The state of AFL Commentary- a solution

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commentary doesn't really bother me. i probably don't get to watch as much footy as other people though, so maybe that helps.

you can break the beefs down somewhat. there'll be others.
1. blatant error, doesn't know the rules/player etc
2. said a negative thing about my team. waaahhh!!
3. said some player was the best, whereas the player on my team is the best. wwaaaahhh!
4. player on my team did a thing, they never mentioned it. waaahhh!
5. player on my team did a thing, and they mentioned it. but not in a way that said it was amazing. waaaahhh!
6. repetitive, constant use of certain phrases
7. they don't shut the hell up
8. they falls over their words, don't speak good
9. something something good bloke, tribunal/free kick

i kind of treat the commentary as a soundtrack, not gospel. i have my own two eyes to figure out what i make of the play. it's true i could be not hearing the terrible commentary for what it is, but my life seems a lot easier for that.

comment on special comments - think we're getting the footy players that fall between the cracks. if you're not employable somewhere else in the footy industry, expert comments seems to be a place you end up.
 

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So easy. Just use twitch or discord voice chat. The technical challenge would be precisely syncing to the Kayo feed, but that’s a later problem to solve

Even Kayo often don’t get this right. It’s not unusual to hear something on the Kayo audio feed briefly before you see it.
 
There must be a better approach than the current, which is:

1) name the person with the ball
The first step alone is pretty hard to do.

Not that hard to do.

I’m just a punter with a day job who watches the footy without their glasses, and I can tell a mile away who each or the players on my team are from their gait / body shape / the way they move, etc.

Annoys me no end when BT gets the Collingwood players mixed up, which he does a lot.

If I can figure it out for one team, surely a professional can nail it for 18 teams?
 
The only reason this option hasn't become available is because the head honchos know that the absolute majority of viewers would opt to watch this way which in turn would put all of the boys club out of jobs

The audio experience is something many take for granted. We’re probably more sensitive to audio quality than visual quality.

Consider a YouTube video - we don’t pay attention to the visual quality so much, but if the audio quality is rubbish then the video is trash.

But what is quality audio?

Years ago there was an F1 commentator named Murray Walker (“The voice of Formula 1”) who would screw up the commentary all the time - getting cars and positions mixed up and confused. Fans would complain that he didn’t know what he was talking about …

… but there was psychology to it. The typical F1 audience of young men would feel good about themselves by knowing more than the commentator did, and it would help them to be more engaged in the sport.
 
Correct !!

Go back to the days when the ABC broadcast games and they had commentators like Doug Bigelow who made it worth watching by saying less.

You get that today on the VFL commentary. It does sound quite retro.

I do wonder if people would really prefer that to the current AFL commentary?
 
Maybe the commentating is just fine, and not really that important, and people complain to much?
 
You get that today on the VFL commentary. It does sound quite retro.

I do wonder if people would really prefer that to the current AFL commentary?

I'd certainly prefer that to the absolute overkill & onslaught of completely unnecessary crap we have to put up with week after week.

Some of the commentators think they are the stars of the show and have a god-given right to piffle on as much and often as they like about whatever irrelevant rubbish they want to. Far too often they go off topic and forget that the match is still in progress, the injokes & backslapping is nauseating.
 
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1. blatant error, doesn't know the rules/player etc
2. said a negative thing about my team. waaahhh!!
3. said some player was the best, whereas the player on my team is the best. wwaaaahhh!
4. player on my team did a thing, they never mentioned it. waaahhh!
5. player on my team did a thing, and they mentioned it. but not in a way that said it was amazing. waaaahhh!
6. repetitive, constant use of certain phrases
7. they don't shut the hell up
8. they falls over their words, don't speak good
9. something something good bloke, tribunal/free kick

+

10. Cheering for the opposition / cheering at all. I get that the commentators want to keep the game interesting, and want to talk up the team that is behind or has the underdog status - and IMO that’s OK. But they shouldn’t cross the line into blatant cheering - which they do a lot.

11. Commentators banging on incessently about umpiring decisions. They should just let the viewers make up their own opinions about the umpiring decisions. The commentators banging on about it doesn’t add any value except pouring kerosine on the fire in a way that doesn’t add any value to the viewing enjoyment for anybody.

12. Screwing up a big moment. Think of the iconic moments that have happened in the sport - they’re all accompanied by a soundtrack. An iconic moment can be ruined if the commentator is too busy blabbering on about the number of seagulls on the field, or calls out the wrong player’s name.
 
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Unfortunately the best commentators retired or other reasons. Such as Bruce, Dennis, Clinton Grybas, Sandy Robert’s etc. We need new commentators to replace some of today.
Adam Papalia, Jason Bennett and Matty Hill are much better no fuss callers.

Surely the networks involved can see it. Hopefully one of them get the grand final soon, the game flows a lot better without the hyperbole and BT blaming everyone for throwing their head into the turf at full pace.
 
Adam Papalia, Jason Bennett and Matty Hill are much better no fuss callers.

Surely the networks involved can see it. Hopefully one of them get the grand final soon, the game flows a lot better without the hyperbole and BT blaming everyone for throwing their head into the turf at full pace.
Spot on, unfortunately BT and JB are a given. Surely ch7 can see they are not the best.
 
Doesnt the new tv deal start next year where 7 and foxtel will have seperate commentary for the same game?
If 7 notice people tuning into Foxtel on Friday night to avoid BT
Or foxtel notice people flipping over to 7 to avoid Derwayne, it might cause a change?
What if they put BT and Dwayne on the same game so you can't escape
 
Once upon a time they called the game. You could be listening to a game on a transistor radio on a train on the Alamein Line and and you would know exactly who had the ball, where and what the **** he done with it. Rinse and repeat. Today all you get is continuous dribble from alot of self indulged talentless hacks.
 
Surely its cruel and unusual punishment on a Friday night in country WA, to be forced to listen to Malthouse mindlessly piffle on endlessly, whilst Underwood interjects from time to time like she just sat on a vibrator, with a voice that strips paint from rusty old cars at 500 meters?

Personally, I blame the Govt.

Surely its a basic Australian human right to have at least 2 radio stations from which to choose to listen to the footy on!
 
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