Comments on: North American Television Coverage of International Soccer

By: jake

jake — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:07:41 +0000

it is HORRIBLE. But better than suffering through Joe Buck, I suppose.

I enjoy a number of English announcers. Jon Champion has a style I like and for color commentary I think Efan Okoku is quite good.

By: Jagad Guru

Jagad Guru — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:55:36 +0000

I did not watch USA v Portugal during the ‘02 World Cup so I have no insights or feelings about the commentary offered by Jack Edwards. But I would not be the least offended by “he shoots, SCORES!” The players do infact take shots on goal and sometimes they even score. At times I think people get to picky when it comes to the “Americanization” of soccer. The commentators here in the States don’t have to emulate those around the globe 100% of the time.

By: Tony B

Tony B — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:54:19 +0000

The important attributes of a color commentator or announcer:
1) Knowledgeable
2) Informed
3) Passionate
4) Fair
5) Have a perspective, have something interesting to say and be able to say it in an intelligent, entertaining way.

Fair does not mean that you can’t be rooting for one team or the other. If you are a hometeam announcer, there is nothing wrong with getting more excited about the home team scoring a goal than the opposition. However, in the analysis of play and the game, you must be balanced.

Don Cherry, the Canadian hockey announcer, is one example. He has all the above attributes. I don’t agree with a lot of what he says about hockey, but I still love it when he is the color commentator.

Howard Cosell was another. He had a unique perspective, and even if you didn’t agree, his comments made you consider aspects of the sport and brought up important and interesting issues.

By: Diamonds Soccer Live Football Reviews

Diamonds Soccer Live Football Reviews — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:08:03 +0000

I think I understand where Richard is coming from with regards to having commentators who actually know the game and its history well. When I first had to endure early ESPN telecasts of matches in my area with commentators who flooded the commentary with American sport lingo, it was irritating to say the least. The volume was usually turned down then. If you try too hard to Americanize a sport in a bid to attract those who are strangers to it, they will usually end up comparing it subconsciously, to the NFL, NBA etc., imho.

By: Phillies

Phillies — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:51:00 +0000

The coverage by ESPN had undoubtedly improved, but there’ s still a long way to go. I think they’ll need to find knowlegable American commentators in order for soccer to begin to catch on in America. I think the second many people tune in an hear a foreign accent, the assumption is “this isn’t for me.”

By: Chris B.

Chris B. — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:40:03 +0000

When I lived in England in the mid 1980’s I loved how the BBC would have just ONE announcer per game, no color commentator, no sideline guy, just straight ahead play by play enhanced by the descriptive turn of phrase, especially after a great pass or well played tackle. The announcers never seemed to actually say much when a goal was scored, but their voices would rise to build the tension as the play developed. “Smith. To Daglish. Well done. Finds the opening…(goal scored). For the last ten minutes the pitch had been tilted in Liverpool’s favor, and now the lads from Merseyside have gotten their equalizer.” Did some kind of Americianization of footy occur where everyone thought they needed a “John Madden” character to offer spirited insight or comical asides to up the entertainment value?

Point being, guys like Gray and even Tommie Smith add some flavor, but without a great play by play man, it is all for nothing. Healy and Derek Rae were the heroes of the Euro ESPN coverage in my book. Overall, JP Dellacamera is the top American soccer announcer in my book, with Bretos perhaps being a touch more fun. He always sounds like he is having a good time and both he and JP actually pay attention to the game, instead of talking about what college some guy went to or what his favorite food is.

By: David H.

David H. — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:44:03 +0000

“I’m also intrigued as to what they call contracts in American sport or indeed, America itself.”

Well, as an American I can tell you that they’re usually called, well, contracts. Sometimes referred to as “deals,” but if you’re talking about something signed between 2 parties to cement a relationship of payment for services rendered then in American sports our commentators, and the rest of us, call them contracts.

I’m curious as to what Steve on July 15th, 2008 at 1:43 pm: thought they might be called here. Not trying to call out Steve, just wondering. I don’t think this on the level of pitch v. field or uniform v. kit or anything like that.

By: alex

alex — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:08:23 +0000

27 - oh we do complain about it. Fabregas stepping up to take what would be the winning penalty against Italy…

John Motson on the BBC: And it’s Fabregas,an Arsenal player!

As if the fact that he played his club football in North London was the most important thing to mention at that moment. The whole of the rest of the tournament was like that too, they don’t quite understand that, as football fans, we’ll watch football outside the prism of the Premier League because, well, it’s football.

I’m also intrigued as to what they call contracts in American sport or indeed, America itself.

By: Bulk VanDerHuge

Bulk VanDerHuge — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:26:18 +0000

Oh, man, Ryan … Paul Allen is HORRIBLE. But better than suffering through Joe Buck, I suppose.

I enjoy a number of English announcers. Jon Champion has a style I like and for color commentary I think Efan Okoku is quite good. And I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment expressed upthread - the term “PK” makes me want to hurl for distance. It’s like someone talking about a “fair pole” in baseball.

By: fredorrarci

fredorrarci — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:27:07 +0000

The second-last sentence of my post should end :

“or the casual viewer who is essentially being patted on the head and told that they won’t be able to comprehend what they are seeing without having their emotive hot buttons pushed”

just in case it failed to make sense.