Allen Hopkins - Commentating

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DrCue'sProtege

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Just wondering what everyone used to think of Allen Hopkin's commentating back in the day? He was on ESPN alot with Lon McEachern and Mitch Laurance. I believe he did the Challenge of the Champions for quite a few years.

I thought he was pretty good. The only small issue that I saw - and heard about in Vegas - was that if the player made a ball and got a shot on the 1B that Allen thought he should get out, no doubt about it.

r/DCP
 
WildWing

WildWing

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You didn't see his earlier commentating. It was when they got the seniors together, Mosconi, Cranfield, etc, in 1982, Atlantic City. 1983, also Atlantic City. 1984 was the Catskills, in New York.

Allen did a very good job commentating. It's not easy to explain a game like pool, to a largely ignorant ESPN audience at the time. Allen did it very well.

All the best,
WW
 
W

westcoast

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I was amused by his intermission segments where he would often show how to make miraculous shots like it is no big deal.
 
9ball5032

9ball5032

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I enjoyed his commentating in the early-mid 90s. When a player got on the last 3 I still remember him saying jokingly, "I'm gonna go out on a limb that he gets out from here." I also remember once when the co-commentator said, "that was a great billiard." Allen corrected him and said, "that was a kiss shot John."
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

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I did a couple of turns with Allen and he is a fun guy to work with and very generous in the booth. I couldn't help but chuckle though when Efren became Efrem and snooker became schnooker.
 
PoolBum

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jay helfert said:
I did a couple of turns with Allen and he is a fun guy to work with and very generous in the booth. I couldn't help but chuckle though when Efren became Efrem and snooker became schnooker.
Click to expand...

Both Hopkins and Sigel called Efren "Efrem" for some reason.
 
Nostroke

Nostroke

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jay helfert said:
I did a couple of turns with Allen and he is a fun guy to work with and very generous in the booth. I couldn't help but chuckle though when Efren became Efrem and snooker became schnooker.
Click to expand...

and Mosconi=Marsconi- to mispronounce the names of 2 of the game's greats is inexcusable and it's not like it wasn't pointed out to him 800 times .. I will never have an ounce of respect for Harpkins.
 
measureman

measureman

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Nostroke said:
and Mosconi=Marsconi- to mispronounce the names of 2 of the game's greats is inexcusable and it's not like it wasn't pointed out to him 800 times .. I will never have an ounce of respect for Harpkins.
Click to expand...

It's a NJ/NY thing.
Marsconi = Mosconi
Pizzer = pizza
Soder = soda
Drawer -draw
Areaer = area
Adding an r to some words is quite normal for a lot of people in that area.
I grew up there.
 
Positively Ralf

Positively Ralf

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my only problem with him commentating, especially the legends of pocket billiards events, was that he clearly had some bias towards some players. besides that, he did fine.
 
tjlmbklr

tjlmbklr

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DrCue'sProtege said:
Just wondering what everyone used to think of Allen Hopkin's commentating back in the day? He was on ESPN alot with Lon McEachern and Mitch Laurance. I believe he did the Challenge of the Champions for quite a few years.

I thought he was pretty good. The only small issue that I saw - and heard about in Vegas - was that if the player made a ball and got a shot on the 1B that Allen thought he should get out, no doubt about it.

r/DCP
Click to expand...
In my peek love of pool days the only pool I could see what on ESPN. I used to scour the guide looking for matches. Most were womens but still very entertaining. You know what was not entertaining, listing to Mitch Laurance talk. He was like all the ESPN commentators, they had one expert in the sport (aka, Allen Hopkins, Mark Wilson, etc). and then they had the ESPN TV personality who knew squat. If I have to hear Mitch use the phrase pocket speed on more time. Of course he was married to Ewa so I guess that did give him some cred.

But yeah, I always enjoyed Allen Hopkins.
 
Nostroke

Nostroke

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measureman said:
It's a NJ/NY thing.
Marsconi = Mosconi
Pizzer = pizza
Soder = soda
Drawer -draw
Areaer = area
Adding an r to some words is quite normal for a lot of people in that area.
I grew up there.
Click to expand...

First of all im from NY 72 Years -still am, though the last nine have been half in Florida and half NY-within 15 miles of the Bronx the whole time! Never said one of those things. Secondly he is from Jersey. No one out of the Bronx or Bklyn or a small percentage of the uneducated lower class within NYC talks like the above but no one on earth says EFREM and talking with NY pool players for forty years i have never heard another 'Marsconi'.

Vorner says Efrem and he is from Kentucky. Him Seagel and Harpkins, that's it-none of them NY'rs. Not to mention, when you are commentating on TV, You try to speak as correctly as possible. TV personalities with perfectly fine voices/diction go to classes to learn to speak better for TV but these Jablonis get on there and sound like Jackasses. I can see doing Efrem once but your whole career every time after you've been told ?

No respect.****'m.

Where in NY did you grow up?
 
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Duane Remick

Duane Remick

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Nostroke said:
and Mosconi=Marsconi- to mispronounce the names of 2 of the game's greats is inexcusable and it's not like it wasn't pointed out to him 800 times .. I will never have an ounce of respect for Harpkins.
Click to expand...

I think you meant Hawkins ;)
or meadowlark ????
Alvin meadowlark Hawkins is what I remember :D
 
measureman

measureman

AzB Silver Member
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Nostroke said:
First of all im from NY 72 Years -still am, though the last nine have been half in Florida and half NY-within 15 miles of the Bronx the whole time! Never said one of those things. Secondly he is from Jersey. No one out of the Bronx or Bklyn or a small percentage of the uneducated lower class within NYC talks like the above but no one on earth says EFREM and talking with NY pool players for forty years i have never heard another 'Marsconi'.

Vorner says Efrem and he is from Kentucky. Him Seagel and Harpkins, that's it-none of them NY'rs. Not to mention, when you are commentating on TV, You try to speak as correctly as possible. TV personalities with perfectly fine voices/diction go to classes to learn to speak better for TV but these Jablonis get on there and sound like Jackasses. I can see doing Efrem once but your whole career every time after you've been told ?

No respect.****'m.

Where in NY did you grow up?
Click to expand...

I grew up in Joisey. Maybe adding an R is a Jersey thing.
I do hear a lot of English commentators doing it but they are from England so they get a pass.
If I can understand an Englishman thats a plus.
A lot of them sound like they have a mouth full of marbles.
 
W

westcoast

AzB Silver Member
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measureman said:
I grew up in Joisey. Maybe adding an R is a Jersey thing.
I do hear a lot of English commentators doing it but they are from England so they get a pass.
If I can understand an Englishman thats a plus.
A lot of them sound like they have a mouth full of marbles.
Click to expand...

Many Brits put the r on words that don't actually have it and drop it when it is there- like they say "Heatha" rather than "Heather".

My mom's side of the family is from the NY/NJ area and they all do it too. My brother does such a great imitation of them that it is hard not to laugh just listening to them talk. Once cousin says things like "I saw(r) it, but I couldn't get to it" or "it's against the law(r)"
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
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DrCue'sProtege said:
Just wondering what everyone used to think of Allen Hopkin's commentating back in the day? He was on ESPN alot with Lon McEachern and Mitch Laurance. I believe he did the Challenge of the Champions for quite a few years.

I thought he was pretty good. The only small issue that I saw - and heard about in Vegas - was that if the player made a ball and got a shot on the 1B that Allen thought he should get out, no doubt about it.

r/DCP
Click to expand...
Why pass judgement on stuff that happened 25+yrs ago???????? Waste of time. BTW, AH was great commentator.
 
couldnthinkof01

couldnthinkof01

AzB Silver Member
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My grandparents always put the clothes
in warsh.
The veeeehicle in the ga-rarge.
And pallows on the bed.

Lived in Minnesota their whole lives.
Not sure where they got it from.
Their parents emigrated from Europe.


Glad I did not pick up their vernacular.

The Efrem thing does bother me.
It kind of seems derogatory they didn't
make an effort to learn the best players
name, it's not difficult. I don't feel like
that is the case though.
 
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