Karsten Migels got it almost instantly!
Wasn't the composition of the breakaway also shown immediately!?
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Wasn't the composition of the breakaway also shown immediately!?
Being in the public sphere, criticism comes with the territory. However, going after someone personally on twitter is crossing the line IMO. I don't think anyone thinks commentating is easy, but I would take anyone over our Carlton. It is saying something when the first thought I have when I hear his voice is 'mute now'. I literally turned it on for Pog crossing the line today and within seconds, there was a typical Kirby cringe pun, straight back on to mute.
Maybe he needs some time and support from Eurosport pros. But he's very fluent and like a fish in a water (or pro cyclist in a fast group......) in a moto giving an insight for us all.
What we are seeing here is the internet mob trying to cancel Kirby. A rather common thing in this day and age. And if you ask the internet mob on who should replace Kirby. Then no name is provided. Maybe a "person X" could indeed replace Kirby. But the main problem here is "person X" is the next one on the cancel list.
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I don't think anyone here wants him to lose his job per se, but when a good proportion of races are ruined for a good proportion of fans then I wouldn't complain if Eurosport moved him to Speedskating.
There are other options. For example that proportion can start watching speed skating instead. As lets be honest. The main reason they are watching cycling is Kirby.
On a more serious note. Kirby, pro cycling commentator legend, is not a real issue here. Learn to be more tolerant. And the problem will go away. Kirby still has a few good years left and isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
I don't really understand what the issue with Rob Hatch is. Yes he gets excited in a worried way when there is a crash or a rider is getting dropped and it's not that big or something but generally he seems to be on point with his delivery, and knowledge.
I agree totally with this ..
I think not liking Rob Hatch and letting him know might be deemed abusive on twitter ? I remember on the final stage of the 2020 Tour many critised his delivery during Roglic's TT ....seemingly he kept saying things like Roglic has blown the race , he was hammered , he thought he just had to turn up , JV were 99% sure thay had it, etc that got on some peoples nerves
but I didnt watch his commentary that day as I dont like what I think is his over the top delivery. So I watched ITV
Yes Adam Blythe ...on now talking about how hard it is to make a private phone call when sharing a room with a team mate ? Such deep insight into the world of racing
That man could get excited about someone opening a packet of crisps. Bland, salt flavoured crisps at that, the ones with the salt in a separate sachet, not even Tayto cheese and onion ones. He's a total pain in a particular part of the anatomy. And I don't mean elbow. Also, his pronunciation of names verges on the pretentious as he slips into the accent and chisels out the syllables.
I like Hatch. He's enthusiastic and does his research. I find Kirby mostly ignorable. I know cycling commentators are never going to match TMS for cricket and temper my expectations accordingly.
I'm really thinking you're not getting cancel culture.
But hey, fab soundbyte. Go you!
Saying you don't think someone is not good at their job really isn't the same as wanting to silence someone cause you don't like their views on the topics of the day. It's just saying someone isn't good at their job and as you, the viewer, are paying for the service being provided, you'd really prefer if someone better got the gig.
I don't think you understand what being cancelled means really. There is a world of difference in trying to get someone fired because they hold a particular 'viewpoint' not related to their job and being critical of someone who is poor at their job in the public spotlight. Are football mangers cancelled? The whole purpose of this thread is to talk about Eurosport Commentators, good or bad, why else would it exist?
Go back to the early pages of this thread some 10+ years ago and their is ctiticism of various Commentators, including Kirby and even then people were reaching for the mute button. The same criticisms of him then are still exactly the same now a decade later, so there is only so much one can take of the frequent mistakes, stupid puns, over excitement and obsession with certain riders.
There are plenty of alternatives. I would have either Dan Lloyd or Matt Stephens do all the major WT races. I don't mind Rob Hatch and Declan Quigley was pretty decent when he worked for ES. Jose Been is not my favourite, but is very knowledgeable about cycling, riders, races etc. I would happily see Kirby put on all the smaller races Been covers And see her moved up a little.
Perhaps I just haven't experienced the good ones but I get the impression that all English speaking cycling commentators only have superficial knowledge of the sport. Just repeating the same factoids and getting way too hyped up acting like every single race was the race of the century.
@pmcg76
So if you press on mute button. You didn't cancel the commentator? Then you go on the internet. Meeting people that think alike. Yelling in the same horn. What is your goal then? You say for sure not to cancel Kirby. Only to fire him. And you believe that by doing that you are not a part of the cancel culture? You are in denial. As that is exactly what the cancel culture is.
So if you press on mute button. You didn't cancel the commentator? Then you go on the internet. Meeting people that think alike. Yelling in the same horn. What is your goal then? You say for sure not to cancel Kirby. Only to fire him. And you believe that by doing that you are not a part of the cancel culture? You are in denial. As that is exactly what the cancel culture is.
Fans of most sports are too critical of the on-air folks. Especially in a sport like cycling where they sometimes have to fill hours of coverage while there is little racing action to note. From what I can tell, most cycling fans actually enjoy Hatch and Kirby, but there is a very vocal, but small, minority who find them intolerable. It is this latter group that do most of the posting on the subject.
Where did I say Kirby should be fired? Again, can you explain what the point of this thread is if it is not to discuss the good and bad of ES Commentators?
Like when someone is critical of a particular rider, for example the Belgian Pozzatto thing, are they trying to cancel Van Aert?
@pmcg76
You started your answer differentiating the meaning of canceled and fired. And previous answer by another user tried to rationale the same thing. That is basically if we get Kirby fired that for sure wouldn't be like all that other people on the internet. Canceling. Like nothing like that at all.
As for constructive criticism. That is always welcomed. But i feel we are currently past that. Lately the stance against Kirby is much more aggressive. To justify it by saying it's only constructive criticism. It's not. So hold your horses as Kirby is here to stay. And not much you can do about it. A decade will past and then some new name will come. And for sure we are going to love that person. Each year a little bit more.
You started your answer differentiating the meaning of canceled and fired. And previous answer by another user tried to rationale the same thing. That is basically if we get Kirby fired that for sure wouldn't be like all that other people on the internet. Canceling. Like nothing like that at all.
As for constructive criticism. That is always welcomed. But i feel we are currently past that. Lately the stance against Kirby is much more aggressive. To justify it by saying it's only constructive criticism. It's not. So hold your horses as Kirby is here to stay. And not much you can do about it. A decade will past and then some new name will come. And for sure we are going to love that person. Each year a little bit more.
Each time Kirby lists and puts emphasis on all of Ineos and British cyclists. He comes to a Slovenain cyclist or two. And if by any chance Slovenain cyclist wins. You can sense in his voice his hart skipped a bit. For me that is enough. He loves cycling just like the rest of us. So give him a break. As it's not like you will like the next one more.
First and foremost: your premise is false. You are imagining a "mob" when really there's just a bunch of disgruntled viewers. Who you seek to silence by labelling them "a mob".
(But I would say that, wouldn't I, being a mobster who laughs at Kirby, not with him.)
Second: see first.
Once again, where did I say he should be fired which is what you claimed I said? Putting my TV on mute is not cancelling someone as the only person it impacts is myself. Complaining about a public figure on a public discussion on which their profession is the subject matter is not cancelling someone. There is criticism of riders, teams, managers, race organisers, governing bodies so why not commentators? Now if i was criticisng him directly on his twitter or haranguing ES about getting him fired, that could be viewed as trying to get him cancelled, but I am not.
The criticism of Kirby has been there his whole career, go back through the early pages of this thread from 11-12 years ago and there is posters talking about putting him on mute. He has been the one I have seen most frequently criticised, the Rob Hatch thing is relatively new as it only seems to have cropped up in recent years, I always liked him, but he has got more excitable in recent years. As I said Dan Lloyd Matt Stephens are better options and the criticism of them is far more muted.
As long as Kirby remains on commentary, there will be people wishing to vent so I guess you will have to live with that as well, or do you believe in trying to shut down posters who might have a different opinion than your own?
I don't understand the hate for Mr Hatch. His pronunciation of things for me adds so much to the production. Also his excitement and verbiage when calling finales injects for me a sense of excitement and urgency to the matter. But it's not just indiscriminate waffle with puns and weird turns of phrase.
Also as I mentioned before I don't dislike Carlton as a person, I just dislike his commentary style and for me it takes away from the racing. Also I think Carlton was awesome as the man in the Paris dungeons back in the day.
Also as I mentioned before I don't dislike Carlton as a person, I just dislike his commentary style and for me it takes away from the racing. Also I think Carlton was awesome as the man in the Paris dungeons back in the day.
I don't know why we have to reduce this to haters versus fanbois.
To say that I hate Hatch would to be massively overestimate how much effort I'm willing to put into disliking his commentary. I suspect that is true for most expressing their dislike of his work.
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I watch coverage on a variety of different channels and the nationalism drives me crazy.. I see many races in Spanish, break will be minutes up the road and commentary is energetic, and upbeat about how Chavez, Superman Lopez, or Carapaz is doing and they are in the toilet, non factors. In the US we see and hear about US riders for half the race and they are racing often like they are doing a gran fondo and will stop for a coffee and cake..but still the US based team will talk about the American racers as if they might just shift into a different gear and go from @66th place, and make up 10,20 minutes to win..Super annoying
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