Soccer thread 08/09 (will have spoilers!)

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 3:36 pm

So your not too keen then, Rob....I'm just getting a slight sense of that

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 3:49 pm

davet010 wrote:So your not too keen then, Rob....I'm just getting a slight sense of that

It was just a timely discussion, as I was enduring CBS's college hoops pre-game, which is guilty of almost all of those same sins.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:02 pm

But the key is, having more games shown to a wider audience than it is currently.

Regardless of the objectionable presentation.

People have been complaining about announcers and other aspects of TV broadcasts (of all sports) for decades, nostalgically reminiscing about radio broadcasters from the '50s-'60s and older eras.

Having games, even with poor announcing, is better than having no games.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:16 pm

Oh my god can you imagine the next Liverpool man u match up with J.P. Delacambra or what ever his name is. Shivers.

Id rather pay and have the premiership commentators than get it on regular cable free and have yanks blabbering over the top of it about how long ago those bricks were laid at Old Trafford.

Im with Rob, just cant put on paper as well

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:46 pm

wco81 wrote:But the key is, having more games shown to a wider audience than it is currently.

Regardless of the objectionable presentation.

People have been complaining about announcers and other aspects of TV broadcasts (of all sports) for decades, nostalgically reminiscing about radio broadcasters from the '50s-'60s and older eras.

Having games, even with poor announcing, is better than having no games.

From the perspective of the league, its owners, broadcast partners, advertisers etc., sure. But that doesn't do anything for me personally.

You confuse me for one of these fans that feels that what's good for the league is good for me, or who needs to convert others to the greatness of the sports that I follow.

I don't give a damn if the EPL remains no bigger in the US than it is now. I'd rather enjoy the product that I have rather than have a less desirable product enjoyed by more Americans.

Nobody is paying me to be anything but short-sighted in this. LOL

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:12 pm

fsquid wrote: I do not want ESPN to ruin soccer like they have every other sport.

AMEN!!!!

Give ESPN an inch and you will have a f***in 35 yard line before you know it.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:20 pm

RobVarak wrote:
Nobody is paying me to be anything but short-sighted in this. LOL

The only way a fan can be...selfish. Afterall it is the way they all are.

miget33 · Post by **miget33** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:42 pm

Unless the premier league hires JP I wouldn't expect to hear him if ESPN were to win this.
My understanding of this deal is that ESPN would not get to produce anything, other than pre/post/and halftime programming, there are just paying to show the UK feed much like FSC does.

plus having the games in HD, and not hearing that damn dial tone every hour outweighs any negatives.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:53 pm

You could download torrents then, while most Americans watch it on ESPN.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 7:04 pm

So what gets live coverage when there is a conflict , Spelling B or Man U v Chelsea.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 7:17 pm

I agree wholeheartedly with Rob.

When I started following the EPL around 1999, I was stunned the first time I heard the brilliant Martin Tyler call a match. There were seconds of silence, dead air, and I thought, "What the f*ck is going on?"

After one half, I thought, "Hell, this is the way it should be with ALL sports!"

Plus the lack of sideline reporters is another clue the NFL could learn in its broadcasts. They're utterly useless other than eye candy.

Sideline bimbo or ex-jock: "Coach, you're down by 24 at half. What are you planning for the second half?"

Just fire a 12-gauge between my eyes, please.

Take care,
PK

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 7:22 pm

Jimmydeicide wrote:So what gets live coverage when there is a conflict , Spelling B or Man U v Chelsea.

Man U v Chelsea would most likely be a 11am Sunday game so Sports REporters would preempt the first half

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 7:49 pm

I think ESPN would re-brand the lost-in-the-woods ESPN Classic to something like ESPN World or ESPN Soccer if they were to land the rights. Most games would appear on that instead of ESPN 1 or 2. I know there were rumors of an ESPN Classic/NFL Network "merger" last year. Classic is an awful network with no audience; I'm sure the suits at ABC/ESPN are searching for alternatives.

I'd prefer to continue paying for the premium sports package for FSC rather than another ESPN network, but either way I'll pony up the extra cash to get my EPL fix on the weekends.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:22 pm

The EPL is my Heroin. The missus wants me to drop Setanta to save some cash right now and ive toyed with dropping FSC as i have to buy the top TV package to have it but the thought of not having 12 games on a weekend to watch makes me itchy and sort of cold sweaty.

"Im sorry love we may lose the house but i need my footy "

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:52 pm

ESPN Classic cannot be changed right now due to some carrier agreements.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 4:44 am

pk500 wrote:I agree wholeheartedly with Rob.

When I started following the EPL around 1999, I was stunned the first time I heard the brilliant Martin Tyler call a match. There were seconds of silence, dead air, and I thought, "What the f*ck is going on?"

PK

The brilliant Martin Tyler ?? You'll be applauding Andy Grey next.

If I'm honest, I get more enjoyment watching old 1970's Match of the Days on ESPN Classic than any current commentary. Sky ruin their presentations by having moronic pundits (mmm....Jamie Redknapp on yesterday....when his crooked father manages one of the teams....plenty of journalistic objectivity there), fawning appreciation of the 'Big 4' and ever ramped hyperbole, where every game is a clash of the titans.

It isn't. Get over it.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:24 am

davet010 wrote:
pk500 wrote:I agree wholeheartedly with Rob.

When I started following the EPL around 1999, I was stunned the first time I heard the brilliant Martin Tyler call a match. There were seconds of silence, dead air, and I thought, "What the f*ck is going on?"

PK
The brilliant Martin Tyler ?? You'll be applauding Andy Grey next.

If I'm honest, I get more enjoyment watching old 1970's Match of the Days on ESPN Classic than any current commentary. Sky ruin their presentations by having moronic pundits (mmm....Jamie Redknapp on yesterday....when his crooked father manages one of the teams....plenty of journalistic objectivity there), fawning appreciation of the 'Big 4' and ever ramped hyperbole, where every game is a clash of the titans.

It isn't. Get over it.

I'm with PK on this one. I love Tyler. And we went 'round and 'round on this at Euro time, but Andy Grey is terrific as well.

It would seem that you're not getting enough American football commentary over there.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 2:13 pm

It's sad Dr. Z at SI is too sick to write his annual review of NFL commentators this year. he used to really stick the boot in to the bad ones, i.e. most of them.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 2:40 pm

OOO, news just in...

"Come in Big Phil, your time is up.."

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 2:43 pm

RobVarak wrote:
davet010 wrote:
pk500 wrote:I agree wholeheartedly with Rob.

When I started following the EPL around 1999, I was stunned the first time I heard the brilliant Martin Tyler call a match. There were seconds of silence, dead air, and I thought, "What the f*ck is going on?"

PK
The brilliant Martin Tyler ?? You'll be applauding Andy Grey next.

If I'm honest, I get more enjoyment watching old 1970's Match of the Days on ESPN Classic than any current commentary. Sky ruin their presentations by having moronic pundits (mmm....Jamie Redknapp on yesterday....when his crooked father manages one of the teams....plenty of journalistic objectivity there), fawning appreciation of the 'Big 4' and ever ramped hyperbole, where every game is a clash of the titans.

It isn't. Get over it.
I'm with PK on this one. I love Tyler. And we went 'round and 'round on this at Euro time, but Andy Grey is terrific as well.

It would seem that you're not getting enough American football commentary over there.

We do, but i turn the sound down. I actually prefer the good old days there as well, back when the UK got one 1 hour highlight show the week after the games took place, rather than the live triple header we get now. I ended up listening to games on US Armed Forces Network, which could be tricky to tune in and dissolved into static at the most awkward times.

Blimey, I'm turning into my dad

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:16 pm

The only thing I care about regarding US television and the EPL is the ability to get as many matches as possible each week. Right now with FSC and Setanta I can get quite a few EPL matches a week, even if some are delayed. There are very few Newcastle matches that are not on one of the two channels, for example, and I can watch those over the internet in most cases. My main fear with ESPN getting the rights is that they will only broadcast the big four. The current duo of FSC and Setanta works well for my needs, other than my wish that the Championship would get more love, especially if the Magpies get relegated

. Thankfully their odds of relegation went down somewhat this past weekend. With Oba being back for sure against Everton who knows what may happen.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:52 pm

I think it's a mistake that they got rid of Scolari so soon. Avram to return?

Bah, they win again but Giggs' goal over the weekend was a beauty.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:57 pm

Brazil looked sharp vs Italy. Check Robinho's goal.

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:33 am

10spro wrote:I think it's a mistake that they got rid of Scolari so soon. Avram to return?

Bah, they win again but Giggs' goal over the weekend was a beauty.

Sacking Scolari is a mistake at this point. I haven't been watching a ton of Chelsea matches this season but can they really put all the blame on him for Chelsea sitting in fourth place??? And what about Guus Hiddink as a replacement? How is he that much better suited than Scolari? Of course now Chelsea is going to win the title and Hiddink will go down in history as the greatest manager a London club has ever seen.

Gigg's goal was vintage. Those two dekes were beautiful to watch and the finish was sublime.

Couple random thoughts from the Week 24 (25?) highlight show...

How great is Ireland on Man City! Seems like just about every highlight I see with that guy he's threading a pass between 4 defenders and making all kinds of chances for city to score. Great mix vision and skill.

Jo's chesting of that ball in the box combined with that calm, clean finish was awesome. The spot kick was a bit weak but still it went in so no complaints

What a great pickup for Everton.

-------

Photo of the week - from ESPN soccernet - the caption is classic

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:00 pm

USA-Mexico tonight from Columbus!! Will some new Mexican blood be able to break the long run of futility for the Mexicans on US soil? Or will the US take their third consecutive 2-0 victory at Columbus for a qualifier?

Forecast is for low 40s, windy with a good chance of rain.