Comments on: TV Notes: ESPN & Soccer

By: Ben Berger

Ben Berger — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:13:10 +0000

Interesting Ryan. I don’t know how much he watches soccer, but has been doing ESPN soccer coverage for almost 20 years. Names are an issue though.
I think that fans are typically too hard on broadcasters for some nit-picky things, but good point on the coverage Phil. I typically hate the world feeds because it shows things that I don’t want to see (coach reactions, etc…)

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:46:43 +0000

Point of note, it looked like the actual game footage was not an ESPN feed, but the Dutch feed. The coverage / replays were Dutch centric (PK replay after Kuyt sub, not US freekick which took place immediately before sub). This contributed to Harkes not performing well in the booth. That being said he was awful. JP and John don’t seem to stick to play-by-play and color commentary roles (respectively), rather they shift between them. Sometimes they seem to carry on conversations despite the game being played in front of them.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:41:47 +0000

Bob Ley pronounces names in a way that screams “I DON’T WATCH SOCCER MUCH!”.
I like Bob Ley (good overall sports mind, funny, an open interview. etc), but he isn’t cutting it with most diehards that follow the sport in multiple countries.
Non fanatics will probably like him…