Last Night's Game Telecast

[ensco]

1) Why is the feed from every TFC road game such poor quality?
2) Because of 1) above, Rogers is going to have to think about their strategy of having Dobson and Forrest call the games from a studio - it's unfair to ask anyone to do that, and to boot, these guys have worse eyesight than I do
3) Having said both 1) and 2), Dobson and Forrest were...not good.

They do waaaaaay too much "bingo calling". Dobson especially does not know MLS at all, and it shows. There was far too much self-righteous stuff from Forrest about how great it is that the ref is giving cards for dives, ignoring the fact that both calls were pretty questionable.

They never got to any of the following:
-No real discussion of Carver's unusual tactics (going to a 3-5-2, switching Brennan back after the goal, playing Robert up front, dropping Ricketts and Cunningham, starting James, using Marvell in both MF and defending, etc).
-Never mentioned Cunningham, who has only started almost every game this year!
-No comment at all on our MF transition problems, which were obvious
-No discussion of Robinson reading that slip of paper during the run of play, which is pretty unusual! (the FSC telecast must have been talking about it, as it was shown twice)

For those of you who bash the Score for picking up the US feed, this one had to make you pause. I think I'd rather have had the FSC feed, I really do. At least they're at the game.

[ExiledRed]

And what the fuck is "Sounds of the game"?

This is a minute long segment that they show you DURING play, which is basically a few random shots from the game so far, I think the 'sounds' refers to whatever you can hear in these shots, given that they mute the commentary for it.

They did it over a corner kick at the NE game, it's terrible.

[Rochdale]

1) Why is the feed from every TFC road game such poor quality?
2) Because of 1) above, Rogers is going to have to think about their strategy of having Dobson and Forrest call the games from a studio - it's unfair to ask anyone to do that, and to boot, these guys have worse eyesight than I do
3) Having said both 1) and 2), Dobson and Forrest were...not good.

They do waaaaaay too much "bingo calling". Dobson especially does not know MLS at all, and it shows. There was far too much self-righteous stuff from Forrest about how great it is that the ref is giving cards for dives, ignoring the fact that both calls were pretty questionable.

They never got to any of the following:
-No real discussion of Carver's unusual tactics (going to a 3-5-2,
switching Brennan back after the goal, playing Robert up front, dropping Ricketts and Cunningham, starting James, using Marvell in both MF and defending, etc).
-Never mentioned Cunningham, who has only started almost every game this year!
-No comment at all on our MF transition problems, which were obvious
-No discussion of Robinson reading that slip of paper during the run of play, which is pretty unusual! (the FSC telecast must have been talking about it, as it was shown twice)

For those of you who bash the Score for picking up the US feed, this one had to make you pause. I think I'd rather have had the FSC feed, I really do. At least they're at the game.

l think Dobson and Forrest were actually at the game last night.

[Billy the kid]

There was a time when this game would not have been televised. We're a finicky bunch.

[NateDoGG]

lets just be happy we get to see our team on the road on canadian tv.

and also, who cares, its tv, it has nothing to do with the football, so really i dont care, and dont understand why u guys take it so hard.

u should be posting about how we let them get the win, that was bullshit, carver should of ripped right into the defence soon as the game was over..
worst defence ALL season.. now thats what we Should be taking hard...

[ExiledRed]

There was a time when this game would not have been televised. We're a finicky bunch.

So we should just accept whatever shit is thrown in our direction?

If they showed it in black and white, should we be happy?

[NateDoGG]

So we should just accept whatever shit is thrown in our direction?

If they showed it in black and white, should we be happy?


how bout canada doesnt air the away games at all
would u be happy?


be happy u get to see away games on our local tv...

u guys need to relax, we are not a european league here, we dont have john motson and ally mcoist

[TFC John]

And what the fuck is "Sounds of the game"?

This is a minute long segment that they show you DURING play, which is basically a few random shots from the game so far, I think the 'sounds' refers to whatever you can hear in these shots, given that they mute the commentary for it.

They did it over a corner kick at the NE game, it's terrible.


A: The part I hate the most!

I think it's just an excuse to mention an advertiser's name. Maybe it works in hockey where they stop the play so much but they obviously don't understand football when they do something like that.

[ExiledRed]

how bout canada doesnt air the away games at all
would u be happy?


be happy u get to see away games on our local tv...

u guys need to relax, we are not a european league here, we dont have john motson and ally mcoist

No i wouldnt be happy, and a large segment of the tv viewing demographic would not be advertised to.

I dont understand this philosophy, that because we are hungry we should be happy to eat shit.

[Kickit09]

i dont know what game you were watching but Dobson and Forrest were defiantly at the game, that was pretty obvious… and yeah their broadcast isnt the greatest but at least the game was on TV, unlike the next one.

[rocker]

I like Gerry's enthusiasm for TFC, and I'm glad they covered the game.
but Gerry was getting names wrong a lot last night....
when Robert got his legs taken out, Gerry said it was somebody else. I remember some other instances of this, and shouldn't be clearer to me on TV than to Gerry at the stadium.

I also got a bit tired of the constant references to how the yellow cards will suspend certain players in the next game. Who cares? I'm worried about this game and what's happening now. I'll worry about cards later. I think Gerry called it a "disaster" that they were down a goal and Edu got a card. huh?

Also, why did they say Edu was an all-star (and ask him that in the interview) when the rest of the all-stars are announced on Tuesday? Then Gerry clarified later.... but that was weird.

Also, they got the date of their next televised game wrong. Thankfully Gerry clarified the incorrect graphic.

[noochie]

I don't mind them... 2 things irk me about Dobson especially though.

1. He clearly needs glasses or to stop watching the game on the pitch and look at a monitor to call it. He gets players names wrong on both side with a huge amount of regularity.
2. His artificial voice raising tone on shots and goals. I think he is using hockey-style play calling. Which I am OK with if if comes naturally, his sounds sooo forced though.

Forrest I have no issues with... but I am also a big fan of losing the color guy in all sports broadcasts. A good engaging play-by-play guy is always better than a random tandem IMO.

[Canary Canuck]

One thing that I found weird was the crowd noise was muffled on the broadcast. Even when Chicago scored in injury time and the crowd went mental you cold barely hear them.

[BigLou]

1) Why is the feed from every TFC road game such poor quality?
2) Because of 1) above, Rogers is going to have to think about their strategy of having Dobson and Forrest call the games from a studio - it's unfair to ask anyone to do that, and to boot, these guys have worse eyesight than I do
3) Having said both 1) and 2), Dobson and Forrest were...not good.

They do waaaaaay too much "bingo calling". Dobson especially does not know MLS at all, and it shows. There was far too much self-righteous stuff from Forrest about how great it is that the ref is giving cards for dives, ignoring the fact that both calls were pretty questionable.

They never got to any of the following:
-No real discussion of Carver's unusual tactics (going to a 3-5-2, switching Brennan back after the goal, playing Robert up front, dropping Ricketts and Cunningham, starting James, using Marvell in both MF and defending, etc).
-Never mentioned Cunningham, who has only started almost every game this year!
-No comment at all on our MF transition problems, which were obvious
-No discussion of Robinson reading that slip of paper during the run of play, which is pretty unusual! (the FSC telecast must have been talking about it, as it was shown twice)

For those of you who bash the Score for picking up the US feed, this one had to make you pause. I think I'd rather have had the FSC feed, I really do. At least they're at the game.
1)?
1) They were at the game in Chicago.
2/3)I Disagree. They discussed both Embellishment bookings in depth showing several replays each time and Craig Forrest was simply saying he likes to see referees not afraid to give these bookings(like the ref we had when we hosted the Columbus diving team this year).They talked about the tactics at the start of the telecast explaining where everyone was playing. They talked about the slip of paper and pointed out the resulting tactical changes TFC made. I don't understand this post. Did you watch the game with the sound off?
But i Guess if you would rather the good old " YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" goal call, you can have your FSC broadcast.

[ensco]

If they were at the game, as several claim here, then I'm stunned, they were worse than I thought. I have a follow-up question - do they have a producer? Because they desperately need one, they were frequently lost.

BigLou, if you say they talked about the slip of paper, I didn't hear it. As for the rest of your post, I flat out disagree. They never discussed strategy at all, there are more examples than what I originally posted. For example, the second half substitutions, I had to figure out for myself who went out - James and Smith - and what the resulting formation was. It didn't help that they joined the second half after the kickoff, which was also amateur hour.

For those people who think I'm an ingrate, my response to you is, as a consumer, you have a right (and maybe an obligation) not to be sheep.

If something can reasonably be better, than it should be better.

[Toronto_Bhoy]

If the audience numbers don't improve there will likely be "limited" TV coverage in future…the market is minimal.

CBC gets better numbers for equestrian events and crap like the Calgary Stampede…SNO’s poker and NASCAR does better…hell, last season the Score's NCAA basketball did better than TFC.

The Houston v TFC game had 20,000 viewers!!! The Cubs v Dodgers had 98,000 the same night…5 times the audience!

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080610.TRUTH10/TPStory/Sports/columnists

[Northern Soul]

My only comment is that any nice/half-decent play to Forrest is "world-class". Methinks he over-uses that A LOT!

[ensco]

Further cementing this one as one of the most inept telecasts ever, Brennan (and not Edu) was selected for the all-star game.

What the heck were they doing, announcing Maurice as an all-star and interviewing him about it?

Sportsnet need to take a hard look in the mirror - this level of quality of production will not grow the ratings, and is bad for all concerned.

[BigLou]

Further cementing this one as one of the most inept telecasts ever, Brennan (and not Edu) was selected for the all-star game.

What the heck were they doing, announcing Maurice as an all-star and interviewing him about it?

Sportsnet need to take a hard look in the mirror - this level of quality of production will not grow the ratings, and is bad for all concerned.
I hate sportsnet but you are being unfair. Where are you getting your info?

[ensco]

I hate sportsnet but you are being unfair. Where are you getting your info?

Sportsnet announced that Edu was on the all-star team, and talked to Edu about it at halftime. Should I run a poll to prove it to you?

[Roogsy]

Yeah they did do that. All live telecasts have mistakes. If you are going to jump all over them for that...lord help them if they actually make any huge mistakes.

Geez...people on here blast the CBC, the Score, Sportsnet and TSN (deservedly).

What the hell people...do we want TFC broadcast on fucking A&E???

[Cristiano14]

And what the fuck is "Sounds of the game"?

This is a minute long segment that they show you DURING play, which is basically a few random shots from the game so far, I think the 'sounds' refers to whatever you can hear in these shots, given that they mute the commentary for it.

They did it over a corner kick at the NE game, it's terrible.

yeah exactly, and you barely hear any "sounds", its just a crap advertising sceme for rona

[ensco]

Yeah they did do that. All live telecasts have mistakes. If you are going to jump all over them for that...lord help them if they actually make any huge mistakes.

Geez...people on here blast the CBC, the Score, Sportsnet and TSN (deservedly).

What the hell people...do we want TFC broadcast on fucking A&E???

You've arrived at the heart of the matter. You think we should be grateful, and I think we're being chummed.

The networks carry live Canadian sports to fulfill their "Canadian content" obligations, and the Score and Sportenet are using TFC as cheap fodder to get their "Cancon" fill. It shows. (The CBC are clearly committing more resources to this, I exclude them from this criticism.)

The sports networks don't really care if TFC makes it or not in the long run. They did fine without us, and they'll go back to filling the time with poker or something if TFC goes away. They're showing they're not invested in this by not even giving us remotely comparable production quality to what the NBA, or MLB, or even CFL get.

But you, TFC fan, should care. TFC have a ratings problem. If the broadcasts are crap, it will keep the ratings meager.

Without better ratings, and the dollars that go with it, there will be no grass at BMO, no DP....

[Oldtimer]

The ratings on the Score are always much lower (I think a lot of people don't have it), so they are not representative.
CBC usually gets around 100,000 for a TFC match.