Rob Hatch

[tobydawq]

Look, he hasn't pronounced Como anything like Cornwall...

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Rob Hatch.......... Yes. I was interested to see this thread. His commentating style is something that has bothered. me for a while too. I totally get that he wants to pronounce everything correctly but can't help agreeing with some of the posters here. It is very difficult to get who or where he is talking about sometimes. I remember tuning into Eurosport mid race a while back. I'm a fan but not so knowledgable as to always know exactly which race is on every weekend and while trying to work it out I kept hearing Mr Hatch going on all the time about what sounded like Cornwall.........I didn't know where the race was but I knew it absolutely wasn't in the west country of England . Maybe the mountains and the large lake should have given it away sooner but it later dawned on me that this highly accented word was actually Como and the race was the the Tour of Lombardy.
So in my opinion it's not just the the way he says things, it's more the very, very heavy accents that he applies. The way he says "David Gaudu" can really start to annoy after a long break away that contains the talented french rider. GorDUUUU , GorDUUUU, GorDUUUUUUUUUUU...... Please!!!

However, what really strikes me as quite strange is that Rob himself would naturally speak with a strong Yorkshire dialect. One that he has decided is not for the ears of the general public when it comes to commentating. So he puts on a different way of speaking for us. I think that is a bit odd especially when you consider that he is often co-commentating with Sean Kelly. Sean has a strong Irish accent which I love and despite the strength is perfectly easy to understand. What is even stranger is that on the odd occasion Rob is a guest on the studio sofa or included in a podcast for example he reverts to his normal Yorkshire accent. Why does he feel it necessary to commentate in his best BBC ( Eurosport) English but deem that not appropriate for the sofa? Weird!....... Schizophrenic some might say.

Who cares? At least he can recognise the riders.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Maybe he's conscious that he's speaking to a multinational audience not all off whom are native English speakers. Makes British Europort and GCN seems a bit more global in its outlook.
And Accrington is in Lancashire.

 

[Casper Arsecream]

Oh dear. Sorry about that but whether it's a Yorkshire or a Lancashire accent I would rather hear that than his queen's English. Actually I wish Eurosport would promote Matt Stevens to be a principal commentator. He's always great and often quite amusing especially when paired with the like of Bradley Wiggins.
Can't stand that grating, growling that Hatch starts doing every time something mildly exciting happens and the same old "oy,oy,oy,oy oy" whenever there's a crash. Not to mention the "just look and what it means to him" that he constantly rolls out at the end of pretty much every stage or race.
Anyway. I've said my bit.
Buenos noches ( with huge, over the top spanish accent)

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Oh dear. Sorry about that but whether it's a Yorkshire or a Lancashire accent I would rather hear that than his queen's English. Actually I wish Eurosport would promote Matt Stevens to be a principal commentator. He's always great and often quite amusing especially when paired with the like of Bradley Wiggins.
Can't stand that grating, growling that Hatch starts doing every time something mildly exciting happens and the same old "oy,oy,oy,oy oy" whenever there's a crash. Not to mention the "just look and what it means to him" that he constantly rolls out at the end of pretty much every stage or race.
Anyway. I've said my bit.
Buenos noches ( with huge, over the top spanish accent)

I like Hatch but do agree on Matt Stephens.. a real enthusiasm shines through his voice.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Mistaking Lancashire & Yorkshire is pretty serious business in some parts....... Wars of the Roses......

 

[gunara]

Why let a troll thread up this long? We can talk about pronounciation, commentators, even the very Rob Hatch in many other - better - places. This one only lead to some Anglophones vs rest of the world stuff that's not actually too difficult to find elsewhere in this forum either.

 

[zigzag wanderer]

However, what really strikes me as quite strange is that Rob himself would naturally speak with a strong Yorkshire dialect.

Careful - as we say in Lancashire: "You can always tell a Yorkshireman - you just can't tell him much".

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Speaking of pronunciations, Declan Quigley during Tour of Norway referred to Julian Bernard by last name only in a super-Anglicized slight stress on first syllable and a hard "d." It took me a minute to figure out who he was talking about and would have no idea if I didn't already know the rider is in the race.
Give me Hatch's over-pronunciations every time. At least, I can understand who he's referring to. OTOH the exaggerated "ohdearohdeardear"s and daily "ride of the century" are another story.

 

[RedheadDane]

Give me Hatch's over-pronunciations every time. At least, I can understand who he's referring to. OTOH the exaggerated "ohdearohdeardear"s and daily "ride of the century" are another story.

Apparently that was the OP's issue; not understanding who Hatch was talking about because he (Hatch) pronounces names correctly.

 

[Oggmeista]

Don't know if this is really the thread to post this, but this has really been, as the Americans would say "grinding my gears" Who is the English Cycling pundit commentator who seems to go out of his way to intentionally not use the correct reference for names , there's other examples but i am referring specifically to the Grand tours , and they always refer to "LA Vuelta De Espana" or "LA Vuelta" as the "Tour of Spain" why is this? why do the purposely use the incorrect context?, even on the commentary voiceover for cyannide's video games i'm Galician Spanish and to be honest i find this attitude arrogant and ignorant just as much as i despise Americans or anyone referring to the game of "football" ironically an English term btw, with any other term, i always point to do they mind me using the expression "handegg", and the lack of response imho is very telling

oh and just so everyone knows

Football one game ONE name period, and no that's not handegg
cheers

 

[bNator]

Don't know if this is really the thread to post this, but this has really been, as the Americans would say "grinding my gears" Who is the English Cycling pundit commentator who seems to go out of his way to intentionally not use the correct reference for names , there's other examples but i am referring specifically to the Grand tours , and they always refer to "LA Vuelta De Espana" or "LA Vuelta" as the "Tour of Spain" why is this? why do the purposely use the incorrect context?, even on the commentary voiceover for cyannide's video games i'm Galician Spanish and to be honest i find this attitude arrogant and ignorant just as much as i despise Americans or anyone referring to the game of "football" ironically an English term btw, with any other term, i always point to do they mind me using the expression "handegg", and the lack of response imho is very telling

oh and just so everyone knows

Football one game ONE name period, and no that's not handegg
cheers

What exactly is the problem here? Him saying Spanish name for an event instead of English or him saying Spanish name incorrectly?

If it’s the former - English speaking world uses Tour de France (almost always) and Giro d’Italia (frequently). What’s wrong with La Vuelta?

 

[RedheadDane]

What exactly is the problem here? Him saying Spanish name for an event instead of English or him saying Spanish name incorrectly?

If it’s the former - English speaking world uses Tour de France (almost always) and Giro d’Italia (frequently). What’s wrong with La Vuelta?

I think it's the other way around; the use of English names instead of Spanish names.