inhuman interest wrote:
Dorando wrote:Why can't they get commentators who know something about the sport. Heck, you could pretty much Google the human interest stories on all the contenders while the race is running. The main guy seemed clueless about the running scene except for the stat sheet in front of him.
I could babble on for 2 hours on numerous aspects of the marathon and the runners in a far more informative way than that guy. Most runners could.
Isn't the main guy Tim Hutchings?
I don't know who this guy was, but it's not TIm Hutchings. Hutchings is very good. I'd agree that this guy in Dubai seemed pretty clueless. I've seen Tim Hutchings and Larry Rawson (not that Rawson doesn't have other problems) the day before the race at the Chicago Marathon and they do a TON of work. They talk to each of the elites, asking them about their training and some interesting facts for the broadcast and write down pages of notes. Rawson asks them to pronounce their names about 50 times to make sure he has it right. They go into those races prepared to give knowledgeable commentary ... and then NBC or whichever network screws it up by cutting to commercials, or interviews with the wheelchair winner or some random guy on the street.
Here, they had a good stream with no commercials, but the guy barely knew who was who in the elite field and seemed to have done almost no research (although I didn't watch the full broadcast, so maybe he used up all his useful info in the beginning of the race and I missed it).
And Haile is great, but not as one of your main commentators. He's a guy you bring in as a bonus mid-race interview or just to offer some extra perspective. He shouldn't be calling the race (at least not in English).