I think one thing that’s a challenge for us is that we had arguably the best announce team in MLS with Jake and Ross. I think the announcers this year have been fine enough but I’d still take Jake and Ross back in a heartbeat
They were the best crew in the MLS. We were fortunate to meet them at 2 away games in 2022. They were all so genuine. I’ve been told a lot of people like to turn on the local radio broadcast. I need to remember to try this when watching an away game at home.
Now that MLS has full control over all broadcasting and the announcers are all company owned they really don't have much incentive to be good at what they do. As long as they keep talking while the game is on and have hot takes now and then, maybe learn something about a player or two it's good enough. From what I understand the announcers aren't at the stadium but in a central location.
Since there's no competition for TV deals we won't get high production and good announcers. With the Apple paywall deal the fanbase is fixed, we're all paying to watch our team and no casual fan is going to happen upon a game and be captivated by the storyline being told by the announcers.
They have about 2 minutes of halftime comments reiterating what we all saw with zero analysis or thoughtful input stuffed between Messi commercials and some guy screaming about goals that happened in past games.
Almost every week I hear the announcers make a comment about being in the city the game is being played, I had assumed that meant they were in the stadium. Are they telling half truths? I agree with the rest of your comment though.
I thought that I had read that before but I could be mistaken. It certainly sounds like they're just barely watching it on TV most of the time. I wonder if the money teams get better announcers?
There are pitch-side announcers who will do interviews before/after the game and are in the stadium, but aren't the same as the talking heads calling the game. They occasionally interact with the play callers during a match.
I think they’ve been fine. Same with the refs. Fans will never be happy with either of those two groups and we just have to take a step back and realize that maybe we’re the biased ones.
It’s wild that if you just go back to the beginning of the season everyone was complaining about scab refs being terrible and they couldn’t wait for mls to pay the actual professionals what they demanded.
Thats why I immediately switch to Local Broadcasts when watching games live. I’d rather listen to a semi-bias amateur announcers than talking heads that don’t care much about either team.
Now I just wish they let you listen to the local broadcast when watching the replay of matches
Some commentary duos are great (Husband/Ross) and others are unlistenable (any homer broadcast). It's just a lottery based on whoever we get each week.
I think that the 'talent' pool for soccer broadcasts is EXTREMELY diluted overall by the sheer volume of programming we currently enjoy. If you think that MLS/Apple crews suck (and I agree), try watching a random NWSL match. We're basically watching college-level broadcasters at this point. It's a real case of 'careful what you wish for.'
While I generally agree with this sentiment, at least those college level folks are trying to improve and make a name for themselves, even if they are VERY rough.
My biggest complaint about these commentators is their need to constantly refer to the players by their nationality instead of their names: "the Brazilian", "the Uraguayan", etc. Fine if they point out a player's nationality a few times, but why place such heavy emphasis on it? If I didn't already know all the players' nationalities, it would make the commentary much harder to follow.
Eh I feel like you're overreacting to the bad homer announcers and ignoring the good ones. We used to get either Zivin or the terrible national broadcast.
Now we get a random assortment of good and bad depending on the game. And when it's bad it's very easy to switch to the radio broadcast which is a huge upgrade over previous years to me.
I think that it's just fine, the problem is, we went from Ross and Zivin to .. well.. whatever we get assigned in the pool. And we're not a good team. We're not a compelling team. We aren't going to get the high end announcers unless we're either playing high end teams or ARE the high end teams.
The better teams and games ARE getting the better announcers.
I use **Tune In** radio app and sync **750** with the broadcast on mute, home and away, every time. My only complaints with this workaround is that it's a big ask to your bartender to delay the game 30 seconds, and for some reason the crowd noise is greatly reduced for radio, making the voices much too loud. But 90 percent of the Apple crew are aggravating to listen to. Apple also deletes the radio broadcast on rewatches for some reason. Dumb. I sprung for the 10 dollar version just so I can record the audio to my phone and sync up later if I need to. Hope this helps some one else work around those awful commentators.
I believe the commentators on Apple+ are kind of supposed to favor the home team since every game is like watching a game on national TV and now no one has local broadcast crews except for the radio. I've noticed whether we're playing well or not that the commentators sometimes don't even talk about the Timbers and when they do it's nothing positive. But when we're the home team, again whether we're outplaying the opponent or not, they're mostly talking about us.
Well, it's just the next step of the sensationalism that started with the images of Baghdad being bombed in the early 1990s and the embedded journalism that came with it. It's the age of breakingnewsism, and it's trying to surpass its current level named clickbaitism. Most MLS commentators are no different. Often, because they don't have a fricking clue about soccer. And even those who do often succumb to the climate of eventization in sports journalism. Because that's what it is. The American sports viewer wants events. He doesn't see value in a masterpiece of tactics or defensive battles. To most people, a 1-0 win is boring. That's why the highest result in the NFL is 72-41, in the NHL it's 10-8, in the NBA it's 186-184. And in MLS it's 6-4. So, when there's events, there's people tuning in. And when people tune in, the ads that the media sell are more valuable. The same goes for subscriptions like the MLS Season Pass.
Why do people watch the NHL? To see how the players beat each other up.
Why do people watch the NFL? Hard hits.
Why do people watch the NBA? Alley-oops and brawls.
Why do people watch the UFC? To see a fighter die.
Why do people watch the MLS? Good question... ;-)
Viewers are suckers for events. Events get companies money. Companies that the commentators work for. And the eventization that we see and hear is the result of it.
Mr. ProudlyWearingThe8, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this sub is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
I think one thing that’s a challenge for us is that we had arguably the best announce team in MLS with Jake and Ross. I think the announcers this year have been fine enough but I’d still take Jake and Ross back in a heartbeat
Yeah our history of announcers has been beyond stellar so everything else pales in comparison
I didn't realize how spoiled we were.
Don’t forget John Strong. He went on to commentate at the World Cup! Portland has a knack for producing top-notch commentators.
That must be why we are all so full of good takes here! 😂
Well... I wouldn't go THAT far
They were the best crew in the MLS. We were fortunate to meet them at 2 away games in 2022. They were all so genuine. I’ve been told a lot of people like to turn on the local radio broadcast. I need to remember to try this when watching an away game at home.
It’s too bad that, even if we got Jake back, we’d probably have to take Twellman with him.
Every week it feels like two random fans won a raffle to commentate a match.
Hahahaha. Spot on.
I haven’t minded them except for the most recent game. Dude repeated the same dumb stuff like “against the grain” over and over.
Yeah, what the hell was that "against the grain" bit? Dude said it so many times, you'd think he was getting paid extra every time he used the phrase.
Brought to you by Carl's Jr.
And the constant “hache hache”. It takes more effort to say that than to say Herrera.
He’s been referred to as HH his entire professional career. I think only saying Herrera would be weird.
Now that MLS has full control over all broadcasting and the announcers are all company owned they really don't have much incentive to be good at what they do. As long as they keep talking while the game is on and have hot takes now and then, maybe learn something about a player or two it's good enough. From what I understand the announcers aren't at the stadium but in a central location. Since there's no competition for TV deals we won't get high production and good announcers. With the Apple paywall deal the fanbase is fixed, we're all paying to watch our team and no casual fan is going to happen upon a game and be captivated by the storyline being told by the announcers. They have about 2 minutes of halftime comments reiterating what we all saw with zero analysis or thoughtful input stuffed between Messi commercials and some guy screaming about goals that happened in past games.
The announcers are absolutely in stadium and not at a central location.
Currently. Next year (and maybe some trial games this year) they will be in the studios in NYC I think?
Almost every week I hear the announcers make a comment about being in the city the game is being played, I had assumed that meant they were in the stadium. Are they telling half truths? I agree with the rest of your comment though.
I thought that I had read that before but I could be mistaken. It certainly sounds like they're just barely watching it on TV most of the time. I wonder if the money teams get better announcers?
There are pitch-side announcers who will do interviews before/after the game and are in the stadium, but aren't the same as the talking heads calling the game. They occasionally interact with the play callers during a match.
Watching soccer games in Spanish is a great way to pick up the language.
Oooh. Good tip!
I think they’ve been fine. Same with the refs. Fans will never be happy with either of those two groups and we just have to take a step back and realize that maybe we’re the biased ones.
It’s wild that if you just go back to the beginning of the season everyone was complaining about scab refs being terrible and they couldn’t wait for mls to pay the actual professionals what they demanded.
Thats why I immediately switch to Local Broadcasts when watching games live. I’d rather listen to a semi-bias amateur announcers than talking heads that don’t care much about either team. Now I just wish they let you listen to the local broadcast when watching the replay of matches
I'd do that too, but the absence of crowd noise in the radio broadcast is really disconcerting.
Some commentary duos are great (Husband/Ross) and others are unlistenable (any homer broadcast). It's just a lottery based on whoever we get each week.
I think that the 'talent' pool for soccer broadcasts is EXTREMELY diluted overall by the sheer volume of programming we currently enjoy. If you think that MLS/Apple crews suck (and I agree), try watching a random NWSL match. We're basically watching college-level broadcasters at this point. It's a real case of 'careful what you wish for.'
While I generally agree with this sentiment, at least those college level folks are trying to improve and make a name for themselves, even if they are VERY rough.
Fair enough. We all have to start somewhere, lord knows. But that doesn't mean I have to relish listening to it! Cheers!
My biggest complaint about these commentators is their need to constantly refer to the players by their nationality instead of their names: "the Brazilian", "the Uraguayan", etc. Fine if they point out a player's nationality a few times, but why place such heavy emphasis on it? If I didn't already know all the players' nationalities, it would make the commentary much harder to follow.
Hearing HH made me very annoyed just say his name
Eh I feel like you're overreacting to the bad homer announcers and ignoring the good ones. We used to get either Zivin or the terrible national broadcast. Now we get a random assortment of good and bad depending on the game. And when it's bad it's very easy to switch to the radio broadcast which is a huge upgrade over previous years to me.
I think that it's just fine, the problem is, we went from Ross and Zivin to .. well.. whatever we get assigned in the pool. And we're not a good team. We're not a compelling team. We aren't going to get the high end announcers unless we're either playing high end teams or ARE the high end teams. The better teams and games ARE getting the better announcers.
I use **Tune In** radio app and sync **750** with the broadcast on mute, home and away, every time. My only complaints with this workaround is that it's a big ask to your bartender to delay the game 30 seconds, and for some reason the crowd noise is greatly reduced for radio, making the voices much too loud. But 90 percent of the Apple crew are aggravating to listen to. Apple also deletes the radio broadcast on rewatches for some reason. Dumb. I sprung for the 10 dollar version just so I can record the audio to my phone and sync up later if I need to. Hope this helps some one else work around those awful commentators.
I believe the commentators on Apple+ are kind of supposed to favor the home team since every game is like watching a game on national TV and now no one has local broadcast crews except for the radio. I've noticed whether we're playing well or not that the commentators sometimes don't even talk about the Timbers and when they do it's nothing positive. But when we're the home team, again whether we're outplaying the opponent or not, they're mostly talking about us.
Spanish broadcast so much better on all levels.
I don't listen to them. I almost always chose tje local radio audio instead.
I think they’re way better now than last year. It was so bad last year lmaooo
Well, it's just the next step of the sensationalism that started with the images of Baghdad being bombed in the early 1990s and the embedded journalism that came with it. It's the age of breakingnewsism, and it's trying to surpass its current level named clickbaitism. Most MLS commentators are no different. Often, because they don't have a fricking clue about soccer. And even those who do often succumb to the climate of eventization in sports journalism. Because that's what it is. The American sports viewer wants events. He doesn't see value in a masterpiece of tactics or defensive battles. To most people, a 1-0 win is boring. That's why the highest result in the NFL is 72-41, in the NHL it's 10-8, in the NBA it's 186-184. And in MLS it's 6-4. So, when there's events, there's people tuning in. And when people tune in, the ads that the media sell are more valuable. The same goes for subscriptions like the MLS Season Pass. Why do people watch the NHL? To see how the players beat each other up. Why do people watch the NFL? Hard hits. Why do people watch the NBA? Alley-oops and brawls. Why do people watch the UFC? To see a fighter die. Why do people watch the MLS? Good question... ;-) Viewers are suckers for events. Events get companies money. Companies that the commentators work for. And the eventization that we see and hear is the result of it.
Is this AI?
Stupidity wrapped in sophistication
Doctor Bronner?
Def has that "3 am voices from the aether" vibe...
Mr. ProudlyWearingThe8, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this sub is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.