TAR 29 Commentary

I was on mute most of the time, and couldn't find any value in the chat. The chatters don't talk about the match much, just their personal lives. Ken and Mark are a bad combination, but the ten ball was much more painful to my ears than the eight ball.

They both talk too much, way too much for me, and together on sunday night they were battling against each other, each one trying to out talk the other. I found mute the only option. I really enjoyed the match silent.

Player rankings for Mosconi Cup, whatever is happening next year at some hotel in some city and the rules, and upcoming tournaments. Ken loves these subjects and i just don't see the point. I'm here to watch pool, not listen to people talk. He wants to be a human newspaper for pool, which is fine if he wasn't interfering with the trust we give him to call this specific game.

Mark, thank you for trying. Ken, drink some water. And to all announcers everywhere, talk less, much less. And please try, just try a little bit to avoid all those mind numbing cliches. For example- He needed a little more angle on that 3 ball- He came up straight on the 8- He didn't want to do that- He really needs to run out here-etc.etc. You know the cliches I'm talking about, they are too painful to repeat. I find Danny Diliberto to be the all time worst at cliche-isms. With him it's just one after another.

I find Ken biased, yes, but to me it's no problem. He is not dishonest about his bias, which is what matters. And he seems to genuinely enjoy a good game no matter what. A close match, exciting play, excellent skills; these are more important to him, I perceive, than whether or not his friend will win.

It's easy to be a critic, so I gave it my best shot. All told I'm a satisfied customer, thanks to everyone involved at TAR. Congrats Dennis!
 
That's a typical Chat. Blah blah blah and u miss most of the match. I mostly dont do them anymore-maybe for 10-15 min of the match.

I dont know how i missed Ken's cotton mouth-Next time its all ill hear probably. I usually notice way too much of those things. The ABSOLUTE worse is when someone is whistling through their nose. Thankfully i havent heard that lately and not sure i ever did on TAR.
 
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I personally like hearing players commentate better, I realize some players aren't the best speakers...but to to me non professional player commentators tend to have that "groupie" aspect and seem ohhhh and aaaahh way to much which gets old quick..JMO
 
Hungarian said:
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1.) Kenny often times has cotton mouth. It is extremely hard to listen to. All he needs to do is keep his mouth moist. Drink some water or some whiskey...anything.
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iusedtoberich said:
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I agree with everything Hungarian posted, except for the cottonmouth, and the bias. Maybe I didn't notice the cottonmouth, but it didn't bother me. [...]
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markjames said:
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Ken, drink some water.
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I find this probably the MOST ANNOYING "tick" of anyone engaged in any public speaking or commentary -- the mouth noises caused by dry mouth, known as cottonmouth. The incessant clicking and sucking noises when the mucous membranes of the mouth "stick" together and then release.

Those that professionally do public speaking are well aware of this situation, and ALWAYS have a bottle of water at the ready. The water is NOT only for thirst. It's to "whet the whistle" so that the parts of the mouth move fluently without sticking and without making noises not related to the actual phrasing of words.

As much as I respect Kenny as a TD, I absolutely cannot listen to him as a commentator -- solely for this cottonmouth condition. (To be clear, I don't find his content to be annoying; rather, it's the extraneous mouth noises that seem to take hold at the base of my spine and vibrate upwards.)

Anyway, Kenny, if you're reading this, please periodically "whet your whistle" with some water or something while you're commentating. You're not aware of it, but trust me, your viewership is.

-Sean
 
As constructive as we are trying to be, these 2 poor bastards are gonna feel like crap today. Sorry guys- We all know you try your best!
 
sfleinen said:
I find this probably the MOST ANNOYING "tick" of anyone engaged in any public speaking or commentary -- the mouth noises caused by dry mouth, known as cottonmouth. The incessant clicking and sucking noises when the mucous membranes of the mouth "stick" together and then release.

Those that professionally do public speaking are well aware of this situation, and ALWAYS have a bottle of water at the ready. The water is NOT only for thirst. It's to "whet the whistle" so that the parts of the mouth move fluently without sticking and without making noises not related to the actual phrasing of words.

As much as I respect Kenny as a TD, I absolutely cannot listen to him as a commentator -- solely for this cottonmouth condition. (To be clear, I don't find his content to be annoying; rather, it's the extraneous mouth noises that seem to take hold at the base of my spine and vibrate upwards.)

Anyway, Kenny, if you're reading this, please periodically "whet your whistle" with some water or something while you're commentating. You're not aware of it, but trust me, your viewership is.

-Sean
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I agree with this all the way. I used to think the microphone was messed up when I first heard Kenny, but then realized that was him. I've wanted to say that for a while now, please Kenny, we all love you but please sip some water during the commentating.
 
I would easily vote for Danny and Billy for TAR. Even though I know Justin can't stand Dannys commentary. Still think the combination of the two are the best there ever was.

Also I cannot STAND Marks commentating. You can hear the frustration in Ken's voice when all Mark does is disagree. and BROSKI WE ALL KNOW YOUR COLOR BLIND!
 
IMO, Ken is the one who made me put it on mute. Every time Mark opened his mouth, Ken disagreed with him. He came across as a know-it-all. Good-natured banter is what you want in commentators, not constant I-know-more-than-you stuff. Mark was polite and Ken was in your face. This is why, in professional commentary, say, the NFL, you have a play-by-play guy and a color commentator, so they're not contradicting each other. That puts the focus on the commentators and distracts from the actual match. I appreciate the TAR streams and realize you don't have the resources of Monday Night Football, but my humble suggestion would be to anoint one person the play-by-play person and the other the color commentator. And I agree that Billy and Danny are a better, more personable match.
 
Taco said:
This is why, in professional commentary, say, the NFL, you have a play-by-play guy and a color commentator, so they're not contradicting each other. That puts the focus on the commentators and distracts from the actual match. I appreciate the TAR streams and realize you don't have the resources of Monday Night Football, but my humble suggestion would be to anoint one person the play-by-play person and the other the color commentator. And I agree that Billy and Danny are a better, more personable match.
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Good point. When you have more than one commentator someone has to be play by play lead and someone has to add the color. These roles need to be identified up front and each commentator needs to follow the plan. I doubt there was a plan.

With Ken and Mark I would say Ken would be play by play and Mark would be color.
 
filluptieu said:
I would easily vote for Danny and Billy for TAR. Even though I know Justin can't stand Dannys commentary. Still think the combination of the two are the best there ever was.

Also I cannot STAND Marks commentating. You can hear the frustration in Ken's voice when all Mark does is disagree. and BROSKI WE ALL KNOW YOUR COLOR BLIND!
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Would love to see the day TAR can fly in guys like that and pay them. We would know they'd be well over the hump at that point-not that i know their numbers.


Not a big Danny fan either. Interesting guy but not during a match.
 
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Honestly, Danny makes me laugh. But he's getting a bit long in the tooth. And I think that has something to do with it. His commentary from 10 years ago is great. Danny has some great material and one liners but he's running out of new stuff. And he gets confused about who is in the booth with him. He sometimes calls the other guy Billy regardless if it's Billy or not.

I have a lot of respect for Billy, Danny, Mark and Kenny.

Bottom line is enjoyable commentary can make a great match even greater. It can also make a crappy match entertaining to watch. And it doesn't come natural to all people. For Billy, I truely believe that he thinks in both a play by play and color format and he translates it well. Others don't. It's not a bad thing.
 
Fck guys. They both did a good job. If Tar-CSI was making a bucket load off money on these events they would have Billy, Christ and the Pope in the both.

I don't think Ken appreciates One pocket too much and thus does not do as good a job with the commentary on that disaplin. Overall a good job done by both.

What do you want to complain about next? Justin doesn't look sexy enough in his shorts and he should hire one of the UFC ring girls? You wanted and Tar delivered the best in Dennis and Shane. Nice job boys.

Nick
 
Nick B said:
Fck guys. They both did a good job. If Tar-CSI was making a bucket load off money on these events they would have Billy, Christ and the Pope in the both.

I don't think Ken appreciates One pocket too much and thus does not do as good a job with the commentary on that disaplin. Overall a good job done by both.

What do you want to complain about next? Justin doesn't look sexy enough in his shorts and he should hire one of the UFC ring girls? You wanted and Tar delivered the best in Dennis and Shane. Nice job boys.

Nick
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Yes-the Beautiful Brittany please!! Id hire her any day! And all she would have to do is sit where i tell her.
 
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my main complaint was MArk going off about how bad the play was.

This table is BRUTAL and they are the best players on the planet.

Was it their best performance NO. But saying how terrible it was is ridiculous.
 
spanky79 said:
my main complaint was MArk going off about how bad the play was.

This table is BRUTAL and they are the best players on the planet.

Was it their best performance NO. But saying how terrible it was is ridiculous.
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I thought it was as bad as they were saying. Dennis who didnt miss ONE ball in the 8 ball missed several straight in four foot hangers.
 
They were asked

Nick B said:
Fck guys. They both did a good job. If Tar-CSI was making a bucket load off money on these events they would have Billy, Christ and the Pope in the both.

I don't think Ken appreciates One pocket too much and thus does not do as good a job with the commentary on that disaplin. Overall a good job done by both.

What do you want to complain about next? Justin doesn't look sexy enough in his shorts and he should hire one of the UFC ring girls? You wanted and Tar delivered the best in Dennis and Shane. Nice job boys.

Nick
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I understand what you are saying, but they were specifically asked to give feedback with a solution to repair it. As far as Justin, it really depends on how many "friends" bring him bottles of whiskey to test. If he can walk, I am ok with it, if not please sit so he doesn't hurt himself, equipment, players, or equipment.
 
Hungarian said:
2.) Mark has got to be difficult to work with. He rarely agrees with his booth mate and often times try to come up with some executive level perspective to create some major disagreement. Mark also likes to interrupt with short correcting comments the very second his brain channels disagree with any part of what you are saying. It's very disruptive.

3.) Kenny is hard to talk with also. He is very long winded and comes across with billiard arrogance. He also interrupts continually. It's usually when the other guy starts to bring up a new point Kenny will jump in and try to say it smarter, crisper and more accurately.
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I agree with both of these and when I was watching the 8-ball this weekend with both of them in the booth I actually laughed at the reality that they both had to actually deal with each other in there. It was like the whole theoretical debate about the immovable object and the irresistible force colliding.

The actual commentary aspect of the match sucked, but it was funny to hear arguements between two people who both have the egos they both do.

Neither of those guys belong in the booth, Ken was terrible in the booth solo during the Deuel/Schmidt match, I mean he was sickening to listen to, I actually hit mute in that match and that SUCKED because I not only lost Ken (which is good) but I lost the mics on the players (which is bad). So for everyone who states "well why not just turn off the volume), that is the answer, you do not just lose the commentator, you lose the players and you lose the sounds of the game itself. A commentator should never be a negative to the point that the viewer is actually weighing the option of just hitting mute, when that happens things are not right.
 
I Enjoyed the commentary. I could never hit mute and not hear the sound of the break and the clicking of the balls.

Svb and Orcullo don't talk. Had Kenny and Mark been talking non stop while I was straining to hear Earl or Schmidt talk I would have been annoyed.
 
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