Dave O’Brien should be going, going, gone.
I have yet to find a single person, soccer fan or otherwise, that believes Dave O’Brien deserves to be behind the microphone during any soccer match. I will offer the following anecdote to illustrate my point.
I watched England’s first-round matchup with Paraguay at a local English pub. Everything was going along fine (though England looked sluggish) until Dave O’Brien started talking about David Beckham’s wedding or some such nonsense. The crowd became (rightfully) agitated and began mocking the American commentator. While talking to the England fans after the match, the conversation kept coming back to how atrocious Dave O’Brien was.
It seems that we were not alone in questioning O’Brien’s credentials. Check out Mike’s rundown of the MSM and Soccersphere’s reaction to Dave O’Brien as ESPN’s #1 during the World Cup.
4 comments
I think you can safely make some changes to the way the various channels have covered the matches as well. For example, I caught about 15 minutes of England’s most recent match, counting no less than a half dozen closeups of our favorite former Spice Girl. Are people really that interested in the “celebrity” aspect of a World Cup match?
ESPN has no faith that the sport is entertaining enough, that’s the problem. I’m so happy they’re showing every game but they need to have a little faith that world-class athletes can hold the viewers’ collective attention.
There’s nothing that gets to me more than the way that American sports reactionaries disrespect soccer. Josh, you’re right that ESPN has no faith, but I’m confused at why anyone would think that a casual or non-soccer fan would suddenly come over from the dark side just by listening to Dave O’Brien??
The first time he opened his mouth, I knew he was all wrong. He’s always talking about passes getting “picked off,” so I thought he was an (American) football announcer. And just now he constantly mispronounced Oliver Neuville’s name–he kept saying “Ni-ville over and over. I know this is a small thing, but it plays into the whole “ignorant American who won’t learn another language” criticism. It’s embarassing.
Why didn’t ESPN use JP Dellacamera? He does a pretty good job with Champions League during the year and he’s obviously well-versed in the sport. Adrian Healey is good as well, but ESPN must fear that Americans just won’t listen to anyone with a non-American accent. I did watch one of the Spanish broadcasts, which is kind of fun even without knowing the language. La pelota = ball and “gooooooooool” = goal. That’s all you need.
My rant is longer than your post. How embarassing.
My rant is longer than your post. How embarassing.
Yes, indeed. For me.
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