Women commentators on the TV

[Mario]

I asked what everyone thought and obviously they are very popular with the viewing public, thats fine, my mistake for having an opinion.

[Jacko51]

1 hour ago, Mario said:

I asked what everyone thought and obviously they are very popular with the viewing public, thats fine, my mistake for having an opinion.

Don't be mardy, Mario.  You're entitled to your opinion just as every other poster is.

[eh up nah]

Alex Scott is the finest thing to happen to bbc punditry in my lifetime!

[falmouthssoberist]

Some of the new women commentators are terrible to listen to as with the highlights for the efl, i always listen to georgie Bingham on a weekend sports breakfast which I really enjoy but when she does the highlights it just doesnt work in my opinion. And i cant listen to several of the male commentators either, nowt to do with what sex anyone is just if they are annoying or not.

[Aussie Rules]

Here in the land of the kangaroo women have been integral for many years in all football codes - except perhaps  rugby union - and not just as half time/full time assessors. They anchor radio and TV football panels with knowledge of their respective codes equal to, or even better than ex players et al.

Now we have the 2023 womens' world cup in Aus/NZ I see a new generation of quality 'female football commentators' entertaining us 😎 

[Jacko51]

1 minute ago, Aussie Rules said:

Here in the land of the kangaroo women have been integral for many years in all football codes - except perhaps  rugby union - and not just as half time/full time assessors. They anchor radio and TV football panels with knowledge of their respective codes equal to, or even better than ex players et al.

Now we have the 2023 womens' world cup in Aus/NZ I see a new generation of quality 'female football commentators' entertaining us 😎 

Indeed.  My better half is in love with Tara Rushton!!

[Aussie Rules]

7 minutes ago, Jacko51 said:

Indeed.  My better half is in love with Tara Rushton!!

Me too Jean 😎

[captain scarlet]

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I have no time for them that Ebony rainford brent is a joke have to turn the sound off when she is on ,by all means commentate on womens cricket . sky got rid of lord David gower for her come on glad the other one is now on bbc last summers ashes she was all over the cheat smith 

 

 

[points-with-bone]

20 hours ago, robf said:

There are plenty of excellent female commentators (for example cricket commentator Ebony Rainford-Brent).

She isn't even employed by the BBC (she's on Sky) so I doubt that was a "BBC box ticking" exercise. 

She was simply the best person for the job and that's good enough with me.

As soon as I saw this thread I thought Ebony Rainford-Brent; knowledgeable, personable and probably most importantly she slides effortlessly into the whole ethos that makes Test Match Special such a 'slow-radio' national treasure

For sure there's a couple of female sports commentators that grind [which ones in particular differs according to personal taste] but the whole crux of prejudice is to generalize from one or two untypical examples to back up ones' negative stereotypes

Spo why would anyone have an opposition to females commentating, other than from a sad misogynist view of females?

The main point seems to be 'they haven't played at the top of the game so haven't the expertise', but there's so many examples of excellent male sports commentators who never played at the top level. Brian Johnston was one of the finest cricket commentators, but was pretty damn awful awful as a player apparently. Sid Waddell [the darts commentator] was, for me, possibly the greatest of sports commentators. He could turn a  description of darts match into into something majestic and warrior like. Never was much cop playing darts himself though

For football in England, many comment favourably on the expertise and delivery of Alex Scott, while for me a superior candidate can be found in Scotland with Leanne Crichton. She plays for Glasgow City and forms a punditry partnership with former player Steven Thompson. It's an absolute delight to listen to their knowledgeable analysis and to witness the synergy they generate with each other. Indeed their performances can often be better than the football on view

Alas, for some, bountiful evidence of females making excellent commentators will never be enough to puncture the opaque screen of their prejudice

Kenneth 'Some people are on the pitch they think its all over; it is now' Wolstenholme, was a Lancaster Bomber pilot in WW2 and flew over 100 missions for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross [DFC]. On the basis that a woman has to be at least twice as a good as a bloke to be his equal then perhaps a lass will have to be awarded a Victoria Cross before some males would see her as having the right to pass comment on the quality of play at Vale Park

Points-with-Bone

[Joe B]

 

On 11/07/2020 at 14:05, Mario said:

Personally I prefer the best person for the job not a box ticking exercise adopted by the BBC.

If this was the case, surely the male to female ratio in commentating would be roughly 50:50, as there's no real reason why a women should be less/more adept at commentating a game of football than a man? It's merely talking/describing/contextualising the game, after all. Gender should have zero impact in whether that person is the best for the job, its the individual's character?

Of course, the ratio is nowhere near 50:50.

One of the weirdest threads I've ever seen. Moaning about diversity quotas/box ticking because women, 50% of the nation's population, are involved in commentating more (probably because they were best for the job), and Mario doesn't like their shrill voices.

 

[Joe B]

Of course, when it comes to punditry (a separate issue), women have to be 100x sharper than a man as they'd get eaten alive by the baying mobs if they ballsed up.

Paul Merson claimed De Bruyne would flop; Collymore said Guardiola's style of play wouldn't work over here; Chris Kamara barely knows the names of the players of the game he's reporting on. Most of this is brushed aside, and in Kamara's case, celebrated as a bit of a laugh (which is fine, he's quite entertaining).

Issue I have, when a female pundit is on, if she even slightly calls things wrong, the attack dogs are out.

[Fosse69]

35 minutes ago, Joe B said:

Of course, when it comes to punditry (a separate issue), women have to be 100x sharper than a man as they'd get eaten alive by the baying mobs if they ballsed up.

Paul Merson claimed De Bruyne would flop; Collymore said Guardiola's style of play wouldn't work over here; Chris Kamara barely knows the names of the players of the game he's reporting on. Most of this is brushed aside, and in Kamara's case, celebrated as a bit of a laugh (which is fine, he's quite entertaining).

Issue I have, when a female pundit is on, if she even slightly calls things wrong, the attack dogs are out.

Respect is always given to ex-players, male or female, for their experience   but they do not necessarily make the  better  commentators.  The best  make their way  through competition maybe without having played the game to any standard,  whether male or female should not make any difference, the main thing is opportunity.

[Jacko51]

I always remember watching a game on Sky in the 90s when Terry Vegetables was the pundit alongside the commentator.  Newcastle scored a goal from Rob Lee.  Tezza insisted it was offside when it was re-shown, not realising that Lee had come from behind the ball.  Yet he was England manager!!  Some of the ex players they have as "experts" on Sky are dreadful, others are excellent.  It's nowt to do with gender.

[captain scarlet]

this guy knows about women commentators its towards the end  about 1 hr 16 mins 

[Iron Curtain]

26 minutes ago, captain scarlet said:

this guy knows about women commentators its towards the end  about 1 hr 16 mins 

That guy is a grade a tool as proven by that entire podcast.