Who likes US tennis commentary today?
only human
If you compare todays from the early 90's. 80's. & the 70's their is
such a stark difference in the quality of the commentary. its really at
the bottom of the barrel today. i think one of the main reasons why its
so bad today is because nobody in control is doing anything what so ever
to shut these guys up during match play. so the commentators feel no
guilt or pressure to shut up. plus i feel the reason why they talk so
much is because they want to be the stars of the broadcasts instead of
the players. a envy thing i assume. im sure their are other reasons. but
i think i pretty much nailed it.
ed scheuert
I agree. Both Eurosport and BBC announcers are much better than the
current American standard. I can't objectively say that my
recollection of the 70s-90s commentating isn't colored by nostalgia
though.
Patrick Kehoe
Tennis telecasting/broadcasting in the 1970s and most of the 1980s was
TERRIBLE...
Summerall and Trabert were much better in my memory than when you
actually get out the old tapes and play them... Summerall was OK, but
compared to the best commentators today, Trabert just spouted the
obvious, describing what you'd just seen with little insight... a
buddy of mine and I were watching a bunch of USO semi and finals from
1982 till 1989 and we were shaking our heads...
Actually Bud Collins was good at times and embarassing at times...
Dick Enberg - when a younger man - was actually good for the era...
P
felangey
the Fed match. What a blithering clueless idiot he is. I am trying to
remember the last time he got a tennis factoid right. Whoever is partnering
him usually stays akwardly quiet....and tries their best to quietly shepherd
him through the rambling inaccuracies.
bob
wrote:
i didn't mind NBCs FO/Wimledon coverage.
bob
only human
Well that's one example Bob. but im sure you knew i meant over all what
do you guys think of todays US tennis commentary. over all i would say
its pretty darn bad. i have old matches where the commentary is so much
better where they keep quiet during play most of the time. and actually
say intelligent things. not the very obvious things. which i find to be
very annoying. and a insult to the people watching on tv. they act like
tennis fans are dumb. or can't pay attention. so they repeat so many
things over and over. im saying the past years commentary was perfect.
but it sure beats the clowns we have today. i get most of my tennis
material from a friend in Australia. i got fed up with the idiots we
have to listen to here. thanks to my buddy in Australia i now have
hundreds of high quality dvd matches. pretty much only Federer. and
various wta material over the years.
Superdave
It sucks just like everything else in America now. The rich and the corporations
aided and abetted by their bought and paid for congress have sucked the
lifeblood out of society. People think they have NO chance anymore and that
includes tennis announcers. So, they give up. They peter out, like everybody
else.
The USA needs a second American Revolution. It can only be avoided if the
corporations decide to spread the wealth.
So far, they reject that. Let's see what happens after a few of their CEO'sd are
beheaded no?
Whisper
>
> If you compare todays from the early 90's. 80's.& the 70's their is
I think a big reason is the quality of the game they are meant to be
analyzing. It's mind-numbingly 1-dimensional - very tough gig being a
tennis commentator today. How can the comments be interesting when the
game is so bland?
Scott
uh, it would be the third American revolution.
Scott
ditto.
if ( (Eurosport > US) && (BBC > US) ) {
stream.tennis();
}
drew
> I think a big reason is the quality of the game they are meant to be
> analyzing. It's mind-numbingly 1-dimensional - very tough gig being a
> tennis commentator today. How can the comments be interesting when the
> game is so bland?
Easy answer. Good or bad tennis, shutup while the point is being
played. And let the
viewer make his own judgements about the match. The American
commentators especially
behave as if nobody can see what's going on but them. The American
tendency of heaping
accolades upon the player who is winning the match and ignoring the
other guy as if he is
bad meat is really annoying. And as matches often see-saw, it sounds
suspiciously like
bullshit half of the time.
only human
Couldn't have said that any better Drew.
couldn't agree with you more. especially the part about the wishy
washyness of the commentary if a player is in full control. or in a
see-saw type match. the bullshit these guys say during matches is just
mind numbing sometimes. i wish it were possible to reach thru the tv and
yank these guys right out of there seats.
Javier González
It makes you wish for a device that could generate some sort of penis-
shaped soundwave, so you could call in and then plunge it repeatedly
in their skulls until they achieve enlightenment.
($0.02 to Peter Gutmann)
uly...@mscomm.com
I think the American referenced earlier in the thread might be either
Leif Shiras or Jimmy Arias. Neither are good, but Arias is abysmal.
Osama Bin Ladetorest
Have you heard British commentary in the 80s? It was superb. Even in
the 90s it was good. I thought Vijay Amritraj was good and very funny.
Scott
i can think of two major changes since the 1970s with commentary.
first, as Whisp points out, the game is a real snooze today.
second, the introduction of replays has changed what commentators need
to do. in the 1970s and early 1980s, there were hardly any during a
match. (how many were shown from the Borg-Mac final? I bet not a
single one.) So, as a commentator you had to be more entertaining.
Bud Collins was very interesting because he was a writer first, and
his commentary sounded like writing.
today you have just add presence to the dozen or so replays that get
shown during the match. that's why US commentators are so tiresome.
they are more like filler now.
drew
>
> It makes you wish for a device that could generate some sort of penis-
> shaped soundwave, so you could call in and then plunge it repeatedly
> in their skulls until they achieve enlightenment.
LOL...these guys are already completely fucked in the head. A penis
shaped soundwave....what a concept.
Javier González
The original quote is from computer scientist and security expert
Peter Gutmann:
"Whenever someone thinks that they can replace SSL/SSH with something
much
better that they designed this morning over coffee, their computer
speakers
should generate some sort of penis-shaped sound wave and plunge it
repeatedly into their skulls until they achieve enlightenment."
TennisGuy
> Have you heard British commentary in the 80s?
Actually not much at all. Therein lies the beauty of their technique.
They would keep their mouths shut 90% of the time.
When they finally spoke, it was short, to the point and with a degree
of politeness.
bob
wrote:
>
i think you have to decipher whether the commentary is bad or just
disagrees with your opinion. i frequently do the same. for ex, i
dislike chris evert, her commentary disagrees with mine.
bob
bob
>I miss Cliff Drysdale and Fiery Fred Stolle.
agree. the aspects to liking/disliking the commentary revolves around
a few things, more than just "talking during pts" which is the OP's
main complaint.
-does the commentator agree with your viewpoint?
-is the commentator open minded?
-is the commentator biased toward/against a player or country?
-does the commentator have annoying personal traits?
-is the commentator a past champion him/herself to lend credibility?
it all adds up.
>I think the American referenced earlier in the thread might be either
>Leif Shiras or Jimmy Arias. Neither are good, but Arias is abysmal.
bob
felangey
While an insight into the game from an ex-champ can be useful.....or even
just nice to hear....often they are dreadful old drudges who can't separate
the modern game from their own time....like say, the 90's. :)