What makes a good commentator?

[Martyn Sadler]

I try to answer that question.

[Jughead]

Not being called Bill Arthur is a good starting point. 

[DavidM]

I always preferred Barry Davies to John Motson . Some fantastic goals come hand in hand with his commentary 

[Big Picture]

Here's a good example of the superb commentary style of Danny Gallivan, who was for 32 years the regular play-by-play commentator on Hockey Night in Canada telecasts from Montréal.  One of the best commentators ever in my opinion, very good at generating enthusiasm and excitement.

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Big Picture

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, DavidM said:

I always preferred Barry Davies to John Motson . Some fantastic goals come hand in hand with his commentary 

Barry Davies was the gold standard.

The commentary on the equaliser for Colombia in the 1990 world cup vs Germany is a thing of beauty.

 

[Big Picture]

5 minutes ago, Leonard said:

Barry Davies was the gold standard.

The commentary on the equaliser for Colombia in the 1990 world cup vs Germany is a thing of beauty.

 

Hmmm gold standard eh?  There was a good stretch leading up to the first goal there when he had nothing to say, that's very poor in my opinion.

[Martyn Sadler]

There are some great sporting events that stick in the memory, not just because of the action but also because of the commentary.

The so-called greatest try ever scored in rugby union falls into that category. Cliff Morgan was the commentator, but he only got the gig because Bill McLaren was ill. But his commentary on Gareth Edwards' try was the true gold standard.

"Gareth Edwards - what can touch a man like that?"

 

[RP London]

There is only one thing... listen to the late and very great Richie Benaud... 

“The key thing was to learn the value of economy with words and to never insult the viewer by telling them what they can already see”

 

[Oxford]

34 minutes ago, Martyn Sadler said:

I try to answer that question.

I liked that article Martyn

It's hard to judge but:

knowledgable without being too technical,

Being able to make any game sound better than it is,

Humour bags of it without cruelty,

Knowing the names of the players involved at that moment,

Never treat your audience like they don't understand,

Avoid the obvious & never repeat yourself.

Sor of the opposite of a pundit really!

Why on earth RL fans would go straight for bashing one of our commentators or refering to some in another sport is beyond me. Same as with refs you have to have them and fans are desperate to criticise them I suppose!

 

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Hmmm gold standard eh?  There was a good stretch leading up to the first goal there when he had nothing to say, that's very poor in my opinion.

Well, I wasn't going to reclip just the Colombia goal for you.

Silence is often golden.

A thing lost on most TotalRL posters.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Leonard

[DavidM]

42 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

There was a good stretch leading up to the first goal there when he had nothing to say, t

Mmm I’d say to many commentators now have the exact opposite problem . Look at legends like Benaud and Laker , adding to the pictures not waffling incessantly 

[Expatknight]

You probably have never heard or even heard of Andy Atkinson the BBC Radio York RL commentator but I doubt there are many much better, you feel like you are there when you listen to him and he has all the attributes already mentioned.

 

[Just Browny]

I liked the article. For me the most evocative voices were Barry Davies and Brian Moore although Motson had his moments too.

On the RL side, I'm not old enough to remember Waring but Ray French had a fantastic voice and narrated some amazing moments in the 1990s, as did Hemmings in the first 10-15 years of Sky RL. Strangely French is/was far less captivating as a radio commentator than he was on BBC TV. Hemmings got drawn far too much into 'banter' and personal hobby horses as time went on.

On Radio, I think those with access to Radio Manchester/GMR have been the most spoilt with the likes of Trevor Hunt, Phil Kinsella and Jack Dearden outstanding commentators. The West Yorkshire and Humberside ones are sometimes a bit too partisan for my tastes.

[RP London]

3 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

I liked the article. For me the most evocative voices were Barry Davies and Brian Moore although Motson had his moments too.

On the RL side, I'm not old enough to remember Waring but Ray French had a fantastic voice and narrated some amazing moments in the 1990s, as did Hemmings in the first 10-15 years of Sky RL. Strangely French is/was far less captivating as a radio commentator than he was on BBC TV. Hemmings got drawn far too much into 'banter' and personal hobby horses as time went on.

On Radio, I think those with access to Radio Manchester/GMR have been the most spoilt with the likes of Trevor Hunt, Phil Kinsella and Jack Dearden outstanding commentators. The West Yorkshire and Humberside ones are sometimes a bit too partisan for my tastes.

totally agree on the bit in bold..  Silence is fine, we are watching the action we dont also need it described (why TV and Radio commentators are different animals).

[Gerrumonside ref]

Less is more - personally my bugbear is ex radio commentators working on TV and trying to fill every space.

Silence is golden at times on TV as we can see quite a lot for ourselves unlike on radio.

[sentoffagain2]

  John Helm was very good on Scrumdown.

[HawkMan]

Commentators from the past for me the stand out ones are Brian Moore, Motty and Davies, Henry Blofeld,  Murray Walker, Dan Maskell.

Current; Voss, Johnathan Pierce,  Johnathan Agnew, Peter Drury and Mike Atherton.

Greatest Commentator Wind Up, Aggers doing Boycott.

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by HawkMan

[moorside roughyed]

Anything said by Bill McLaren or Murray Walker. 

[LeytherRob]

20 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Less is more - personally my bugbear is ex radio commentators working on TV and trying to fill every space.

Silence is golden at times on TV as we can see quite a lot for ourselves unlike on radio.

Likewise I think sometimes on the radio, commentators can get too bogged down in tangential side chats and will miss minutes at a time of gameplay where you have no idea what is going on. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

For me Davies was in a different league to Motson, who became excitable about nondescript things especially irrelevant stats, there was a touch of Partridge about Motty, though I'm not denying he became a bit of a national insitution.

Don't like to go down the "all things Australian" route, but Warren and Voss lead the way in RL terms don't they?

Benaud and Laker as stated above were top class.

[OriginalMrC]

Ray French or Bill McClaren are probably the best there's been. RL is still in pretty good shape I think commentator wise. Football is pretty shocking nowadays though. Peter Drury is great, as are Clive Tylsley and Jon Champion. The rest are pretty awful 

[DavidM]

31 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

For me Davies was in a different league to Motson, who became excitable about nondescript things especially irrelevant stats, there was a touch of Partridge about Motty, though I'm not denying he became a bit of a national insitution.

Don't like to go down the "all things Australian" route, but Warren and Voss lead the way in RL terms don't they?

Benaud and Laker as stated above were top class.

I was rewatching the Ashes 81 and Richie’s ‘ no point looking for that let alone chasing it , it’s gone straight into the confectionary stall and out again ‘ has become  as iconic as the action . Jim Laker’s dry wit made me smile with ‘ he couldn’t decide which end to throw it so he just plonked it in the middle ‘ 

[Fevrover]

1 hour ago, RP London said:

totally agree on the bit in bold..  Silence is fine, we are watching the action we dont also need it described (why TV and Radio commentators are different animals).

I remember  YEARS ago Workington were playing Saints ( i think) at Derwent Park and Eddie Waring was talking about a bale of hay on side of pitch and camera was on it so we missed a try,thank goodness we've moved on.

[The Phantom Horseman]

3 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Jim Laker’s dry wit made me smile with ‘ he couldn’t decide which end to throw it so he just plonked it in the middle ‘ 

I use to love the John Player League in the 1970s because Laker's laconic style was often paired with the inimitable John Arlott. Arlott wouldn't have had the knowledge or insight of Laker, but I could have listened to that gentle, poetic burr all day (and frequently did).

[Big Picture]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

Mmm I’d say to many commentators now have the exact opposite problem . Look at legends like Benaud and Laker , adding to the pictures not waffling incessantly 

I agree that a play-by-play commentator needs to add to what the viewer sees.  He needs to project enthusiasm and excitement about the game and get the audience to feel that too, then they'll keep watching even if what they're watching is new to them and they'll want to watch more in future as well.

If you watch some of the Super Series '76 match I posted above, you'll hear that in Danny Gallivan's commentary.  He was very good at that.