Author Topic: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever! (Read 5615 times)

Bashiba · « **on:** December 17, 2007, 01:10:39 AM »

Rob Stone has got to go. He might be the worst sports commentator in the history of the job.
Did we really need a half a game talking about the Simpsons.
Whats a plastic ball for?
That question is the equivalent of someone asking Madden during a game what the yellow sticks on the sideline are for, or why the players where helmets.
These guys just suck, how about some real info about what the bowlers are throwing, surface prep, drillings, grip, etc.
Like when they mentioned Chris Warren was throwing conventional and then never said another word. Between Warren and Devany throwing Sarge & Conventional it would seem they had something good to work with and ignored it.
How come we don't get a run down of the top 32 anymore? I guess they are to busy saying Hambone.
A couple weeks ago they had Barnes on with them for a few minutes, and all of sudden it got interesting and we had some real info. Why can't they get a couple pros to do this each week.
It would have been nice to maybe have some sort of explanation as to why the righties couldn't keep pace other than the usual more traffic/breakdown explanation we all understand.
Sorry had to rant, They were just awful yesterday, and seem to be getting worse.
Please ESPN, Please, get some real pros to do the commentary, and free them up of restrictions on mentioning specific companies so they can at least discuss the gear a little.

Monster Pike · « **Reply #16 on:** December 17, 2007, 11:53:07 AM »

Stone has plus & minuses. We need to let him sow his oats so to speak. Maybe he'll better next season. Maybe in the summmer he'll listen to tapes of himself. Yeah, get rid of the screaming when all ten didn't go down. That was brutal. He needs to show a little impartiality.
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Just grip it & rip it!

BrunsMike · « **Reply #17 on:** December 17, 2007, 12:18:02 PM »

Rob Stone doesnt really bother me except when he says "HAM-BONE!!" Ughh!! I was bowling last night and had my 1st 4 bagger in 2-3 weeks and 4-5 other bowlers in the leauge yell out hambone to me... Unfortunately guys Stone is creating a new thing and it may take some time to get used to it. Just like 2 handed bowlers they are kinda of unorthodox but they are the new way of bowling as im seeing more and more of this style.
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Fluff E Bunnie · « **Reply #18 on:** December 17, 2007, 12:32:52 PM »

quote:
Yeah, get rid of the screaming when all ten didn't go down.

Some of those he sounds like he is showing us is O face or something. Either that or there is a bug or something in the booth like that one famous weatherman on youtube.
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Go Bucs?

Monster Pike · « **Reply #19 on:** December 17, 2007, 12:40:22 PM »

Yeah, I liked the squeaking shoes better than his screaming.

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Just grip it & rip it!

mainzer · « **Reply #20 on:** December 17, 2007, 12:44:05 PM »

lay off stone he is trying to get the normal person info about bowling, We are the vast minority watching the telecast more often then not
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Mainzerpower

Bashiba · « **Reply #21 on:** December 17, 2007, 01:09:30 PM »

If they are so focused on getting casual fans to watch then they might as well throw some cosmic on TV.

Seriously its a niche market and will stay that way so why not try to capture it better. They are never going to attract casual fans in that brutal Sunday afternoon vs football timeslot anyway.

dpunky · « **Reply #22 on:** December 17, 2007, 01:10:54 PM »

I'm now getting used to Rob calling a four-bagger a "hambone" and his constant "drop and give me 10" references to certain strike shots. I do get kinda annoyed when ask questions like "what is a plastic" ball, but what do you expect from a person that comes into the announcing job with no knowledge of bowling. He's quickly learning more of the bowling lingo, and also making his signature sayings along the way. Hopefully, he'll read up on bowling terminology and history to get more educated during the holiday break.

He's showing enthusiasm and wants to get the viewers to get into the match.
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Ken - aka "dpunky" - Certified USBC Level I Coach

Dan Belcher · « **Reply #23 on:** December 17, 2007, 02:20:06 PM »

quote:
I do get kinda annoyed when ask questions like "what is a plastic" ball, but what do you expect from a person that comes into the announcing job with no knowledge of bowling.

That was actually my favorite part of the telecast. That's the kind of basic information a LOT of the viewers don't understand very well.

quote:
He's showing enthusiasm and wants to get the viewers to get into the match.

That's the other thing I really liked.

Go back and listen to Stoner on his first two or three shows, and then listen to him on his past couple of shows. He's already shown a ton of improvement. Other than botching a couple names still -- and quickly correcting himself at least -- he's really learning the sport well. He already knows the pin numbers, so he's doing better than Dave Ryan did in that regard. He's figuring out why the 10 pin stands sometimes, etc. And he seems to be actually enjoying the job, which really carries over into the "getting the viewers into the match" thing. The "hambone" thing is really goofy, but what's wrong with being a little goofy? It's fun.

Borincano · « **Reply #24 on:** December 17, 2007, 02:28:51 PM »

The expression came from Rob Stone after he heard about the three strike turkey term and explained how the turkey came to be. Rob wanted something new for the 4 bagger so he came up with the Hambone. He created the term for a 4 bagger.

quote:
quote:
HAMBONE is the known 4 bagger

Borincano: I've never heard that expression before. I thought I heard Rob Stone say, "I think I'll call it the hambone". If he made it up, it would be like a novice card player making up names for Texas Hold'em, or the like. What is your information about this?
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The dumbest people I know are
those who know it all. Malcolm Forbes

Bashiba · « **Reply #25 on:** December 17, 2007, 05:38:10 PM »

[/quote][/quote]
As for all of you who are complaining about the announcing and writing to ESPN complaining...
YOU, are the problem with bowling nowadays. You complain about every announcer about how he doesn't know everything about bowling or that he tries to make the telecast "fun". Then you complain about how bowling needs those knowledgable announcers to draw viewers.
Guess what, 99.99% of Americans don't care about specific drillings of the pro's or what the surface is. 99% of the viewers don't care about either of those things. I DON'T CARE ABOUT EITHER OF THOSE THINGS. You really expect bowling's popularity to go up when people watching hear the announcers talking about things they don't care about?
ESPN puts the PBA on tv for the casual bowlers who want to watch people who are the best, not for you people who care about stupid, intricate things like that.
I'm sorry that people like you are not happy with Rob Stone and his announcing, but really, c'mon, just quit freaking complaining and watch the sport you love.
[/quote]

So you took a poll right, you know for sure what 99% of the people who watch bowling want, because thats what you want. So you know for a fact that your feelings on the matter hold true for 99% of the people. Good to know.

While my poll was of a much smaller sampling, I talked to about a ten different people today about the telecast and they all had something negative to say about the commentators, about 8 of them brought it up immediatly.

I never claimed that they knowledgeable announcers to draw viewers, I'm saying that if they had them they might keep viewers.

Its good to know that wanting another avenue to expand my knowledge of the game makes me the problem in bowling.

I guess ignorance is bliss and such.

Edited on 12/17/2007 6:39 PM

Dan Belcher · « **Reply #26 on:** December 17, 2007, 07:03:41 PM »

quote:
Bo and Chris bored me to tears.

THANK YOU! Someone other than me who was willing to say it first! I agree 100%, but I was afraid I'd get lynched by the mob for saying something like that...

Juggernaut · « **Reply #27 on:** December 17, 2007, 07:18:53 PM »

People, people, people, what are we doing here? We all love the game, enough to even get out here on the world wide web and find sites like this to cuss and discuss things like rg and differential, and so on and so forth.....

What we, the initiated, need to remember is, there is a vast, untapped, supply of bowlers out there, IF we can just get them interested enough to bowl one league. Some of them will be just like us, hooked as soon as they pick a ball up on a regular basis.

Until then, let the announcers talk a little trash. Yea, it's irritating to me too at times, but if it will drum up the interest in our sport/game, then I am all for it. I might even suggest getting some young, hip X-games kind of guy in to help with the announcing chores. Someone who is up on the latest terminology, likes to go bowling, likes to compete and win. Someone who could at least see where bowling could be taken as a serious competition and not just some "goofy" game for old, fat guys.

P.S. I don't think he "invented" the term HAMBONE, but he IS the guy who applied it to mean the term for a four bagger. This was discussed on the show where Randy explained the term TURKEY and Stone said that we needed a name for a fourbagger. He later started using the term HAMBONE. Peterson cringed ( yes, so bad you could hear it ) but Stone persisted calling it that. Peterson is still cringing and Stone is still yelling "HAMBONE". Sort of getting used to it, even to the point that it has become a bit humorous to me.
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I'm really tired of the whining, so, JUST SHUT UP AND BOWL!

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mumzie · « **Reply #28 on:** December 17, 2007, 09:58:11 PM »

1. I would watch the show no matter who was doing the talking. I like the bowling. I can always hit mute if I don't want to hear it.
2. I didn't like Rob Stone at the beginning - but I think he's actually starting to get some enthusiasm for the game. And he can learn - when he shuts up long enough to listen. To the "why the plastic ball" question he asked several times - Randy answered several times. Stone just didn't listen.
3. I don't care WHO replaced Dave Ryan. As long as someone did.

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REvans284 · « **Reply #29 on:** December 17, 2007, 10:59:03 PM »

He does bring a little humor to the show and has made me laugh. I (like Randy) cringed at the start of the Hambone thing and still kind of do, but when people had signs about a hambone, and he started talking about "if you bring a hambone sign you will get TV time, if you dress up as a character/costume you will get TV time, and if you dress up and bring a sign we will let you be the host of the show!" it just cracked me up with the way he said it!!!

I think to a point its good that he doesn't know pretty much anything about bowling because again he asks questions that typical "non" bowlers ask and then Randy gets to answer them so I can see where thats a positive thing and can add viewers to the show.

If you've ever witnessed a no-it-all "hot shot" bowler walk up to a casual bowler who is struggling at the center and then try to help someone who obviously didnt know anything about bowling. Then they start talking all this technical jargon and you just see this puzzled/unammused look on the casual guy's face. It means they really don't care and you went too far over their head past a point of interest (This happens all the time at my center and its funny to set back and watch)..

If that happened on the telecast with 2 announcers that were very knowledgable about the sport and start talking in more "bowling lingo" terms and didn't explain these relatively basic things because it was 2nd nature because they just assumed that everybody already knew. People would flip the channel because they wouldn't stay interested in that stuff.

The PBA knows this and thats why they brought in someone like Rob Stone. He has something to offer the casual bowling public. He may say something funny and keep a viewer interested for a while, and then ask a similar question for randy to answer and wow, they learned something and continue to watch because they become interest.

The only thing I think needs a little work is making sure he gets the names right (which he is improving on, as he corrected himself this week when he messed up Parker's name). If he gets those wrong, and the unknowing viewer watches and hears a name pronounced wrong he wont know the wiser, then when Randy corrects him and they see the announcer doesn't even get a top level "best in the world" pro's name right it may cause a lack of legitimacy or seriousness in the sport.

Other than that I think he's doing a pretty good job for a rookie. I just hope he doesn't run "Drop and give me 10!" into the ground like Dave Ryan did with "60 feet to success!". I think having a trademark quote gets boring, and he should mix it up. It drives me crazy hearing the same thing over and over.

Later,

REvans284

Edited on 12/18/2007 0:01 AM

Walking E · « **Reply #30 on:** December 17, 2007, 11:05:49 PM »

Rob Stone is great. Funny guy, and he really seems genuinely excited by what's going on. I wouldn't change a thing.

Shoot, I think Randy is a tool a lot of times, but I would not ask for him to be replaced.

To go a step further, I would also opine that Chris Barnes and/or Norm Duke do not provide commentary very often, but when they do, it is always outstanding and way, WAY more insightful than what Randy provides. I think Duke and Barnes both explain lane transitions and ball reactions much more clearly and understandably than Randy every does (especially for layman bowlers, because they use layman terms); however, since they are not the most exciting announcers around (and because they are still actively touring), Randy is the guy. And I'm totally OK with that, just as I am OK with Stone.

Just my two cents. Or three. ;-)
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Author Topic: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever! (Read 5615 times)

Bashiba

Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Monster Pike

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

BrunsMike

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Fluff E Bunnie

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Monster Pike

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

mainzer

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Bashiba

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

dpunky

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Dan Belcher

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Borincano

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Bashiba

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Dan Belcher

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Juggernaut

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

mumzie

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

REvans284

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!

Walking E

Re: Worst Commentary on the telecast ever!