Should pool stream commentators be player-neutral?

I don't think it maters one way or the other. As long as it doesn't affect teh outcome of that match.

There are only a few commentators that are really good and most are neutral in my opinion. Once some balance in the match shifts, they usually say something that, in their mind, is the reason.

--Jeff
 
Hit the button

Full screen and MUTE are wonderful.
Some people just love to hear themselves talk, especially the so called elite commentators.
I don't watch pool on espn, if I watch a stream I use full screen and mute most of the time, sometimes I may listen in.
I prefer to listen to a little fun,more relaxed commentary than to listen to someone ramble on, or others just chewing up the mic letting everyone know how much they know about the game.

Appreciate all streamers efforts. Trying to please the pool community is like trying to put the crap back inside the horse.
 
I think studied neutrality is sort of the side effect of having big money and big sponsors and
thousands or even millions of fans watching a single broadcast.

Pool is not saddled with any of those problems :)

Rather than try to model pool after a typical ESPN broadcast... in the hopes that it will
someday BECOME a typical espn broadcast... I think we should embrace some of the few
advantages that come with having a somewhat unpopular (professionally) sport.

One oft-mentioned advantage is that we can interact with the top players
without paying a fortune or having security keep us at arm's length.

Another one is that we can have clearly biased commentators who occasionally swear.
I like commentators who can just be honest and speak naturally, no transatlantic accent
and carefully scripted exchanges. If they like one of the players, go ahead and let it show.

But yeah, don't be excessively negative towards the other. Any commentator who's
worth his paycheck should understand how playing in the spotlight for money
can affect someone's gameplay and behavior... you may see a player being uncharacteristically
snippy or totally butchering a shot. The commentators should roll with this and resist any
urge to disparage the guy who's already down and dogging it.
 
commentators should be neutral in all sports. there is nothing more annoying than when someone is clearly rooting for a team or player. especially when they are not rooting for the same one as you.
brining in viewers is the goal to any broadccast. when the commentary leans towards one side or the other you can begin to alienate viewers. not the ideal way to increase your numbers.
 
Could It Be?

JoeyA said:
If you come to see or play in The Ultimate 10 Ball Championship in June you have an invitation to sit in the booth with me to do commentary but only sans dialogue parlant français :smile:
Click to expand...



A couple of pals told me I’d been offered an announcing gig ... Gobsmacked, I simply could not credit it.

At best, I figured it would be some windswept tournament in the northern plains.

Swell!

Blizzards, the Coen brothers, floods, fracking. Fracking?

Tunica however … hmm.

Actually, even though I’m pretty much of a pool dumbo, I feel, in my imagination (vivid!), that I’d be reasonably good at the color side:

Cogent observations on manners, attitudes, sportsmanship.

Philosophy, psychology, myths, morals. The Higgs boson.

Gender analyses.

Attire -- there is, after all, a Tunica dress code! So we would need to concern ourselves with the ‘sandals and black socks contingent’ only in isolated crowd shots.

Okay, so I’m born with a yappy mouth and the permanent optimism of the moderately talented! Modus vivendi? Tell the truth and run!

I work part of the time in San Francisco ... where I’ve been told about a revered sports announcer … Lon ‘Dead Air’ Simmons.

While ‘dead air’ was a compliment regarding his unique and laconic style, said approbation would not be a consideration were La Sunny in the booth!

In front of the mic, I imagine (vividly!) that I would make full use of my Spidey Sense to deliver a soulful message with a robust backbeat. I would inform and animate. I would be ever so marvy!

(Wake up, Sunny! Get real! Slap! All right Doctor Sigmund … these are my presenting symptoms …)

It would have been fun though. Alas -- and, perhaps, also, -- alack, if Professor Google is accurate, I’m around 12,000 miles away. Plus, for some cosmic reason, it’s always tomorrow in Hong Kong.

Longing is my life,

Sunny

P. S. Compensation? I assume I would have toiled ILOS?

P. P. S. I shouldn’t speak French in Tunica? Mais oui, monsieur! (I have only clumsy restaurant Francais anyway.) One assumes Latin is booth-acceptable? I came, I saw, I stumbled?
 
sunnyone said:
A couple of pals told me I’d been offered an announcing gig ... Gobsmacked, I simply could not credit it.

At best, I figured it would be some windswept tournament in the northern plains.

Swell!

Blizzards, the Coen brothers, floods, fracking. Fracking?

Tunica however … hmm.

Actually, even though I’m pretty much of a pool dumbo, I feel, in my imagination (vivid!), that I’d be reasonably good at the color side:

Cogent observations on manners, attitudes, sportsmanship.

Philosophy, psychology, myths, morals. The Higgs boson.

Gender analyses.

Attire -- there is, after all, a Tunica dress code! So we would need to concern ourselves with the ‘sandals and black socks contingent’ only in isolated crowd shots.

Okay, so I’m born with a yappy mouth and the permanent optimism of the moderately talented! Modus vivendi? Tell the truth and run!

I work part of the time in San Francisco ... where I’ve been told about a revered sports announcer … Lon ‘Dead Air’ Simmons.

While ‘dead air’ was a compliment regarding his unique and laconic style, said approbation would not be a consideration were La Sunny in the booth!

In front of the mic, I imagine (vividly!) that I would make full use of my Spidey Sense to deliver a soulful message with a robust backbeat. I would inform and animate. I would be ever so marvy!

(Wake up, Sunny! Get real! Slap! All right Doctor Sigmund … these are my presenting symptoms …)

It would have been fun though. Alas -- and, perhaps, also, -- alack, if Professor Google is accurate, I’m around 12,000 miles away. Plus, for some cosmic reason, it’s always tomorrow in Hong Kong.

Longing is my life,

Sunny

P. S. Compensation? I assume I would have toiled ILOS?

P. P. S. I shouldn’t speak French in Tunica? Mais oui, monsieur! (I have only clumsy restaurant Francais anyway.) One assumes Latin is booth-acceptable? I came, I saw, I stumbled?
Click to expand...

I am anxious to hear, but must confess, she scares me!! LOL!
 
sunnyone said:
A couple of pals told me I’d been offered an announcing gig ... Gobsmacked, I simply could not credit it.

At best, I figured it would be some windswept tournament in the northern plains.

Swell!

Blizzards, the Coen brothers, floods, fracking. Fracking?

Tunica however … hmm.

Actually, even though I’m pretty much of a pool dumbo, I feel, in my imagination (vivid!), that I’d be reasonably good at the color side:

Cogent observations on manners, attitudes, sportsmanship.

Philosophy, psychology, myths, morals. The Higgs boson.

Gender analyses.

Attire -- there is, after all, a Tunica dress code! So we would need to concern ourselves with the ‘sandals and black socks contingent’ only in isolated crowd shots.

Okay, so I’m born with a yappy mouth and the permanent optimism of the moderately talented! Modus vivendi? Tell the truth and run!

I work part of the time in San Francisco ... where I’ve been told about a revered sports announcer … Lon ‘Dead Air’ Simmons.

While ‘dead air’ was a compliment regarding his unique and laconic style, said approbation would not be a consideration were La Sunny in the booth!

In front of the mic, I imagine (vividly!) that I would make full use of my Spidey Sense to deliver a soulful message with a robust backbeat. I would inform and animate. I would be ever so marvy!

(Wake up, Sunny! Get real! Slap! All right Doctor Sigmund … these are my presenting symptoms …)

It would have been fun though. Alas -- and, perhaps, also, -- alack, if Professor Google is accurate, I’m around 12,000 miles away. Plus, for some cosmic reason, it’s always tomorrow in Hong Kong.

Longing is my life,

Sunny

P. S. Compensation? I assume I would have toiled ILOS?

P. P. S. I shouldn’t speak French in Tunica? Mais oui, monsieur! (I have only clumsy restaurant Francais anyway.) One assumes Latin is booth-acceptable? I came, I saw, I stumbled?
Click to expand...

The Ultimate 10 Ball Championship has two events, a Men's Event and a Women's Event.

Sunny,
If you show up for a match or two, about all of the Latin I will be repeating is "Kýrie eléison", ad infinitum.
 
If sunnyone shows up to commentate....
...I'll open a booth that sells thesauruseseses...<..uh, that means a whole whack of 'em.

I'll make a killing.
 
Preferences are fine with me as long as the commentator shows respect to the other player.

Most importantly: STAY ON THE MATCH! There's a match going on. Talk about it. If you're going to change topics, talk about related things. Like what else is going on in this tournament, or things about these two players. Don't go off on crazy tangents. Oftentimes I'll mute the sound because it's so annoying.
 
TSW said:
Preferences are fine with me as long as the commentator shows respect to the other player.

Most importantly: STAY ON THE MATCH! There's a match going on. Talk about it. If you're going to change topics, talk about related things. Like what else is going on in this tournament, or things about these two players. Don't go off on crazy tangents. Oftentimes I'll mute the sound because it's so annoying.
Click to expand...

Add chat rooms to the distraction factor, stay on the match. JMO
 
I may be a little biased because I met Mr. Billy Mills last year, but everytime that I watch this clip I get excited and get chills as the commentator explodes.

The back story to this is that Billy Mills had never won a major race in his career going into the 1964 olympics. Going into the final stretch there were only 5 runners that were still in contention and Billy Mills is one of the five. Here is the end of the race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVlKVWFmfhk

Sometimes a little extra excitement by the commentator really adds to the situation. Oh, and if I remember correctly, Billy Mills is still the only american to get a gold in the 10,000 meter.
 
"What's he doing at this end of the table? Oh, that's the 2 ball......I thought it was the 4."

Some commentators are so obnoxious, you have to mute it. They have no business behind a microphone. I'll refrain from naming them.

Commentators I enjoy are Cory Duel, Jerry AZ Billiards, Billy Incardona, Buddy Hall.
One I'd like to hear is Earl! Who could we put in the booth with him and not have it turn ugly?
 
DukeOfAim said:
I may be a little biased because I met Mr. Billy Mills last year, but everytime that I watch this clip I get excited and get chills as the commentator explodes.

The back story to this is that Billy Mills had never won a major race in his career going into the 1964 olympics. Going into the final stretch there were only 5 runners that were still in contention and Billy Mills is one of the five. Here is the end of the race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVlKVWFmfhk

Sometimes a little extra excitement by the commentator really adds to the situation. Oh, and if I remember correctly, Billy Mills is still the only american to get a gold in the 10,000 meter.
Click to expand...

I enjoyed that race and the commentary too. In many other sports, there is a considerable amount of adrenaline that is used by the athletes and that adrenaline sometimes gets the commentators excited as well.

Enthusiasm is a very important part of pool commentary, however I am positive the players don't want to hear the raucous screams of the commentators. The pool athletes have little use for adrenaline in pool matches and must learn to put a governor on it or risk missing critical shots.

Another problem in pool concerning the excitement of the commentators is that they must be careful not to shark the players and that type of excitement is often met with scornful glances if not outright complaining by the players themselves. The close proximity of the commentators to the match table is important for the narration that they share with the viewers but they can ill afford to get too excited. Maybe your words "a little excited" are appropriate afterall. I guess I am leaning a bit more toward allowing the players to be unaffected by my performance in the booth.

Even when I have experimented with different styles of delivery, I try to not let the players hear what I am saying or doing.

Like one of the posters mentioned, trying to please everyone is impossible. Each viewer and listener has their own preferences as illustrated in this thread.

I watch pool matches to improve my pool game, so I guess from a viewers standpoint, I tend to favor commentators that talk about what shots the players will be taking and why. I don't hold it against the commentators when they occasionally make the wrong call and it's always a good learning experience listening to different perspectives, just like in this thread.
 
commentary is no not needed in pool matches. I could care less what the commentator thinks since I have my own thoughts about the match. Unless the commentator is promoting the sponsors or updating scores then , to me, they are so muted :)
 
JoeyA said:
I enjoyed that race and the commentary too. In many other sports, there is a considerable amount of adrenaline that is used by the athletes and that adrenaline sometimes gets the commentators excited as well.

Enthusiasm is a very important part of pool commentary, however I am positive the players don't want to hear the raucous screams of the commentators. The pool athletes have little use for adrenaline in pool matches and must learn to put a governor on it or risk missing critical shots.

Another problem in pool concerning the excitement of the commentators is that they must be careful not to shark the players and that type of excitement is often met with scornful glances if not outright complaining by the players themselves. The close proximity of the commentators to the match table is important for the narration that they share with the viewers but they can ill afford to get too excited. Maybe your words "a little excited" are appropriate afterall. I guess I am leaning a bit more toward allowing the players to be unaffected by my performance in the booth.

Even when I have experimented with different styles of delivery, I try to not let the players hear what I am saying or doing.

Like one of the posters mentioned, trying to please everyone is impossible. Each viewer and listener has their own preferences as illustrated in this thread.

I watch pool matches to improve my pool game, so I guess from a viewers standpoint, I tend to favor commentators that talk about what shots the players will be taking and why. I don't hold it against the commentators when they occasionally make the wrong call and it's always a good learning experience listening to different perspectives, just like in this thread.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. That video is a pretty extreme example of the commentator being obviously biased and excited. They were more than far enough from the athletes in that video, unlike the typical scenario for a pool commentator.

I played on a stream table several years ago now and the commentators were literally right there. For the most part I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I remember my opponent leaving me hooked and I made a pretty kick to make the ball, but fell short with the cue ball and ended up hooked again. I heard one of the commentator's reaction to the shot and for the first time it really made me aware that they were there. It can really take you out of your game.

I have seen the occasional stream where the commentator is overly biased and it can be annoying and I know that I have probably been that commentator once or twice when a friend is playing. I do try to stay as neutral as possible, but I also try to be excited for both players when they make a good shot.
 
Trés droll.

JoeyA said:
The Ultimate 10 Ball Championship has two events, a Men's Event and a Women's Event.

Sunny,
If you show up for a match or two, about all of the Latin I will be repeating is "Kýrie eléison", ad infinitum.
Click to expand...



Well, this one sent me scurrying to my Hellenic dictionary!

And I’m still puzzled?

Why should anyone feel the need to intone ‘Lord, have mercy,’ over and over simply because I clicked my heels smartly, saluted appropriately and reported in a timely manner for booth duty?

Perplexity is my life,

Sunny
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top