TV Announcers

I don't mean for this to sound like it may to some but - is it just me or is it hard to listen to the commentating during the matches? I find it quite annoying at times, especially some points they try to make. Like todays match, that gal said the Germany players have to eventually come over here and play if they want to to compete.

How do you figure? They're defending World Cup Champions and and no one plays here.

I just have to shake my head. Anyone?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Shannon Nicole;; on May 10, 2009 at 6:40pm: I think today's commentators were two different people than the original commentators that have announced all the other WPS games on FSC, but I would like all the commentators to be more enthusiastic. I mean it's not that they're boring or anything, it's just I would like them to get into the game more.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by chevy on May 11, 2009 at 1:10am: I missed most of the game today. From what I did hear Jen was definitely not there, as for the other one I am not sure if that was him or not. I don't think it was because the guy didn't sound like Krusty the Clown when Sarah Walsh scored. In the limited time I did get to listen they sounded like they actually had a working knowledge of all the players and were able to make some points early on in the match. I do want to listen to the entire match to get a better idea about them. From the little that I did hear I thought the lady was better than Jen.

As for the statement about the German team, I didn't hear it, but making a blanket statement like that is usually not a good idea. Especially for a group of players who have been in the top 3 in the world consistantly for the past 6 years.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by StarCityFan on May 11, 2009 at 8:31am: Today's commentators were Dean Linke and Lori Walker. Dean used to be the play-by-play guy for the Carolina Courage home games and now does the Red Stars webcasts, and Lori Walker used to be the color commentator for the Washington Freedom home games. I thought both of them were better than the usual folks, though Lori did say a few strange things that people have taken issue with.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Milan on May 11, 2009 at 2:33pm: Lori Walker IMO is very knowledgeable. She is the Head Coach at Ohio State, and 3 time National Champion at University of North Carolina as a player.
The Germans are not playing here from what I understand because the German Federation wants them to stay in the country in preparation for the World Cup.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Katie on May 11, 2009 at 4:58pm: I liked Sunday's commentators better than the other two. I find that with Mark & Jen tend to pronounce names wrong often which can be somewhat annoying. The topics brought up during the game were also sorta random...but other than that I don't find a problem with them! :-); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Shannon Nicole;; on May 11, 2009 at 6:01pm: See there's this question I have.
All the commentators pronounce Cristiane's name differently than what I thought it was.
They all say Cristiane's name like the 'e' is a y? Is that correct, or is it just Cristiane?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Christian lfcredusa on May 11, 2009 at 6:26pm: I always heard it as Christy-on not Christy-on-ee

Shannon Nicole;; said:
See there's this question I have.
All the commentators pronounce Cristiane's name differently than what I thought it was.
They all say Cristiane's name like the 'e' is a y? Is that correct, or is it just Cristiane?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by StarCityFan on May 11, 2009 at 8:39pm: Peter Wilt, the president of the Red Stars, has said definitively that it's pronounced Kris-tee-ah-nee, despite how most of the commentators were pronouncing it during the Olympics.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ron Kessler on May 11, 2009 at 10:55pm: I think I'm in the minority, but I prefer Mark and Jen to Dean and Lori. While Mark and Jen aren't perfect (name any soccer commentators here who are even close), I've found them tolerable for the most part, despite obvious gaffes like 'De Vanna equalizes' and Daniella's injury being 'non-contact'.

I didn't really like Dean and Danielle during the Chicago-Boston webcast - it sounded too cheerleaderish/infomercialish. Yesterday didn't help - Dean and Lori went off on far too many tangents and Lori was especially annoying. If there were a WPS on FSC drinking game and you had to swig every time Lori started talking about Kai's 'personality', I would have been trashed by the final whistle. But her comments about WPS enabling Brazil to compete with the US took the cake - I think Brazil 'competed' with the US just fine in 2007.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by DC DC n MB on May 12, 2009 at 10:48am: Yeah, I get annoyed with the different WPS announcers after a while. Several basic mistakes about soccer and some grating voices make me head for the mute button. Granted, it's a tough job to make people want to listen to you talk for 2 hours straight, and there aren't many good announcers out there from the start. Bringing in some of the past and present soccer stars helps break up the monotony. Also, it's time to bring in JP Dellacamera to guest star and give a few pointers.

Does anyone like Fanzone? It's pretty funny and the fans know a lot about their team. I'd like the league to bring in some fans to help call some of the game.

John Madden RIP; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jon fuller on May 12, 2009 at 2:22pm: I thought they were better than the last two, more knowledgable however lori did make a few dumb comments, like saying the usa, brazil, and england would be ones to beat for the world cup, completely leaving out germany and sweden. leaving out germany is obviously insane, but sweden has beaten usa brazil and germany in the 3 months so to not see them as a contender would be pretty lousy. but other than the international comments, i liked them.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by chevy on May 12, 2009 at 3:19pm: jon fuller said:
I thought they were better than the last two, more knowledgable however lori did make a few dumb comments, like saying the usa, brazil, and england would be ones to beat for the world cup, completely leaving out germany and sweden. leaving out germany is obviously insane, but sweden has beaten usa brazil and germany in the 3 months so to not see them as a contender would be pretty lousy. but other than the international comments, i liked them.

I agree leaving out Germany and Sweden was a big mistake. Just because some of your players are in the WPS doesn't mean your national team is going to win the World Cup and everyone else has no chance. Lori went completely overboard in referencing that. Don't get me wrong I think that international squads will benefit from their players being here to improve their level of play, but that doesn't discount the rest of the national teams who don't have players in the league.

As for who was better Mark & Jen or Dean & Lori, I would have to give it to Dean & Lori overall. One thing that Jen doesn't do well is pickup on conversation points that Mark is making very well, which leaves too much dead air. Add their apparent lack of knowledge of the some of the lesser known players, leaves them sounding like they are looking for things to talk about and they end up repeating themselves. Now Dean & Lori have a much deeper knowledge of most of the players. I think that comes with being associated with the old league and Lori being involved in the college game. Other than the national team comments my only other criticism would be that they need to call the game better. They do a bit too much conversing and not enough calling of the action. If they could find the right balance between the two they could be very good.; ▶ Reply to This