I just watched the USATF men's XC race and Rupp did great. The first thing that stood out was his knowledge of the competitors. I can't believe it when people whose literal job it is to call a race apparently can't be bothered to do any background on the competitors. Rupp knew his stuff.
Also, Rupp is obviously a student of the game and a veteran who has seen a lot. He was insightful and some of his commentary was cool just to see what he was picking up on as a guy who had raced at the front of plenty of XC races. Well done.
Any number of the UK presenters are better than any Americans. But let me throw out the name of Hannah England who has been doing a superb job on the Diamond League broadcasts. She has depth through all of the events. The only American who I could say that about would be Dwight Stones.
Coleman's call of so many races in the 70s and 80s were great. He had this exciting yet poetic way of commentating that you just don't hear today. It's feels from a bygone era, like those old trans-atlantic radio voices we have recordings of.
"Gammoudi is bankrupt! So too is Prefontaine!" "Steve Ovett, those blue eyes like chips of ice" "Coe gets the revenge he wants! Coe wins!"
"Sebastian Coe - back at his best - is the Olympic champion again"
I used to have (unfortunately lost) this massive collection of race videos I got from a YouTuber named 1981Alan that had sooo many races from the 70s-90s, and Coleman commentated on most of them. He was the best.
All the commentators tend to intellectualize running and present the (false) picture that the runners are strategizing the entire time during the race.
It's not like that.
Galen Rupp knows exactly what it's like.
Distance running is not an intellectual pursuit. It's a gut check. We all love to talk about it and guess at who looks best and what they are thinking, but none of that has anything to do with the actual running. Every time we get in a race we are reminded about the disconnect between thinking about running and the actual race. But what could commentators say if not talking about who they thought looked best and strategies? I guess they could focus on recent results and where in the pack certain runners are.....
As a lot of us probably remember, during his career Galen was not the most interview-friendly runner. Not necessarily his fault, but he came off as shy and through a combination of factors he didn't really have to self-promote the way a lot of others did to make a good living in the sport. I've always been a fan and love hearing his insight now during races. You hear him trip over words from time to time and he's still not talking much about himself but it's nice to hear him speaking earnestly about running. I hope he sticks around as an ambassador for American distance running.
Rob Walker set the standard in T&F commentary at the World Championships this year in Tokyo. His level of excitement, knowledge, and insights were awesome.
Today was my first time hearing Galen Rupp as a commentator. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. He was pretty good - not great, but definitely not bad at all.
I do have to disagree with a couple of posters upthread who I think are overselling how good he is at it. I don't think he's as good or polished as Kara Goucher, or quite ready for major broadcasts yet. For example, he did sort of trip over his tongue at one point, and apologized for it. You have to keep in mind the question, what would you think of his commentating if he was someone you had never heard of? Yes, I get that part of the reason he is on there is because he is Galen Rupp, and some people want to hear his specific insights based on his personal experience, but that only goes so far - to be an asset to NBC's team, you would have to appeal to people who don't know who you are, or maybe recognize your name but don't know/care much about your running resume.
But having said that, I'm rooting for him to keep at it, and wouldn't be surprised if he is able to up mobile laser tag near me his game in the future.
You guys are missing the big picture. It doesn't matter if he's the best. About 300 people tuned in to watch that race. You could fit them all in a high school gymnasium. There's simply nothing to gain here.
I just watched the USATF men's XC race and Rupp did great. The first thing that stood out was his knowledge of the competitors. I can't believe it when people whose literal job it is to call a race apparently can't be bothered to do any background on the competitors. Rupp knew his stuff.
Also, Rupp is obviously a student of the game and a veteran who has seen a lot. He was insightful and some of his commentary was cool just to see what he was picking up on as a guy who had raced at the front of plenty of XC races. Well done.
I just watched the women race (haven’t watched the men’s yet). He really knew his stuff and all the runners. I have to admit that I start with a negative bias towards Rupp, but I don’t think anybody could have covered this women race better than him.