The "Commenting on Commentary" Thread (Please read Mod note in post #1)

tolosenc

MOD Note: Just a reminder that personal abuse (inc. name calling) of commentators/pundits/analysts/etc will not be tolerated. keep you criticism (and praise) civil please.


As suggested in the Munster-LI thread. (To keep the match thread about the match)

I'll start with whatever his name is who commentated on the Leinster-Racing game on Friday night, the NI guy. Says some of the strangest things, in fact I remember him referring to Shane Williams as the "Human Scalpel"...

durkadurka

That'll be mark robson. I have murder fantasies about him

jolley123

Same guy who said "that looked as easy as pulling the legs of a spider" when Shaggy scored against Scarlets.

At least Robson is some what enthusiastic. Frankie Sheehan is just dull and one-eyed.

Risteard

I think Sheehan's decent enough as long as Munster aren't involved.

jolley123

I don't care what anyone says. The worst commentator is the guy who does the highlight videos on RBSsixnations website.

Sheehan can't commentate fairly on Munster obviously, he's a Munsterman through and through! He played a lot of games with half the team ffs!

He's pretty decent normally.

I actually don't think he was anymore biased than most player-cum-commentators. Its just that he was completely and utterly glossing over the gaping holes in Munsters gameplan, teamsheet and abilities, and professing borderline insanity with comments like "Buckley did well in the Scrums" and "John Hayes still has a lot to give".

But I actually don't think that has anything to do with his abilities as a commentator, it simply reflects the opinions and culture that has simmered below the surface for the last few years at Munster, and is a terribly dangerous mindset.

Munster have a phenomenal history, lets be fair in that. But there's an incredible amount of nostalgia and disillusionment in the media, the coaching staff, the players and the fans with regards to the team of today.

Constantly we see players return from injury, suspension etc, and step back into "their Jersey" without so much as a whimper from the general fanbase. "He's been a Munster legend for 10 years, of course he starts", "sure the young lad couldn't be as good as him, you know he was a Lion in 2001?" etc.

There's this horrible feeling in my stomach that Munster are a team trying to drive forward by looking in the rearview mirror, and we're nearing the cataclysmic road accident if the management team can't lift their eyes to the road ahead.

One of the main problems is that this attitude isn't borne solely by the management team, but by the players, the media and the fans too. It's almost been a case of the team being completely stagnant for the last 5/6 years, but everyone being content in that! Its a bizarre scenario, but I think that more and more people are starting to see that this is true, and the pressure that has to come about to enforce a change is well on its way to being built.

My quote earlier was that Frankie Sheahan's attitude epitomises everything that's wrong about Munster at the moment, and I stick by it.

"John Hayes still has a lot to give"

canine

As a Munster supporter I thought Frankies commentry today was cringing ,at one stage he suggested that a referee should award a try if its a 50/50 call ,he constantly bigged up Munster when in reality we were lucky to win and only did so in the last 10 minutes when LI were down to 14 men,I agree with the previous poster who said he,s an ok commenter when Munster are,nt involved

durkadurka

He went further that that, we was suggesting that if it was anyway likely it should be awarded.
Later suggested TOL as possible motm, despite munster performance being 'indifferent' at times. Ffs.

TOL was poor by any measure today.

RuggieBear

thought sheehan was pretty poor today. obviously he is not going to criticise his mates so he should never have been allowed near this game. it was sycophantic in the extreme.

when he first started this analyst gig i thought he was absolutely diabolical and didn't think he had a future in it but he came on leaps and bounds and was very very good quite recently...excellent imo. today was a major backward step.

As for Robson...well you either get used to him or you try to ignore him otherwise he'll drive you batty. he also mentions Ulster in every commentary he does

AboveandBeyond

I don't mind a bit of bias with a commentator but to be honest with Frankie Sheehan its taking the piss. When it comes to Munster he literally can't even summon a shred of objectivity. The thing I hate most about him is that its obvious that he doesn't care about Ireland winning or losing and only cares about whether players from his province are picked. Its as clear as day that his awarding of the MOTM award to Wallace was in response to the pressure on Wallace's place in the Irish team by Sean O'Brien. The other day on the radio he said that that Hayes and Buckley should both be ahead of Ross. Frankie Sheehan is almost embarassing I'd say english viewers were in stitches after he awarded the MOTM not to Mapusa but to Wallace. I really don't know how he got a job in Sky.

I actually like Mark Robson. Hes enthuastic and funny and although his descriptions of what is happening are sometimes stupid other times they are nothing short of genius! I would love to have a list of Robson quotes.

durkadurka

Hat to be positive for once I likel Hugh Cahill and dave McIntyre. And Liam toland.

sock puppet

RuggieBear wrote: »

thought sheehan was pretty poor today. obviously he is not going to criticise his mates so he should never have been allowed near this game. it was sycophantic in the extreme.

when he first started this analyst gig i thought he was absolutely diabolical and didn't think he had a future in it but he came on leaps and bounds and was very very good quite recently...excellent imo. today was a major backward step.

As for Robson...well you either get used to him or you try to ignore him otherwise he'll drive you batty. he also mentions Ulster in every commentary he does

I'd love to see him and Healy commentating during a Munster-Leicester match.

danthefan

Sheahan is actually not the worst - as long as he's kept away from Munster games. He's done a couple of Leinster games and he clearly is knowledgable about the game, but he's just so biased when it comes to Munster.

ambid

durkadurka wrote: »

That'll be mark robson. I have murder fantasies about him

lol

A brilliant demonstration of how to stop just short of the mod's warning!

Sky are fine as long as you don't take them seriously. For dull matches you can play games with your mates guessing which tired cliche they'll come up with next.

jacothelad

I know he is one of rugby's true gentlemen and a great servant of Ulster but I hate Tyrone Howe's drivel on Sky.

durkadurka

ambid wrote: »

lol

A brilliant demonstration of how to stop just short of the mod's warning!

Sky are fine as long as you don't take them seriously. For dull matches you can play games with your mates guessing which tired cliche they'll come up with next.

Yeah ruggie made no mention of either fantasies or murderous intent.

RuggieBear

i most definitely dont want to read about your fantasies here.... :eek

CoDy1

Frankie was ridiculous today, and people mentioned that his ideas and opinions are whats wrong with Munster rugby, but he is obviously ridiculously biased and is still wearing his rose tinted glasses.

Fortunately, myself and majority threw those glasses in the bin a long time ago and are not naive enough to think that there isn't a major problem with Munster rugby at the moment.

The way Frankie went on you'd swear we were on our way to HC no. 3 this year. Frankie does not represent how the rest of us feel.

EmacB

I think Mark Robsons great he always seems to get a bit of banter going with the other commentator :P

Also he doesnt sound as 'Sky' as some of the others

jacothelad

Robson is a total Ulster rugby nut. As someone said earlier he always gives them a mention. He can be awful but he can be funny and has a relaxed, almost 'tabloid' approach.

Ian_K

My contribution; Stuart Barnes is full of shít

pappyodaniel

George Hamilton, seems to think that being able to pronounce the names of Samoan rugby players is a substitute for having no knowledge of the game of rugby.

durkadurka

Does anyone remember hamiltons touchdown days?

P_1

Mark Robson: Entertaining to hear some of his wittier comments, Devon 'the obelisk' Toner is a prime example. I reckon a game of catchphrase bingo would make an interesting drinking game during one of the matches he commentates.

Ryle Nugent: How the bloody hell did he get his gig? Although it is entertaining to hear his take on certain foreign names.

Frankie Sheehan: Can actually be quite good in matches not involving Munster. Comes up with some interesting insights into front row play. 'That lineout was a bit lobbier than the last' as a humorous example.

Donal Lenihan: Perhaps slightly too pro Munster. Also has anybody noticed how he doesn't use the phrase 'tremenjush' anymore?

Brian Moore: Legend, enough said.

CoDy1

pithater1 wrote: »

Brian Moore: Legend, enough said.

Frankie Sheehan is very like Brian Moore.

They both know what they are talking about and have shed loads of pack experience but are cringeworthy when commenting on the own team. Moore can be ridiculous when commenting on England. He's still a lengend though.

danthefan

CoDy1 wrote: »

Frankie Sheehan is very like Brian Moore.

They both know what they are talking about and have shed loads of pack experience but are cringeworthy when commenting on the own team. Moore can be ridiculous when commenting on England. He's still a lengend though.

For example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQWT-B0EBw

CoDy1

danthefan wrote: »

For example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQWT-B0EBw

a prime example! full marks for enthusiasm though.

chupacabra

I for one love Robsons over the top antics in the commentators box he gets so excited and comes up with the best one liners. In general I don't watch rugby for the commentary so for the most part it doesnt bother me (aside from that one occasion during the U20 world cup 2 seasons ago when the English commentator overreacted to the irish fronting up to the Haka and said "They are not worthy", i just about threw my remote at the tv at that comment), anyway i think people make too much of bad commentary.

CoDy1

Yeah, I remember that, commentator was disgusted, he went a bit ott in fairness. Here it is..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjKHFvyn4bY

Thing is, the backlash was they hockeyed is off the park!

corny

CoDy1 wrote: »

Yeah, I remember that, commentator was disgusted, he went a bit ott in fairness. Here it is..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjKHFvyn4bY

Thing is, the backlash was they hockeyed is off the park!

In fairness they were going to that anyway.

Brian Moore is always good for laugh. He does know his stuff though. Writes good stuff for one of the English papers.

Not really bothered by commentators but Sean Fitzpatrick irks me from time to time. I hate the way he pluralises surnames when talking about people. "Your McCaws, your Carters, your Smiths....." on and on.

GerM

Sheahan shouldn't be allowed commentate on Munster games for the simple reason that he is the agent for a couple of their players. This is the real reason he gave Wally MOTM yesterday. Wally was well off the pace and not close to the award but it was either him or TOL and Frankie couldn't bring himself to give it to TOL after his showing.
http://www.frontrow.ie/page.asp?id=40

The commentator from the U20 thing is Nigel Starmer Smith who has forgotten more about rugby than I'll ever know. However, he's a traditionalist who is completely stuck in the past. Bit of a stuffy, old boys club type, went to Oxford etc. jolly good, not in keeping with the game etc.

REDWEB

GerM wrote: »

Sheahan shouldn't be allowed commentate on Munster games for the simple reason that he is the agent for a couple of their players. This is the real reason he gave Wally MOTM yesterday. Wally was well off the pace and not close to the award but it was either him or TOL and Frankie couldn't bring himself to give it to TOL after his showing.
http://www.frontrow.ie/page.asp?id=40

Shocked to read this! Surely there must be a conflict of interest here? I am sure the bookies would also be interested in hearing this (I'm pretty sure they must have already researched this, though) what with the amount of money being laid on MOTM awards these days...

rockman15

Fred Coogly: THE WORST RUGBY COMMENTATOR IN THE WORLD.FACT. every year setanta wheel him out for schools games and the occassional highlights real. He is useless.

George Hamilton: knows nothing about rugby. Why RTE send him to cover games is beyond me.

jacothelad

pappyodaniel wrote: »

George Hamilton, seems to think that being able to pronounce the names of Samoan rugby players is a substitute for having no knowledge of the game of rugby.

Actually George attended Methodist College Belfast, Ulster's top academic and rugby school and played rugby for 7 years and was a pretty decent player. He was also a very, very good soccer player as it happens. He and I were in the same year. Perhaps because I knew him pretty well, I like his calm style of commentary. He does know his rugby. Being well educated and therefore capable of pronouncing players names may not be a pre-requisite for sporting commentary but it's a hell of a start.

Nothing gets my goat more than ex-players and commentators who haven't bothered their arses to learn how to say a foreign players name or even the name of a club. There is no side called klaneckli as Daire would have it. it's not difficult to learn how to pronounce it. T.V. companies employ people for that very service.

How many Irish and other rugby pundits called him 'Contepony'. How is it so fecking difficult to say a players name. Can't they read? Contepomi. It's a fecking M for God's sake. If you can't pronounce a european type player's name you shouldn't be on t.v. or radio. If Hamilton and Neilly learn how to pronounce South Sea Islander's names so should the rest.

Have you ever cringed more though when you listen to Jonathan Davies trying to use players names. Imanol Harinordoquy has him in awful trouble never mind Sailiosi Tagicakibau or Rupeni Caucaunibuca.

pithater1 wrote: »

Mark Robson: Entertaining to hear some of his wittier comments, Devon 'the obelisk' Toner is a prime example. I reckon a game of catchphrase bingo would make an interesting drinking game during one of the matches he commentates.

Ryle Nugent: How the bloody hell did he get his gig? Although it is entertaining to hear his take on certain foreign names.



Frankie Sheehan: Can actually be quite good in matches not involving Munster. Comes up with some interesting insights into front row play. 'That lineout was a bit lobbier than the last' as a humorous example.

Donal Lenihan: Perhaps slightly too pro Munster. Also has anybody noticed how he doesn't use the phrase 'tremenjush' anymore?

Brian Moore: Legend, enough said.

Nugent has to be one of the most awful commentators ever. He and Lenihan vie for the worlds worst commenary voice. They both sound remarkably like the priest in the Father Ted show in the women's lengerie department. The one with the most boring voice. Dreadful.

Lenihan and Sheahan are the most shockingly partial commentators when Munster are playing and shouldn't do it. Additionally, while Frankie is o.k. when talking about another team, Lenihan appears to know sod all squared about other teams and seems to use George Hook's senile dribblngs as research. If there is a cliche or incorrect supposition about another team he'll trot it out. Given Lenihan's history in the game there is no excuse for such laziness.

RuggieBear

Ian_K wrote: »

My contribution; Stuart Barnes is full of shít

I'd appreciate if we veered away from this sort of contribution tbh...it would be better if you tell us why you think he is, in your opinion, full of ****.

nice_guy80

rockman15 wrote: »

Fred Coogly: THE WORST RUGBY COMMENTATOR IN THE WORLD.FACT. every year setanta wheel him out for schools games and the occassional highlights real. He is useless.

George Hamilton: knows nothing about rugby. Why RTE send him to cover games is beyond me.

all George does... is sit in a recording studio in RTE and does the voice over - for most things

FrontRow

REDWEB wrote: »

GerM wrote: »

Sheahan shouldn't be allowed commentate on Munster games for the simple reason that he is the agent for a couple of their players. This is the real reason he gave Wally MOTM yesterday. Wally was well off the pace and not close to the award but it was either him or TOL and Frankie couldn't bring himself to give it to TOL after his showing.
http://www.frontrow.ie/page.asp?id=40

Shocked to read this! Surely there must be a conflict of interest here? I am sure the bookies would also be interested in hearing this (I'm pretty sure they must have already researched this, though) what with the amount of money being laid on MOTM awards these days...

I am pretty pissed off considering I bet Malpusa for MOTM and was robbed! Might give paddypower an email.

JustinDee

I don't mind the commentating bar one or two standouts I take an exception to. Its secondary to any game anyway.

And panels I generally just ignore as there are better things to get done than listening to the obvious.

JustinDee

nice_guy80 wrote: »

all George does... is sit in a recording studio in RTE and does the voice over - for most things

He just loves sport fullstop.
With the years behind him, he's more than knowledgable on any that he has the mike at.

tolosenc

FrontRow wrote: »

I am pretty pissed off considering I bet Malpusa for MOTM and was robbed! Might give paddypower an email.

Malpusa? I noticed a few people spelling it that way. Isn't it Mapusua?

wonton

CoDy1 wrote: »

Yeah, I remember that, commentator was disgusted, he went a bit ott in fairness. Here it is..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjKHFvyn4bY

Thing is, the backlash was they hockeyed is off the park!

as far as i remember were held them off pretty good until spence got a yellow card early in the second half, which led to them scoring a few points.

but i think they were flattered by the scoreboard and was the lowest points they scored against a team in the tournament if i remember correctly

jacothelad

I'd have done anything for a metaphoric sniper's rifle to take out that awful trumpeter yesterday. How crass and crap was that. For a start the guy must have been on speed, be missing a few fingers and tone deaf into the bargain.

funky penguin

Stephen Jones must be a troll. From the Sunday Times today:

"Kearney would be an obvious replacement for the beavering but unremarkable Isa Nacewa at full-back."

I'm beginning to wonder if he actually watches rugby at all. Maybe he just guesses.

SomeFool

Im a wee bit drink now so I night make no sense but whatever the fecker on sky/rte/beeb spouts won't change what happens on the pitch, shur ye know that, I'm just gald there's rugby on the telly!! For me I'd love if the ref radio was intergrated to the commentary so my ear wasn't pressed to the telly, trying to figure out if it was a try/yellow/offside/whatever Is it so hard for them to shut-up when th ref is talking!

Hype710

Miles Harrison of Sky drives me demented, and especially did during the Lions Tour. I don't actually mind Barnes though but Dewi Morris is a poor analyst, co-commentator and over-uses the term 'mate'.

Losty Dublin

Hype710 wrote: »

Miles Harrison of Sky drives me demented, and especially did during the Lions Tour. I don't actually mind Barnes though but Dewi Morris is a poor analyst, co-commentator and over-uses the term 'mate'.

Sky's commentators in most sports tend to be poor and stand offish and over reliant on their regional accent co commentator shouting pub cliches during the game.

That said, I find Jonathan Davies knowledge of the laws of rugby to be so far off the law book that I wonder if he knows he still isn't playing League.

JustinDee

Losty Dublin wrote: »

That said, I find Jonathan Davies knowledge of the laws of rugby to be so far off the law book that I wonder if he knows he still isn't playing League.

Nothing to do with RL.
More to do with the fact that he was barely still playing union when tries became five-pointers and lifting was legalised in lineouts.

Losty Dublin

JustinDee wrote: »

Nothing to do with RL.
More to do with the fact that he was barely still playing union when tries became five-pointers and lifting was legalised in lineouts.

Morning, Justin...

The alarming thing is that he was back in Union not long after the ink dried on the first pay cheques so he has had 16 years to learn how to add one to four, watch then men in the line out from the safety of the half back line and to remember that when you are in a tackle you let go of everything and you don't get six goes to get it right

Digifriendly

George Hook's comment on Stephen Ferris' performance against Aironi suggesting he didn't have a particularly good game was in my view way off the mark. Why does he seem to dislike Ulster?

trackguy

Digifriendly wrote: »

George Hook's comment on Stephen Ferris' performance against Aironi suggesting he didn't have a particularly good game was in my view way off the mark. Why does he seem to dislike Ulster?

He is only trying to justify his call that Ferris not be in the Ireland team.