Eurosport commentary

[kenk09]

Kirby could mention every victory going back to Mohoric's junior days and still be criticized for not remembering the name of his first pet.
I'm guessing that close to 200 riders started the Vuelta. Only an autistic genius would know the history of each and every rider.
Good lord, people. What up with the hell bent, pathological treatment of my man Carlton Kirby?
He does a good job trying to keep Kelly awake.

I'm of the opinion that the commentator should know more than the viewer, after all they're being paid to be informed.

He probably does know more than 95% of the viewers. Does he know more than some of the tiny percentage who spend their days on specialist cycling forums and browsing procyclingstats? Probably not; and nor would most reasonable people expect him to.

I would expect the lead commentator on "the home of cycling" to know who Matej Mohoric is. That's not too much to ask. He was THE talk of cycling after he won the u23 World Champs. His descending technique was on every cycling website, and in every cycling magazine, all over twitter etc. Kirby didn't have a clue.

The 95% that he's better informed than (I strongly disagree with that % by the way) should be informed by him, and they're not.

 

[yaco]

Kirby could mention every victory going back to Mohoric's junior days and still be criticized for not remembering the name of his first pet.
I'm guessing that close to 200 riders started the Vuelta. Only an autistic genius would know the history of each and every rider.
Good lord, people. What up with the hell bent, pathological treatment of my man Carlton Kirby?
He does a good job trying to keep Kelly awake.

I'm of the opinion that the commentator should know more than the viewer, after all they're being paid to be informed.

He probably does know more than 95% of the viewers. Does he know more than some of the tiny percentage who spend their days on specialist cycling forums and browsing procyclingstats? Probably not; and nor would most reasonable people expect him to.

I would expect the lead commentator on "the home of cycling" to know who Matej Mohoric is. That's not too much to ask. He was THE talk of cycling after he won the u23 World Champs. His descending technique was on every cycling website, and in every cycling magazine, all over twitter etc. Kirby didn't have a clue.

The 95% that he's better informed than (I strongly disagree with that % by the way) should be informed by him, and they're not.

There is a saying - Say something enough times and you believe it - As I previously posted Kirby by his standards knew plenty about Mohoric - To say otherwise in this instance is silly.

 

[TMP402]

Sean Kelly just pronounces JJ Rojas as "Joo-say Roo-has"

 

[Brullnux]

They managed to persuade each other that Roson was actually named Ronson for some reason.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

They managed to persuade each other that Roson was actually named Ronson for some reason.

And inevitably "Si" Clarke was tipped. You can understand why, though, he finished in a mere 178th place.

 

[StephenC2020]

Re: Re:

They managed to persuade each other that Roson was actually named Ronson for some reason.

And inevitably "Si" Clarke was tipped. You can understand why, though, he finished in a mere 178th place.

I'm sure if you asked him Kirby would tell you that he only meant to say that he thought "Si" would beat somebody today, and he'd be happy to tell you that he was correct.

I wouldn't be surprised if they started with a completely anglicized Jaime (Jay-mee) Ronson next

 

[London Hibs]

I really can't see what Carlton Kirby MBE did wrong today and why folks are bleating. He and Kelly were outstanding (difficult as the picture was breaking up) and this was a faultless display of commentary from start to finish.

 

[the delgados]

Imagine you've never watched or heard commentary of a pro cycling race.
Then tell me who deserves to be criticized.
Ready? Here we go.

CK: "And here he goes! Trentin has made his move!
And now goes Contador! He's hot on the heels and is not going to be denied a stage victory in the final race of his career!
Ohh, Sean! Now Froome is attacking! Froome is going for glory! I think he might win this, Sean!
Sean?
Sean?

SK: "Well yeah, erm, uhm, uh, Trentin really dug deep in this final climb, but erm. uhm, uh, Froome seems to be really strong on this climb.

Now tell me who deserves criticism.
This is not a knock on Sean Kelly. I really like them both.
Point being is perhaps take the advice of several people in this thread who are far more intelligent than me.
Ease up on my man Carlton Kirby.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

They managed to persuade each other that Roson was actually named Ronson for some reason.

And inevitably "Si" Clarke was tipped. You can understand why, though, he finished in a mere 178th place.

I'm sure if you asked him Kirby would tell you that he only meant to say that he thought "Si" would beat somebody today, and he'd be happy to tell you that he was correct.

I wouldn't be surprised if they started with a completely anglicized Jaime (Jay-mee) Ronson next

Mark Ronson's long lost brother.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Imagine you've never watched or heard commentary of a pro cycling race.
Then tell me who deserves to be criticized.
Ready? Here we go.

CK: "And here he goes! Trentin has made his move!
And now goes Contador! He's hot on the heels and is not going to be denied a stage victory in the final race of his career!
Ohh, Sean! Now Froome is attacking! Froome is going for glory! I think he might win this, Sean!
Sean?
Sean?

SK: "Well yeah, erm, uhm, uh, Trentin really dug deep in this final climb, but erm. uhm, uh, Froome seems to be really strong on this climb.

Now tell me who deserves criticism.
This is not a knock on Sean Kelly. I really like them both.
Point being is perhaps take the advice of several people in this thread who are far more intelligent than me.
Ease up on my man Carlton Kirby.

Kirby is a paid cycling commentator, he should (e.g.):
1) have great knowledge about the sport and the riders - I don't think we should accept that he knows less than the average poster on here
2) be more or less impartial or at least come across that way, the constant hyping of certain riders and teams is very annoying and inappropriate
3) be professional - many of his 'jokes' are unacceptable
4) do a better job at translations, if he cannot understand those languages very well then it is what it is but he should not make things up as he usually does
5) stop making up riders' thoughts during the race which is really annoying
6) most importantly be open to criticism - if anyone dare criticize him on social media he goes in full on defense mode, perhaps he should scratch his head, look into the mirror and use the criticism to become a better commentator

That he's supposedly "enjoyable" to listen to for some people does NOT make him a good commentator.

 

[Robert5091]

Kirby is paid?!

I believed for a long time he was just some old man Eurosport dragged off the street.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

I really can't see what Carlton Kirby MBE did wrong today and why folks are bleating. He and Kelly were outstanding (difficult as the picture was breaking up) and this was a faultless display of commentary from start to finish.

Apart from constantly getting names wrong and his unprofessional, even creepy, obsession with certain riders.

As I said further up the thread, he tipped one of the victims of his obsession, "Si" Clarke, to win today. Clarke went on to finish second-last of everyone.

But actually it's worse than that. If I recall correctly, shortly before he predicted Clarke would win (in amongst calling Clarke "a secret Luis León Sánchez"), he said that the breakaway were bound to win because of their big lead. So far as I can remember or find online, Clarke wasn't part of the breakaway. So he tipped him shortly after explaining it was impossible for him to win. His infatuation got the better of him and he was compelled to mention "Si". This is "faultless"? This is "outstanding"?

 

[MartinGT]

Imagine you've never watched or heard commentary of a pro cycling race.
Then tell me who deserves to be criticized.
Ready? Here we go.

CK: "And here he goes! Trentin has made his move!
And now goes Contador! He's hot on the heels and is not going to be denied a stage victory in the final race of his career!
Ohh, Sean! Now Froome is attacking! Froome is going for glory! I think he might win this, Sean!
Sean?
Sean?

SK: "Well yeah, erm, uhm, uh, Trentin really dug deep in this final climb, but erm. uhm, uh, Froome seems to be really strong on this climb.

Now tell me who deserves criticism.
This is not a knock on Sean Kelly. I really like them both.
Point being is perhaps take the advice of several people in this thread who are far more intelligent than me.
Ease up on my man Carlton Kirby.

Kirby is a paid cycling commentator, he should (e.g.):
1) have great knowledge about the sport and the riders - I don't think we should accept that he knows less than the average poster on here
2) be more or less impartial or at least come across that way, the constant hyping of certain riders and teams is very annoying and inappropriate
3) be professional - many of his 'jokes' are unacceptable
4) do a better job at translations, if he cannot understand those languages very well then it is what it is but he should not make things up as he usually does
5) stop making up riders' thoughts during the race which is really annoying
6) most importantly be open to criticism - if anyone dare criticize him on social media he goes in full on defense mode, perhaps he should scratch his head, look into the mirror and use the criticism to become a better commentator

That he's supposedly "enjoyable" to listen to for some people does NOT make him a good commentator.

This.

He made a racist 'joke' a year or so ago about an Asia person on a plane. He should have been fired on the spot.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty of sprints he is quite good. BUT during the rest of the 4h he talks utter utter garbage and the amount of Love for Sky / British riders is vomit inducing.

 

[the delgados]

Imagine you've never watched or heard commentary of a pro cycling race.
Then tell me who deserves to be criticized.
Ready? Here we go.

CK: "And here he goes! Trentin has made his move!
And now goes Contador! He's hot on the heels and is not going to be denied a stage victory in the final race of his career!
Ohh, Sean! Now Froome is attacking! Froome is going for glory! I think he might win this, Sean!
Sean?
Sean?

SK: "Well yeah, erm, uhm, uh, Trentin really dug deep in this final climb, but erm. uhm, uh, Froome seems to be really strong on this climb.

Now tell me who deserves criticism.
This is not a knock on Sean Kelly. I really like them both.
Point being is perhaps take the advice of several people in this thread who are far more intelligent than me.
Ease up on my man Carlton Kirby.

Kirby is a paid cycling commentator, he should (e.g.):
1) have great knowledge about the sport and the riders - I don't think we should accept that he knows less than the average poster on here
2) be more or less impartial or at least come across that way, the constant hyping of certain riders and teams is very annoying and inappropriate
3) be professional - many of his 'jokes' are unacceptable
4) do a better job at translations, if he cannot understand those languages very well then it is what it is but he should not make things up as he usually does
5) stop making up riders' thoughts during the race which is really annoying
6) most importantly be open to criticism - if anyone dare criticize him on social media he goes in full on defense mode, perhaps he should scratch his head, look into the mirror and use the criticism to become a better commentator

That he's supposedly "enjoyable" to listen to for some people does NOT make him a good commentator.

This.

He made a racist 'joke' a year or so ago about an Asia person on a plane. He should have been fired on the spot.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty of sprints he is quite good. BUT during the rest of the 4h he talks utter utter garbage and the amount of Love for Sky / British riders is vomit inducing.

This!
This is actually funny.
You're claiming that CK made a joke about an an "Asia" person on a plane a year ago. You might want to notify his bosses about his rampant racism. I'm curious to see the response you get.
This thread is bordering on the surreal.

 

[MartinGT]

Imagine you've never watched or heard commentary of a pro cycling race.
Then tell me who deserves to be criticized.
Ready? Here we go.

CK: "And here he goes! Trentin has made his move!
And now goes Contador! He's hot on the heels and is not going to be denied a stage victory in the final race of his career!
Ohh, Sean! Now Froome is attacking! Froome is going for glory! I think he might win this, Sean!
Sean?
Sean?

SK: "Well yeah, erm, uhm, uh, Trentin really dug deep in this final climb, but erm. uhm, uh, Froome seems to be really strong on this climb.

Now tell me who deserves criticism.
This is not a knock on Sean Kelly. I really like them both.
Point being is perhaps take the advice of several people in this thread who are far more intelligent than me.
Ease up on my man Carlton Kirby.

Kirby is a paid cycling commentator, he should (e.g.):
1) have great knowledge about the sport and the riders - I don't think we should accept that he knows less than the average poster on here
2) be more or less impartial or at least come across that way, the constant hyping of certain riders and teams is very annoying and inappropriate
3) be professional - many of his 'jokes' are unacceptable
4) do a better job at translations, if he cannot understand those languages very well then it is what it is but he should not make things up as he usually does
5) stop making up riders' thoughts during the race which is really annoying
6) most importantly be open to criticism - if anyone dare criticize him on social media he goes in full on defense mode, perhaps he should scratch his head, look into the mirror and use the criticism to become a better commentator

That he's supposedly "enjoyable" to listen to for some people does NOT make him a good commentator.

This.

He made a racist 'joke' a year or so ago about an Asia person on a plane. He should have been fired on the spot.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty of sprints he is quite good. BUT during the rest of the 4h he talks utter utter garbage and the amount of Love for Sky / British riders is vomit inducing.

This!
This is actually funny.
You're claiming that CK made a joke about an an "Asia" person on a plane a year ago. You might want to notify his bosses about his rampant racism. I'm curious to see the response you get.
This thread is bordering on the surreal.

I did, I was told it was a joke with no malice. This whilst CK is doing an Asian impression whilst telling the joke.

The 'joke' was about an Asian man on a flight and the air stewardess asking what he wanted for lunch, he then did a shocking asian impression of a man and the stewardess not understanding his accent etc. Shocking.

But its ok. It's CK he doesnt mean any harm does he?

 

[LaFlorecita]

This is one of those unacceptable moments:
https://twitter.com/Trudgin/status/881200374304079874
I don't often listen to Kirby, only when I have to find a stream and there's nothing else out there. So I wasn't aware of the situation you mentioned, MartinGT, but that's obviously highly unprofessional as well and frankly malicious. And I've also heard he laughed at crashes on several occasions.

 

[Krokro]

You fellas are gonna have a very bad day. "Si" is in the breakaway. Have fun EUSP UK!

 

[TMP402]

Re:

You fellas are gonna have a very bad day. "Si" is in the breakaway. Have fun EUSP UK!

Thanks for the heads up, I'll steer clear.

 

[yaco]

I can't recall Kirby discussing Clarke today outside of listing all 14 riders in the break - It's easy to imagine things.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

I can't recall Kirby discussing Clarke today outside of listing all 14 riders in the break - It's easy to imagine things.

No-one imagined anything, the two posts above you made no comment on what he said.

Anyway, I listened to probably 18 of the final 40km and Kirby was fine. I had the sound off when Atapuma was prominent so I don't know what he said about him but that aside, he was inoffensive. Or in other words, he did his job.

 

[the delgados]

MartinGT:

So I guess Eurosport is racist too, right?
I mean, they said the joke was made with no ill-intent.
Let's ban everyone!

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

I can't recall Kirby discussing Clarke today outside of listing all 14 riders in the break - It's easy to imagine things.

No-one imagined anything, the two posts above you made no comment on what he said.

Anyway, I listened to probably 18 of the final 40km and Kirby was fine. I had the sound off when Atapuma was prominent so I don't know what he said about him but that aside, he was inoffensive. Or in other words, he did his job.

So what was the point of the post ? The thread would be better if there was more factual information provided.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

I can't recall Kirby discussing Clarke today outside of listing all 14 riders in the break - It's easy to imagine things.

No-one imagined anything, the two posts above you made no comment on what he said.

Anyway, I listened to probably 18 of the final 40km and Kirby was fine. I had the sound off when Atapuma was prominent so I don't know what he said about him but that aside, he was inoffensive. Or in other words, he did his job.

So what was the point of the post ? The thread would be better if there was more factual information provided.

I can't speak for OP, but it was clearly a warning.

 

[the delgados]

Re:

This is one of those unacceptable moments:
https://twitter.com/Trudgin/status/881200374304079874
I don't often listen to Kirby, only when I have to find a stream and there's nothing else out there. So I wasn't aware of the situation you mentioned, MartinGT, but that's obviously highly unprofessional as well and frankly malicious. And I've also heard he laughed at crashes on several occasions.

Imagine sitting around with your friends watching a bike race.
Would you chastise your buddy for saying what's on everyone's mind when Valverde hit the deck?
If so, you are definitely not someone with whom I'd like to watch a race. No one in their right mind would wish harm on a bicycle racer.
CK did not know the extent of AV's injuries when he made the quip. We all know what he was referring to.
One of the things i like about CK is he doesn't pull punches. He talks like I and anyone I know would talk when watching a bike race.
Obviously I speak for a minority of people, but I do not think Carlton Kirby is a demon with a microphone.
He's just a guy who calls a spade a spade.
Sometimes he's mildly amusing, but more often than not he has a clever turn of phrase.
Let's get back to the bon bons and popcorn, shall we?

 

[TMP402]

I enjoyed Carlton saying the Spanish police "take no prisoners".