why do espn commentators suck so much

[unit63]

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I would accept "pocket Esfandiaris" if he had to call them something

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based on this alone I'm pretty sure I'm in love.
marry me??

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Uhhh... I fold.

No really, I am charmed and flattered but spoken for.

In the end people should just realize: the more idiots that TV production companies, web sites, and casinos can lure into playing poker, the better it is for the people who can't stand the commentary on TV because they know better. My solution? Keep watching, but make it more like MST3K.

[MicroBob]

oh well...thougt i'd give it a shot.

my GF thinks esfandiari is 'cute' and doesn't really see through all his B.S. very disappointing.

[rheaume]

caught a few minutes of it earlier tonight, it started around 11. multiway pot with raises, about 5 in.
flop JTx 2 hearts. one guy had QJ, one had KQ, one had AT.

the dipsh** announcer goes "yeah this flop didnt really hit anyone that strong, (that guy) has an inside straight draw"

i kid you not. he said "inside straight draw" TWICE.

and did not correct himself.

and no, neither all the aces or nines were out.

so i think as far as commentators go, sexton/VVP and mcerhan/chad are frickin geniuses compared to whoever this douchenozzle was

[unit63]

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oh well...thougt i'd give it a shot.

my GF thinks esfandiari is 'cute' and doesn't really see through all his B.S. very disappointing.

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Hey if your girlfriend's worst quality is that she can't see through a guy's B.S., then I say, "Keep it up, MicroBob!" [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Sounds like you're set up pretty good there.

[MicroBob]

'tis true.

[autobet]

They suck on purpose to entertain. Here is part of an article I just read:

In keeping poker telecasts entertaining to a wide audience, ESPN's Norman Chad recognizes the importance of having fun.

That means less talk about strategy and whether a player should check, raise or fold, and more observations about what a player says, does and wears.

Clothing, in fact, gives Chad a good portion of his material. "I'm a bowler by nature and also a poker player," says Chad, who provides analysis as ESPN's coverage of the World Series of Poker continues Tuesday, Aug. 2, with the circuit championship from Harrah's Rincon Casino & Resort in San Diego, "and bowlers and poker players share top prize for being worst-dressed. It's fun to see what they wear. I don't dress well myself, but yeah, sometimes they're wearing odd shirts; sometimes they're wearing odd headwear. And of course in poker now, half the players like to come in with sunglasses, which is just preposterous. You know, one day they'll cover their whole head so nobody could see their breathing, their eyes, their wrinkling, their pulse. You know, there'll probably be a rule against it eventually."

[rheaume]

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And of course in poker now, half the players like to come in with sunglasses, which is just preposterous.

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leave it to norman chad to throw the hammer down on what and what isn't acceptable in poker [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[ShaneMoney]

Though Norman Chad is extremely cheesy, I would definately rather listen to him and Lon instead of Mike Sexton and VVP. How repetitive can these guys be. Sexton's endless one liners: "Now what this means is..", "As we like to say in poker...", "OOH, the wired pair of.." I think I could add as much as this guy does.

[troymclur]

I was reading somewhere that when creating the show, they specifically wanted commentators who would keep the talk to a simplified form, so people who didn't know poker that well could understand. Read: they wanted retards with mic's.

[Autocratic]

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OMG this is so true. Could you imagine if ESPN did the same thing to their football telecasts?

LM: "Looks like a run from Miami, Norm... OH NO! THEY'RE BREAKING OUT THE PLAY ACTION!"
NC: "I haven't had any 'play action' since my sixth ex-wife divorced me, killed my dog, and screwed my brother!"
LM: "And it's a touchdown! The Dolphins have retaken the lead! Let's cut from the action a bit..."
NC: "In this week's edition of 'First and ten', we profile the wacky ways football players dress, on AND of the field!"
LM: "And we're back... and just to catch you up, the Dolphins have the ball again but now they're ahead by 17. And for some reason their backup QB is in."

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I feel like a lone voice crying out in the wilderness, only now some people are starting to agree with me.

Mike Sexton is horrible. Microbob nailed it when he said, "he's just not a broadcaster."

Lon what'shisname wouldn't know a poker game from a turkey shoot.

And Norman Chad pisses me off so bad I want to destroy my brand new Toshiba TV set.

The just don't give poker any respect. It's a big joke to them. They don't understand the inherent interest in the skill of the game, and they belive that they have to emphasize the personality side of it to make it attractive.

In other words they fell in to a bucket of [censored] and now they think they know what they're doing.

The bottom line is how one of my buddies described it and I think he's right on:

"They're trying to make televised poker into the World Wrestling Federation."

Truer words were never spoken

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I really can't believe how wrong you've gotten in. The thing is, poker IS too boring for most people to watch. Sure, we'd love to watch more intricate broadcasts, but it isn't going to happen. Of course they don't cut out to "Nuts"-like features in football games - everyone understands football's rules and intricacies. A great play in poker needs to be explained; you almost always will hear "Here's why this was such a clever play..." In football a great play looks [censored] sweet, and everyone knows it.

The public's view of poker will never be what we want it to be, and I really think the bitching needs to stop.

And as for commentating, I really think people don't give Chad enough credit. His insights, when he does make them, are occasionally decent, if nothing spectacular to poker fans such as ourselves. And they need him - he is absolutely one of the big reasons ESPN whips the WPT - you need someone who is at least funny to some people, and livens it up a bit. Constant solid analysis is very hard to do with regards to poker while keeping it entertaining (the WPT is basically how not to do it - take two boring, unfunny guys, and make them get way too excited about poker. I'm not practically screaming when I see some guy's pocket kings, and you shouldn't be either, Sexton).

Everyone wants poker broadcasts to teach them how the pros play at final tables and why. It is not going to happen.