tried to watch the recent snooker, but ruined again by endless commentator yapping

[cally]

Last point... I actually like hearing the commentarys opinions during the match...

Yip, i enjoy the commentary, i like shouting back at willie thorne for being such a........well ya know..

They do speak some tosh sometimes but i wouldnt be without it, they can be quite amusing at times too. if ya dont like it turn the volume down....simples......

[Lux]

One other thing: commentary is useful when I'm occupied in the kitchen or cleaning around the house. I'd still like to listen to what's being played.

[andy carson]

You dont talk out loud when you read do you by any chance?

yeah thats good bring out the insults when you have no other reply....


its pretty simple you know, you either put yup with it if you dont like it OR you turn the sound down on the telly it aint rocket science is it????

[RocketRoy1983]

Guess its just horses for courses as I love the commentary. If im really into the match I wont even listen as ill be so engrossed into predicting the positional play that the players will play for the next and 2/3 shots ahead.

[Giggity1984]

ANY sport without the commentary would be "purer". What you're asking for, is a bit like communism, it only works in theory.

You need the commentary for all the reason sighted in the posts above. All of them are very good reasons for keeping commentary too.

Perhaps a commentary mute button would be a nice to have for people like you who want to watch it on TV as if they are there and have the "purer" experience.

I personally like all of the commentators and pundits on the snooker, they inspire everyone into having an opinion, and love em or hate em they do know what they are talking about through experience.

It could be miles worse. We could have Sid Wadell doing it! Hopefully Barry Hearn won't migrate him over to the Snooker commentary box as part of his raft of changes!!

[spike]

ANY sport without the commentary would be "purer". What you're asking for, is a bit like communism, it only works in theory.

You need the commentary for all the reason sighted in the posts above. All of them are very good reasons for keeping commentary too.

Perhaps a commentary mute button would be a nice to have for people like you who want to watch it on TV as if they are there and have the "purer" experience.

I personally like all of the commentators and pundits on the snooker, they inspire everyone into having an opinion, and love em or hate em they do know what they are talking about through experience.

It could be miles worse. We could have Sid Wadell doing it! Hopefully Barry Hearn won't migrate him over to the Snooker commentary box as part of his raft of changes!!

Sid Wadell was once interviewed by Steve Davis and was asked if he would ever consider the role as Snooker commentator if given the chance, Wadell basically said in so many words that with his (unique style of commentary) would not fit all that well with Snooker.

That's an understatement Sid.

Great commentator all the same!

[RGCirencester]

Just thought of something else... All the people listening to the commentary at the match on the bbc headsets... You say your not allowed to talk through the snooker so you would't get it if you were there... well all of the people with headsets on do...

[TobyMc]

I just remembered something, I was looking through the channels during a long frame and ended up on eurosports and there wasnt any commentary on the same match on that channel.... next time, check eurosports.

[King T]

I think commentary is essential!

Many many sports I would sometimes get put off due to the commentators (example, football, especially Arab commentators they tend to scream much), however, I never ever got bothered by english snooker commentators, it's the complete opposite! I don't enjoy watching a match without the commentary!

Whether it's Dennis, Virgo, Willie or whoever, I must say all english commentators are on a high standard. From bringing old memories, facts and analyzing the game, I mean hearing them saying that John Higgins just fix a new tip and Sullivan should've invested the opportunity and made him have 2nd thoughts about that, that is a very interesting fact to know and the best time to hear it is during the match.

Many times I open snooker vid matches on youtube, open 10 frames at a time and wait for so long till they complete loading. Believe it or not, many times I stop watching the game after a frame or so just because the commentary is not english and I can't get what they're saying.

[missneworleans]

I like British commentators more...
The best ones for me are Clive, Dennis, Ken , Neal and Terry

[missneworleans]

Many times I open snooker vid matches on youtube, open 10 frames at a time and wait for so long till they complete loading. Believe it or not, many times I stop watching the game after a frame or so just because the commentary is not english and I can't get what they're saying.

yep!
It's quite boring to watch sports without commentary
Chinese commentators are very funny shame I can't understand what they are saying
Chinese comments+english subtitles=LOL

[King T]

yep!
It's quite boring to watch sports without commentary
Chinese commentators are very funny shame I can't understand what they are saying
Chinese comments+english subtitles=LOL

Hahaha yeah! Sometimes they upload videos captured from Eurosports but the commentator is french\german I am not sure really, the only thing I can understand is when he screams sullivaaana!

[Fedupwiththeyap]

yes commentary is essential - but not talking inappropriately & all thru the game. The recent bbc2 snooker i tuned into, and the first game i saw had normal 'old skool' levels of commentary, and i thought "ah yes! they arent over-talking, i can watch the game" and it was bloody great!!

Then I tuned in the next night - different commentators were rabbitting like madmen, and i switched off after about 3 minutes.

Look people, hardcore fans giving each other props & mutual agreement is utterly meaningless as a measure - cos hardcore fans will support the sport whatever - but i'm just a casual punter of the type that used to swell the viewing figures of snooker. real fans i supose arent going to be put off if the sport modernises towards vulgar, but i am bothered by the lack of adherence to the rules of snooker ettiquette on TV, and surely snooker needs casual punters as well as hardcore fans to get good viewing numbers doesnt it?

it doesnt bother me if snooker dissapears from regular tv, cos in it's current state i cant watch it anyway, but i can see the 'quality' corporate sponsorship for myself..... "Pukka Pies"... yes, very hi-end branding!

Pukka Pies? come on guys, get real for a moment!, snooker used to be a hi-end game, approved by hi-end corporate sponsors, i dont think such sponsors are attracted to a darts-style image of the game. So who will the sponsor be next year? White Lightning Cider? What next? RUSTLERS BURGERS?... (Nought to tasty in 60 seconds!). it's just tatty & low end chav nonsense. If the sport wants to attract hi-end blue-chip sponsors like banks etc then they need to drag snooker back to being a gentlemans game.



It's about ettiquette see (imo), so lets just look at that ettiqutte a moment shall we?


Some people might be modernisers and want snooker players to eventualy end up playing in trainers and dayglo tracksuits slathered in sponsorship logo's and perhaps they'd be fine with a 'darts' tournament style crowd interaction? Perhaps gangs of cheering, singing, opposing fans, waving comedy foam rubber snooker cues while guzzling lager is more your idea of a good way to go for snooker? I say NO!


Guys, there's a reason why they play in dinner suits, and there's a reason why you are ejected from the hall for talking or disturbing the game in anyway. it's even the same reason why you must have a foot on the floor to take a shot - gentlemens manners and ettiquette.

well some of you obviously dont understand it, or you are trying to pretend these rules of ettiquette strictly enforced in venues & at live tournaments can simply be chucked out of the window if the game is televised?

why would that be? do you think the governing body of the sport just made these stupid ettiquette rules up? No! they are manners required by both players and observers, (both to play AND watch the game) and they are there for a damned good reason!

so imo that ettiquette goes hand in hand with the image of the game - and part of that ettiquette is the style of the commentary - Commentary takes away the tension of the game when it is overdone, end of story, and it's the tension and concentration; the silence followed by release, that makes snooker so nail-biting! Talk all over it and you dont have any tension at all & you just dumb it down. SNOOKER COMMENTARY IS AN ART-FORM, you cant just blabber in the gaps, that's not how it works, it is a serious skill few have anymore, the commentary has to support the tension and that 'cut the air with a knife' atmosphere. Yap all over it and all that magical tension is gone.

I worry that they are (in desperation) pushing snooker towards a common, chav-y appeal, which eventualy will drag it down to such a low level it'll lose it's high-end image forever.

It doesnt always work tho does it this modernisation. tv advertising has collapsed as a consequence of it.

at the end of the day andy, you are right - i do turn off. shame tho innit if casual punters turn off. I asked if you talk out loud when you read because obviously (hopefuly) you dont, who would? and it's the same here. it's not what is required.


final question is this - which of you would attend a tournament and put up with 2 blokes talking all thru it in the next seats? i cant see why with modern digital tv, that those of us without sky cant just watch and have an option to remove the commentary if it is too intrusive.

and dont pretend there's no problem with the sport guys.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...bites-the-dust

If they change snooker into chav style yapping rubbish in a desperate attempt to try and drag in some extra viewers, then your hi-end corporate people switch-off cos they see snooker has become common and tatty.

the image/class/status of the game is at risk if you dumb it down to daytime tv style yappy rubbish.

discuss

[andy carson]

you go on and on about the ettiquite but you forgot one essential part...

the commentators are sat in a sandproofed box so thier voices are not heard at the tables by the players...

as you said you are a casual fan, so why not sit and actually listen to the commentators and what they are saying about shots, it might help you understand it more than you think....

[tomah]

Listen to Irish football pundits on RTE and you'll think even the chattiest English snooker commentator is almost silent in comparison!!