Last night's game Commentary

[Chris Powell's mate]

Believe me, from one who's done it, commentary isn't easy.
It takes a while to settle into describing what you're seeing while making it interesting, colourful and accurate.
I can't remember Nik's early days so well, but I'd bet he'll agree.
You need mountains of research beforehand to have everything at your fingertips and the ability to re-produce in a heartbeat.
What is unforgivable is name pronunciation. You can tell if someone is on it if they say Hu-sin. Get the names right and you have a chance.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

To be fair the 2 guys on the NLTV Wealdstone feed did say at the very start that they are both fans and will try and as fair as possible, but will probably be biased. It must be very hard not to be. There have been worse, and at least it didn't sound like they had a flat cap and a whippet. He got KAF's name right, but always in the wrong order. KFA!

 

[Strykr]

It was dreadful.

 

[Blues ‘n’ twos]

Pronounciations:
Kevin Marr
Arabin pebble
Collin Indeedy
Micaully Bonny
Adam Crow (as in the bird) ther
The lesson on geology was knowledgeable, I learned about the Wealdstone water table at least

 

[thenobster]

For me, it sounded like we were listening to the opposition teams broadcast. It was only when April said ‘we’ followed by a Southend players name did I realise I was on the correct commentary. Sounded like it was the reserve team at best or a couple of people from out the crowd.

 

[Banksy]

I listened to last night's commentary and I was pulling out what is left of my hair! Every pass or play was over analysis to such a degree, that the whole commentary was disjointed and fractured. There were times when I did not know if the ball was by the corner flag, in the centre circle or over the stand. The whole commentary had no flow and the awful quality of the game plus the inane comments added to the sheer appalling standard of the commentary.
Is this the best BBC Essex can offer? I now appreciate better the past commentors.

Too much analytical dross by the commentator. Just tell it as it is - GOOOOOOOOLAAAALLLLLL ;

 

[Harry Bullocks]

I was just grateful to hear something on the radiogram using my travelling ear trumpet
I find when it’s dull, they space fill with random stuff, that’s also my intermission

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

To be fair the 2 guys on the NLTV Wealdstone feed did say at the very start that they are both fans and will try and as fair as possible, but will probably be biased. It must be very hard not to be. There have been worse, and at least it didn't sound like they had a flat cap and a whippet. He got KAF's name right, but always in the wrong order. KFA!

For me, that's the unforgivable part.
If you're preparing commentary, the other side is what you need to focus on.
Beforehand and for the less-than-obvious pronunciation, sidle up to the away commentator or journo, or on occasion the player himself: I've known some who do so, and get the name right.
For my radio sports show, I'll write a tricky name phonetically before I say it.
Hence, Tehidy Park becomes Te-hiddy Park. It aint rocket science: it's called preparation.

PS. I could care less whether they have northern accents, which I think the 'flat' cap references, just as long as they're accurate and fair.

 

[londonblue]

Pronounciations:
Kevin Marr
Arabin pebble
Collin Indeedy
Micaully Bonny
Adam Crow (as in the bird) ther
The lesson on geology was knowledgeable, I learned about the Wealdstone water table at least

Assuming we're talking about our esteemed manager, that is actually the correct pronunciation. It's an Irish name.

The rest of them are a bit odd though.

 

[fbm]

Pronounciations:
Kevin Marr
Arabin pebble
Collin Indeedy
Micaully Bonny
Adam Crow (as in the bird) ther
The lesson on geology was knowledgeable, I learned about the Wealdstone water table at least

Last night on NLTV they kept calling him AratIn Pepple... they did say Pebble once but then missed an easy gag by not following up saying something about them being "The Stones"...

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Last night on NLTV they kept calling him AratIn Pepple... they did say Pebble once but then missed an easy gag by not following up saying something about them being "The Stones"...

Like it!
Just the ONCE you say? He's Pebble on the Zone just as much as he's Pepple!

 

[edwardss2]

Normally I am a glass-half empty kind of person, and I agree the commentary was not the best but for those of us who remember following games on Ceefax (ask your parents) it is still a great service. I wonder how long it will last though, the BBC don't seem to have a great love for local radio.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

It was dreadful.

The epitaph for everything about last night’s match

 

[Tinks]

TBF it was hardly a great game to commentate on and I know that it was difficult to see the pitch fully
This was April first Southend game she had commentated on and I know she was a little nervous about it as she normally commentates on the Braintree game and bless her she had been work since 7am and worked all the way through till the game finished however, she is still finding her way since her redundancy this year from the Community Trust so please be gentle with her

 

[edwardss2]

TBF it was hardly a great game to commentate on and I know that it was difficult to see the pitch fully
This was April first Southend game she had commentated on and I know she was a little nervous about it as she normally commentates on the Braintree game and bless her she had been work since 7am and worked all the way through till the game finished however, she is still finding her way since her redundancy this year from the Community Trust so please be gentle with her

I thought April was great, she sounded knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Everyone has to learn their trade.

 

[Chrisb]

Would be good if our own home game match announcer manages to pronounce our manager's name correctly (well he did just the once a couple of games ago) - Kev's only been involved for 600 games for us after all.

 

[PIERS]

How much are these people getting paid.. I’m assuming south of not very much. To expect them to research the pronunciation of modern footballers names is a tad harsh . At least there is someone on the wireless telling you the score. The glory days of decent essex radio commentary are over . Yet another thing we all took for granted, untill it’s gone

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

How much are these people getting paid.. I’m assuming south of not very much. To expect them to research the pronunciation of modern footballers names is a tad harsh . At least there is someone on the wireless telling you the score. The glory days of decent essex radio commentary are over . Yet another thing we all took for granted, untill it’s gone

You're kidding of course!
I don't get paid much for the sports show I do, but work like last night could be a stepping stone, and if professional, gets you noticed.

 

[choggy]

April was good, it was her co-commentator that let her down. Whoever he is needs to learn the art of 'think first, then speak', rather than the other way round. That monologue about one of the players having 'great legs' was excruciatingly bad.

 

[PIERS]

You're kidding of course!
I don't get paid much for the sports show I do, but work like last night could be a stepping stone, and if professional, gets you noticed.

Great and good luck to you, but by your very definition it’s going to be ‘amateur’. Unlike the very professional coverage we have been used to for years.. covering Southend, Col U and all local non league action. I could be in my car listening to the Southend game and I would know how canvey, heybridge, Chelmsford the lot were getting on. With live updates from those grounds after a goal or event , post match chat , league positions etc. I wasn’t to fussed if speller mis pronounced a multi hyphenated surname