I am roaring at the comments! The commentator, whoever he is, sounded like a prim and proper British guy who stumbled into an ice arena and now is expected to make insightful comments. "Well, that was pretty good...except the fall." I think ISU can do better!
ISU video commentator?
- Thread starter itsallok
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- Nov 12, 2013
Wait, he called him Tomoko!? Pffffffffft, that's a girl's name.
It always cracks me up when the commentators accidentally turn male Japanese names into female ones. "Tomoko" Hiwatashi and "Yuzuka" Hanyu must be Tomoki and Yuzuru's twin sisters.
At least it seems to be an honest mistake on his part, maybe he was influenced by the name Satoko
The only thing I don't forgive is when a commentator pretends to know a language and starts lecturing the audience but says utter nonsense. Like one guy and his 'tsuripuru axeru' on our TV last year... ugh.I wonder if retired skaters are too expensive for the ISU to get to do the commentary.
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I think it's a bit harsh to pile on the "Tomoko" error since he got pretty much every other name spot on. He probably just tripped over his tongue for a moment.
He's not got any kind of skating background but he is doing his best without being a jerk, which immediately raises him above other commentators.
He's not got any kind of skating background but he is doing his best without being a jerk, which immediately raises him above other commentators.
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- Jan 23, 2009
What's the opportunity cost for former skaters? There is no lucrative post-competition figure skating career.
well, there's no lucrative during-competition figure skating career either ...
I bet lots of retired skaters would take on the job, and be willing to be paid less than a random "general sports" commentator
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I love his voice...it's just the epitome of Brit Posh.
But.
Is there a cliche this man does not absolutely adore? I don't find him obnoxious at all, just a bit endearingly clueless.
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Also, in spite of how much I want to strangle him sometimes, he has got better. Like, he can identify jumps now, which trust me, when he started on SBS in Australia, he definitely couldn't.
It seems like he has a decent memory as well. To say I was nearly shocked off my couch when he reminisced fondly about Max after Camden's skate would be an understatement. Not only did he literally remember who Max was (a feat the USFS apparently can't even be bothered to achieve), he remembered that Max had saved the USFS' blushes in 2018. That's a really precise thing to remember.
It seems like he has a decent memory as well. To say I was nearly shocked off my couch when he reminisced fondly about Max after Camden's skate would be an understatement. Not only did he literally remember who Max was (a feat the USFS apparently can't even be bothered to achieve), he remembered that Max had saved the USFS' blushes in 2018. That's a really precise thing to remember.
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Oh, now I understand! US Nationals had me thinking differently because they mentioned NBC/US commentators were doing NBC Gold. Thanks for clarifying. About Ice Network, I don't know why they could not have left the site up with a message saying, "IceNetwork.com will no longer be updated or monitored." Maybe it cost too much to keep the domain or the bandwidth? Oh well, water under the bridge.
I liked his voice as well, it was sort of 'white noise' to me and I wasn't paying much attention to whatever he was saying. I did catch some cringeworthy cliche's though.
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- Nov 4, 2019
If I recall, back in 2018 USFS partnered with NBC and gave them full-exclusive media rights to broadcasting all domestic and international figure skating events through 2026. So that meant that IceNetwork had to be shut down in its entirety. Here's the press release.
As for how far back it goes.... looks like it goes back to the 2017-2018 season. The earliest international event I see is Rostelecom 2017. The earliest domestic event is SouthWest Regionals on 10/12/2017.
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*Rides into this thread to defend SBSman's honour*
As Karne says he's gotten a lot better! Also because of his accent it's rather easy to tune him out - at least to me, so even though he does talk during the programs it's not as jarring as say the Russian, American or the Japanese commentators (I like to watch old YouTube videos, if you think SBSman talks a lot...I've heard ones where the commentators literally did not take a breath from start to finish! It was almost impressive). Of course it'd be great if he'd only do it after the program, but eh, I can't be too picky.
He is Captain Obvious sometimes, but I find that rather amusing. One does wonder what would happen if he and Chris ended up commentating together!
I do feel the need to point out that he is commentating for people who know absolutely nothing about skating and might just be stumbling across it for the first time - hence a lot of the obvious comments about scoring and such is for their benefit.
Also he's waaaay better at identifying jumps then I ever well be
As Karne says he's gotten a lot better! Also because of his accent it's rather easy to tune him out - at least to me, so even though he does talk during the programs it's not as jarring as say the Russian, American or the Japanese commentators (I like to watch old YouTube videos, if you think SBSman talks a lot...I've heard ones where the commentators literally did not take a breath from start to finish! It was almost impressive
). Of course it'd be great if he'd only do it after the program, but eh, I can't be too picky.He is Captain Obvious sometimes, but I find that rather amusing. One does wonder what would happen if he and Chris ended up commentating together!
I do feel the need to point out that he is commentating for people who know absolutely nothing about skating and might just be stumbling across it for the first time - hence a lot of the obvious comments about scoring and such is for their benefit.
Also he's waaaay better at identifying jumps then I ever well be
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Apart from Simon Reed, all of British Eurosport's commentary team over the years have been former skaters:
- Chris Howarth (1981 British Men's Champion)
- Nicky Slater (1976 Junior World Ice Dance Champion)
- Mark Hanretty (4 x Medallist at British Championships in Junior Men's Singles and Senior Ice Dance)
- Catherine Whitaker (Ladies Singles skater)
- Joanne Conway (6 x British Ladies Champion)
- Sinéad Kerr (7 x British Ice Dance Champion)
- David Clements (1959 British Men's Champion)
I was wondering how long it would be until you popped in. (Given the amount of times Paul mentioned horses this morning, I like the way you worded that!
) As Karne says he's gotten a lot better! Also because of his accent it's rather easy to tune him out - at least to me, so even though he does talk during the programs it's not as jarring as say the Russian, American or the Japanese commentators (I like to watch old YouTube videos, if you think SBSman talks a lot...I've heard ones where the commentators literally did not take a breath from start to finish! It was almost impressive
You're not wrong there. The Russian commentators are really bad for doing that. And the Italians and Spanish aren't much better. (Although it is little more than a month since Nationals, I can't actually remember what the Japanese commentators are like. And I can't say I've heard the American commentators).
He is Captain Obvious sometimes, but I find that rather amusing. One does wonder what would happen if he and Chris ended up commentating together!
I do feel the need to point out that he is commentating for people who know absolutely nothing about skating and might just be stumbling across it for the first time - hence a lot of the obvious comments about scoring and such is for their benefit.
That is probably a good point to make. I think that, because we are die-hard fans, we forget that there are newbies coming along that need things explained to them.
I still remember the time that Tony Robinson was presenting "Time Team". And when talking about his presenting style, and striking the balance between being techncial and being accessible for the masses, he said that he was pitching it to be "archaeology for Beano readers".
And I think this is what Paul is aiming to do too. It is just taking him time to get there.
Chris and the other British Eurosport guys have found the right balance, but don't forget that they have been doing this for over 25 years. Paul is still a relative newbie in comparison.
Also he's waaaay better at identifying jumps then I ever well be
Snap!
I have been a fan of this sport for nearly 20 years, and more intensively for about 10 years. And I still cannot identify any jumps! And for the spins, I can only identify a few of the more obvious ones.
So, I agree that we should be impressed that a non-specialist commentator can manage that.
CaroLiza_fan
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- Jun 6, 2019
anybody else want more of Ted Barton?
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- Oct 22, 2019
Ok I kinda want to walk back all the dissing I did about him.
I was having a meltdown about Rika and surprisingly his way of commenting calmed my nerves down and I was able to watch Rika somewhat calmly thanks to him!
PS Can someone tell me who he called a Woodpecker??? I really want to know!
I was having a meltdown about Rika and surprisingly his way of commenting calmed my nerves down and I was able to watch Rika somewhat calmly thanks to him!
PS Can someone tell me who he called a Woodpecker??? I really want to know!
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- Apr 14, 2018
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I’m actually not a huge fan of Barton’s style but he seems like a great person and is perfect for juniors. Personally I feel Senior commentators should be more critical, especially when there are obvious mistakes.
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We think we discovered SBSman secret in the Pairs FS, he gets Coronas (the drink) every time he mentions the virus.
He's amassed quite a haul now
He's amassed quite a haul now
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- Nov 12, 2013
I heard that comment just yesterday when watching archived ladies' short, he said that about the journalists' cameras clicking after either EunSoo's or Young's SP.
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- Oct 22, 2019
Ahh thank you! I thought he was saying someone's performance looked like a woodpecker! I would have gone and tried to watch that performance lol!
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