Thought re. ESPN2 & ABC Coverage, in general

[Jaana]

I have watched some sp and lp clips and enjoyed the skating of e.g. Weir and Lysacek very much, but really hated that I had to listen to all that blabbering coming from Button and some other commentator. It was soooo toally annoying, because it spoiled the music in skaters´ performances. Why don´t they just restrict their comments on the essentials during a performance??? During slow motions they could speak more and while waiting for scores.

 

[Jasper]

Just partway through watching the ABC coverage Saturday night - being in Canada I don't get ESPN at all.
The ABC coverage is horrible. A full HOUR of fluff before ANY of the skating. Appalling, absolutely appalling. And the pieces....shudder. Katy Taylor waxing poetic about her barbie dream hummer? Is that supposed to make me like her? I actually enjoyed her skate, but can't bring myself to have much respect for her immature gas guzzling fantasies - didn't do her any favours. Has the girl not heard of global warming? The rising price of oil? The need to protect the environment? It wasn't cute. It just made her look spoiled and vapid.

Okay, now that that's out of my system, I was LOL at Dick Button's comments re: the ladies omnipresent Biellman and catchfoot mania. I wrote something almost exactly like that on the ladies FS thread for the Canadian championships - even down to suggesting a Zayak rule for the catchfoot/Beillman position. Button - who I'm not generally a fan of for commentary, hit it right on the nose when he said it's being used not only way to much, but to hide deficiencies skaters have in hitting classic positions in spirals and spins.

Good God, a fluff piece before every single lady pretty much.... I think I'll have to change the channel, tape it on my VCR and FF through the crap to the skating.

Agree on all counts, especially the Taylor/Hummer bit that was

 

[kareliz]

Kurt does a great job

I really like Kurt's commentary. He is still skating - at least TV specials, etc. - so he still feels like a skater. So his comments show a direct empathy with the skaters. I love when he says what he thinks the skater should say to herself, either before a tough element or after a mistake. I think he is funny, honest and fair. He also has good insights about why things are or are not working. I think Kurt's approach balances Dick's no nonsense style very well.