Paul Portier should NOT be in the booth!

9andout

9andout

Gunnin' for a 3 pack!!
Silver Member
Cory and Jason were a little off in their match.

Paul Portier is NAUSEATING!!!! Waaaaaaay to much talking / explaining.

"Now this is the type of rack that lends itself to the fast play of Shaw, wait now there he should of slowed up a bit"
"Corey should do this Shaw should do that bla bla bla bla"
Someone really thought THEY (Paul) should still be in the tournament.
Well YOU ARE NOT get over it.
Now go show everyone else how to break. You know the guys STILL IN THE tournament!
I just heard about 100 times how you are the best breaker to ever play! :angry:

Hint: we don't need your prediction of EVERY shot! Which many times was contrary to what they did. We also don't need to know how YOU would have played it and what THEY ( the guys still playing) did "wrong" according to you.
50% less of everything you said would've been just fine!

Mark and Wych were fine in the Earl vs. SVB match. See I don't hate them all.
 
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I was wondering how long it would take before this thread got underway. It was very nauseating!
 
It was awful, you could not get 1 minute of silence from the whole match. I would have rather been in a dentists chair.
 
Paul had completed 3 sentences and I knew he was"hawking" lessons.
I didnt see first 3 racks. So maybe it was ok in the start?
 
9andout said:
... Hint: we don't need your prediction of EVERY shot! Which many times was contrary to what they did. We also don't need to know how YOU would have played it and what THEY ( the guys still playing) did "wrong" according to you.
50% less of everything you said would've been just fine...
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Sounds like Allen Hopkins...

"Ok, he's going to play the 4 ball up in the corner with high left and come around two rails for the 5."

(Player makes shot, cueball starts drawing back).

"That's a bad choice, Mitch, I don't understand why he did that"

(Player gets shape on next ball)

"That was a good shot. that worked out for him."

??????????
 
Go easy on the guy...
Before he came along, people were just trying to push balls into holes with sticks. He practically invented position play, or at least that's what he tried to convince me of during that one really expensive lesson I had with him.

**I think he's actually a pretty good instructor, by the way, but just not my cup of tea.**
 
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Agreed. Paul was ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. His predictions and analysis are nearly as bad as those of Geoff Conway, but Geoff has the right voice for commentary and has a decent feel for today's pool scene off the table. Paul, in contrast, combines empty and verbose analysis with a lack of command of today's pool scene both on and off the table.

Seems I owe Geoff an apology for calling him the worst commentator. Sorry Geoff.

On the subject of commentary, with the obvious exception of the superb and encyclopedic Jimmy Wych, it seems not a single commentator has a solid command of the international pool scene as far as competition is concerned. Commentators should be furnished with information about how the foreign players have fared overseas in the biggest events in recent years.

Similarly, if a commentator doesn't know a subject, they should remain silent about it. During the truly entertaining Albin Ouschan vs Mike Dechaine match, Brandon Shuff's assertion that Albin's brother Jasmin is the best woman player in the world right now was comical. In fact, it would be hard to argue that Jasmin, whose competitive resume is extremely impresssive but who hasn't fared well in recent years in the big WPA events, is among the ten best. The ladies dominating women's pool right now are Han Yu, Ga Young Kim, Kelly Fisher, Rubilen Amit, Sha Sha Liu, Allison Fisher, Xiaoting Pan and Siming Chen. Jasmin, who hasn't missed a WPA event this year, carries a WPA ranking of #19.
 
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alphadog said:
Paul had completed 3 sentences and I knew he was"hawking" lessons.
I didnt see first 3 racks. So maybe it was ok in the start?
Click to expand...

This was the first conversation they had.

Bill: Are we on? Ok, I think we're on. Ok, Paul. Who do you like in this match?

Paul: I thought that would be something you ask when they start playing, but you can ask me again.


Not verbatim, but something like that.
 
I think AZers should rate all the commentators of the Open.
I didn't care for Paul. Sounded like he knew it all in racking besides comments above.
Shuff was Ok but seemed like he was in love with Duchene and trying to make a big impression on Mark on how much he has improved. But much better than Geof. This guy knows nothing about pool. (At least I think it was Geof. Had UK accent and sounded like his mouth was full of snuff and would call position shots that were absurd. Used the term uptown alot)

The worst was just before the match when the matches were being announced and Paul was blabbing on.
 
9andout said:
Cory and Jason were a little off in their match.

Paul Portier is NAUSEATING!!!! Waaaaaaay to much talking / explaining.

"Now this is the type of rack that lends itself to the fast play of Shaw, wait now there he should of slowed up a bit"
"Corey should do this Shaw should do that bla bla bla bla"
Someone really thought THEY (Paul) should still be in the tournament.
Well YOU ARE NOT get over it.
Now go show everyone else how to break. You know the guys STILL IN THE tournament!
I just heard about 100 times how you are the best breaker to ever play! :angry:

Hint: we don't need your prediction of EVERY shot! Which many times was contrary to what they did. We also don't need to know how YOU would have played it and what THEY ( the guys still playing) did "wrong" according to you.
50% less of everything you said would've been just fine!

Mark and Wych were fine in the Earl vs. SVB match. See I don't hate them all.
Click to expand...

I seriously find Paul Portier extremely intelligent, knows the game well, i agree, he should quite a bit, and learn about the recent history of the players before the match.
 
sjm said:
Similarly, if a commentator doesn't know a subject, they should remain silent about it.
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I agree, but would take it one step further: if a commentator DOES know a subject, they should remain silent about it unless they have something to say worthwhile to the viewer's experience.

There is way, way too much talking going on in pool commentary. Too much describing exactly what position players should play (especially on simple shots; "just draw back two inches and he's perfect"), too much recounting of senseless stories, just too much talking full stop.

Watch snooker commentary, and learn from it. Silence allows tension to build, it allows a player's flow and skill to be appreciated, and it makes the things you do say so much more meaningful.
 
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Nobody is perfect in the booth.

I do have to agree I found myself wanting him to stop talking about 5 minutes into the match.

He did have some good points but it got lost in all the other non stop chatter.

Maybe he will get a second chance and adjust his commentary some.
 
9andout said:
He also knew ZERO about Jason Shaw by his own admission.
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That quote was interesting since he is a pool instructor, and the finals of turning stone was streamed for free where Shaw dissected mika in a race to 13 a month ago, yet he never seen him play before. Must not be that great a fan of the sport?
 
SakuJack said:
I agree, but would take it one step further: if a commentator DOES know a subject, they should remain silent about it unless they have something to say worthwhile to the viewer's experience.

There is way, way too much talking going on in pool commentary. Too much describing exactly what position players should play (especially on simple shots; "just draw back two inches and he's perfect"), too much recounting of senseless stories, just too much talking full stop.

Watch snooker commentary, and learn from it. Silence allows tension to build, it allows a player's flow and skill to be appreciated, and it makes the things you do so so much more meaningful.
Click to expand...

A lot of commentators try to predict the next shot on every shot, which can get tedious and only happens in pool. Imagine if gruden tried to predict every play for the next down of a football game, or marv Albert tried to predict every motion offense or zone in basketball. Our guys have to learn from the pros.

Wilson and Schmidt are great at containing themselves but still including friendly banter
 
Some are good at commentating, others are NOT. I worked years ago with Ed Fugate doing a show with Tony Annagoni, all Ed could say once Tony started talking. This guys got....


DIAREEHA OF THE MOUTH....Ed had been a producer his whole life, and he nailed it with that expression.:thumbup: Tony was good, but NEVER shut up and ruined the production, Tony had zero give and take with his dialogue. It was all ME me me.
 
SakuJack said:
I agree, but would take it one step further: if a commentator DOES know a subject, they should remain silent about it unless they have something to say worthwhile to the viewer's experience.

There is way, way too much talking going on in pool commentary. Too much describing exactly what position players should play (especially on simple shots; "just draw back two inches and he's perfect"), too much recounting of senseless stories, just too much talking full stop.

Watch snooker commentary, and learn from it. Silence allows tension to build, it allows a player's flow and skill to be appreciated, and it makes the things you do so so much more meaningful.
Click to expand...

Very well said.
 
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