I hate when a player makes a ball on the break, has shot on the next ball and commentator say "He is out" with 8-9 ball on the table. I mean, these guys are champions, but saying "he is out" that early makes the game sound like a kid game. For a non pool person this makes the game look easy and the average joe thinks he could do it.
what I hate in a commentary
- Thread starter Slh
- Start date
That's the beauty of pool played at it's highest level. It's supposed to look/be easy. Pool is not about pocketing balls, it's about controlling the cue ball. If you can control the cue ball, pocketing the balls is the easy part. Pros are pros because of their knowledge of the game and their ability to control the cue ball, not because of their ability to pocket balls.
Since someone else started a commentary thread I will mention here that I am currently watching streams of the World Snooker Championships and am noticing a HUGE difference in the type of commentary.
In the snooker alot of the time the commentators are not actually talking. They mention key moments when a person falls of out shape, they will comment on a particularily well made shot, they will add some color commentary here and there or mention the score at the end of a game, but alot of the time it is quiet and they let the game speak for itself, let you hear the click of the balls, get absorbed into the game itself.
In pool though? Commentators never stop talking. It is like they think as a commentator you need to start talking the instant the lag takes place and you need to keep talking until the last ball of the match drops. The announcers comment on which pocket the player will shoot a ball into, even when the shot is straight in and clearly obvious, they will mention obvious shape play, and when they run out of things to talk about in the game they will start talking about past players, past matches, the weather, what kind of beer they are drinking, how good the food is in the pool hall, anything at all to keep the banter alive.
After having watched some of the snooker I gotta say I am loving the limited commentary. I thought about other sports, tennis, golf, the commentators are reserved in their comments, they say what needs to be said and they don't feel the need to keep the viewers ears in constant use. It is great to have commentary that is functional, they talk when it is warrented, and otherwise they just let you watch the game.
I gotta say as much as I love TAR and the other streamers and what they are doing for the game they need to look into commentary and realise they do NOT have to be talking every moment of the stream, let the players play the game, mention key moments, but let the game flow and let the quiet and the click of the balls be a large part of the viewing, I am loving that aspect of the snooker commentary.
In the snooker alot of the time the commentators are not actually talking. They mention key moments when a person falls of out shape, they will comment on a particularily well made shot, they will add some color commentary here and there or mention the score at the end of a game, but alot of the time it is quiet and they let the game speak for itself, let you hear the click of the balls, get absorbed into the game itself.
In pool though? Commentators never stop talking. It is like they think as a commentator you need to start talking the instant the lag takes place and you need to keep talking until the last ball of the match drops. The announcers comment on which pocket the player will shoot a ball into, even when the shot is straight in and clearly obvious, they will mention obvious shape play, and when they run out of things to talk about in the game they will start talking about past players, past matches, the weather, what kind of beer they are drinking, how good the food is in the pool hall, anything at all to keep the banter alive.
After having watched some of the snooker I gotta say I am loving the limited commentary. I thought about other sports, tennis, golf, the commentators are reserved in their comments, they say what needs to be said and they don't feel the need to keep the viewers ears in constant use. It is great to have commentary that is functional, they talk when it is warrented, and otherwise they just let you watch the game.
I gotta say as much as I love TAR and the other streamers and what they are doing for the game they need to look into commentary and realise they do NOT have to be talking every moment of the stream, let the players play the game, mention key moments, but let the game flow and let the quiet and the click of the balls be a large part of the viewing, I am loving that aspect of the snooker commentary.
Got a link?
I just got my Accustats DVD of the month and it was Mika vs Appleton for the us open hot seat and it had Billy I, Danny D and Jim W commentating in that order and if they would have not talked the whole time I would have been disappointed.
By the way, Billy was right the most.
By the way, Billy was right the most.
I think you'll find when a pro commentator makes a comment along those lines, they're saying that the table is laying very well, there are no balls tied up, no lanes blocked, there's distance between the balls and it's going to be fairly easy to get from one ball to the next.
Now when a amateur commentator makes that comment and the table is not lying that easy, it's almost as if the player can see the 1st ball, then BOOM.. they're out. That irritates me.
You won't see them making that comment on these really tight tables. That Oscar/John Morra match, I would'nt say anyone was out if there were 2 balls on the table
Now when a amateur commentator makes that comment and the table is not lying that easy, it's almost as if the player can see the 1st ball, then BOOM.. they're out. That irritates me.
You won't see them making that comment on these really tight tables. That Oscar/John Morra match, I would'nt say anyone was out if there were 2 balls on the table
Red, your avatar is scary. Clown Scary.
I agree, I'm a little disturbed myself.
Took me a few hours to make that thing too
I had to chop out eyes, left and right ear, hair, mouth, nose and neck and then place each one over the cueball.Gonna have to find something else though. While interesting and imaginative, it's downright creepy
Sorry but I couldn't disagree more. You have to make the ball or the shape doesn't matter. Any pro will tell you if you can't pocket balls at a high level then shape is irrelevant. Pros take the easiest path through the pack. But many times the shot and the shape are both above an advanced level of play. Top level pros will play simple shape allowing them to pocket the ball first. They will sacrifice the hard shot when they are left straight in just to get a shot @ the next ball.
Yes they play shape. And yes they won't attempt a ball if they can't reasonably expect shape. But their ball pocketing ability allows them the stellar shotmaking to be able to move the cueball after the shot. To think anything else is simply an amateur glimpsing a pro game and not understanding what he's looking @.
Yes they play shape. And yes they won't attempt a ball if they can't reasonably expect shape. But their ball pocketing ability allows them the stellar shotmaking to be able to move the cueball after the shot. To think anything else is simply an amateur glimpsing a pro game and not understanding what he's looking @.
Tap Tap Tap
This is one of the most insightful and intelligent posts I've read in quite a while. From a journalistic approach, different sports call for different types of commentary. Just think about the commentary you've heard while watching the following sports and compare and contrast them: Pro football, Pro baseball, Pro basketball, Pro hockey, Pro golf, Pro motocross, Olympic diving, Olympic gymnastics, Pro pool and Pro snooker. Some sports respond well to wall to wall color commentary and commentator conversation. Others are better represented by little commentary while the athlete is performing, but a lot of commentary in between performances. Some commentary is enriched by colorful stories and historical facts while others rely heavily on statistics. I'd say pool hasn't found what it's looking for in regard to commentary style yet, but with the amount of live streams being broadcast hopefully it will soon. I like Billie Incardona and Nick Varner's gentle, polite and knowledgable approach the most. When either or both of these guys are calling a game it's a joy to watch. I also like the peaks and valleys of excitement and stoicism from matches called by the late, great Joe Wilson. I'd say he was ahead of his time.
Ron F
This is one of the most insightful and intelligent posts I've read in quite a while. From a journalistic approach, different sports call for different types of commentary. Just think about the commentary you've heard while watching the following sports and compare and contrast them: Pro football, Pro baseball, Pro basketball, Pro hockey, Pro golf, Pro motocross, Olympic diving, Olympic gymnastics, Pro pool and Pro snooker. Some sports respond well to wall to wall color commentary and commentator conversation. Others are better represented by little commentary while the athlete is performing, but a lot of commentary in between performances. Some commentary is enriched by colorful stories and historical facts while others rely heavily on statistics. I'd say pool hasn't found what it's looking for in regard to commentary style yet, but with the amount of live streams being broadcast hopefully it will soon. I like Billie Incardona and Nick Varner's gentle, polite and knowledgable approach the most. When either or both of these guys are calling a game it's a joy to watch. I also like the peaks and valleys of excitement and stoicism from matches called by the late, great Joe Wilson. I'd say he was ahead of his time.
Ron F
Well said -- Less is more in so many things
I will only add this; there is a time to talk and a time to be quiet. And it can take years to learn the difference. :wink:
No kidding you have to make the ball first. And that's the whole reason behind the shape. They try to leave themselves the easiest shot possible. No need to do anymore work than you have to - any pro will tell you that. My point was that their position play is so good that they usually DO NOT HAVE many hard shots. To think anything else is not having an understanding of the game.