OneSoccer

[RickC]

On 5/9/2024 at 5:04 PM, Cheeta said:

Give it a few more days then I start becoming irrational.

 

Time to get irrational! Fubo’s engineers have told me to stop using my 2-year old Samsung tv. That’s their solution. I’ve escalated this issue to OneSoccer but expect no help. So, will look at buying an Apple TV thingy or some such solution.

[phil03]

An odd thought but am I the only one who actually like the ''secondary'' pundits more then their main crew, so to speak? 

By secondary pundits I mean those who are usually not in OneSoccer main feed and rarely write the articles they promote the most on their website's main page but still write some articles for them and youtube shows. I often found that they have a more thorough understanding of Canadian Soccer and do a better job at covering the full lenght of it, while the main OneSoccer crew as a whole is very Toronto-centric in their journalistic experience and it show in both what they are more knowledgeable about and a pretty noticeable pro-Forge and TFC bias IMO. I have also found the secondary pundits are more willing to tackle the hard stuff on the business side of things too, as I found them less prone to just give what I imagine is the party line on OneSoccer, so to speak.

I also tend to find some of them more likeable then some on OneSoccer's main crew *cough*Wheeler*cough*

I dunno, personally I think that if you give some suits and further broadcast training to Alexander Gangue Ruzic or Josh Dennings they could easily take the reins of the main show and do a better job at it then most of those currently there...

EDIT: I know Hamilton is separate from Toronto but it is close by.

Edited May 11 by phil03

[Kent]

Adam Jenkins needs to learn to interrupt himself. He gets telling stories or statistics or something and despite something very noteworthy happening on the field rushes to finish what he is talking about before he calls the play. A prime example of that was last night in the TFC vs CS Saint-Laurent game, when Saint-Laurent scored their goal.

Transcription of the call.

Player receives the ball with a clear path to goal just outside the box.
"... as the media and supporters will remember that first leg against TFC"
Player shoots.
"will we remember the first"
Ball is in the net.
"goal? Aristilde beats Gavran."

I mean, he kind of segues into a goal call instead of just pausing his original thought and calling the game. It's annoying.

[BearcatSA]

18 minutes ago, Kent said:

Adam Jenkins needs to learn to interrupt himself. He gets telling stories or statistics or something and despite something very noteworthy happening on the field rushes to finish what he is talking about before he calls the play. A prime example of that was last night in the TFC vs CS Saint-Laurent game, when Saint-Laurent scored their goal.

Transcription of the call.

Player receives the ball with a clear path to goal just outside the box.
"... as the media and supporters will remember that first leg against TFC"
Player shoots.
"will we remember the first"
Ball is in the net.
"goal? Aristilde beats Gavran."

I mean, he kind of segues into a goal call instead of just pausing his original thought and calling the game. It's annoying.

He's learning his craft.

[Kent]

1 hour ago, BearcatSA said:

He's learning his craft.

Yeah, I get it. I'm trying to give him constructive criticism. He's called a lot of games at this point, but it seems he doesn't think or realize this is an issue. He's almost too good at having anecdotes at the ready. I get what he is trying to do. I can't remember if it's OneSoccer or the CPL itself that has mentioned that really what they are going for is story telling. He's trying to get the audience to understand the (short) history, make the games feel more meaningful. That's great, but when there is a big opportunity like that you've got to just stop and call the game. Usually you have a colour guy telling the story and then the play by play guy will just cut them off to call the action, then they can get back to the story later. I think it's tougher with just 1 guy in the booth playing both roles (which is often the case for him), but it's an area he can improve on.

[BearcatSA]

21 minutes ago, Kent said:

Yeah, I get it. I'm trying to give him constructive criticism. He's called a lot of games at this point, but it seems he doesn't think or realize this is an issue. He's almost too good at having anecdotes at the ready. I get what he is trying to do. I can't remember if it's OneSoccer or the CPL itself that has mentioned that really what they are going for is story telling. He's trying to get the audience to understand the (short) history, make the games feel more meaningful. That's great, but when there is a big opportunity like that you've got to just stop and call the game. Usually you have a colour guy telling the story and then the play by play guy will just cut them off to call the action, then they can get back to the story later. I think it's tougher with just 1 guy in the booth playing both roles (which is often the case for him), but it's an area he can improve on.

I personally prefer the traditional one person in the booth.  It's just that you need a really talented individual to pull it off well.  I find that two person crews just natter distractingly too much without sublety and nuance in their story telling during the course of play.  In fact, for most matches, once I get the line ups figured out, I turn on the mute and concentrate on what I am watching.

[red card]

6 hours ago, Kent said:

Adam Jenkins needs to learn to interrupt himself. He gets telling stories or statistics or something and despite something very noteworthy happening on the field rushes to finish what he is talking about before he calls the play. A prime example of that was last night in the TFC vs CS Saint-Laurent game, when Saint-Laurent scored their goal.

Transcription of the call.

Player receives the ball with a clear path to goal just outside the box.
"... as the media and supporters will remember that first leg against TFC"
Player shoots.
"will we remember the first"
Ball is in the net.
"goal? Aristilde beats Gavran."

I mean, he kind of segues into a goal call instead of just pausing his original thought and calling the game. It's annoying.

He's done this numerous times for Canada women matches for the past few years. He rarely gives a goal it's due especially since there were some marquee goals. Not being focused on what's going on the pitch is also implicitly saying the match isn't that important/interesting. 

Like Wileman, he's too interested in relaying out all of the research he's done. And/Or he's making the cardinal mistake of taking his eyes off the screen or pitch to read his notes. And/Or he's has no sense of when goal scoring opportunities are emerging.

He also doesn't cut off his analyst when goal scoring opportunities are happening especially Eva Havaris who tends to get her words out slowly and is more oblivious than Jenkins.

This is where Wheeler is way ahead. He senses when a big moment is coming and knows how to capture it. Prime example is Davies Panama goal, he sensed it the second Davies took off in his own half. Jenkins would have likely only caught up with the play at best only after Davies kept the ball in play.

Edited May 22 by red card

[BearcatSA]

15 hours ago, red card said:

Like Wileman, he's too interested in relaying out all of the research he's done.

For the Whitecaps matches, Wileman has put a shout out to the media guy for their team, notably on one occasion when that individual looked to be away from his job because of the birth of a child but still was able to provide a provide a press release prior to game time.

Timing and sensing the moment in a match are everything during pbp but too many commentators feel that they are getting paid by the word.  Colour guys are guilty of this and their impulsive judgments on close calls are wrong more often than not but they struggle with backtracking on their original opinion (though I think VAR makes the standard first comment now, "That might go to the booth for review.").

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

The Onesoccer colour comentators appear to be under orders to describe everything as amazing, unbelievable or whatever even when it borders on the routine in goalkeeping terms. Just occasionally it would be good to hear them say that was a disappointing shot and easy save like Graham Leggat would have back in the day. Another good thing about how things were with Vic Rauter and Graham Leggat on TSN was that they would actually be at the game rather than calling it off a monitor in a converted warehouse in Mississauga.

[jdheid]

I like the additions of Jon Conway and Craig Forrest. They don't go overboard with stories and seem to know to shut up for the Play by Play when a chance emerges. Brennan is awful I'm sorry to say. Loved him as a player, but  he offers no insight. It's just the same stock phrases over and over from him.

[jdheid]

19 hours ago, red card said:

He's done this numerous times for Canada women matches for the past few years. He rarely gives a goal it's due especially since there were some marquee goals. Not being focused on what's going on the pitch is also implicitly saying the match isn't that important/interesting. 

Like Wileman, he's too interested in relaying out all of the research he's done. And/Or he's making the cardinal mistake of taking his eyes off the screen or pitch to read his notes. And/Or he's has no sense of when goal scoring opportunities are emerging.

He also doesn't cut off his analyst when goal scoring opportunities are happening especially Eva Havaris who tends to get her words out slowly and is more oblivious than Jenkins.

This is where Wheeler is way ahead. He senses when a big moment is coming and knows how to capture it. Prime example is Davies Panama goal, he sensed it the second Davies took off in his own half. Jenkins would have likely only caught up with the play at best only after Davies kept the ball in play.

Yeah, Jenkins needs to calm down with the minutiae. Any other play by play guy in the world talking as much about refs as he does? It's not even game related stuff. 

[Watchmen]

3 hours ago, BearcatSA said:

For the Whitecaps matches, Wileman has put a shout out to the media guy for their team, notably on one occasion when that individual looked to be away from his job because of the birth of a child but still was able to provide a provide a press release prior to game time.

Timing and sensing the moment in a match are everything during pbp but too many commentators feel that they are getting paid by the word.  Colour guys are guilty of this and their impulsive judgments on close calls are wrong more often than not but they struggle with backtracking on their original opinion (though I think VAR makes the standard first comment now, "That might go to the booth for review.").

And none of this is helped by more and more pbp being done remotely. The pbp and colour guys are frequently just looking at the somethings we are, unable to pick up additional nuisance from being at the game.

[jdheid]

1 hour ago, Watchmen said:

And none of this is helped by more and more pbp being done remotely. The pbp and colour guys are frequently just looking at the somethings we are, unable to pick up additional nuisance from being at the game.

I seem to recall in year 1 Clanachan said games would be called from stadiums, but that didn't last long if it even started.

[BearcatSA]

1 hour ago, Watchmen said:

And none of this is helped by more and more pbp being done remotely. The pbp and colour guys are frequently just looking at the somethings we are, unable to pick up additional nuisance from being at the game.

Definitely this.

We used to laugh about how Armitage and Leggatt did the WC games remotely but now it is commonplace!

[Mihairokov]

2 hours ago, jdheid said:

Yeah, Jenkins needs to calm down with the minutiae. Any other play by play guy in the world talking as much about refs as he does? It's not even game related stuff. 

I really don't like it when a PbP offers their opinion on calls in the game. "Missed the clear penalty" or "The ref got that call wrong" like, just dictate and let viewers come to their own conclusions. Commentators are not referees. 

[Kent]

18 minutes ago, jdheid said:

I seem to recall in year 1 Clanachan said games would be called from stadiums, but that didn't last long if it even started.

I feel like COVID was their out. I don't know for sure, but I think they might have been on location in year 1. But then it was a lot less possible for a year or 2, and it became standard that games were called remotely, and shows like OneSoccer Today were done in virtual meetings instead of everyone in the same place.

[jdheid]

Just now, Mihairokov said:

I really don't like it when a PbP offers their opinion on calls in the game. "Missed the clear penalty" or "The ref got that call wrong" like, just dictate and let viewers come to their own conclusions. Commentators are not referees. 

I see that point, but what drives me crazy is when Jenkins starts listing the resumes of refs and which games they've called in CONCACAF etc...  Sorry and no offense to those refs, but that's spectacularly uninteresting to me.

[Mihairokov]

29 minutes ago, jdheid said:

I see that point, but what drives me crazy is when Jenkins starts listing the resumes of refs and which games they've called in CONCACAF etc...  Sorry and no offense to those refs, but that's spectacularly uninteresting to me.

Ah, we take the opposite approach then. I like knowing the referee's background. I think it's neat if refs have experience in different (bigger) competitions. 

[shermanator]

52 minutes ago, jdheid said:

I seem to recall in year 1 Clanachan said games would be called from stadiums, but that didn't last long if it even started.

Games were called from stadiums originally but very shortly after launching OneSoccer moved play by play to a centrallized location out of Toronto. I believe the CBC games had commentary from stadiums as I know Ryan Pinder and Steven Sandor called the Cavalry / Edmonton season finale in 2019. 

This year I've noticed the league's media will do the odd on-site post game interview with a player if the game is in York or Hamilton. Haven't seen anything in terms of media outside of official club communications this year. In 2022 and parts of last year there was a YouTuber (Ultimate Soccer Show) who was doing some media stuff at games but talking to him earlier this year I think he lost his access along the way.

If anyone has paid attention to Steven Sandor's loathing of CPL and OneSoccer since the pandemic, it is largely because of this decision, as he lost a side hustle doing colour commentary. 

 

[Mihairokov]

Used to really enjoy following Sandor but he became so bitter it became tough reading his tweets. 

[jdheid]

17 hours ago, Mihairokov said:

Ah, we take the opposite approach then. I like knowing the referee's background. I think it's neat if refs have experience in different (bigger) competitions. 

Fair enough

[gator]

19 hours ago, shermanator said:

 

If anyone has paid attention to Steven Sandor's loathing of CPL and OneSoccer since the pandemic, it is largely because of this decision, as he lost a side hustle doing colour commentary. 

 

He has become quite bitter since losing that gig and when his paid subscription soccer site failed, too bad because I used like his perspectives, he was an occassional poster on here IIRC! 

[shermanator]

If anyone remembers Sandor's Plastic Pitch magazine, it almost didn't get off the ground and needed a big sponsorship from Umbro to prevent him from losing a lot of money on it. I was one of the few people who paid for it and enjoyed it, including the breaking of the plans for CPL back in 2014. Part of the issue is that it wasn't much better in quality than his free site, and there wasn't much to cover in the game at that time. There are only so many stories about Canadians losing out on NASL contracts because they are Canadian that you can read before you get the point.

I think he expected CPL to be the exact same as NASL from the media side and was quite surprised when it turned out to be very different. Feels weird to say but Edmonton was the stable franchise in NASL, more so because the Fath's were suckers and bought in to the point that they essentially owned the league when it folded, rather than on or off field success.

The entire time FC Edmonton was in the CPL he was a water-carrier for the Fath's, refusing to see that the club was one with massive issues, instead pinning blame for FC Edmonton on the league.

It's unfortunate he became so bitter because he was one of the people I thought very highly of in the first half of the 2010's.

Edited May 24 by shermanator

[RS]

On 5/23/2024 at 4:20 PM, shermanator said:

Games were called from stadiums originally but very shortly after launching OneSoccer moved play by play to a centrallized location out of Toronto. I believe the CBC games had commentary from stadiums as I know Ryan Pinder and Steven Sandor called the Cavalry / Edmonton season finale in 2019. 

This year I've noticed the league's media will do the odd on-site post game interview with a player if the game is in York or Hamilton. Haven't seen anything in terms of media outside of official club communications this year. In 2022 and parts of last year there was a YouTuber (Ultimate Soccer Show) who was doing some media stuff at games but talking to him earlier this year I think he lost his access along the way.

OneSoccer doesn't even have in-stadium commentators in the GTA/Hamilton any more, with national team games the exception.

Their studios are on the Mississauga/Oakville border, so about a 30-minute drive from Tim Hortons Field. I guess they've adopted an all or nothing approach to the in-studio PBP, but it still seems strange to me that they'd pass up on having their commentators on site at the venues where they only really have to pay for gas and nothing more.

[Mihairokov]

1 hour ago, RS said:

but it still seems strange to me that they'd pass up on having their commentators on site at the venues where they only really have to pay for gas and nothing more.

Gas, per diem/honorarium, equipment to-and-from studio to venue, vehicle presumably for the staff to move that equipment and setting it up at venue. I get what you're saying but there's more to it than the commentators showing up to the venue.