Eurosport commentary

[dusty red roads]

OMG - him and Kirby!!! Can't even imagine -

 

[RedheadDane]

Okay, what's up with Rowe, and her "She has already [so and so] in this season already."?

 

[MartinGT]

According to Blythe one reason Pog is a 'leg' is because he wears a £250k watch. Yeh mate, that's why you never reached the top. You were more bothered about your camel toe shoes and what people thought. Bell.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

According to Blythe one reason Pog is a 'leg' is because he wears a £250k watch. Yeh mate, that's why you never reached the top. You were more bothered about your camel toe shoes and what people thought. Bell.

Blythe is an idiot.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Never mind a £250k watch, buy yourself some £2.95 socks.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Okay, what's up with Rowe, and her "She has already [so and so] in this season already."?

I don't know. I switched to Danish commentary when I saw Anna Henderson was at the front

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Does Declan Quigley no longer work with Eurosport. I know he does alot of the International Comms for races including many organised by RCS, but it would seem like many of the standard ones he'd do have been taken by Jose Been and Jez Cox.

 

[caferacer]

There are few Eurosport commentators that don't irritate me as a cyclist. I want to hear interesting analysis not endless fawning, repetition and overemotional sentimentality. Almost all of them seem to be lacking understand of, or reluctant to discuss tactics. It seems to be more about evoking emotions in the viewer. Which I do understand is probably what they are paid to do.

It is what it is. I think watching Lanterne Rouge / Benji (who are excellent in their knowledge, analysis, insights) has made it much worse.

Dan Lloyd - fawning, overly self-deprecating, always going on about "just how good" the riders are (yes we know, we also know many are juiced). embarrassing dad sense of humour
Blythe - smug, too pally, poor sense of humour
Kirby - lacking technical / tactical knowledge but has the best sense of humour, for me
Hatch - irritating pronunciations, overly emotional, generally the most irritating
Kelly - no criticisms although starts every statement with "yes well"
Backstedt - droning voice, often begins with a pained outtake of breath, states the obvious, poor insights
Wiggins - improving but not quite comfortable in the role, states the obvious then "hands back to commentary team". Would like to see more humour

 

[lemon cheese cake]

There are few Eurosport commentators that don't irritate me as a cyclist. I want to hear interesting analysis not endless fawning, repetition and overemotional sentimentality. Almost all of them seem to be lacking understand of, or reluctant to discuss tactics. It seems to be more about evoking emotions in the viewer. Which I do understand is probably what they are paid to do.

It is what it is. I think watching Lanterne Rouge / Benji (who are excellent in their knowledge, analysis, insights) has made it much worse.

Dan Lloyd - fawning, overly self-deprecating, always going on about "just how good" the riders are (yes we know, we also know many are juiced). embarrassing dad sense of humour
Blythe - smug, too pally, poor sense of humour
Kirby - lacking technical / tactical knowledge but has the best sense of humour, for me
Hatch - irritating pronunciations, overly emotional, generally the most irritating
Kelly - no criticisms although starts every statement with "yes well"
Backstedt - droning voice, often begins with a pained intake of breath, states the obvious, poor insights
Wiggins - improving but not quite comfortable in the role, states the obvious then "hands back to commentary team". Would like to see more humour

How is it irritating pronouncing when he's doing the pronounciaction generally correct and how it's supposed to be in the language?

 

[caferacer]

The degree to which he does it is just jarring. He does not employ on Aussie twang or American drawl for riders of those countries, hence it feels like showboating. Foreign names are perfectly pronounceable and understandable in one's own accent.

Mathieu van der Poel can be said in an English accent. It's just annoying, it's my opinion, no real explanation needed. Plenty agree though.

 

[Netserk]

Backstedt - droning voice, often begins with a pained outtake of breath, states the obvious, poor insights

Huh?

 

[Kaptain Kool]

I like Lloyd although he is over the top now with the "cycling is so much better and unpredictable now" schtick. This must be some kind of GCN/ES directive since Hatch wasn't as bad with hyperbole 5+ years ago.
IMHO Matt Stephens is good, just got to fix the sucking-in-air thing.

That list didn't include Jez Cox, who is the most grating to me. Or maybe he's only the smaller GCN/ES Player races?

 

[caferacer]

I like Lloyd although he is over the top now with the "cycling is so much better and unpredictable now" schtick. This must be some kind of GCN/ES directive since Hatch wasn't as bad with hyperbole 5+ years ago.
IMHO Matt Stephens is good, just got to fix the sucking-in-air thing.

That list didn't include Jez Cox, who is the most grating to me. Or maybe he's only the smaller GCN/ES Player races?

Oh yes Jez Cox, he is one of the most annoying. Just his voice.
Agree re Matt Stephens.

I agree cycling seems more exciting now. But it's annoying to keep hearing that from a presenter.

Yeah it doesn't take much to annoy me.

 

[Davesta]

I like Lloyd although he is over the top now with the "cycling is so much better and unpredictable now" schtick. This must be some kind of GCN/ES directive since Hatch wasn't as bad with hyperbole 5+ years ago.
IMHO Matt Stephens is good, just got to fix the sucking-in-air thing.

That list didn't include Jez Cox, who is the most grating to me. Or maybe he's only the smaller GCN/ES Player races?

I used to really like Hatch (and I still like his correct pronunciation of rider’s names & climbs, place names etc) but I agree that his hyperbole has got worse and worse - I get that his job is to help accentuate & create the excitement, but it’s annoying when we get an “oh dear oh dear oh dear” every time a sprinter gets dropped on a hard climb on a mountain stage !

 

[caferacer]

I used to really like Hatch (and I still like his correct pronunciation of rider’s names & climbs, place names etc) but I agree that his hyperbole has got worse and worse - I get that his job is to help accentuate & create the excitement, but it’s annoying when we get an “oh dear oh dear oh dear” every time a sprinter gets dropped on a hard climb on a mountain stage !

Yeah. It's patronising to both the cyclist and to the educated viewer.

 

[memyselfandI]

Robbie is very very good pair for Kirby, I must say. Thumbs up.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

I used to really like Hatch (and I still like his correct pronunciation of rider’s names & climbs, place names etc) but I agree that his hyperbole has got worse and worse - I get that his job is to help accentuate & create the excitement, but it’s annoying when we get an “oh dear oh dear oh dear” every time a sprinter gets dropped on a hard climb on a mountain stage !

Yup, and the 10 "rides of the century" in every Giro. A viewer can tell when a race is exciting. Let's say it's 7 out 10 in excitement and I'm enjoying the race. If Hatch repeatedly tells me its a 50, my annoyance with the hyperbole ends up distracting from my enjoyment.

Commentators add to viewing when they do 2 things: 1) Carry conversation when nothing is happening (which at the max end is like 90% for, say, grand tour stages with start-to-finish coverage); and 2) provide info that I cannot see or do not know.

 

[tobydawq]

Yup, and the 10 "rides of the century" in every Giro. A viewer can tell when a race is exciting. Let's say it's 7 out 10 in excitement and I'm enjoying the race. If Hatch repeatedly tells me its a 50, my annoyance with the hyperbole ends up distracting from my enjoyment.

Commentators add to viewing when they do 2 things: 1) Carry conversation when nothing is happening (which at the max end is like 90% for, say, grand tour stages with start-to-finish coverage); and 2) provide info that I cannot see or do not know.

So they should just shut up when the action is happening?

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Commentators add to viewing when they do 2 things: 1) Carry conversation when nothing is happening (which at the max end is like 90% for, say, grand tour stages with start-to-finish coverage); and 2) provide info that I cannot see or do not know.

Except they don't need to constantly spool words from their mouth for the duration of the broadcast and fill every last minute. It's something that I don't like as much from Marty MacDonald. He lists the order of the riders or the people in a group and can sometimes continue doing so for a decent amount of time after something important/interesting has happened. Once he's noticed that and spoken about it and maybe asked the co-commentator something, he might point sometbing else out before immediately returning to give another rundown of the group composition only 5 or 6 minutes after the last.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Just wondering is Kirby in love with Pogi? In that case his bias toward GB cycling in general becomes a moot thing.

 

[hayneplane]

Robbie McEwan has been far better than I had assumed he would be and is adding value to the coverage.

 

[memyselfandI]

Top comment from McE so far was when Pogi doing warmup for his tt on a trainer, was this "he's got a rabbit sticking out of his nose".

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

I've surprised myself by preferring Kirby to Hatch this week. He does talk crap sometimes and lacks racing knowledge but his enthusiasm shines through. I just wish he'd stop naming half the peloton as having a chance of a win.

As for the YouTubers, I prefer the crazy world of Chris Horner to the Lanterne Nerds.

 

[RedheadDane]

Regarding Hatch's pronuncations: I've personally come to notice when he does not pronounce a rider's name correctly. Or; I've come to notice when he does not pronounce the names of Danish riders correctly, most others I don't really know the correct pronuncation of.
An example, that I think I've used before, is 'Kron'. Somehow he manages to pronounce this short four-letter name ever so slightly wrong.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Regarding Hatch's pronuncations: I've personally come to notice when he does not pronounce a rider's name correctly. Or; I've come to notice when he does not pronounce the names of Danish riders correctly, most others I don't really know the correct pronuncation of.
An example, that I think I've used before, is 'Kron'. Somehow he manages to pronounce this short four-letter name ever so slightly wrong.

Haven't you heard that it's perfectly alright for him to pronounce it wrong, as long as he does it in an English accent?
Matthew Wonder Pole is my favourite rider.