JB and DC to commentate NCAA's for ESPN

[Antitroll2828]

11 hours ago, boconnell said:

Harrison is great.  I don't think anyone is better.  DC is good at everything except avoiding cheeseburgers.

Harrison is constantly switching from screaming at the top of his lungs to whispering like he’s reading his baby a bedtime story , I appreciate the passion and all but I find it annoying when I need to turn the down the tv every big sequence bc Harrison is screaming and scaring the dogs 

[NM1965]

17 hours ago, dragit said:

It's Cormier for all those who hadn't seen the press release and didn't feel like trying to do a mental inventory of every DC wrestler they could think of.

Cormier? Is he a pretty good commentator? I'm surprised they couldn't get Dake or Taylor. 

[Rassling]

36 minutes ago, forkemaz said:

I don't think they are equipped to discuss the other topics and it would he inappropriate during matches. I hope you enjoy your pizza.

Thanks!

[Rassling]

17 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

Cormier? Is he a pretty good commentator? I'm surprised they couldn't get Dake or Taylor. 

Cormier is one of those rare special guys who transitioned beautifully from success on the mat to success behind the mic. If he’s excited about something he get you excited about or to!

[Kov88]

I’m glad big names in the sport actually want to commentate the event….. having wrestlers who’ve been there and done it make it so much better…… in other sports big names usually shy away from this spot

[Antitroll2828]

18 minutes ago, NM1965 said:

Cormier? Is he a pretty good commentator? I'm surprised they couldn't get Dake or Taylor. 

Honestly announcing is probably worst of the many things DC does ,I watch a lot of ufc and he’s not even that great announcing that, always all over the place, lots of just yelling with no words , interested to see how he pairs with JB who announces like he’s sitting in a library

[Antitroll2828]

Seen a lot of comments on wrestling boards,twitter and Facebook about how terrible and annoying DC is , I tried to warn y’all 

[Rassling]

1 minute ago, Antitroll2828 said:

Seen a lot of comments on wrestling boards,twitter and Facebook about how terrible and annoying DC is , I tried to warn y’all 

I still award points to those who brought him in to try and create excitement. Let’s see how he and others do over the next few days. 

[PortaJohn]

On 3/21/2024 at 9:42 AM, Antitroll2828 said:

Honestly announcing is probably worst of the many things DC does ,I watch a lot of ufc and he’s not even that great announcing that, always all over the place, lots of just yelling with no words , interested to see how he pairs with JB who announces like he’s sitting in a library

Great comment and Rogan is the only man I've seen been able to keep him somewhat on track.  Maybe ESPN has Joe on speed dial.  Cormier needs JR not JB 

Edited March 22 by PortaJohn

[Antitroll2828]

16 minutes ago, Rassling said:

I still award points to those who brought him in to try and create excitement. Let’s see how he and others do over the next few days. 

DC is who he is , pretty sure the guy has extreme ADHD …8 mats and all the different colors and teams running around , all the wrestling stories running through his head , all while be spoken too and trying to announce and the end result of all that is DC babbling we ve got the past 2 years …

his adhd gets the better of him when he’s just sitting in front of a cage just announcing one fight , ncaas has way too much going on for him to focus 

[Antitroll2828]

11 minutes ago, PortaJohn said:

Great comment and Rogan is the only man I've seen been able to keep him somewhat on track.  Maybe ESPN has Joe on speed dial.  Cormier needs JR not JB 

Rogan does like wrestling and wrestlers , he gives them their props all the time but he still doesn’t grasp all the rules 

[pokemonster]

Everyone is complaining about DC, but it's probably a strategic decision to get the UFC fans watching wrestling. When flipping channels, they'll see DC commentating and immediately stop. It's a smart decision even if he is a bit all over the place. 

[headshuck]

I only watched a few minutes of it, but he was struggling to come up with the name of Bo Nickel. I was wondering why someone didn’t whisper the name in his ear. I always assumed there are background communications in live broadcasts.

[Rassling]

21 minutes ago, Antitroll2828 said:

DC is who he is , pretty sure the guy has extreme ADHD …8 mats and all the different colors and teams running around , all the wrestling stories running through his head , all while be spoken too and trying to announce and the end result of all that is DC babbling we ve got the past 2 years …

his adhd gets the better of him when he’s just sitting in front of a cage just announcing one fight , ncaas has way too much going on for him to focus 

Try and not focus on the person. The fact that the UFC and its 12 billion dollar worth cared enough to send one of their top representatives to a college wrestling event, a sport in trouble and desperately in need of a life line. We are in no position to speak so loudly and boldly when we need them more than they need us. The wrestling community has a habit of mouthing off when we should be more appreciative of what ever and whom ever we get in our corner besides the same o same o (Billy Baldwin ). I read some of the comments about DC and the UFC in general earlier this morning and it reminded me of some of rotten things said about RBY and Gomez recently.  Lose lips sink ships and our ship is sinking fast. 

Edited March 22 by Rassling

[Rassling]

7 minutes ago, pokemonster said:

Everyone is complaining about DC, but it's probably a strategic decision to get the UFC fans watching wrestling. When flipping channels, they'll see DC commentating and immediately stop. It's a smart decision even if he is a bit all over the place. 

Bingo - give this man a cigar! Poke I made an awesome Margherita pizza yesterday but I would gladly fire up the outdoor pizza oven today to cook another one just for you! 

[gromit]

18 minutes ago, pokemonster said:

Everyone is complaining about DC, but it's probably a strategic decision to get the UFC fans watching wrestling. When flipping channels, they'll see DC commentating and immediately stop. It's a smart decision even if he is a bit all over the place. 

This.

I think we can all look past a bit of rambling from DC and focus on the big picture here.  IMO, the folks at ESPN have a plan... and are smarter then most here give them credit for.

[TylerDurden]

50 minutes ago, headshuck said:

I only watched a few minutes of it, but he was struggling to come up with the name of Bo Nickel. I was wondering why someone didn’t whisper the name in his ear. I always assumed there are background communications in live broadcasts.

They do have the truck in their ears. But it's unlikely the director (or anyone in the truck) knows wrestling to that level. In football there are spotters next to the announcers to help identify players who make tackles, for instance, but it's hard to feed real-time, detailed information because while they can hear the broadcasters, the spotters/talent stats guys can't talk directly to them. If they gave it to him, it was via a written note. ESPN does more elaborate productions than just about anyone else, but the on-air talent needs to be prepared. 

In a former life, I was involved in many live sports broadcasts. To me, DC seemed a bit disorganized and unprepared/uninformed about the basics of the event names, brackets, etc., but his strategic commentary, energy and insights were decent-to-good. He doesn't do this a lot, so that would explain some of it. Rock really helped guide him along, IMO. 

All of that said, ESPN probably doesn't care about any of the DC's professional broadcaster shortcomings. DC isn't really there for anything other than cross-promotion, to be a hype man. Rock Harrison is the guy for the more refined commentary. 

IMO all of the analysts have their quirks, but Harrison is the best of that group since he stopped sounding like a referee training seminar and quit the, "a takedown is felt" stuff. Seems to me that he now simply describes what he saw and, when necessary, goes into the rule book to explain. 

ESPN (and CBS, FOX, NBC, etc.) goes into their events with a storyline and they don't often deviate from it. They discuss it in pre-production meetings and are trying to thread it together with each element of the broadcast: intros, players to watch, interviews, etc. It all serves to tell the story. This year, ESPN is hyping their MMA coverage as part of that, it seems. 

This is why the game/event productions are pretty darn good, even if the storylines are annoying to some fanbases. If it seems like they're talking more favorably about one team or wrestler, they probably are because they've prepared features and segments of the broadcast around those ideas. It's not because they hate your favorite school. 

Edited March 22 by TylerDurden

[Antitroll2828]

Just now, gromit said:

This.

I think we can all look past a bit of rambling from DC and focus on the big picture here.  IMO, the folks at ESPN have a plan... and are smarter then most here give them credit for.

I’m going to have to disagree with ESPN is smarter then we give it credit for..they lost half their audience in the past 10 years , get rid of real athletes from shows for women who don’t know what the hell they are talking about , they have producers trying to sabotage shows on the network (Pat mcAfee). They’ve let go of just about every good anchor or writer and without Disney the company would probably be going under.. ESPN now is a total joke compared to ESPN in 2004 

[ionel]

I spent the day yesterday watching just wrestling on Espn+.  Clearly I missed something or maybe I didn't.  

[SocraTease]

Fire Cormier.  He is absolutely terrible.  And keep the celebrities far, far away.   They don't know the rules, the sport, the moves or technique or most of the wrestlers..   No other serious sport would hire these incompetent fools except maybe MMA.  It is some corporate crowd (or corporate thinking) trying to make wrestling relevant to a larger audience but it backfires and doesn't work.   It is an embarrassment. 

[Rassling]

2 minutes ago, Antitroll2828 said:

I’m going to have to disagree with ESPN is smarter then we give it credit for..they lost half their audience in the past 10 years , get rid of real athletes from shows for women who don’t know what the hell they are talking about , they have producers trying to sabotage shows on the network (Pat mcAfee). They’ve let go of just about every good anchor or writer and without Disney the company would probably be going under.. ESPN now is a total joke compared to ESPN in 2004 

That’s interesting because the #1 reason I chose not to invest any more money (out of principle) to watch this event is because ESPN is owned by Disney who I despise with a passion. Guess I cut off my nose to spite my face this year. Next year it will my left cauliflower ear to make the same point. Eff em.

[SocraTease]

1 hour ago, pokemonster said:

Everyone is complaining about DC, but it's probably a strategic decision to get the UFC fans watching wrestling. When flipping channels, they'll see DC commentating and immediately stop. It's a smart decision even if he is a bit all over the place. 

Not this.   If they are flipping the channel, they will (a) hear a guy rambling on about tweets, food, and every other thing besides wrestling or offering cliches about the sport and (b) they won't likely even see DC because the images will be of the mat or (soon-to-be) commercials.    The NCAAs are about wrestling not about appealing to MMA followers, and it is what true college wrestling fans look forward to more than any other time of year.  Get competent insightful analysis and commentary, not guys that care more about MMA or being celebrities.   

[Rassling]

3 minutes ago, SocraTease said:

Fire Cormier.  He is absolutely terrible.  And keep the celebrities far, far away.   They don't know the rules, the sport, the moves or technique or most of the wrestlers..   No other serious sport would hire these incompetent fools except maybe MMA.  It is some corporate crowd (or corporate thinking) trying to make wrestling relevant to a larger audience but it backfires and doesn't work.   It is an embarrassment. 

Then what is your solution Socratease?

Who would you like to see fill the roll, not for just the 3 days but to take that momentum to effect positive change afterwards? 
 

[gromit]

7 minutes ago, SocraTease said:

Fire Cormier.  He is absolutely terrible.  And keep the celebrities far, far away.   They don't know the rules, the sport, the moves or technique or most of the wrestlers..   No other serious sport would hire these incompetent fools except maybe MMA.  It is some corporate crowd (or corporate thinking) trying to make wrestling relevant to a larger audience but it backfires and doesn't work.   It is an embarrassment. 

How does it backfire? Are you organizing a boycott of NCAAs next year?  Just put them on mute or stream the Matcast in the background if it bothers you that much. sheesh.

[pokemonster]

4 minutes ago, SocraTease said:

Not this.   If they are flipping the channel, they will (a) hear a guy rambling on about tweets, food, and every other thing besides wrestling or offering cliches about the sport and (b) they won't likely even see DC because the images will be of the mat or (soon-to-be) commercials.    The NCAAs are about wrestling not about appealing to MMA followers, and it is what true college wrestling fans look forward to more than any other time of year.  Get competent insightful analysis and commentary, not guys that care more about MMA or being celebrities.   

Idk, I think any true wrestling fan will be watching the MATCAST or the specific matches, not the ESPN broadcast that understandably misses a good deal of the action.