Why is the Olympic soccer coverage on NBC so pathetic?

Question

Is anyone else really disappointed in the soccer coverage?

Brandi Chastain's shout of "oh my god!" from the commentary box when the US womens team got scored on by Norway is one of the most ridiculous and unprofessional things I've seen in a long, long time. Brandi, you're not watching it at home in your PJ's where you can say anything that pops into your head. It seems like she only wants to talk about herself, and her old team. OK, we get it, you used to play, now please give us some balanced commentary of the game. Why do soccer games always have an ex-player who lacks any professionalism?

Watching the US men's game was slightly better. But of course, Marcelo Balboa is a commentator. The thing that really annoyed me was that the guy at halftime, and after the game in the studio couldn't have cared less about the soccer highlights he was showing. He barely spoke a word about what was happening. "Here's a shot, there's a miss, here's a goal." That's it? That's really all you're going to say? Some of the clips ran with absolutely no comments. How disrespectful to the viewers.

I know that the Olympics are for amateur athletes, but do we have to have amateur broadcasters as well? This guy doesn't care about the soccer games, so why should we? Can't NBC just hire some people who are enthusiastic and professional? Is anyone else annoyed by this?

Answer 1

i have to agree that the olympics are not the place thing to watch for soccer. i mean the women played at 6 and the men played at 3 in the morning. I live in the u.s. and i do not want to get up so early to watch that. i liked euro so much better because the games were at great times and the teams were so much better. that was fun to watch!

Answer 2

Agreed American soccer coverage is always pathetic, there are very few good commentators left... most of them are from the UK anyway.

I can't stand the spanish commentators but at least you can tell that they are passionate about the sport ... unlike the vibe you get from american commentators.

Anyhow, i say s***w nbc or espn, just catch the olympics football highlight reels on footytube.com

Answer 3

because the commentators only say goalll its on the back of the net

spanish commentators say sambombazo, donde las aranas tejen sus redes and le pego chidongongo

Lo platicamos todo

Answer 4

Though I agree, I do think you should relax man. Just watch it on another channel. Commentary isn't a big part of soccer. This isn't the answer that you're looking for but still.