Sports Commentators - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

[maidstonevillain]

First time I've been to this thread.
Did I miss the mention for Murray Walker?

[UK Redsox]

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

[dcdavecollett]

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!

[paul_e]

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).

[dcdavecollett]

Agreed, though Healey has the merit if being a funny twat, at times.

[dcdavecollett]

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.

[dave shelley]

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?

[dave shelley]

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.

[Hillbilly]

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).
[/quote]

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.

[manic-road]

The best vintage sports commentator for me was Barry Davies, I always thought he was way better than Motty.

[cdbearsfan]

The Nuremberg Rallies were way better than Motty.

[Nev]

The antipodean keeps saying "Fiji is...." rather than "Fiji are...." in the Rugby Sevens.

[cdbearsfan]

That's fairly common outside Britain and Ireland, seeing a team as an "it" rather than a "they".

[Nev]

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"

[Risso]

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.