With the recent news of the Disney family acquiring the rights to the 2008 Euros, there's been a lot of talk concerning who might be in the broadcast booth once the games come around. According to Oliver Tse (scroll down to the comments section) from soccerTV.com, because of who actually bought the rights, the announcers will be the same ones that currently do the Champions League broadcasts. If Mr. Tse has is right, and I have no reason to doubt him, that would mean that the bogey team of Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa won't be calling any of the games.In the end this seems to make sense. During the Germany '06, O'Brien and Balboa where the pairing that did all three of the U.S. games. That's what they prepared for and what they knew best. Once Bruce Arena's team was eliminated, they carried on through the end of the tournament, butchering our ears along the way. Not only were they overshadowed by John Harkes and his partner (I want to say JP Della Camera, but not sure on that one), their knowledge of the world game beyond the U.S. was severely exposed.
While I don't have any problems with the ESPN teams that do the Champions league (I could do without Tommy Smyth and Shep Messing), my first choice would be to have ESPN send the BBC/ITV feed into my home. For Portugal '04, it's the one thing that kept me watching as a poor Greek team stifled it's way to the championship. The British commentary before the match, during halftime, and after the match alone makes it the number one choice in my mind.
Since I doubt that scenario might come about, my second choice would be to include Allen Hopkins and Andres Cantor. I believe that Hopkins is still involved with ESPN, why not let him call some games? As for Cantor, his credentials speak for themselves. I know that he currently works under the NBC umbrella, but aren't they and ABC on friendly terms after the switch of NFL announcers Al Michaels and John Madden? [San Francisco Chronicle, EPL Talk]
In other eye-numbing news:
- FSC spends some cash. Does anybody start watching this tournament before the quarters or semis anyway? [Live Soccer TV]
- This news should extend your viewing pleasure, but don't they run the risk of diluting such a great product? [International Herald Tribune]
Here are the games of note on TV this week through Sunday:
Wednesday
Internacional v. Al Ahly
5am ET, LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel / FOX Sports en Espanol
[Delayed: 8pm ET on FSC]
We get our first look at Barcelona's likely opposition, Internacional de Porto Alegre.
Chelsea v. Newcastle United
2:30p ET, LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel / FOX Sports en Espanol
Games in hand don't equal 3 points Jose, though Newcastle shouldn't be that tough of a nut to crack.
Wigan Athletic v. Arsenal
2:30pm ET, LIVE
Setanta Sports USA
For Arsenal, the trouble isn't the Big Four, it's everybody else.
Boca Juniors v. Estudiantes de La Plata
3pm ET, LIVE
TyC Sports USA
Neutral site, stands split evenly down the middle: what a great way to finish a not so nice season.
Colo Colo v. Pachuca
7:30pm ET, LIVE
FOX Sports en Espanol
The aggregate scoreline is 1-1 as the teams line up for the second-leg of South America's UEFA Cup equivalent.
Thursday
Barcelona v. America
5am ET, LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel / FOX Sports en Espanol
[Delayed: 8pm ET on FSC / FOX Sports en Espanol]
Will Barca come out sleepy or do they give America the Werder Bremen treatment?
Saturday
Arsenal v. Portsmouth
9:45am ET, LIVE
Setanta Sports USA
Are Pompey ready to solidify their top four place?
Sunday
FIFA Club World Cup Final
5am ET, LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel / FOX Sports en Espanol
[Delayed: 5pm ET on FSC / FOX Sports en Espanol]
This could be a fun one to watch if the South Americans and Europeans get through.
Rangers v. Celtic
7:30am ET, LIVE
Setanta Premium
[Delayed: Wednesday 7pm ET on Setanta Sports USA]
Old Firm matches, two hours well spent.
Everton v. Chelsea
8:40am ET, LIVE
Setanta Sports USA
Chelsea won't be allowed too many more slip-ups.
West Ham United v. Manchester United
11am ET, LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel
Farewell Alan Pardew, enjoy watching the Reds rip your team apart on TV.
Espanyol v. Real Madrid
1pm ET, LIVE
GolTV
Two big wins in a row for Barcelona's other team doesn't bode well for Real.
Roma v. Palermo
2:30pm ET, LIVE
RAI International
[Delayed: 3pm ET on GolTV]
The Sicilians could send Roma into a tailspin with a win here.
As always, please check your local listings for dates and times in your area.
-ac
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1 comment:
Re: commentary, I absolutely hate whoever does Barca games for ESPN. Awful.
(Incidentally, the only thing that marrs my enjoyment of my copy of the CL final from last season is the fact that it's ESPN commentary. Which features one of the guys insisting that Barca need to start punting it up to the big man up front if they want to score - a fairly insulting thing to say - about 2 seconds before Barca levelled.)
Some of the GolTV guys are delightful - especially Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen. Some of the Sky La Liga commentators are alright, too.
ITV commentators as a whole I find very entertaining, although somewhat one-eyed when it comes to anything involving English teams. The BBC is generally pretty cool, though. Anyway, my 2 cents.
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