unpopular opinion

[Disappointed_Badger_Fan]

Rock Harrison sucks at commentating. I hate the sound of his voice. I hate how he is constantly talking. The Big 10 crew is way better with balancing commentating and letting the sound of the match and atmosphere drive the broadcast. Lastly I truly hate the way he raises his excitement level way too high for literally every attempted takedown or near fall. I totally understand raising the level of excitement, but I think it really comes down to I can't stand the sound of his voice and his constant talking.

[okokzach]

Just now, Disappointed_Badger_Fan said:

Rock Harrison sucks at commentating. I hate the sound of his voice. I hate how he is constantly talking. The Big 10 crew is way better with balancing commentating and letting the sound of the match and atmosphere drive the broadcast. Lastly I truly hate the way he raises his excitement level way too high for literally every attempted takedown or near fall. I totally understand raising the level of excitement, but I think it really comes down to I can't stand the sound of his voice and his constant talking.

The crew that did the first three sessions of Big 12s was great imo. Hardell Moore and I forget the other guy

[lu_alum]

It seems that Harrison doesn't understand the difference between the play-by-play announcer and color commentary roles.

[1032004]

Disagree.  Love Rock

[pawrestler]

Also disagree. I love Rock. He knows the rules and gets excited. Seems like every other announcer can only do one of those two 

[scourge165]

3 hours ago, Disappointed_Badger_Fan said:

Rock Harrison sucks at commentating. I hate the sound of his voice. I hate how he is constantly talking. The Big 10 crew is way better with balancing commentating and letting the sound of the match and atmosphere drive the broadcast. Lastly I truly hate the way he raises his excitement level way too high for literally every attempted takedown or near fall. I totally understand raising the level of excitement, but I think it really comes down to I can't stand the sound of his voice and his constant talking.

Yeah, I can see this. Wrestling can also be an exciting sport with no points being scored, so I like that he brings the enthusiasm and the passion, but it's a bit too much at times. MUCH better than the...I think Scottish crew that did the Olympics last year. 

 

As for the B1G crew, I like them(I like Rock as well overall)...my main problem is...is Shane paid by the number of times he says "resilite." 

"As they go off the resilite, as they step onto the resilite, big return to the resilite."

I counted 12 in one match and then it was like hearing canned laugher on a TV show and that's all you can hear, so I REALLY tried to ignore it.

Other than that, he's great. Anyone who is enthusiastic and loves the sport, I'm happy to listen to(mostly). If the worst is being a little too excited or an OBVIOUS endorsement deal, I'll get over it...

[Rassling2]

Just be happy college wrestling is still a televised sport - some day it won’t.

[whaletail]

Rock and I were high school teammates and oddly enough, I remember him being a bit of an introvert.

Not my favorite commentator, and his excitement can sometimes feel manufactured, but he does know what he's watching.

[AgaveMaria]

Friend who are not normal wrestling fans watched the finals with me. They commented about the broadcaster and all the information/explanation given during the matches. They like it for helping them understand what was happening.

Much of wrestling is a confused mystery to those who are not already familiar with the sport. Commentators like this help a lot.

Original poster is lucky he wasn't around when Howard Cosell was broadcasting.

[CHROMEBIRD]

4 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

Friend who are not normal wrestling fans watched the finals with me. They commented about the broadcaster and all the information/explanation given during the matches. They like it for helping them understand what was happening.

Much of wrestling is a confused mystery to those who are not already familiar with the sport. Commentators like this help a lot.

Original poster is lucky he wasn't around when Howard Cosell was broadcasting.

This is true. Rock Harrison spends a lot of time explaining stuff like riding time, the implications of stall warnings, basic technique, etc. which might drive hardcore fans up a wall but is probably perfect for your average ESPN viewer. 

[Dogbone]

12 hours ago, scourge165 said:

Yeah, I can see this. Wrestling can also be an exciting sport with no points being scored, so I like that he brings the enthusiasm and the passion, but it's a bit too much at times. MUCH better than the...I think Scottish crew that did the Olympics last year. 

 

As for the B1G crew, I like them(I like Rock as well overall)...my main problem is...is Shane paid by the number of times he says "resilite." 

"As they go off the resilite, as they step onto the resilite, big return to the resilite."

I counted 12 in one match and then it was like hearing canned laugher on a TV show and that's all you can hear, so I REALLY tried to ignore it.

Other than that, he's great. Anyone who is enthusiastic and loves the sport, I'm happy to listen to(mostly). If the worst is being a little too excited or an OBVIOUS endorsement deal, I'll get over it...

Can we add Sparks and Gibbons stupid coffee grinder inside joke to the annoying list?   We get it, you call it a coffee grinder in Wisconsin.   A lot of moves have different names, it doesn't need to be referenced on every single broadcast.

I still like the BTN crew and can certainly get over it but its annoying. 

[jchapman]

4 minutes ago, Dogbone said:

Can we add Sparks and Gibbons stupid coffee grinder inside joke to the annoying list?   We get it, you call it a coffee grinder in Wisconsin.   A lot of moves have different names, it doesn't need to be referenced on every single broadcast.

I still like the BTN crew and can certainly get over it but its annoying. 

coffee grinder, bring the hips to the party, mat return, resalites, these get old, but really that is my only complaint about the B1G crew

[CHROMEBIRD]

5 minutes ago, Dogbone said:

Can we add Sparks and Gibbons stupid coffee grinder inside joke to the annoying list?   We get it, you call it a coffee grinder in Wisconsin.   A lot of moves have different names, it doesn't need to be referenced on every single broadcast.

I still like the BTN crew and can certainly get over it but its annoying. 

They are certainly getting a lot of mileage out of that coffee grinder reference. Did Sparks drop it in the Anthony Robles movie?

[jchapman]

1 minute ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

They are certainly getting a lot of mileage out of that coffee grinder reference. Did Sparks drop it in the Anthony Robles movie?

As a Wisconsin native, I didn't know it was called anything other than a coffee grinder until I was in my 40s.

[scourge165]

15 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

Friend who are not normal wrestling fans watched the finals with me. They commented about the broadcaster and all the information/explanation given during the matches. They like it for helping them understand what was happening.

Much of wrestling is a confused mystery to those who are not already familiar with the sport. Commentators like this help a lot.

Original poster is lucky he wasn't around when Howard Cosell was broadcasting.

Well...there ya go. I'm more focused on the match, so if it benefits those who aren't fans, great. 

None of us need the color commentary. We know what a good scramble is or a "BIG RETURN TO THE RESILITE!"

 

18 hours ago, Rassling2 said:

Just be happy college wrestling is still a televised sport - some day it won’t.

Yeah, "some day" the sun will burn out. Curling is televised. Not worried about Wrestling. Little worried about "Rassling'" as I think that may be a whole different thing, but...Wrestling is growing. Lets stop ringing the death knell as more and more interest is generated...or, maybe some like to be a little fatalistic...

[Rassling2]

5 hours ago, scourge165 said:

Well...there ya go. I'm more focused on the match, so if it benefits those who aren't fans, great. 

None of us need the color commentary. We know what a good scramble is or a "BIG RETURN TO THE RESILITE!"

 

Yeah, "some day" the sun will burn out. Curling is televised. Not worried about Wrestling. Little worried about "Rassling'" as I think that may be a whole different thing, but...Wrestling is growing. Lets stop ringing the death knell as more and more interest is generated...or, maybe some like to be a little fatalistic...

Didn’t say anything about college wrestling not growing. What I am referring to is the lack of affordable televised options for the average college wrestling fan. Sure, rich know-it-all has-beens like yourself will always have access but how about those not willing to fork over Flo fees, Hulu and other venues when it should be far more accessible and for free. Thankfully You Tube provides quick replays which continues to be a great resource for people like me. What “worries” me are the old timers still holding the cards who think they actually mean something to the sport when in fact they mean nothing. 

[BruceyB]

On 3/11/2025 at 2:51 AM, Rassling2 said:

Didn’t say anything about college wrestling not growing. What I am referring to is the lack of affordable televised options for the average college wrestling fan. Sure, rich know-it-all has-beens like yourself will always have access but how about those not willing to fork over Flo fees, Hulu and other venues when it should be far more accessible and for free. Thankfully You Tube provides quick replays which continues to be a great resource for people like me. What “worries” me are the old timers still holding the cards who think they actually mean something to the sport when in fact they mean nothing. 

I mean, if you don't want to pay for live TV.. what are you complaining about? I can't watch my local MLB or NHL team without paying for access to the channels they play on either. 

So many people want to act like these businesses should just stream all of their wrestling content for free as some sort of charity to the sport, as those complaining hide behind the veil of "grow the sport." You know what helps grow a sport? Revenue. Paying and viewing the events that bring in money to those covering the sport through advertisements. Everyone wants to talk about growing the sport until they have to spend a few bucks to watch.

[Old Dirty]

He comes off like a used car salesman.  I also dislike his voice, but that doesnt mean its bad, just not my preference.  He talks way too much.

[1032004]

On 3/11/2025 at 12:45 AM, scourge165 said:

Well...there ya go. I'm more focused on the match, so if it benefits those who aren't fans, great. 

None of us need the color commentary. We know what a good scramble is or a "BIG RETURN TO THE RESILITE!"

I like the commentary because sometimes I will have wrestling on while doing something else and not paying 100% attention to the action.  Guys like Rock who get excited when something is interesting is happening is helpful to me so I can know when I should pay closer attention.

For the same reason I’m not a fan of when they just show the matches with no commentating.  But yes it’s obviously better than not being able to see it at all.

[Dogbone]

Imagine if Rock Harrison and Shane Sparks commentated together.   Then you would see some excitement.

Edited 5 hours ago by Dogbone

[1032004]

1 minute ago, Dogbone said:

Imagine if Rock Harrison and Shane Sparks commentated together.   Then you would see some excitement.

They’ve done it on the Octobox for NCAA’s

[Kov88]

I used to like him from all the excitement he brings but I’ve found the dumbing down and explaining every single thing a little annoying lately