Damn that television!
TAPE DELAY: CSN announces that next week's Crew-United game will be shown on a delayed basis to allow the Wizz enough time to lose game 3 of their playoff series against Cleveland. So if you're tuning in, plan to tune in at 8:30PM. And who does the radio calls of the Wizz when Dave Johnson is doing TV for United?
TSN REVIEW: Eric, while you're dispensing out yellow cards, how about one to ESPN for their promise of the offside line technology. As far as I can tell, the new offside technology consists of you playing Win, Lose, or Draw with the telestrator and Tommy Smyth taking the role of Bert Convy. Otherwise, another enjoyable game to catch as a neutral, even with Columbus deciding to take minutes 45-70 off for siesta. And was ESPN getting a percentage from Buck-a-Brat night, given how often they mentioned it? I have to say that the three man booth worked reasonably well, and Tommy Smyth wasn't nearly as intrusive as certain people feared. He kept his own personality in check and fit neatly. IF this keeps up, I think TNS will gain ratings because the games are proving enjoyable to watch.
Plus, not that we wish bad things to happen to anyone, but could Andy Herron's elbow have leveled a nicer guy than Jay Heaps? Yes, if you must know, part of me considered it a win-win development. Look, sometimes I'm not very pure. I accept that.
Labels: 2007 Season, Columbus Crew, DCU, Media, Scheduled Matches
posted by D @ 10:20 AM
8 Comments:
I don't know. That elbow was, to use Eric's favorite word, "egregious."
I mean, I don't know a thing about Jay Heaps, but I don't think /anyone/ deserves to get leveled like that.
However: What is up with Columbus' uniforms? They steal our black, but they add this hideous highlighter neon yellow to it.
Can we book people for lousy fashion sense?
Also: Except for that stupid second goal, New England defended really well, especially in their own 18. Can we defend like that? Please?
Haha, I am with you on that with Jay Heaps, D.
Props where they are due: he did gripe to the referee, but when no card was forthcoming he left it there. I was expecting there might be issues forthcoming. Though the halftime break coming when it did probably helped.
Too bad the AR didn't see it.
On a completely different note, one of the 'highlights' of the broadcast was that on at least two separate occasions you could hear the crowd chanting 'bullshit' quite clearly.
Sean: I'm not saying Heaps is a dirty player (though I know several will say it for me) but he does take cheap shots, like many MLS defenders. Was it a bad elbow? Yeah, probably. But did he do something to deserve it not caught by the cameras? Wouldn't surprise me.
Joanna: If there's one chant the Columbus supporters should be familiar with to chant correctly, that'd be the one.
Don't get upset. It's not a major disaster.
Tommy really out annouced Eric and Stone last night even though you could still tell that he didn't have the best grasp of the MLS game. First he gets the "denying a goal scoring opportunity" phrase correct in the Heaps yellow/red discussion. He was the first to point out Surferboy unmarked on the wing spelled danger and that Kahno Smith was doing nothing, he also talked about tactics DURING THE GAME.
I don't think that he explained things better than Waldo and Stone because he knows more or is the better annoucer, I just think that ESPN has dumbed down MLS broadcasts in the past and that is what Stone and Waldo are used to. You know it is bad when Smyth is the voice of reason in the booth.
BDR: Bobby's on the street today... he's dressed up like a tiger...
Kinney: I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right. I also think Tommy toned himself down to fit into the two man booth with Wynalda and Stone, and Tommy toned down is much better than Tommy being full-on Tommy.
Two points I can recall in Tommy's favor:
His comment that, if video is to be used for after the fact punishment, more cameras are needed, was an intelligent one.
Yes, "intelligent" used in a sentence referring to Tommy Smyth. I'm struggling with having typed it.
More cameras would have caught what Heaps did to Herron before he threw the elbow. Because it did not suit Wynalda to acknowledge this, he ignored it and went on with his Jay Heaps, Duke basketball, Taylor Twellman/Paul Mariner man-love display. To Tommy's further credit, while Wynalda and Fan Boy continued to ignore the match and beat the drum for drawing and quartering Herron, Old Onion Bag left well enough alone.
An awake announcing crew without an agenda to pursue might have noted that Steve Nicol did not seem overly concerned about the elbow, either. He was extremely upset at how the Revs were playing, but appeared to shrug the Herron elbow off.
Also admired Tommy's failure to join in Waldo creaming his kecks when Twellman scored. Tommy correctly pointed out that the Crew back four simply did not defend Twellman at all. A "one-bouncer," which Gruenbaum should have saved, went in, possibly because Gruenbaum logically thought that Ezra might be bothered to get in the way, instead of turning his back.
Mispronouncing "Ngwenya" grated a bit, particularly when he could hear Waldo and Stone pronouncing it correctly during the broadcast.
But while I confess to having had reservations about Smyth replacing The Voice with Nothing to Say, I thought he had the best night of the three by far.
Well said on Twellman's goal. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that the defender went, 'omg, ball!' and turned away, rather than trying to charge it. The announcing crew totally overlooked that part of the play.
Then again, I think it was a good attack. Sure, it was bad defending that let the goal in, but Twellman read that no one was going to charge him, and had the guts to knock it in from outside the area rather than passing it.
So bad defense, but a good read on bad defense from Twellman.
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