TV Coverage for the Final
Thoughts on US TV coverage for the final:
We have our shortcomings, but damn we are good at the montage. (Also, U2 goes perfectly with soccer - should be the official music of the sport.)
The whole Jesse Owens/1936 Olympics was mentioned way too often. If the USA (or maybe Germany) were playing in the finals, perhaps it might be relevant, but not really given a France/Italy final.
They finally waited until halftime and post-game to show the fans in Rome and Paris shots after goals and PKs. Bravo.
Julie Foudy was not good. Some gems:
- "That's the the danger of Zidane. He's always dangerous."
- Wondering why the refs were getting medals after the match - "Never seen that." I'm pretty sure they always receive medals at the end of the World Cup (and Euros and Champions League).
Throughout a half hour pre-game on ESPN and another on ABC, no mention of the line-ups until just before kick-off. Then, at the end of ET, no mention of who might take PKs (France was missing Zidane, Henry and Veira at that point.) Trezeguet had touched the ball about twice in 3 weeks before his PK and Wiltord hadn't looked good either.
The Jim McKay piece at halftime - when they opened with him in his study, I thought it was someone re-enacting Benjamin Franklin (and how he would look today at age 300).
I give Marcello Balboa some credit for doing a decent job:
- picked up on Makalele shutting down Totti (who was invisible again).
- credited the refs for doing a great job over the two semis and the final.
I think they were wiping down Brent Musburger during each commerical break, as he was sweating to the oldies throughout the pre-game. His upper lip looked like a Wet n' Wild.
Also, pre-game Brent mentioned Julie and Eric experienced what these players are going through preparing for the final. Eric experienced the World Cup, but not a final. Julie played in the Women's final, and while that is a big accomplishment, it is really not comparable to the men's final. The Men's final is watched by a billion people - everything little they do during the match will be remembered for years to come - it becomes a part of history. I think all that most people remember about the US women winning was Brandi Chastain stripping down to a jog bra.
We have our shortcomings, but damn we are good at the montage. (Also, U2 goes perfectly with soccer - should be the official music of the sport.)
The whole Jesse Owens/1936 Olympics was mentioned way too often. If the USA (or maybe Germany) were playing in the finals, perhaps it might be relevant, but not really given a France/Italy final.
They finally waited until halftime and post-game to show the fans in Rome and Paris shots after goals and PKs. Bravo.
Julie Foudy was not good. Some gems:
- "That's the the danger of Zidane. He's always dangerous."
- Wondering why the refs were getting medals after the match - "Never seen that." I'm pretty sure they always receive medals at the end of the World Cup (and Euros and Champions League).
Throughout a half hour pre-game on ESPN and another on ABC, no mention of the line-ups until just before kick-off. Then, at the end of ET, no mention of who might take PKs (France was missing Zidane, Henry and Veira at that point.) Trezeguet had touched the ball about twice in 3 weeks before his PK and Wiltord hadn't looked good either.
The Jim McKay piece at halftime - when they opened with him in his study, I thought it was someone re-enacting Benjamin Franklin (and how he would look today at age 300).
I give Marcello Balboa some credit for doing a decent job:
- picked up on Makalele shutting down Totti (who was invisible again).
- credited the refs for doing a great job over the two semis and the final.
I think they were wiping down Brent Musburger during each commerical break, as he was sweating to the oldies throughout the pre-game. His upper lip looked like a Wet n' Wild.
Also, pre-game Brent mentioned Julie and Eric experienced what these players are going through preparing for the final. Eric experienced the World Cup, but not a final. Julie played in the Women's final, and while that is a big accomplishment, it is really not comparable to the men's final. The Men's final is watched by a billion people - everything little they do during the match will be remembered for years to come - it becomes a part of history. I think all that most people remember about the US women winning was Brandi Chastain stripping down to a jog bra.
posted by the idiot at 8:55 AM
2 Comments:
Great points. My jaw hit the floor when Brent said Eric and Julie knew what these players were experiencing...and all the Jesse Owens crap was ridiculous. A couple mentions would have been fine.
Your summary of the US coverage of the final shows exactly why it is so hard to watch sometimes. Basic things like line-up speculation are totally overlooked. And then they go to commercial and we don't get both complete anthems. Pooooooooooor.
Thx and I agree about the anthems - we were at away at commercial only minutes after both Eric and Julie had said that the anthem is the best part of the experience.
Our TV coverage has a long way to go, but if we keep griping (fairly and intelligently)about it, we might see some change.
Speaking of bad commentators - I haven't even gotten into the Shep Messing issue. Jeez.
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