchman"
“The big Cuban opened his legs and showed his class“
Juantorena, I think?
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Best commentator was David Coleman - fantastic athletics commentator
"That's the fastest time ever run - but it's not as fast as the world record"
"And the line up for the final of the Women's 400 metres hurdles includes three Russians, two East Germans, a Pole, a Swede and a Frenchman"
“The big Cuban opened his legs and showed his class“
That's a myth. It was Ron Pickering.
So it was, just looked it up. You live and learn.
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David Colemanballs:
"Moses Kiptanui - the 19 year old Kenyan, who turned 20 a few weeks ago"
"Morcelli has four fastest 1500-metre times ever. And all those times are at 1500 metres."
"Her time is about 4.33, which she's capable of."
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I don't like Leon Taylor either. That is because I know him though. And don't start me on Bianca fucking Westwood.
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I don't like Leon Taylor either. That is because I know him though. And don't start me on Bianca fucking Westwood.
She is beyond awful, can barely string together a sentence and when she does it bares little resemblance to the action :-)