Whoever this Tom is does not stop talking and contributes only the most inane commentary. He appears to have absolutely no background in track and field. Even Ato seems to be ignoring him after so many days of useless drivel.
Whoever this Tom is does not stop talking and contributes only the most inane commentary. He appears to have absolutely no background in track and field. Even Ato seems to be ignoring him after so many days of useless drivel.
He's like the pilot on "Airplane."
"So Jimmy, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"
Tom Hammond.
He looks like an old lady with all the blush he puts on his cheeks.
The mystery of Tom Hammonds as the lead Track and Field announcer for NBC has baffled hundreds of thousands of us for a couple of decades. I've written about a half dozen emails to NBC management over the years, along with thousands of others no doubt. No response, they don't care.
Tom Hammonds is to NBC as Dennis Mitchell is to USATF.
To be fair, maybe he's impressive as a commentator of other sports. That I don't know. But when it comes to track and field, Tom Hammond is - and this is the best thing I can say about him - a blooming archidiot.
You'd think that after nearly a quarter century of his daftness, aimlessness and all-around buffoonery as a T&F announcer, NBC would have figured out that for the sake of ratings, it was high time to replace him with a box turtle wearing a little propeller beanie and a clown nose.
But for some reason, despite having the T&F knowledge of half a cream cheese bagel, there he is on our television screens after all these years, still eliciting groans and forehead slaps and providing us with the occasional injection of unintended comedy.
Then again, NBC has given us worse still.
^^^ Brilliant!
Sweet Nell Fenwick wrote:
To be fair, maybe he's impressive as a commentator of other sports. That I don't know. But when it comes to track and field, Tom Hammond is - and this is the best thing I can say about him - a blooming archidiot.
You'd think that after nearly a quarter century of his daftness, aimlessness and all-around buffoonery as a T&F announcer, NBC would have figured out that for the sake of ratings, it was high time to replace him with a box turtle wearing a little propeller beanie and a clown nose.
But for some reason, despite having the T&F knowledge of half a cream cheese bagel, there he is on our television screens after all these years, still eliciting groans and forehead slaps and providing us with the occasional injection of unintended comedy.
Then again, NBC has given us worse still.
Let's all just thank God that Carol is gone.
Sweet Nell Fenwick wrote:
To be fair, maybe he's impressive as a commentator of other sports. That I don't know. But when it comes to track and field, Tom Hammond is - and this is the best thing I can say about him - a blooming archidiot.
You'd think that after nearly a quarter century of his daftness, aimlessness and all-around buffoonery as a T&F announcer, NBC would have figured out that for the sake of ratings, it was high time to replace him with a box turtle wearing a little propeller beanie and a clown nose.
But for some reason, despite having the T&F knowledge of half a cream cheese bagel, there he is on our television screens after all these years, still eliciting groans and forehead slaps and providing us with the occasional injection of unintended comedy.
Then again, NBC has given us worse still.
Exactly.
Tom had another classic performance during the men's 200m semis…when Justin Gatlin came in 3rd place and did not qualify for the finals.
Tom calls the race…"Gatlin is leading …he is in front…and Gatlin wins!!!"
Ato Boldon has to step in…"Tom…Gatlin slowed down and other runners went by at the end…and Gatlin did not finish in first place."
Tom responds with…"Well…then Gatlin was in second place and will meet Usain Bolt in the final!!!"
Ato then comes back with…"No. Tom. Look at the video. Another runner also goes past Gatlin. Gatlin came in 3rd place…and his time is not fast enough to qualify for the final. Justin Gatlin will not be in the final running against Usain Bolt."
Tom responds with…"Let's go to the high jump for an update."
I have been hearing this for 20 years.
I went insane after 12 years at some point during the 2008 Olympics.
"And they're off!"
"As they enter the turn, ________ (insert name of runner in 2nd place) is in the lead."
"And they approach the finish line."
And when he doesn't know the names of the 2 or 3 runners at the head of the pack, he keeps on talking about whoever was in their pre-prepared script, who might be back in 7th place. This goes on for several laps until sometime after the race is over, when all of a sudden, for the first time ever, he mentions the name of the winner.
He's blind as a bat and can't see finish order to save his life, even though he has a prime spot on the finish line, several HD monitors in front of him, and a spotter or stat man yelling into his headset.
Tom: And here comes SYMMONDS!
Ato: Tom, this is the 400.
Tom Hammond makes Lee Corso look aware and insightful.
He gave better live commentary of Bolt warming up than of the actual races. Pretty sure he said "And here's Bolt, preparing to run his final 200m of his career." about 28 times.
After about twenty times this week hearing him describe the lead and last place runners in an event as "showing the way" and "back marker", among other pithy anecdotes, I have been hitting mute on my remote. Can't take it anymore. I had a nightmare once that Hammond and Larry Rawson were together in a booth where I work, doing play-by-play on my job performance.
As bad as Tom may be, Ato and Sonja are the absolute worst. Their commentary is pedestrian, and their speech patterns and over-annunciation is absolutely grating.
Apparently, NBC Sports is trying to mirror the process that Republicans and Democrats used to select their presidential nominees: "Well, we can't find anyone better, so I guess we'll just throw these two losers into the ring."
I think Ato is a great announcer that provides excellent insight into each race. Sanya is a newbie but she's improving with each telecast.
Said It Before wrote:
As bad as Tom may be, Ato and Sonja are the absolute worst. Their commentary is pedestrian, and their speech patterns and over-annunciation is absolutely grating.
Apparently, NBC Sports is trying to mirror the process that Republicans and Democrats used to select their presidential nominees: "Well, we can't find anyone better, so I guess we'll just throw these two losers into the ring."
I completely disagree with your stance on Ato Boldon. He's fantastic and his pre and post race analysis is always spot on.
Sweet Nell Fenwick wrote:
To be fair, maybe he's impressive as a commentator of other sports. That I don't know. But when it comes to track and field, Tom Hammond is - and this is the best thing I can say about him - a blooming archidiot.
You'd think that after nearly a quarter century of his daftness, aimlessness and all-around buffoonery as a T&F announcer, NBC would have figured out that for the sake of ratings, it was high time to replace him with a box turtle wearing a little propeller beanie and a clown nose.
But for some reason, despite having the T&F knowledge of half a cream cheese bagel, there he is on our television screens after all these years, still eliciting groans and forehead slaps and providing us with the occasional injection of unintended comedy.
Then again, NBC has given us worse still.
Kevin?
Said It Before wrote:
As bad as Tom may be, Ato and Sonja are the absolute worst. Their commentary is pedestrian, and their speech patterns and over-annunciation is absolutely grating.
Apparently, NBC Sports is trying to mirror the process that Republicans and Democrats used to select their presidential nominees: "Well, we can't find anyone better, so I guess we'll just throw these two losers into the ring."
I think Ato's okay. His speech patterns do bug the hell out of me, but he is knowledgable. If there was a way to cram his knowledge into someone who doesn't sound so annoying, I'd take it. Sanya sounds like she's reading EVERYTHING which is horrible. I don't really think she adds much. As much as I liked her as a runner, I don't see a net gain for having her in the booth. And please get rid of Lewis too.
Tom Hammond actually has a very pleasant voice and is easy to listen to and understand. He's much clearer than Ato. He was also wearing a really sweet pullover the other day -- wish I could buy one.