I support this petition. ESPN will not serve their present audiences by employing sub-par commentators for the coming FIFA World Cup. Disregard for quality commentating will also jeapordize any effort to build audiences for pro soccer. Please. Please. Please, don't shoot yourselves in the foot!
I support this petition. Please reconsider your choices for announcers. I will not watch ESPN broadcasts of soccer if these selections do not improve (in favor of Spanish-language broadcasts).
I support this petition. ESPN Always say that they are the leader in sports so go out and get the beat announcers you can find. Not a bunch of B teamers.
I support this petition. I cannot stand another "it's in the net, it's in the net!" announcement. Plus the choice of 2002's world cup announcers made me want to kill somebody. Don't make soccer painful, Please!!!
I support this petition. I'm not saying you need ex players in the booth but at least put someone in there who has done international matches before. I just feel that the country is developing as a soccer nation but we have no americans who can call the game. Why do you have a "soccer dad" in there. Madden doesn't do the Masters.
I support this petition. Baseball fans want baseball announcers who know the rules, players, teams, histories, and strategies of the game. That is why you pay them to be a broadcaster. Soccer fans want a broadcaster who knows soccer. I would accept any knowledgeable soccer figure with zero announcing experience in favor of Dave O’Brien.
Derk Rae and Tommy Smyth have experience and good chemistry. Even JP has done a lot of games and has experience. But Rob Stone is a tool. While Wynalda and Balboa were great servants to the national team, as broadcasters they're unlistenable. Any game that they do, I will instantly tune to Univision. I watch every Champions League match you show as well as EPL, La Liga and Serie A every week on Gol & FSC. You know a good announcer when you hear one. We don't need the game explained to us anymore. There are at least 2 generations of kids who grew up playing and watching the game we love. For the love of God, I don't want to hear SCORRRRRRE!
I agree with the author of this petition. This is the most popular sport worldwide, and the US will always be second-rate until we start putting our best foot forward. Get some more experienced announcers, even if you have to go overseas to get them! I think you will find very few announcers who wouldn't want to work this event.
Absolutely support the petition. Even without Rae and Smyth, there are plenty of other experienced announcers who would jump at the chance. I should also point out it is not O'brien or Dellecamera's fault personnally; I am sure ESPN's production team feeds them the inaccurate information such as getting EPL team names wrong. The main thing is that these commentators do not know the beautiful game. They do about as well as I would announce a cricket match!
I support this petition. I'm a football/soccer lover and the voice of tommy smith or whatever his name coming out of the TV for any game kind of kills the spirit and fun of the game.So plz, plz, pretty plz get some european commentators...or use the same one that u telecast in asia(english). Hope u'll consider it. Thank You
I support this petition. Do not disrespect the USMNT progress in world football by failing to move forward with quality coverage. The 2002 commentators were shockingly uninformed and insulting. Rae and Smyth, or you might as well show the games with no commentary at all.
I support this petition. Please - there's already well over 1000 signatures here. Listen to your audience. The guys you choose do not get it. They are awful. If you cannot see that for yourself that's probaby because YOU don't get it yourself. You pay all that money for the broadcast rights and then get a baseball guy to mispronounce names, techniques and plays. It is disrespectful.
I support this petition. One the commentators in the USA-Scotland match last fall incorrectly explained the offside rule. This sort of thing is unacceptable for World Cup matches.
Sports Byline have two GREAT potential candidates for the job, in either or both of the 2G's. Ex player and and an ex ref...who better to commentate on the W.Cup?? BOTH USA based Brits who UNDERSTAND the game
the scheduled announcers for the world cup are not qualified to announce the biggest sporting event on the planet, i am going to take a crash course in spanish if this continues as planned. AND NO MORE CRAWLS AT THE BASE OF THE SCREEN.
I support this petition. The Derek Rae/Tommy Smyth team would be great, and they've worked for you before. Dave Obrien has no soccer background and it shows. I will NOT watch him and the rest of the Rob Stone/Eric Wynalda/Marcello Balboa crew.
I support this petition. Unless Derek and Tommy are prominent in your broadcasts, I will be watching them with the sound off -- and the Stones, U2 and Happy Mondays on the stereo.
I support this petition. I am looking foward to the world cup this summer. I want to see the best players in the world and would be disapointed if we didnt have the best broadcast team announceing the games. I will not watch these games with these annoucers.
What a bunch of whiners. We get ALL of the games televised. This is a far cry from what we used to get, which was the final tape delayed on Wide World of Sports.
I support this petition.
Can I have the Champions league announcers, how about Andy Gray?
Please durring Korea Japan Espn had the worst announcers
For one ESPN, do the right thing for all of us football lovers
I support this petition. Please realize that you are alienating loyal viewers of your soccer coverage by selecting these announcers that the viewership KNOWS are making mistakes on the air.. Dave O'Brien is a capable baseball announcer but I cannot stand the factual mistakes, mispronounciations and giving a 'human interest' anecdote over live action in a footy game! I don't speak a lick of Spanish but I can get more of the feel from Spanish announcers, than I do with a stultifying O'Brien soccer call.
