Enjoyed my times in the booth with Mark. Consider him to be a real pro!
Best and worst commentator??
- Thread starter deano1772
- Start date
I’ve had the good fortune to sit in the booth with many of the guys mentioned here. More time with Jimmy Wych and Jerry Forsyth than any of the others. Time well spent imo.
Among the modern era guys I most enjoy JJ for his overall knowledge and clear & articulate voice. Only did a couple of matches with him, but thought our own cornerman was right there too. No endless chatter, he sticks to the match and does not bore you with long speeches.
I do not enjoy listening to guys who try too hard to explain everything in great detail when it really isn’t necessary, or the guys who want to talk about themselves all the time. I want to shout at them, “This match is not about you!”
I have taken certain liberties when doing streaming matches, I know that. But only when prompted to by online chats. Did that quite a bit with my buddy Bobby “Cotton” Leblanc and it was fun to reminisce about the old days meeting up on the road somewhere.
Among the modern era guys I most enjoy JJ for his overall knowledge and clear & articulate voice. Only did a couple of matches with him, but thought our own cornerman was right there too. No endless chatter, he sticks to the match and does not bore you with long speeches.
I do not enjoy listening to guys who try too hard to explain everything in great detail when it really isn’t necessary, or the guys who want to talk about themselves all the time. I want to shout at them, “This match is not about you!”
I have taken certain liberties when doing streaming matches, I know that. But only when prompted to by online chats. Did that quite a bit with my buddy Bobby “Cotton” Leblanc and it was fun to reminisce about the old days meeting up on the road somewhere.
I really appreciate this, Jay. Especially coming from someone like you with all your decades of being in the sport in every aspect. If I were retired, I’d definitely be doing more commentary.
Worst
George Teyechea seems like a very nice guy but his commentary is absolutely horrible. It's as if he's not watching the match still thinking about breakfast or something. I hate how he tries to pronounce foreign players' names with a lame accent instead of finding out how to pronounce it properly or at the least in his native language (ENGLISH).
Best
Mark White. He's hilarious and does some due diligence in finding out about the players and how to pronounce their names properly at least.
Or just about any touring player that joins the booth. They're usually very insightful.
George Teyechea seems like a very nice guy but his commentary is absolutely horrible. It's as if he's not watching the match still thinking about breakfast or something. I hate how he tries to pronounce foreign players' names with a lame accent instead of finding out how to pronounce it properly or at the least in his native language (ENGLISH).
Best
Mark White. He's hilarious and does some due diligence in finding out about the players and how to pronounce their names properly at least.
Or just about any touring player that joins the booth. They're usually very insightful.
Yea agreed, Colin is a bit of a priss and snowflake. Someone criticized his commentary and he immediately banned them because "that's not nice, we're just trying to have fun here." He then joined in the slew of comments in the chat to berate the guy that got banned and couldn't defend themselves.
He also speculates more than he commentates, which is annoying. Also uses this really weird morning radio dj voice. I hate it.
Gotta agree here on that George T. cat. His attempts to be the 'world translator' of player names gets old. Mark sounds like a carnival/fair salesman to me. Wears me out.
No one speculates more than Jeremy Jones. It’s annoying. Let the players shoot. keep the prognostication to a minimum. We’re watching for a reason. It’s not radio.
JJ feels he has to describe every shot in detail. Most(all?) people that watch pool streams play and have some knowledge themselves. I think JJ could cut his word-count in half and be even better. I used to watch a lot of European PGA golf and some of their announcers were awesome in that they just let the game do the talking. They'd interject as needed but mostly it was just the on-course mikes. Loved it and wish pool would do it too.
Quoting Ken Venturi…”When it’s rather obvious what’s going to happen on the course there’s no need to say anything.”
My pick for commentators and non picks.
Best: Phil Yates with Karl Boyes
Other possibilities:
Alex Laly - Karl Boyes
Hunter Lombardo with Karl Boyes
Phil Yates with Hunter Lombardo
Jerry Forsyth- Jimmy Wetch
There is another english dude that is good but I don't know his name.
Mark Wilson is alright.
JJ talks like he's on sleep medication and is boring, just about every shot call he makes as a statement but ends with a question mark. Talks way too much and to sloooow. He's too unkempt for tv. ( he is extremely knowledgeable but his slow speech and sleepy tone makes me turn down the volume.)
Scott Frost is just about good but talks way to much and is always searching for words to say....too many words. He is trying to sound like he's trying to commentate, instead of commentating. Seems like he's a ball under his speed when it comes to natural communication ability on the mic. Might be able to learn more and get more comfortable behind the mic.
Mark White would be better in the bleachers.
Many commentators (excluding Phil And Karl) forecast the shot and position and get it wrong too many times. Too much shot calling, especially on routine shots.
Phil and Karl do just enough narration and at the same time make the matches super interesting...entertaining. By far the best team.
Both are naturals behind the mic and seem like they love what they are doing.
Matchroom puts on a fabulous show. Matchroom is putting pool on the map so to speak. Emily and her crew are doing a Fabulous job with Pool.
Nothing but praise for Marchroom. Matchroom is the future of Pool. And the future is already here.
Best: Phil Yates with Karl Boyes
Other possibilities:
Alex Laly - Karl Boyes
Hunter Lombardo with Karl Boyes
Phil Yates with Hunter Lombardo
Jerry Forsyth- Jimmy Wetch
There is another english dude that is good but I don't know his name.
Mark Wilson is alright.
JJ talks like he's on sleep medication and is boring, just about every shot call he makes as a statement but ends with a question mark. Talks way too much and to sloooow. He's too unkempt for tv. ( he is extremely knowledgeable but his slow speech and sleepy tone makes me turn down the volume.)
Scott Frost is just about good but talks way to much and is always searching for words to say....too many words. He is trying to sound like he's trying to commentate, instead of commentating. Seems like he's a ball under his speed when it comes to natural communication ability on the mic. Might be able to learn more and get more comfortable behind the mic.
Mark White would be better in the bleachers.
Many commentators (excluding Phil And Karl) forecast the shot and position and get it wrong too many times. Too much shot calling, especially on routine shots.
Phil and Karl do just enough narration and at the same time make the matches super interesting...entertaining. By far the best team.
Both are naturals behind the mic and seem like they love what they are doing.
Matchroom puts on a fabulous show. Matchroom is putting pool on the map so to speak. Emily and her crew are doing a Fabulous job with Pool.
Nothing but praise for Marchroom. Matchroom is the future of Pool. And the future is already here.
Unfortunately I heard him on some of these Derby streams. He takes away more than he adds. Yeah, nice guy, sometimes has good knowledge, and I don’t want to make it personal. But misses the point while talking about irrelevant stuff, seems to miss great shots while blathering. I watched the Filler-Lunda 12 minute one pocket match twice. IMO a perfect -and short- example for commentators not to follow.
I really hope someone else has mentioned Mark White, his one liners and ribbing of the players are classics
reminds me of Bisping doing MMA commentary.it pains me to critique him because seems like a good man. he stayed up late to do commentary for free/peanuts, long after the accustat team had bailed ship. one can tell he really loves the game. but words are clearly not his tools
Best for me are Jim Wych, Jeremy Jones and Jerry Forsyth
Honorable mention to Karl Boyes but I really can't stand hearing his "oh my WOOOORD" anymore
I don't have a list of "worst" commentators but if Scott Frost fixes his weird voice inflections, he'd be a great one. I'd put Diliberto at the bottom but he's still better than some of the no-names on youtube.
I really liked Sigel's commentary in the 90's and 2000's but it always bothered me when he kept calling Efren "Efrem"
Honorable mention to Karl Boyes but I really can't stand hearing his "oh my WOOOORD" anymore
I don't have a list of "worst" commentators but if Scott Frost fixes his weird voice inflections, he'd be a great one. I'd put Diliberto at the bottom but he's still better than some of the no-names on youtube.
I really liked Sigel's commentary in the 90's and 2000's but it always bothered me when he kept calling Efren "Efrem"
dendweller
Well-known member
Heard CJ on the Omega action room stream. I think he'd make a good commentator if he chose to do it.
Is it possible commentating preference in general is a generational thing? How many people on here over the age of 40-50 prefer listening to guys like Billy, Grady, Danny…etc compared to the guys who started playing pool after say the 1990s.
The older generation of commentators put a distinct spin on it that the new generation have never been subjected to. It’s kinda like watching Joe Rogans podcast when he has Gorst on compared to Jeremy Jones. Gorst generation when it comes to scuffling around is not in the same shadow realm as guys who played in the 70s-90s even.
Just a thought
The older generation of commentators put a distinct spin on it that the new generation have never been subjected to. It’s kinda like watching Joe Rogans podcast when he has Gorst on compared to Jeremy Jones. Gorst generation when it comes to scuffling around is not in the same shadow realm as guys who played in the 70s-90s even.
Just a thought
