It wouldn’t have been so bad except there timing was awful. If I remember right, it was the last few racks of a marathon set. It’s funny looking back on it now.
Commentators talking about anything but the match in front of them
- Thread starter dquarasr
- Start date
The MR play by play guys get some criticism, but such banter is uncommon in the WNT big events. JJ, Boyes, Frost keep the focus on pool.
I was watching Mast and Easton play last week and the two announcers - one was Collins - spent most of the time sniping at each other. Neither guy is truly a pro announcer who gets paid regular money, but it was embarrassing. Had to turn the sound down.
I was watching Mast and Easton play last week and the two announcers - one was Collins - spent most of the time sniping at each other. Neither guy is truly a pro announcer who gets paid regular money, but it was embarrassing. Had to turn the sound down.
I knew somebody that started doing paid commentary. He found that forty years of pool knowledge wasn't enough. First off, it isn't easy to talk for hours without being redundant as hell. It isn't even easy to talk at all for hours and pool commentators were often pulling eight or ten hour shifts on streaming, one match after another. By the second or third day in the booth people are totally exhausted!
Pool booth pay is often pee poor and what seems like easy money to pick up fifty or a hundred bucks for sitting in a booth turns into damned hard work when you try to do it for hours. Streaming, especially in the early days, made no provisions for bathroom breaks or eating. Commentators sometimes squirmed for thirty minutes or an hour before they were able to pass the mike long enough for a run to the bathroom! Not much worse than listening to a commentator eating with the mike four to six inches from his mouth either!
Commentating is a skill, a learned skill. Many don't realize that. Over the years I knew two DJ's that made a living at it full time including one of the most popular on country radio for several decades. Met him when we were both in high school and knew him for many years. His golden voice on the mike wasn't anything like his nonworking voice, it was a performance. Likewise with the other DJ. Casually working the booth for free at local events was a far cry from the performance he put on when paid to do an event. It was a revelation when I heard his professional voice.
I ducked booth work because I knew good booth work wasn't easy and I had no interest in being one of the bad people in a booth everyone talked about!
Hu
Maybe it's just me, but I also find the "I would do this" comments to be exhausting. You're not at the table; nobody cares what you would do.... especially when after you tell us what you would have done, we find out that because of parallax and camera angles the shot you thought was the right shot wasn't even an option.
I try not to complain too much about things unless I have some sort of suggestion to improve it. So, I guess I would offer this to anyone who is commentating on pool. Silence is ok. It actually helps to build some drama. Just make a few observations and then watch to see what happens.
I try not to complain too much about things unless I have some sort of suggestion to improve it. So, I guess I would offer this to anyone who is commentating on pool. Silence is ok. It actually helps to build some drama. Just make a few observations and then watch to see what happens.
Some commentators especially in the old days were terrible about the "what I would do" comments. If their ideas were so good they would still be in the event instead of up in the booth! I did like the ones that admitted they had never missed a shot in the booth. I don't mind a commentator making maybe one "what I would do" comment a match particularly after a shot went awry but those that wore out giving their advice were and are annoying. As you mention, often the commentators have viewing angles that lead to bad advice anyway.
A little advice from commentators is welcome. If they want to give a lot I think they should go back and commentate their own matches. "What I should have done instead of that head up my ass shot ..."
My favorite reply to what would you do posts is "I would run the three four and five then jaw the six and sell out the game!"
Hu
That's gold!
How do you all feel about interactions with the comment section?
When they are on the screen, I find it distracting and sometimes read them and miss most of the match.
When they are not on the screen, and the folks in the booth respond to them without reading them out loud, I'm listening to half of a conversation. It's like a Q&A session where you can't hear the audience question.
When they are on the screen, I find it distracting and sometimes read them and miss most of the match.
When they are not on the screen, and the folks in the booth respond to them without reading them out loud, I'm listening to half of a conversation. It's like a Q&A session where you can't hear the audience question.
dquarasr
Registered
I fully appreciate that commentating is taxing work. All I ask is that the match not be ignored. It's not that hard to intersperse a sentence or two at least every two shots, then go back to the story you were telling. I mean, to watch two beautiful BnRs without even mentioning it and the updated match score, or a perfect lockup safety, all the while talking about the tournament you were in two years ago or the tournament signage on the venue's marquee. . . .
Mention the damned great shot or runout, then return to your story. And yes, I do appreciate that I don't have to pay (extra) for the privilege of watching a pro match, but it's not exactly free; I am somehow paying for it indirectly through my streaming and/or cable services, even if not via PPV.
Mention the damned great shot or runout, then return to your story. And yes, I do appreciate that I don't have to pay (extra) for the privilege of watching a pro match, but it's not exactly free; I am somehow paying for it indirectly through my streaming and/or cable services, even if not via PPV.
that there i've been told comes from the world of console game streaming. not my cup of tea. i want as much of the table in the picture as possible. i'm the kind that watches what's going on between the four rails, not what the players in the chair are doing, etc
To suggest that there are more than ten non-Matchroom pool commentators that are worth listening to is, in my opinion, an exaggeration.
Over 90% of the commentators in both men's and women's pool pro pool get the instant mute button from this fan. In fairness, little can be expected from those that commentate for free. It's almost incredible how little some of them know about the game.
Yes, it is worse in the women's game. Still, once upon a time, women's pool had the superb Ewa Mataya Laurence commentating and Dawn Hopkins and a couple of others were also exceptional, but the standard of commentating in women's pool is alarmingly bad today, and virtually anybody is allowed in the booth.
Over 90% of the commentators in both men's and women's pool pro pool get the instant mute button from this fan. In fairness, little can be expected from those that commentate for free. It's almost incredible how little some of them know about the game.
Yes, it is worse in the women's game. Still, once upon a time, women's pool had the superb Ewa Mataya Laurence commentating and Dawn Hopkins and a couple of others were also exceptional, but the standard of commentating in women's pool is alarmingly bad today, and virtually anybody is allowed in the booth.
Ball sounds only.
Streams could "easily" offer a mutable voiceover. Many times the stuff has to be mixed into your stream in the fist place. The demux function could be included on your TV or media player.
InsertCleverNameHere
Well-known member
nothing wrong with little anecdotal stuff but full on conversations are pretty pretty off line.
Even worse is when they start talking IN DETAIL about a match you can't see. Come on guys/gals, back on topic.
Even worse is when they start talking IN DETAIL about a match you can't see. Come on guys/gals, back on topic.