Pool Announcers; What do you want?

dnschmidt said:
You've got to be kidding. If I ever hear another Cornbread Red story out of Danny D. I'm going to lose my mind.
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I've seen Danny D and Jeremy do a good job together which was shocking to me.

The worst match I've ever heard was Danny D and Billy Incardona. They argued the whole match.
 
Do you think that commentating would be better or worse if there were only one commentator?
 
hotelyorba said:
I like Freddie Agnir as a commentator. Nice calm voice, colorful use of words, knowledgeable insights, does not feel the need to keep talking when there is not much to say.
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Thank you. I appreciate that. Like everything in life, my style of commentary isn’t for everyone. But, I’m not trying to please everyone.

I personally think commentary isn’t for the majority of AZBilliards members. Those who found their way here are knowledge-thirsty lovers of the game who don’t need commentary. I’ve always targeted the newby or the average to below average player.

Nothing gives me greater pleasure about my style of commentary than when someone tells me their wife, son, father, neighbor (who don’t play at all) actually watched a match because of the commentary. On the other hand, plenty of people ask why I dont shut the f*ck up when commentating. That comes with the business, and I can understand their frustration.

Freddie <~~~ also hits the mute button
 
I would like more information about the gear, what cue they're using, what shaft, tip,weight. What's their jump cue?

Sometimes the commentators have no idea or even get it wrong even when it's public knowledge. About a year after the Revo shaft was introduced, I remember one commentateur asking the other what that black shaft was and they didn't know...

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk
 
DieselPete said:
I'm watching Table Two of the Matchroom World Pool Championships, streaming on YouTube, and generally enjoying it. I appreciate that they stream some content for free and the quality of play is obviously amazing. But I find that I do miss having announcers.

At the same time, I often find that I don't love what I get from pool announcers, that there is too much time spent predicting every single shot and then telling us what the player should have done, what the announcer would have done, why another route was better, and then the occasional comment about how great a shot actually was. (I can't stand being told that "the folks at home don't know how hard that was" when most of us know EXACTLY how hard something was).

Announcers often seem torn between teaching the game, like the viewers are beginners (Gasp! "He has to go THREE rails for position; here, here, and here, to get on this ball, here...") and over using the telestrator to show us every route, or assuming that the viewers know all of this and using technical terms that beginners wouldn't get ("He just has to stun this ball and he'll fall onto the carom for his next shot.").

So, the question: What is it that you want from your pool announcers? How is the job done properly in your opinions?

Should they speak to the veteran players or should they teach the game to the newbies, like instructional videos?
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JJ is the worst.
 
Without getting into specific individuals, I expect the commentator to be knowledgable about the game but more importantly, pay attention to what is happening on the table. Keep score. Don't make me count balls and have to guess why the posted score is incorrect.

I don't need a prediction and long winded explanation of what the 1p player should shoot next and where he should leave the cb only to have the player shoot a completely different shot followed immediately by, "I don't like that shot" or "I wouldn't have shot that shot." No kidding? The commentator may not even know what the player planned so the comment is immaterial.

I much prefer comments on what is actually happening on the table rather than what might have happened if the player had hit the commentator's shot.
 
prad said:
Not Phil yates, the guy is awful, knows nothing about the game and always try to state something obvious with trying to come up with some type of word play
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i completely agree. he's not funny, he's not very knowledgeable, he blasts players for missing shots and harps on about it for half an hour. when he commentates snooker it's actually just as bad.
 
336Robin said:
The worst is when the commentators have dueling opinions and then won't shut up for the shots.

That is when you turn them off. I would rather have one commentator vs. dueling commentators.
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I agree with the dueling commentators. It's annoying. I have found however that in certain games, like 1P it can give you insight. Get an old schooler who analyzes everything and plays super conservatively, and a younger fella. Their back and forth can sometimes lead you to see things you didn't consider. Some people are aggressive at 1P, others play by the book without many risks. It's a niche game though, most other games I mute them as soon as they start arguing and posturing.
 
skogstokig said:
i completely agree. he's not funny, he's not very knowledgeable, he blasts players for missing shots and harps on about it for half an hour. when he commentates snooker it's actually just as bad.
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Worst snooker commentator by far. Most pool commentators could learn a lot from the best in snooker. My partial list includes McManus, Foulds, Doherty, Hendry, Davis, and Parrott.
 
pt109 said:
I think JJ is the best
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But he is monotone.

He is a great announcer and if I were having a book written on the art, I'd want him to be a major
collaborator in designing an announcer program but has got a monotone thing going on. Not that
its a distraction but it is monotone.
 
Where modern pool broadcasts fall woefully short is production. Watch some of the the Accu-stats classics from the 90s and early 2000s. You felt like you were there watching from the best seat in the house, on every shot. The camera angles were great. The sound of every shot. You didn't just feel like a rail bird onlooker.

The commentating among Billy, Grady, Nick and Buddy were second to none. The dry quips that Grady would come up with on the fly would have me rolling. His vocabulary. The banter. I'm not sure that can ever be reproduced.

The entertainment value is gone. Pool is so much more than watching a bunch of robots knock balls around a table.
 
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To become better at announcing find a Dr. Dave in this field of work.
If your fortunate enough to get/have this opportunity, why Wouldn't you want to get in stroke for this?
Opportunity.....doesn't knock twice.
JJ is very fortunate to have this going for him, but.
 
Basically what I want is to keep current on the score, especially one pocket, I know it can be hard but it is also important.
I really don't care for matches that have a chat active, adds nothing to the match and can be quite distracting.
I like JJ's commentary, the snooker guy Matchroom uses in nothing but annoying.
 
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