I'd say gold star for Greg Rusedski - I really like listening to his knowledge about tennis and pie for Pat Cash as at Queens last week they were talking about something and he was getting quite ratty
Not a popular opinion around these parts, but I actually like Pat Cash overall too even though he is opinionated and does come out with some things I don't agree with!
Sheesh, I dont. Hated the man, he was the most godawful snob and treated us plebs like dirt. That probably coloured my opinion of his commentating skills.
LOVE (Gold Star)
John McEnroe
Boris Becker
Mark Petchey
David Mercer
Barry Davies
OK BUT NOT GREAT
Simon Reed
Chris Bradnan
Jason Goodall
Greg Rusedski
PLEASE MUTE AND GO AWAY(Pies)
Tim Henman
John Lloyd
Pat Cash
Mark Cox (from the Dan Maskell charm school)
And, because he's SOOOO bad IMO, the Tally Award for Worst Commentator goes to *drum roll*
McEnroe is my favourite, always has interesting things to say whether you happen to agree or not.
Henman should get the wooden spoon, although the BBC should really have resisted the urge to employ him. He comes across as a nice but fairly dull chap, much like he did on the court.
McEnroe is my favourite, always has interesting things to say whether you happen to agree or not.
Henman should get the wooden spoon, although the BBC should really have resisted the urge to employ him. He comes across as a nice but fairly dull chap, much like he did on the court.
(Castle is awful as well, obviously.)
This is the problem - the suitability and ability is overlooked in favour of their name. There was a story in one of the red tops that he was on 14 grand per day at Wimbledon- that has since been corrected - though the amount he is getting is no doubt obscene
This is the problem - the suitability and ability is overlooked in favour of their name. There was a story in one of the red tops that he was on 14 grand per day at Wimbledon- that has since been corrected - though the amount he is getting is no doubt obscene
Gee, if you started working out how much that works out per intersting thing he has to say....
The Beeb jumped on him as if everyone would really want to hear a recent GB no 1 viewes. Naa, we could have lived without them and actually that's a huge waste of money.
Gee, if you started working out how much that works out per intersting thing he has to say....
The Beeb jumped on him as if everyone would really want to hear a recent GB no 1 viewes. Naa, we could have lived without them and actually that's a huge waste of money.
I am afraid he is - Johnny Mac has something interesting to say because he isn't scared of upsetting anyone - and is very amusing with it. Andrew Castle is by no means on the same planet as the legendary Barry Davies. Castle beats moire drums than Phil Collins ever did in his music career. John Lloyd - another one employed on the strength of who his ex wife is.
David Mercer is brilliant - and I like Simon Reed too- but these are of course not the Beeb's in house commentators - so have room to be critical
Yes, actually David Mercer is very good. Sorry, David I shoild have given you one of my gold stars.
But the beeb will never give him the mens final - we'll be stuck with Castle, Henman and Johnny Mac- you can almost see Johnny looking at the pair of them and thinking - do i have to work with these numpties
As for the women - Tracy Austin will do it. Not sure who with though
David Mercer is my favourite but he will never get the Men's singles Final as he was never ranked No 114 and got to the 3rd round once :rolleyes:
Also love Mac obviously, but my other favourites are Simon Reed and Greg Rusedski. Informative and never patronising.
Always find it laughable when Petchey, Bradnam etc are criticising the shots of players whose boots they wouldn't have been fit to lace.
Used to hate the shrieking harridan Virginia Wade but I'm sure she's retired long since.
It's called having a bit of fun, which is always a good thing in my book.
Totally agree Tally - and as someone pointed out last year when a complaint was made about all of the tennis-related threads cropping up, it's only for a few weeks.
Football has its own sub-forum, and there are multiple threads on other sports at times, and Wimbledon is one of the biggest sporting events in the UK and one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world, so surely it deserves a little extra attention ?
My above comment is in regards to people just posting names without any reasoning. Pointless in my opinion and also DS rules state posts have to be constructive.
As for my own opinions
Andrew Castle is a bit of a grater but he is undoubtably the BBC's number 1 commentator on tennis now. The fact that he has no current ITV role has enabled him to do more which he normally wouldnt be involved in ( eg French Open ).
David Mercer is very good and has a lovely turn of phrase but I think we will slowly start to see him getting edged out to the outside courts and only doing up to the quarters or semis.
Barry Davies is a legend in my eyes. Whatever sport he does he does it well. Again though, he is nearing the end of his career and we won't be hearing much of this doyen of commentary for much longer. He is already severely restricted ( not by his choice ) on the sports we now hear him on.
John McEnroe is superb and very analytical but the way the BBC fawn over him is pretty embarrassing at times. Yes he was a superb player and yes he adds so much to the commentary but lets not make him out to be a Saint when he clearly is not.
Simon Reed is under used by the BBC at Wimbledon for me, and you can understand why, he is Eurosports Head of Commentary. Another who adds so much to commentary and ( from a media point of view ) has a wonderful voice.
Tin Henman isn't that exciting to my ears. He was the British hope for years so is bound to appeal to many but I think there are many better co comms than him.
John Lloyd is my case in point. I think he is the pick of the Co Comms who adds some gravitas to his points. OK, he hasnt won what Boris, Greg or Timbo have but he does talk an excellent game and can add humour too. He always seems well respected too.
Mark Petchy is very good. He certainly has come on in recent years and I can see him probably doing the womens final again.
Andrew Cotter is the new Mr Versatile. Tennis, golf, rugby union, the Boat Race and much more, he is Barry Davies for the 21st century. To be fair to him, whatever I have heard him on he has being exceptional. I think he is definitely the Beebs new blue eyed boy and will certainly have plenty of work for years to come.
But the beeb will never give him the mens final - we'll be stuck with Castle, Henman and Johnny Mac- you can almost see Johnny looking at the pair of them and thinking - do i have to work with these numpties
As for the women - Tracy Austin will do it. Not sure who with though
I thought Johnny Mac worked for a US channel during the final?
I really want Tim Henman to get better, because I love it when he does tell anecdotes about his playing days, but I think he needs to do more during the year like Rusedski does to get commentary practice in rather than totally depend on Wimbledon to learn the craft
Always find it laughable when Petchey, Bradnam etc are criticising the shots of players whose boots they wouldn't have been fit to lace.
If they can do the job ( and I'm not a particular fan of either ) then that to me is not an issue, i.e. it would be hypocrital of me to complain about them employing really top players just because of who they are, and then take that point of view re ex-players / current coaches that played to a much lower level.
Guess, i just want folk who are good at the job. If that comes along with interesting top level insight then all the better..
If they can do the job ( and I'm not a particular fan of either ) then that to me is not an issue, i.e. it would be hypocrital of me to complain about them employing really top players just because of who they are, and then take that point of view re ex-players / current coaches that played to a much lower level.
Guess, i just want folk who are good at the job. If that comes along with interesting top level insight then all the better..
Good point - I have been known to grunt and grumble about Barry Cowan offering advice about how Federer should improve his play, but we either want top professionals regardless of commentating ability or people who are good at commentating regardless of playing ability, we can't have it both ways!
And look at Toni Nadal, for instance, who has the skill to coach Rafa to the top but obvioulsy didn't have the playing ability to get there himself - the two aren't mutually exclusive.
I think Mark Petchey's great by the way, I didn't include him in my first post because I'd forgotten he worked for the Beeb during Wimbledon!
Andrew Cotter is the new Mr Versatile. Tennis, golf, rugby union, the Boat Race and much more, he is Barry Davies for the 21st century. To be fair to him, whatever I have heard him on he has being exceptional. I think he is definitely the Beebs new blue eyed boy and will certainly have plenty of work for years to come.
Seems i'm not alone in my love for Mr Cotter.
I think it's always important to have a mix of the journalist / professional commentator and the ex-player pundit. McEnroe does very well at crossing the line between the two.
I'm going to miss Marcus, although I'm noticed Sky Sports News are doing a Wimbledon report, I know Georgie Thompson is anchoring it, hopefully Marcus will be involved
I think it is a shame if people don't think this thread is worthwhile. I was hoping it would be a bit of fun but also interesting to find out why people like or dislike certain commentators. It may also give an idea of whether former players are as good as 'proper commentators'.
Totally agree Tally - and as someone pointed out last year when a complaint was made about all of the tennis-related threads cropping up, it's only for a few weeks.
Football has its own sub-forum, and there are multiple threads on other sports at times, and Wimbledon is one of the biggest sporting events in the UK and one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world, so surely it deserves a little extra attention ?
I am not criticising the thread, by no means, merely the first post by the OP. They ask for opinions and state - so and so is good and so and so is bad. How is that a constructive and thought provoking post ? The thread has seen some good posts by Vicky, Footygirl, Indiana and many more ( yourself included ) I just tire of people slating without a reason. Maybe it is the broadcaster in me.
Comments
Not a popular opinion around these parts, but I actually like Pat Cash overall too even though he is opinionated and does come out with some things I don't agree with!
Dont you just love a thread without any constructiveness in it at all ?
Sheesh, I dont. Hated the man, he was the most godawful snob and treated us plebs like dirt. That probably coloured my opinion of his commentating skills.
LOVE (Gold Star)
John McEnroe
Boris Becker
Mark Petchey
David Mercer
Barry Davies
OK BUT NOT GREAT
Simon Reed
Chris Bradnan
Jason Goodall
Greg Rusedski
PLEASE MUTE AND GO AWAY(Pies)
Tim Henman
John Lloyd
Pat Cash
Mark Cox (from the Dan Maskell charm school)
ANDREW CASTLE (Pie Making factory)
A pie for Tim Henman- good player but poor commentator - never seems relaxed
Yes, it is indeed great to have all types of threads to which folk can choose to contribure or not.
Gold star : John McEnoe, Barry Davies, Andrew Cotter
Pied : John Lloyd, Andrew Castle, Tim Henman
Crikey I forgot Castle:eek: he is poor. Just shows you ex pros do not necessarily make good broadcasters
Henman should get the wooden spoon, although the BBC should really have resisted the urge to employ him. He comes across as a nice but fairly dull chap, much like he did on the court.
(Castle is awful as well, obviously.)
This is the problem - the suitability and ability is overlooked in favour of their name. There was a story in one of the red tops that he was on 14 grand per day at Wimbledon- that has since been corrected - though the amount he is getting is no doubt obscene
Gee, if you started working out how much that works out per intersting thing he has to say....
The Beeb jumped on him as if everyone would really want to hear a recent GB no 1 viewes. Naa, we could have lived without them and actually that's a huge waste of money.
I am afraid he is - Johnny Mac has something interesting to say because he isn't scared of upsetting anyone - and is very amusing with it. Andrew Castle is by no means on the same planet as the legendary Barry Davies. Castle beats moire drums than Phil Collins ever did in his music career. John Lloyd - another one employed on the strength of who his ex wife is.
David Mercer is brilliant - and I like Simon Reed too- but these are of course not the Beeb's in house commentators - so have room to be critical
Yes, actually David Mercer is very good. Sorry, David I shoild have given you one of my gold stars.
But the beeb will never give him the mens final - we'll be stuck with Castle, Henman and Johnny Mac- you can almost see Johnny looking at the pair of them and thinking - do i have to work with these numpties
As for the women - Tracy Austin will do it. Not sure who with though
Also love Mac obviously, but my other favourites are Simon Reed and Greg Rusedski. Informative and never patronising.
Always find it laughable when Petchey, Bradnam etc are criticising the shots of players whose boots they wouldn't have been fit to lace.
Used to hate the shrieking harridan Virginia Wade but I'm sure she's retired long since.
Totally agree Tally - and as someone pointed out last year when a complaint was made about all of the tennis-related threads cropping up, it's only for a few weeks.
Football has its own sub-forum, and there are multiple threads on other sports at times, and Wimbledon is one of the biggest sporting events in the UK and one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world, so surely it deserves a little extra attention
As for my own opinions
Andrew Castle is a bit of a grater but he is undoubtably the BBC's number 1 commentator on tennis now. The fact that he has no current ITV role has enabled him to do more which he normally wouldnt be involved in ( eg French Open ).
David Mercer is very good and has a lovely turn of phrase but I think we will slowly start to see him getting edged out to the outside courts and only doing up to the quarters or semis.
Barry Davies is a legend in my eyes. Whatever sport he does he does it well. Again though, he is nearing the end of his career and we won't be hearing much of this doyen of commentary for much longer. He is already severely restricted ( not by his choice ) on the sports we now hear him on.
John McEnroe is superb and very analytical but the way the BBC fawn over him is pretty embarrassing at times. Yes he was a superb player and yes he adds so much to the commentary but lets not make him out to be a Saint when he clearly is not.
Simon Reed is under used by the BBC at Wimbledon for me, and you can understand why, he is Eurosports Head of Commentary. Another who adds so much to commentary and ( from a media point of view ) has a wonderful voice.
Tin Henman isn't that exciting to my ears. He was the British hope for years so is bound to appeal to many but I think there are many better co comms than him.
John Lloyd is my case in point. I think he is the pick of the Co Comms who adds some gravitas to his points. OK, he hasnt won what Boris, Greg or Timbo have but he does talk an excellent game and can add humour too. He always seems well respected too.
Mark Petchy is very good. He certainly has come on in recent years and I can see him probably doing the womens final again.
Andrew Cotter is the new Mr Versatile. Tennis, golf, rugby union, the Boat Race and much more, he is Barry Davies for the 21st century. To be fair to him, whatever I have heard him on he has being exceptional. I think he is definitely the Beebs new blue eyed boy and will certainly have plenty of work for years to come.
I thought Johnny Mac worked for a US channel during the final?
I really want Tim Henman to get better, because I love it when he does tell anecdotes about his playing days, but I think he needs to do more during the year like Rusedski does to get commentary practice in rather than totally depend on Wimbledon to learn the craft
If they can do the job ( and I'm not a particular fan of either ) then that to me is not an issue, i.e. it would be hypocrital of me to complain about them employing really top players just because of who they are, and then take that point of view re ex-players / current coaches that played to a much lower level.
Guess, i just want folk who are good at the job. If that comes along with interesting top level insight then all the better..
Good point - I have been known to grunt and grumble about Barry Cowan offering advice about how Federer should improve his play, but we either want top professionals regardless of commentating ability or people who are good at commentating regardless of playing ability, we can't have it both ways!
And look at Toni Nadal, for instance, who has the skill to coach Rafa to the top but obvioulsy didn't have the playing ability to get there himself - the two aren't mutually exclusive.
I think Mark Petchey's great by the way, I didn't include him in my first post because I'd forgotten he worked for the Beeb during Wimbledon!
Seems i'm not alone in my love for Mr Cotter.
I think it's always important to have a mix of the journalist / professional commentator and the ex-player pundit. McEnroe does very well at crossing the line between the two.
I'm going to miss Marcus, although I'm noticed Sky Sports News are doing a Wimbledon report, I know Georgie Thompson is anchoring it, hopefully Marcus will be involved
I am not criticising the thread, by no means, merely the first post by the OP. They ask for opinions and state - so and so is good and so and so is bad. How is that a constructive and thought provoking post ? The thread has seen some good posts by Vicky, Footygirl, Indiana and many more ( yourself included ) I just tire of people slating without a reason. Maybe it is the broadcaster in me.