Why do fans tolerate poor broadcasting?

[Jason Bryant]

The English announcers in the Olympics feeds are hired by the Olympic Broadcasting Service and they usually employ broadcasters they can use for multiple sports over weeks vs. getting sport-specific pxp broadcasters for individualized sports. That gets costly.

[nick]

I do commentary for a D1 on ESPN+

A few days before the dual I'll make a factsheet for both lineups with bullet points on each wrestler.. on the visiting team I try to do two deep at each weight since I'm not entirely sure who's wrestling up until right before the dual.

This year I've been by myself more times than not, but they did add 1 minute between matches which has been super helpful to regroup (last year it was straight into the next match which makes it tough to give some background information)

Generally, I try to be as non-biased as possible, give a few sentences worth of background information throughout the match, and try to saddle the line between grandparent at home and wrestling nerd parent, which can be a bit tough.

It's a lot harder than it looks 

 

[Caveira]

38 minutes ago, nick said:

I do commentary for a D1 on ESPN+

A few days before the dual I'll make a factsheet for both lineups with bullet points on each wrestler.. on the visiting team I try to do two deep at each weight since I'm not entirely sure who's wrestling up until right before the dual.

This year I've been by myself more times than not, but they did add 1 minute between matches which has been super helpful to regroup (last year it was straight into the next match which makes it tough to give some background information)

Generally, I try to be as non-biased as possible, give a few sentences worth of background information throughout the match, and try to saddle the line between grandparent at home and wrestling nerd parent, which can be a bit tough.

It's a lot harder than it looks 

 

Awesome brother.  Keep that up.   Presenting and filling dead air is harder than people think.   Keep up the good work!

I always try to do dry runs by myself the night before.  Gets your cadence down.  For my huge presos I’ll make coworkers or friends listen and critique.  You can’t get better if you don’t know what to focus on.  
 

 

[BruceyB]

5 hours ago, nick said:

I do commentary for a D1 on ESPN+

A few days before the dual I'll make a factsheet for both lineups with bullet points on each wrestler.. on the visiting team I try to do two deep at each weight since I'm not entirely sure who's wrestling up until right before the dual.

This year I've been by myself more times than not, but they did add 1 minute between matches which has been super helpful to regroup (last year it was straight into the next match which makes it tough to give some background information)

Generally, I try to be as non-biased as possible, give a few sentences worth of background information throughout the match, and try to saddle the line between grandparent at home and wrestling nerd parent, which can be a bit tough.

It's a lot harder than it looks 

 

Just curious, do you have a wrestling background or are you an aspiring sports commentator where this is a chance to get some live experience?

I only ask because college wrestling is such a nuanced sport that if you haven't been a thorough follower of the sport for some time, it is very hard to understand the tactics and intricacies of the sport purely by study. Regardless, as I said previously, I am all for those willing to do their homework and give their best shot, even if there are some flubs that the more knowledgeable fan base notice. 

[nick]

6 hours ago, BruceyB said:

Just curious, do you have a wrestling background or are you an aspiring sports commentator where this is a chance to get some live experience?

I only ask because college wrestling is such a nuanced sport that if you haven't been a thorough follower of the sport for some time, it is very hard to understand the tactics and intricacies of the sport purely by study. Regardless, as I said previously, I am all for those willing to do their homework and give their best shot, even if there are some flubs that the more knowledgeable fan base notice. 

Wrestled in college for a small NAIA school and have coached HS for the last 11 years, connected with our local D1 a while back and once they got started broadcasting they reached out to have someone with some wrestling knowledge 

Not aspiring for a career at all, stay too busy with my day job and coaching, but I've done the commentary for the last three years

Edited 22 hours ago by nick

[Caveira]

Just rambling but I wonder…. I would have a checklist of some kind.   For each wrestler their hs, home town, some accolades (state champ Fargo super32 etc etc)….   Record last year or in hs.    Etc.  those are obviously some of the obvious ones.   Print outs of said notes either physically or digitally.    Hypothetical conference or seeding implications of this Match.   Who the front runners are in the conference at that given weight.   Wrestle off info (if the spot is contested).   Hs coach if coach is notable.  

[CHROMEBIRD]

16 hours ago, nick said:

I do commentary for a D1 on ESPN+

A few days before the dual I'll make a factsheet for both lineups with bullet points on each wrestler.. on the visiting team I try to do two deep at each weight since I'm not entirely sure who's wrestling up until right before the dual.

This year I've been by myself more times than not, but they did add 1 minute between matches which has been super helpful to regroup (last year it was straight into the next match which makes it tough to give some background information)

Generally, I try to be as non-biased as possible, give a few sentences worth of background information throughout the match, and try to saddle the line between grandparent at home and wrestling nerd parent, which can be a bit tough.

It's a lot harder than it looks 

Do the schools still put out media guides before duals? Those were always a great resource. This board is also a goldmine for background content and commentary fodder.

Why did they change the pacing from match to match? Ads?

[CHROMEBIRD]

A lot of the discussion has been focused on the commentary, but poor broadcasting to me is more about having a reliable stream & audio that doesn't cut out, showing the scores and RT, keeping the camera on the action - like bread and butter stuff that we have grown accustomed to being mishandled.

As for the student commentators, the learn-on-the-job model is a good one. Ideally, an inexperienced person on the mic would be paired with a seasoned commentator or pro, though I realize that's not realistic in our sport.

[ionel]

1 hour ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Do the schools still put out media guides before duals? 

Most fans have smart phones.  If I go to a dual I pull up wrestlestat.com there are always changes from what was printed.  No one is making money on wrestling so why waste the paper. 

[BruceyB]

1 hour ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Ads?

Yep. Commercial break.

[manatree]

3 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Do the schools still put out media guides before duals?

I think some/most schools still provide a pdf version of Match Notes for each match. They usually include the data and state from the previous matches for the year and historical info for their wrestlers. If you take the time to read both teams' match notes before the match, you should have a decent grasp. If a school is wrestling both Friday & Sunday they will just combine them.

 PSU match notes vs MSU

 MSU match notes vs PSU & Maryland