Come Back In 2010, Andy Gray

2008-09-11T13:27:04-04:00

2008-06-24T12:03:31-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:33-04:00

2008-06-27T19:43:35-04:00

Artamentous

Denver 91268

Amen Gray is far superior to anyone else on ESPN when it comes to soccer. I have always enjoyed him on FSC when they picked up the Sky Sport games he was doing. I was pretty disappointed that Smyth was getting the games on ABC. 2086805

2008-06-26T13:11:44-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/191/229/thumb/ben_action.jpg 5 WA

Hoppercool

Seattle 191529

I also liked Mike Hill and Seamus Malin as a commentary team. Granted, they're probably both a bit too old now, but they did a couple games together during the 2002 World Cup, and were very good. I never understood ESPN's choices for their lead commentators. 2074312

2008-06-26T11:35:45-04:00

betzered

Burke 443123

If ESPN could only replace JP Delacamara with Andy Gray for US national team games, I make actually unmute my TV for a US national team game. Another big improvement would be getting rid of July Foudy, somehow she just comes off a bit dull. Rece Davis and Rob Stone do not even deserve a mention. The US media needs to ween itself off the Anglo focus completely. England have 4 top teams but their international record is marginal. One, dubious WC in 1966 and some semi-final appearances. I won't go into how many times they have failed to qualify for major tournaments. The depth of their domestic league is indicative of their national side performance. 2072875

2008-06-26T05:48:01-04:00

Go Forward

Marietta 444599

LED FLOYD You're spot on friend. Let's all back Spain, this way, if they win, we can truly say that this is indeed THE BEAUTIFUL GAME. Otherwise, we're just kidding ourselves. PODEMOS. ESPA??A. LETS ALL ROOT FOR SPAIN 2070256

2008-06-26T05:46:31-04:00

Go Forward

Marietta 444599

Football is a sport played by 22 men, 11 a side, and the Germans always win! Lineker's laugher aside, let's ALL ROOT FOR SPAIN 2070254

2008-06-26T05:43:45-04:00

Go Forward

Marietta 444599

RE Feeds: Don't understand where your feed comes from. In Spain we see penalty overhead and a bit back of he who is shooting, after seeing hin place the ball and the keeper's preshot antics. I understand the feed to be the same the world round, what's up with this? PODEMOS. ESPA??A CAMPEONES DE EUROPA 2070251

2008-06-25T23:20:44-04:00

KingArthur900

Denver 445825

Hits: Grant Wahl's blog, and his other soccer writing too. Some of the best on the internet. Andy Gray, and the HD feeds too. Misses: Julie Foudy's 'reporting' is worse than most local access cable shows. A couple of junior college "journalism" classes does not a quality reporter make. Can you say 'Token'? Could ESPN please replace her with a real journalist. Pleeese? At least someone's told her how to dress this season. 2069151

2008-06-25T23:19:39-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/389/756/thumb/juan_roman_riquelme.jpg 2 ga

john in atl

atlanta 390196

Disagree w/ most everyone here, I think Andy Gray has been way too opinionated on things, and I am more interested in commentary about the game than what his immediate take is on things. Sorry but his style is way too subjective for me. 2069135

2008-06-25T20:09:38-04:00

bialo i czerwone

Denver 439674

Andy Gray is phenomenal. Rae is top notch too. Best tv football coverage ever in America by miles. Thank god. Thanks ESPN. Smyth is still lovable, but his analysis is limited to: "aw, he shoulda done better with that, you haf ta barry yer chances at this level". Great job showing the matches live, and later for when I can't duck out of work for a pint and a football match. And PLEASE LORD, no JP Delacamera, ever. Wynalda is at least knowledgable and opinionated. Rece Davis is lost without a teleprompter--zero value added Foudy is fine with a few good insights, but she needs to learn the names. And EVERYBODY at ESPN needs to watch the key qualifying matches and more than just the EPL. C'mon guys--it's your job to watch soccer--how hard is that? If you won't do it, I'll send you my resume and we'll work things out. Anybody who saw Zenit DEMOLISH Klose, Ribery, Schweinsteiger, and the rest of Bayern (and Rangers) in the UEFA cup shouldn't be surprised at Russia's run here. Finally, there's been way too much, "oh the Dutch scored 3 against Italy, they must be the best team in the universe, give them the trophy now" and "Germany looked uninspired against Austria, they'll be lucky to keep Portugal under 17 goals", from all sides, not just ESPN. Don't these football pundits know about "any given Sunday" from the other football? And yes, I PRAY that ESPN begins a weekly hourlong soccer recap covering all the leagues in Europe, WC qualifying, and Champions League, at a level along the lines of NHL Tonight. With maybe a match of the week as a bonus. Judging from the packed bars here in Denver, there's a latent audience waiting...waiting... and not for freakin' NASCAR. 2068016

2008-06-25T18:07:28-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/374/50/thumb/wayne-rooney-man-utd-home-kit.jpg 4139 NY

jeevs BS

Schenectady 37630

Adrian Healy isn't bad either, and i like derek rae 2067476

I know, I know. I told you I was taking a couple days off from the Euro 2008 Blog before the games resume with Wednesday’s semifinal between Germany and Turkey. But after spending more than 50 hours watching ESPN’s extensive coverage of Euro 2008 I couldn’t resist putting together a bonus blog with one major thought on the tournament: • Andy Gray should continue being ESPN’s lead broadcaster for every major tournament, including the 2010 World Cup. It’s amazing to me how many American media bosses and editors have failed to grasp a simple idea: it’s better to cover soccer with people who 1) know the game and 2) are good at what they do. Just because you have a good delivery—Brent Musburger in 1998, Dave O’Brien in 2006—doesn’t mean you’ll know the game. And just because you know the game—Ty Keough in ‘02, Marcelo Balboa in ‘06—doesn’t mean you’ll be good at broadcasting it. By hiring Gray, the veteran Sky Sports commentator, for Euro 2008, ESPN finally found someone who isn’t just good at both things, he’s great at them. Here’s a guy who played the game at a high level and points out all the little things that you might have missed, who loves the sport but isn’t afraid to be critical (though not shrill), who doesn’t digress into pre-packaged storylines or off-the-field nonsense, and who raises the level of his colleagues—particularly in the ESPN studio—by raising the level of discourse and (get this) talking about the game we’re watching. Perhaps most impressive, Gray is able to look at a game and anticipate what’s coming next. In the first half of the game between Turkey and the Czech Republic, Gray pointed out that the Turks (with four midfielders) were having a hard time finding gaps to pass through the five-man Czech midfield and speculated that Turkey would soon try going over the top with longballs. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened—and what led to the Turks bringing on an extra midfielder in the second half. For me that ability to anticipate is what separates a really good analyst in any sport from the rest of the pack. Tommy Smyth is a pleasant guy who clearly loves the game, but he just doesn’t have that ability. When Spain’s Carles Puyol went off with an injury against Sweden, Smyth predicted that his replacement (Raúl Albiol) would go to right back while Sergio Ramos moved to Puyol’s spot at centerback. Really? Both Ramos and Albiol can play either spot, but Ramos is one of the world’s best right backs, so why would you move him? (Ramos stayed at right back.) With Portugal leading the Czechs 2-1 in the second half, Smyth predicted that incoming sub Jan Koller would replace fellow forward Milan Baros. Really? Why would the Czechs stay with one forward when they needed a goal and Baros was having a good game? (Midfielder Tomás Galásek came off instead.) The great thing about having Gray in the ESPN booth is that we now have a standard of excellence by which we can judge other soccer broadcasters. No longer will it be O.K. to be unprepared or to butcher the names of players (which still happens with alarming frequency in the ESPN studio show). Gray isn’t perfect—he got it wrong on the non-offside call involving Italy’s Christian Panucci against the Netherlands, and he does drone on a bit about All Things Scottish—but he has proved to be the best soccer commentator in the history of American television, and I can only hope ESPN retains him for World Cup 2010. Now that I’ve seen 24 games of Euro 2008 on ESPN (i.e., all but the four least meaningful final group-stage games), it seems like a good time to note other hits and misses in the TV coverage: HITS: • Just having every Euro game on live (and most of them in HD) has been revolutionary. • Andy Gray. • Refusing to dumb down the broadcast for non-soccer fans (which insults everyone). It’s O.K. to say football here. We know they mean soccer. • The ESPN axis 3D video tool to analyze replays (at least when it’s working). • Devoting time to a pre-game show and including the national anthems and postgame. • The camera shots during games (penalty kicks excluded). You really do get to see nearly everything that matters—and on replays, too. • A general competence among the majority of ESPN’s broadcasters, led by play-by-play men Derek Rae and Adrian Healy (even if both can rely a bit too much on cliches), studio analyst Julie Foudy and game analyst Robbie Mustoe. MISSES: • The strange need for the play-by-play men to read every single graphic that comes onto the screen, as if we can’t read it ourselves. • Too many mispronunciations of names on the studio show. • The Anglo-centric emphasis. A player may have had a solid seven-year career in German club soccer, but if he had one bad year in England you can be sure we’ll hear all about what he did in England and next to nothing about what he did in Germany. (Rae is slightly better than Healey in his open-mindedness.) • The video angle on penalty-kick shootouts. I know this has more to do with the Euro 2008 feed than ESPN, but it’s frustrating to see only a side-view (instead of a rear view) of most penalties taken during shootouts—and almost no replays of spot-kicks. What’s your sense of the TV coverage? Please post your thoughts below and check back on the Euro 2008 Blog Wednesday morning ... 1314 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615