ISU video commentator? | Page 5 | Golden Skate

ISU video commentator?

Pantsu

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 12, 2019
I watched Canadian Nationals for a sole reason that Ted Barton was there. He makes it interesting and enjoyable.
Always looks for good parts even in a very bad perfomance. Knowledgable and insightful comments. Points out areas where skaters can improve their skills. Remains silent throughout the whole program
 

anonymoose_au

Insert weird opinion here
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Country
Australia
I haven't heard this commentator, but some of these comments are really harsh....

They so are! But then I went onto Twitter where they're really piling on the poor guy.

Jackie Wong who I thought was a nice person is being downright malicious to the point I'm thinking of unfollowing him.

Is SBSman the greatest commentator who ever lived? Definitely not.

Is he working for hours on his own, commentating for the benefit of newcomers to the sport and trying to be informative. Yes, yes he is.

He's also a human being who doesn't deserve these mean and belittling comments. People can be so nasty, imagine for one second it was you people were talking about.

Doesn't feel so funny now I bet!
 

Greengemmonster

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2019
Watching the men's FS I am convinced this man really means no harm. He just has no filter and there is like a neverending stream of thoughts.

Actually when you get used to him he is down right funny.

Highlights for me were:

Called Boyang a "bright boy." He actually said some really nice things about Boyang. His choice of words is hilarious though!

Said Junhwan has a Beatles haircut and the hat makes him look like someone out of MacBeth

Complimented Hanyu's costume just like he did the ladies so I don't think he is being creepy about the ladies or anything.

He also mentioned that Junhwan should take the hat off because it wasn't flattering which cracked me up.

I honestly think he runs out of things to say so just says whatever comes to mind which of course sends "woke" Twitter after him like pack of hyenas.

Emailing the ISU to get someone fired and destroying their livelihood is just a nono for me no matter how much the man may irritate you.

When he mentioned Nathan's best score compared to Hanyu's and how Hanyu had some work to do I was like: OMG shush! You do not want to say that, people will go after you with a hatchet!
 

lurkz2

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
While I draw the line at personal insults to the commentator (don't think I've seen any), the level of commentary is fair game. I must say this is one of the worst so far. Many commentators talk too much while the program is running; this one's worse because he's babbling random stuff during the program. I recall him saying stuff like x skater would surely like to do well during the actual skate.
 

solani

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Country
Austria
When he mentioned Nathan's best score compared to Hanyu's and how Hanyu had some work to do I was like: OMG shush! You do not want to say that, people will go after you with a hatchet!
No one should ever be afraid of reporting actual facts. Especially not a sports commentator commenting on high scores.

But we are allowed to critizise the commentator! He chose the position, no one made him do this. If customers don't like my work, they'll tell me or my boss.
Just a thought: maybe he's telling us all this useless, sometimes funny stuff, because the ISU told him to do just that. That would be all the more reason to complain.
 

Ichatdelune

Long live the Queen and her successors
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
Country
South-Korea
Re: the hat my darling was given, here's the tweet I wrote

Korean piping in - that hat is a traditional one worn by 'seonbi', learned scholars who were also basically the nobles (government positions, etc). It's still used in traditional coming-of-age ceremonies and the likes. I thought he looked like he had blue blood and I was there live

I try not to take offense with people not knowing our culture, but that hat looked absolutely dashing on him thank you very much.
 

Nachi

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 11, 2018
I try not to take offense with people not knowing our culture, but that hat looked absolutely dashing on him thank you very much.

I'm a non-Korean but knew a little bit about traditional clothing and the hat. I thought he looked quite cute with it. The commentator really did mean no harm. He just thought it looked a bit weird because he's not used to the look. I can imagine that some things from my country might look weird to outsiders as well, so why should I get mad if they don't denounce it.
 

anonymoose_au

Insert weird opinion here
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Country
Australia
Re: the hat my darling was given, here's the tweet I wrote



I try not to take offense with people not knowing our culture, but that hat looked absolutely dashing on him thank you very much.

That was the only time I was like "Dude no". I mean apart from the fact Jun looked fabulous in the hat, you could see it was the same as the mascot was wearing! Therefore it was probably a traditional Korean accessory.

All in all, I feel like writing to SBSman to let him know how to improve. Some of the info he gave on the skaters was stuff I didn't know, so I liked that :), and he definitely cut down on the talking today, which may have been tiredness, but it did allow the programs to be at the forefront.

He genuinely enjoyed the Gala and had fun there :)
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
That commentator is like having a clueless relative who is politely enduring your figure skating thing with you, bored out of his mind, so he searches for random facts on the internet to share at odd times. He has an uncanny sense of worse timing to pipe in, and a penchant to pointing out that the skated does well just before the skater fouls up. There is a reason why commenting during replays is better. Argh.
 

silverfoxes

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
I would possibly be a little more empathetic toward him if it weren't for the blatant sexism - endlessly talking about the ladies' appearances, while he never did about the men. That's not ok at all. Constantly calling stuff incorrectly as well - that should be like commentary 101. Maybe that stuff would fly on some small country broadcast where hardly anyone watches, but the ISU has got to do better.
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
It was such a contrast with Barton who commented Rus Jr.Nationals who managed to talk about each skater—even when he had not seen them before, which he had pointed out; calling elements during the replays b/c there was no break down in the left-corner, just a running score; answer the questions from the fans, discuss his views on the current trends in the figure skating and offer respectful options on divisive hot topics... and all of it without ever speaking up during the skate once.

Competitions have lots of those times where the commentators can make you not to fast forward.
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
I would possibly be a little more empathetic toward him if it weren't for the blatant sexism - endlessly talking about the ladies' appearances, while he never did about the men. That's not ok at all. Constantly calling stuff incorrectly as well - that should be like commentary 101. Maybe that stuff would fly on some small country broadcast where hardly anyone watches, but the ISU has got to do better.

He commented about the men's appearances just as much, be it the costumes or their looks. You may not have heard, but it was the first thing I noticed when listening to the commentary to the men's. Donovan Carillo, Han Yan, Camden Pulkinen, even Yuzuru, and more, all got comments on constuming and appearance. So, 'never did about the men' is in my view incorrect. Just as with the ladies he was also commenting on whether a costume reflected the chosen character to portray or the piece of music to skate to. I've heard sports commentators do much worse on the 'sexism' score than this guy. I got more used to him throughout the two competitions he's been commenting on, and - yes - he does state the obvious, I found it strange that he could tell us quite a bit about a skaters competition history but not mention what the three Canadian guys were fighting for, his vocubulary on skating coming short sometimes (why not call a 'step out' just that, instead of an 'awkward landing') but at least he knows what an UR is even if he couldn't always see it. I'd prefer to have Chris or Ted on next time, but in my view the ISU could actually do much worse. That he didn't realise the hat was something cultural was just stupid, I don't think he intentionally set out to offend anyone. Oh, and I thought that hat looked really nice on Junwhan Cha. So there!
 

Ichatdelune

Long live the Queen and her successors
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
Country
South-Korea
That he didn't realise the hat was something cultural was just stupid, I don't think he intentionally set out to offend anyone. Oh, and I thought that hat looked really nice on Junwhan Cha. So there!

That's the point. If you don't know if something's cultural or not you shut up on the issue. He should've just stopped with "I don't know what that hat is." He crossed the line when he said my darling looked like Widow Twankey, a)you're supposed to keep your personal opinions to yourself when you're commentating and b)I as a Korean was offended and so were other Koreans. (And as all of you agree, it looked good on my darling. He was absolutely charming wearing it. So not only was he being a culturally ignorant twat, he was also wrong. :p)

In this situation intentions don't matter, he could've been trying to compliment my darling for all I care. He was unprofessional and ignorant on an *international* stream. I don't care there could be worse people out there, if the ISU can't find better people then have no commentary. I was perfectly happy with it before.
 

icybear

Medalist
Joined
Mar 18, 2017
This commentator basically does 3 thing - read isu bios, describe costumes and butt in into a middle of a performance to tell you the most obvious observation like skater X is doing really well at the moment
 

Kinga

Medalist
Joined
Feb 15, 2008
We are in 2020, the streaming technology is so advanced that there should be 'no commentary' button. This dude is hopeless, but I don't particularly enjoy other commentators who speak throughout performances, whoever they are. I should have a freedom not to be dependent on a voice ruining the music for me and breaking a performance. They can talk all they want during replays. So: either no commentary option, or keep your thoughts until a performance has finished. Whoever you are. Chris H or no Chris H.
 

ancientpeas

The Notorious SEW
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
BTW, I saw the ISU post a few weeks ago (during Euros I think) that there has to be a commentator for some unspecified reason.

As long as they aren't offensive or wrong I don't really care but I do wish they'd only talk when the skaters are not actually skating or just a quick interjection of "They have missed an element" or "That should have been a combo so they will have to make it up later in the program". Crucial stuff. You don't need to tell us someone fell. We have eyes.
 

ancientpeas

The Notorious SEW
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I don't mind Paul but I think he needs to know that he is talking to an audience that, for the most part, knows and understands skating. I don't think many casual viewers are watching. Also you can talk about costumes but also talk about the skating. It would have been nice if he had known things like how important 4CC was to certain teams selection processes for worlds and about world minimums because just last night two men missed it by a very small amount and unless you knew that or were talking in the competition forum you might not have known. Also I think only people with ID knowledge should commentate ID. It's much harder to talk about because the differences are more subtle.

The only comment that made my eyebrows raise was the one about the "Widow" whoever from the Aladdin pantomime. It did not come across well. Oh..and probably any references to girls not looking their age should come out of your repertoire.

Ted would be fine to commentate but he needs to be more critical with seniors. He can say negative as well as positive things.
 
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mylifeback

On the Ice
Joined
May 27, 2014
Country
United-States
I honestly didn't mind the NBC Gold commentator. Right, he didn't give a lot of technical insight but he was pleasant to listen to, was supportive of all the skaters, and I didn't mind hearing the size of crowd and reactions, etc. I don't need a lot of explaining done as I can see things for myself so maybe that's why it didn't bother me? I think a lot of the Skating Twitter reaction was too harsh, and Jackie Wong (whom I like and appreciate) piling on and mocking the commentator was not a good look for him. I expect professionalism from Jackie and not lowering himself to the pettiness of the skating twitter mob. And fwiw, for every obvious comment he made or excessive pattering on, he also gave us another British gem, like "cracking" or "cat in the pigeons" comment, which I always appreciate!

All that being said, I much prefer Tanith & Charlie or Ben. Tanith does an incredibly professional and insightful job, she has really been the preferred commentator for me. Oh, and I loved the British Eurosport guys, it's such a shame we didn't get much if any of them this season. I also don't mind Tara & Johnny lol, they have their own unique style.

Ted Barton was so bland to me during Russian Nats as to be exasperating, so I'd take this guy over him!
 

slider11

Medalist
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
I don't mind Paul but I think he needs to know that he is talking to an audience that, for the most part, knows and understands skating. I don't think many casual viewers are watching. Also you can talk about costumes but also talk about the skating. It would have been nice if he had known things like how important 4CC was to certain teams selection processes for worlds and about world minimums because just last night two men missed it by a very small amount and unless you knew that or were talking in the competition forum you might not have known. Also I think only people with ID knowledge should commentate ID. It's much harder to talk about because the differences are more subtle.

The only comment that made my eyebrows raise was the one about the "Widow" whoever from the Aladdin pantomime. It did not come across well. Oh..and probably any references to girls not looking their age should come out of your repertoire.

Ted would be fine to commentate but he needs to be more critical with seniors. He can say negative as well as positive things.


Good points! I like how Ted is quiet during the performance, letting the viewer watch the skater with an eye to the score box. Then Ted shares some additional insights/analysis during the highlight clips. I do agree that he will have to be willing to be a bit more critical with the seniors.
 
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