Commentating for TAR 19

[mosconiac]

Is she a friend of Mika's? YES.

Was she feeling bad for Mika? YES.

Was she delivering good comments & observations otherwise? YES.

Is she a poor commentator? NO.

In fact, I like her comments about how she would attack a layout versus what SVB/Mika are doing. It shows the thought process between different levels of pro players and how pro's weigh out the offense/defense options.

 

[jay helfert]

I have not watched the match. But if it had been announced before time that Jay Helfert would be in the booth I would have sighed up. A person with Jay's knowledge an experience of the pool world is remarkable. I have been through his book twice. He has the wisdom to know when to speak an to listen, Tar missed the boat on this one. :frown:

Quite a compliment here! I really appreciate the kind words, but I thought Jennifer and her co-com on day one (not sure if it was Eric or Greg) did an excellent job. I enjoyed listening to them.

 

[scttybee]

Luke -enough you dont like it dont watch-stop with the nonsense

 

[mikeyfrost]

J-Bar is def biased. Mika is making GREAT straight in shots, losing his cue ball BEAUTIFULLY, and coming up short and only getting UNLUCKY. Meanwhile SVB just getting ROLLS. I've muted it at several points.

On the other hand Jimbo was hilarious and this GMAC is a beast. On a scale of 1-10 I still give Jenn a 6 or 7 though. Her commentary isn't bad at all, however she is pretty damn biased I think she put a big bet on Mika myself.

 

[lukemindish]

I was just expressing an opinion i had, just like everyone has a right to express their own opinion. It doesnt have to turn into some big battle about who is right and who is wrong. I just wanted to know how everyone else felt about it. I just want to see some great pool, and at this point i could care less about the commentating.

 

[Fast Lenny]

I have been okay with the commentary and yes she is pulling for Mika and you can tell that but it does not bother me because we are all pulling for either Shane or Mika. I think I actually would like to have the booth 50/50, have them both rooting for the other just like we all are. Go SVB! :thumbup:

 

[jimmy-leggs]

This is exactly why SHE said she does'nt frequent the forum anymore.
I think she is doing a great job,of course she is bias,Mika is a friend of her's.

 

[bob b.]

jimbo...

well,

i hope "jimbo" makes another appearance on day three. i was surprised of the knowledge he has about the game, and he was funny than s..t!!!

 

["CaliRed".]

On the other hand Jimbo was hilarious and this GMAC is a beast. On a scale of 1-10 I still give Jenn a 6 or 7 though. Her commentary isn't bad at all, however she is pretty damn biased I think she put a big bet on Mika myself.

I like Jimbo too.... his deadpan deliveries on his humor are right up my alley. Him and I would get along great, I don't hear that method very often and I wish I knew someone where I live that could entertain me like that:grin:

All the other guys do great too. Were talking about filling the airwaves for about 14 hours so far, isn't easy to do. I was amazed at the people complaining in the chat on Day 1, when Justin and Caroline were talking about how the TAR matches come about, about how someone was giving play by play on the game.... C'mon people, it's 10 ball. For the most part it's not rocket science. I love watching the patterns each person may take, or the safeties they play, but I learn by watching them. I don't HAVE to have someone say... "you think he will got 2 rails and out for the 3"

On TAR broadcasts you get a little bit of everything, which is great. Remember, the people in the booth don't get paid for their time, it's all gratis.

Nothing wrong with giving your opinion on something, that's why this is called a forum.

 

[RShellhouse]

J-Bar is def biased. Mika is making GREAT straight in shots, losing his cue ball BEAUTIFULLY, and coming up short and only getting UNLUCKY. Meanwhile SVB just getting ROLLS. I've muted it at several points.

On the other hand Jimbo was hilarious and this GMAC is a beast. On a scale of 1-10 I still give Jenn a 6 or 7 though. Her commentary isn't bad at all, however she is pretty damn biased I think she put a big bet on Mika myself.

Amusingly enough the chat room is so pro-Shane that Ive minimized it several times because its annoying and while I bet on Mika ( a whole 10 dollars) in the grand scheme I wanted to watch some great pool and to be honest this hasn't really been spectacular play by either. I think we are seeing Mika's C+ game and Shane's B game

R

 

[KoolKat9Lives]

I think the commentary has been pretty good. Myself and 2 buddies have been watching it on a 42 inch flat and we've been enjoying it. Yeah, I wish the play was more consistent, but on the other hand, it gives us wannabes some hope!

Who knows which guys have been announcing? Wasn't it Cleary "Big Tony" on Day 1?

On Day 2 I don't know which guy started out - Shaun Wilkie perhaps? I detected Chad "Big Nasty" and Justin at one point.

:thumbup: :thumbup: Good stuff TAR!

 

[justnum]

The action was intense with the New York crowd. Barretta should've talked louder; it would've eased the tension in the room.

 

[Mr Hoppe]

Especially during day 1, I think Jennifer wasn't rooting for Mika as much as she was pointing out that wasn't the Mika that she was used to seeing, as he was struggling to get into stroke and was looking pretty defeted.

Having said that, I do wish that they would switch commentators. Jen and Eric are doing ok, however there are people who could be doing a MUCH better job. Some really good ones IMO, are: Incardona, Diliberto, Shewman, Agnir, Helfert, J Lee, Eva Matya, and even John Schmidt and Bobby Hunter are a teriffic pairing. Two that I simply cannot stand are D Appleton and J Wyche (sp?).

IMO, the commentators add a tremendous amount of value to the production, and I wish TAR would enlist the efforts of some on the A list, rather than those who are convenient. I suspect it's a simple matter of economics.

 

[ccshrimper]

I didn't watch much of day 2 but at the start of day 1 you could tell she was rooting for Mika pretty hard and making excuses for him. She called him the best combo maker in the world right before he dogged one lol, I thought that was classic. I was probably on the fence about who I wanted to win this match until I heard her and then I started rooting for Shane lol... Her commentary was good and I wasn't really bothered by her bias for Mika, it just made me want SVB to have someone in his corner(even though I know he has plenty of people).

 

[sugeknight]

I had the same feelings as luke while watching the match.
Commentary can definitely affect how enjoyable something is to watch.
For example, I love listening to Bobby Hunter and John S in the booth, but for the Alex vs Shane TAR match up Round 1 when Daz was in the booth with all of them, I was getting so frustrated cause the guy wouldnt shut up.
I think hes a great player but he should stay outta the booth.

I appreciate her time and effort, but I would love to see someone else besides Jennifer doing commentary on this match.

 

["CaliRed".]

Especially during day 1, I think Jennifer wasn't rooting for Mika as much as she was pointing out that wasn't the Mika that she was used to seeing, as he was struggling to get into stroke and was looking pretty defeted.

Having said that, I do wish that they would switch commentators. Jen and Eric are doing ok, however there are people who could be doing a MUCH better job. Some really good ones IMO, are: Incardona, Diliberto, Shewman, Agnir, Helfert, J Lee, Eva Matya, and even John Schmidt and Bobby Hunter are a teriffic pairing. Two that I simply cannot stand are D Appleton and J Wyche (sp?).

IMO, the commentators add a tremendous amount of value to the production, and I wish TAR would enlist the efforts of some on the A list, rather than those who are convenient. I suspect it's a simple matter of economics.

yes.. the top commentators don't typically work for free, but at the least, who's going to pay to fly them there and put them up in a hotel?

People have to remember, you got a one man operation for the most part, who's invested tens of thousands of dollars of his own money into equipment, that has to fly himself and his equipment around the country and put himself up in a hotel for days.... not exactly a windfall of money to throw around to pay for top commentators to fly in and 4 camera operators working 8 hour days and to have a local provider pull in a dedicated circuit for 3 days so he can broadcast in HD.

We can all wish for what would be the nuts as far as a PPV, but until he gets enough buys to pay for all that, we should just be happy we get what we get. Top pros playing for big money, while we get to watch 20 hours of video of it for 25 bucks.

Pretty damn good deal in itself, I think.

 

[KoolKat9Lives]

yes.. the top commentators don't typically work for free, but at the least, who's going to pay to fly them there and put them up in a hotel?

People have to remember, you got a one man operation for the most part, who's invested tens of thousands of dollars of his own money into equipment, that has to fly himself and his equipment around the country and put himself up in a hotel for days.... not exactly a windfall of money to throw around to pay for top commentators to fly in and 4 camera operators working 8 hour days and to have a local provider pull in a dedicated circuit for 3 days so he can broadcast in HD.

We can all wish for what would be the nuts as far as a PPV, but until he gets enough buys to pay for all that, we should just be happy we get what we get. Top pros playing for big money, while we get to watch 20 hours of video of it for 25 bucks.

Pretty damn good deal in itself, I think.

I refused to buy the PPV when I saw Howard Cosell wasn't commentating. Whatevs...

Seriously though, good post Cali, one that regularly needs to be put out. Economic constraints do paint you into a small corner and to expect the sun and moon is ridiculous. As a customer, I'm getting an absolute ton of value from TAR19.


:thumbup: Thanks to all who are involved in putting this awesome production out there!

 

[Eric.]

Quite a compliment here! I really appreciate the kind words, but I thought Jennifer and her co-com on day one (not sure if it was Eric or Greg) did an excellent job. I enjoyed listening to them.

Thanks for the kind words, Jay. Day 1 started with Jen and I for the first 4 hours. We should be opening Day 3, starting at 6.30p EDT (tonight).

Like the rest of ya's, I'm a fan of the game.


Eric

 

[justnum]

yes.. the top commentators don't typically work for free, but at the least, who's going to pay to fly them there and put them up in a hotel?

People have to remember, you got a one man operation for the most part, who's invested tens of thousands of dollars of his own money into equipment, that has to fly himself and his equipment around the country and put himself up in a hotel for days.... not exactly a windfall of money to throw around to pay for top commentators to fly in and 4 camera operators working 8 hour days and to have a local provider pull in a dedicated circuit for 3 days so he can broadcast in HD.

We can all wish for what would be the nuts as far as a PPV, but until he gets enough buys to pay for all that, we should just be happy we get what we get. Top pros playing for big money, while we get to watch 20 hours of video of it for 25 bucks.

Pretty damn good deal in itself, I think.

This answer sounds like Obama's writers help you conjure it up. The audience is discussing what we noticed and what we think can be done to improve the situation. If you continue to remind us to be happy with what we have the sport will never change, commentators will never get better and the community will not strive for more.

On a side note I thought Barretta could've worked on her pre-game interviews, it didn't seemed rehearsed- it was sloppy. I couldn't stop thinking when will she decide what to do with her feet.

You have arms and legs why bother with making your muscles bigger. Why bother with learning to read when you can talk.

 

["CaliRed".]

This answer sounds like Obama's writers help you conjure it up. The audience is discussing what we noticed and what we think can be done to improve the situation. If you continue to remind us to be happy with what we have the sport will never change, commentators will never get better and the community will not strive for more.

On a side note I thought Barretta could've worked on her pre-game interviews, it didn't seemed rehearsed- it was sloppy. I couldn't stop thinking when will she decide what to do with her feet.

You have arms and legs why bother with making your muscles bigger. Why bother with learning to read when you can talk.

If you look at my post, I was quoting Mr. Hoppe, as he was wondering why TAR couldn't enlist some commentators on the A list. I quoted his post and was explaining, as he concluded correctly, it was due to economics.

I'm sorry if you did not notice I was quoting a particular post, and was responding to that post, maybe if you did, it would make more sense to you... then again maybe not


Hmmmm... this response of yours has a certain "This is what's wrong with pool" theme to it. Perfect introduction for another of my installments, but no time right now..