Who's the best TV pool commentator
- Thread starter Pangit
- Start date
I like Nick Varner and Jim Wyche. Another good one is the fellow who did commentary for Earl and Effren`s race to 120 in China years ago. I cannot think of his name but I have always liked his softspoken style and insightful comments. I am sure someone out there will know who I am talking about.
Mark Wilson!
That`s the guy. Thank you. He has a very pleasant, refined voice. When he says things like "look at Earl spin that ball in, the kid from North Carolina can really play" he comes as respectful and not the least bit corny. A really fine announcer.
I would think, over the pond their lies your answer. European snooker I'm sure has the best commentators for obvious reasons. Lets give em a
Shout Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shout Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would be great if the videos and streams had the commentating on a second track so the commentating could be turned off and you could still get the rest of the audio.
I always like the older accustats matches with Grady and Billy, they manage to crack me up sometimes when they disagreed. 
Varner is great too. I watched a pool stream once from the NW that had Dan Louie commentate and he was really insightful and had a pleasant style to him also; he should do more commentating!
Varner is great too. I watched a pool stream once from the NW that had Dan Louie commentate and he was really insightful and had a pleasant style to him also; he should do more commentating!
For 14.1 commentary, hands down the choice would be George Fels, as proven last weekend in Chicago! Hopefully Charlie Williams is listening, and will hire George to commentate the 14.1 championships that he promotes.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Charles Barkley
How bout Charles Barkley or Shaquille O'Neal?
Oh wait wrong sport my bad!
But I would like to see Charles commentate pool as he cracks me up listening to what he has to say.
I can hear him now "that was a t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e shot! just t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e, what was he thinking when he took that?"
How bout Charles Barkley or Shaquille O'Neal?
Oh wait wrong sport my bad!
But I would like to see Charles commentate pool as he cracks me up listening to what he has to say.
I can hear him now "that was a t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e shot! just t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e, what was he thinking when he took that?"
JOEY A
Of course.
But if you are talking about snooker commentators then you move into a different dimension. Clive Everton is The Daddy and both John Virgo and Dennis Taylor are still interesting even if the have a combined 60 years doing the job. Steve Davis is not too shabby either.
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Shizzle has a few rap albums.
Mitchell Laurance is the BEST EVER!!!!
If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the collaboration of Jerry Forsyth and the English guy who is now retired. I can't remember his name. Wendell something?
I could probably do a search on the forum and find 10 threads of this same topic which will give me the names I've replied with each and every time in the past on the other threads. This topic is cyclical. It comes up three and four times a year in a brand-new thread.
Special mention goes to Jay Helfert and OMGWTF. The first time I heard those two, I did not know it was Jay. The charisma between the two of them reminded me of Howard Stern and Robin Quivers.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Allen Hopkins. I enjoy his enthusiasm and ability to communicate different shots. I admire Allen a lot. :smile:
I could probably do a search on the forum and find 10 threads of this same topic which will give me the names I've replied with each and every time in the past on the other threads. This topic is cyclical. It comes up three and four times a year in a brand-new thread.
Special mention goes to Jay Helfert and OMGWTF. The first time I heard those two, I did not know it was Jay. The charisma between the two of them reminded me of Howard Stern and Robin Quivers.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Allen Hopkins. I enjoy his enthusiasm and ability to communicate different shots. I admire Allen a lot. :smile:
So I did the search, and here's my post from 2006, same topic:
I agree with you about Sid Waddell. The first time I heard him commentate was with Jerry Forsyth at a WPC, in England I think. They really did complement each other, Jerry with that Southern drawl and Sid with his squeals of delight and English humor. Sid's enthusiasm is so infectious.
Usually, when I am watching pool on TV or pre-recorded matches on video -- since we don't get LIVE matches here in the States -- it is a rare occasion that I watch the whole thing to the end, unless one of the players is someone I am interested in.
When I listened to The Jerry and Sid Show for the first time, I was glued to the TV set, as was my room mate, who rarely watches pool on TV unless it's the ladies.
I regret not hearing Jay Helfert at the recent WPC in Philippines. With his multi-faceted background in pool, his contributions to the WPC broadcast must have been brilliant.
It ain't as easy as one would think, providing real-time commentary, sitting there behind a microphone, having to keep up with the pace of the match.
What if a match is boring, with little activity, you have to be able to provide fillers for those awkward moments when it is live. ESPN matches can be edited after the fact, but LIVE broadcast have got to be difficult, IMHO.
Players do make good commentators, but I am reminded of a boxing match I watched one time with George Foreman behind one of the three microphones in the anchor booth. It was an older Holyfield's last boxing match, and George stood up and said they should end the match and end it now, as Holyfield was getting clobbered. Foreman remained silent for just about the rest of the broadcast, even when prodded by his co-anchors to speak.
AzBilliards thread on commentary: November 2006 thread :thumbup:
Jim Rempe makes a great commentator
I think Jim Rempe ("King James") is a GREAT commentator! Very enthusiastic, charismatic, and lots of color to his analyses. Wish he'd get into the commentator's booth more, but alas, he's retired...
-Sean
I think Jim Rempe ("King James") is a GREAT commentator! Very enthusiastic, charismatic, and lots of color to his analyses. Wish he'd get into the commentator's booth more, but alas, he's retired...
-Sean