eurosport ipt commentary

[The_Doctor]

Has anybody managed to catch the ipt on british eurosport? I have to watch it with the sound off. There are two commentators, I think one of them is Roxton Chapman a pretty damn good billiards player, an I haven't got the faintest idea who the other guy is. Roxton is quite knowledgable I'm sure but seems unable to share any of this knowledge with the viewer, an has the charisma of a parsnip. The other guy however is intolerable. He appears to have no knowledge of the game whatever other than having seen a bit of snooker in the past. He continually makes golf references for something to say, an the pair of them seem only able to point out what the score is and what the score would be if a certain player was to win the next rack.
I don't mind commentators who have no knowledge of the sport as most tv networks seem to pair a lay fan with an expert to encompass all the viewers, but they must at least have some enthusiasm for what they are watching, their voice's must change from a monotone drone every once in a while.
There appears to be little atmosphere at the venue an these two bozo's need to create an atmosphere for the viewer but they are just incapable. It makes for quite a boring programme, an I was really looking forward to watching this event.
Sorry to anybody who doesn't get this event free, I must sound like a right moaning minnie, but it is making it very difficult to watch something have been looking forward to for months now.

Andy.

[thecardman]

Hi Andy

The other commentator is Mark Wildman who used to be Chairman of the WPBSA years ago. He's also a former World English Billiards Champion. Why have we got 2 Billiards players commentating pool??? I have to admit that I cannot stand Wildman as a commentator - never have, to be honest.

For the coverage of the Sigel-LJJ match and the King Of The Hill final, we had Phil Yates commentating. Now, granted that he is an out-and-out walking snooker encyclopaedia, but he at least showed some interest in who the players were and what their past achievements had been. He was also able to get the viewer interested in what was going on. Why couldn't we get him?

But we have to remember one small thing - having coverage with crap commentary is better than nothing!!!

Best wishes

thecardman
/ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[The_Doctor]

Thanks for replying Mr Cardman, I'm absolutely amazed that the guy is an ex world champ, he must try very hard to disguise his understanding of the game. You are obviously correct in that its better to have than to have not but its such a missed opportunity to gain new viewers, I almost long for the insane ramblings of Sid Waddell to return to our screens.

Andy.

[marek]

Hi!
It seems that we are lucky here in Czech Republic. We have our own commentary on eurosport and its good. /ccboard/images/graemlins/wink.gif We have also two guys in the booth. The first one is a long time commentary to snooker events and the second one is a president of our national pool union. They both do a good job putting in interesting info both for outsiders and pool nuts. /ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Koenig]

"I cannot stand Wildman as a commentator - never have, to be honest."

LOL Very funny some years ago when Steve Davis made fun of poor Wildman in Eurosport. He really has no idea of any cuegame out there. Strangely enough.

[Koenig]

Allmost exactly the same here in Sweden. They rock also. Glad to not having to listen to Mark.