I’m really trying to appreciate the World Cup from the US
Time zone challenges aside, I’m really appreciating the growth in the competition and the extent that the tournament has grown in popularity, viewership and more importantly recognition.
When I (for the first time) watched the Euro’s last year there was a perceived slower pace of Football and it took some getting used to compared to the pace of, for instance, the Premier League. But after watching a few games I’ve come to realize their game is developing at a high rate - and this World Cup’s excitement, quality of play, and upsets are evident that these players are catching up fast. They really are really putting on a show to be appreciated.
But, like I said in the title, I’m watching Footie from the US.
And, I wish I could say different, but the Fox commentary, in the simplest terms, sucks big time. Their breathless uneducated excitable play by play commentary (especially John Strong’s) detracts to the point that this is not an enjoyable experience at all.
My resolution is to watch the game on Telemundo (in Spanish) so I can appreciate the talent on display, and not suffer the distraction of terrible commentary, but still pick up on the vibe.
If American Soccer wants to evolve, then the TV commentary needs to toned down from overly excitable (and partial) to more informative and educational.
I’m so grateful that the Wall wasn’t built tall enough to not now allow Spanish commentary.
I was watching the Leagues Cup between FC Dallas and Inter Milan at random the other night (if I have any team, it’s Dallas, and Messi!) and I was COMPLETELY feeling what you just described. Like, tone it waaay down, Taylor Twellman. I just need flat commentary that helps me know the name of the player with the ball and a little explanation about offside rulings.
Americans main exposure to 'soccer commentary' is a Hispanic voice shouting for three minutes straight followed by a 'GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!' so, of course, presenters think that's what the audience wants. Okay, maybe not the presenter but probably their director. And when the director says "More energy!" And you're sitting in your chair wondering why you couldn't have been hired for a sport you actually know but a paycheck is a paycheck and if they (the director) wants energy, dammit, I'll do speed if I need to.
That’s my point exactly - there’s no need to create false excitement.
The game is what is, and will be judged by viewers accordingly.
Fake, excitable commentary is unnecessary and and a complete turnoff.
That’s why I go treasure hunting for games when Premier League games feature American commentators
Don’t get me starred on Twellman…
He simply just ruins it all.
You could watch the British commentary using a VPN. All the games are streamed on the BBC IPlayer and ITVX apps, as the TV broadcast rights are shared between BBC and ITV. We ahave, mostly, excellent commentary (BBC being much better than ITV for coverage, analysis and commentary). Bonus - some of out commentators are women who used to play, and some of the pundits are active managers in the WSL (the equivalent to the Premier league for women), so you get some excellent perspectives.
Agreed.
A blow by blow commentary is not needed.
Make it be casual (and borderline boring), so the game can be appreciated.
I see my ‘world cup’ tag has been removed to be replaced by “football.womens”.
I have a significant issue with that. They play the same game, on the same size pitch, with the same sized goal and the same sized ball. Hell, some of them are even playing in men’s shoes, causing debilitating injuries.
This is NOT a sport that needs to be designated as being “football.women”.
The quality, the competition and the drive is there.
“World Cup” deserves to be enough of a tag, and should be.
Counterpoint: men’s football and women’s football are not the same. The tag is accurate and allows those who might only be interested in one or the other to filter appropriately. I don’t see it as a negative thing.
I do think world cup should stay ofc but women’s world cup is more accurate and still includes it.
I see the tag
womens world cup.2023. Seems appropriate enough, no?But they still have separate competitions and separate tournaments. It is useful to be able to differentiate the two in some way. Nowadays I have to double check every time I see something like "World Cup" somewhere in the news or the TV guide, that is pretty annoying.
But this goes both ways. I think the other cup should be tagged as "football.mens".
I’m looking at the topic log and I’m not seeing football.women getting added at any point, which means it’s a tag that you put in when you created the post?
I've been calling this "The World Cup" all summer too. Credit for that. It's exhausting to have the sport looked down on. And unless we have a MWC and WWC we're having 2 World Cups.