I support this petition. Its not just about respect, but being professional in your coverage of any sport on your network. What you have now is inexcusable for all your years.
I support this petition. It makes me cringe to listen to some of the N. American Announcers when covering soccer. The british / scottish announcers are untouchable in this category.
I'd rather watch and listen to the commentary in Spanish or Italian then listen to these ESPN unsoccereducated wankers. Remember Jack Edwards at the last world cup,"Mine Eyes have the seen the coming of the whatever". He never saw the "Your fired" for a ridiculous statement to millions of people. Derek and Tommy, hands down.
I support this petition.
Fine. If you feel that verbal diarrhea is a necessary component of your world cup telecasts, then use who you want for the play by play. But give us, the true football fans, some consideration. Give us some meaningful analysis of the games events. Give us a reason to not watch univision. Give us Tommy Smyth.
i belive its about time the U.S. got serious about the the BIGGEST sporting event on earth!! we need guys who actually have played the game, and know what the hell they are talking about! Im tired of the same boring crap they talk about that has no reference to the game. The commentators talk about what the players did over the weekend and stuff outside of the sport. its just annoying!! we need more excitement and knowledge...derek rae and tommy smyth!
ESPN Wake up guys, if you want us to watch your coverage of the World Cup. Then give it to the guys who know the game. Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth, or else we will go somewhere else.
Hells yes! Does anyone at ESPN get that it really doesn't take any skill whatsoever to call a baseball game because its so slow? O'Brien just can't keep up. Get him out of there!
I support this petition 110%. O'Brien/Delacamera/Stone are absolutely terrible when it comes to calling football matches. Please give us real football comentators that are knowlegable and have passion for the game. I'll watch the Spanish networks long before I'll watch ESPN unless real analysts are used for the World Cup.
I support this petition. ESPN should be able to find people with more knowledge of the game, at least for the non-U.S. games. Those are the ones that SOCCER fans will be watching, so they don't need people who will be "dumbing down" the game.
Even Tommy Smyth, who is a complete idiot when it comes to commentating, is better than that. For gods sake get some decent ex-footballers and others who know the game.
I support this petition. Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, and you are going to have announcers who don't know the sport? We don't care where they come from--just as long as they know the game!
I support this petition. Having sportscasters ignorant of the greatest and most popular game on the planet announce the World Cup games is an absolute insult to true fans of the game. Just because you have a basic monopoly of the coverage of the WC, do not insult us. Please bring us announcers wh are quality announcers with knowledge of the game. do not try to rectify this by substituting some nobody soccer player who has little to no announcing experience. GIVE US WHAT WE WANT.
I support this petition. Enough is enough!!! Rob Stone commenting on the World Cup?????? Surely someone is kidding. This is an insult to the soccer-loving community.
wc is under rated in the u.s and on espn. theres hundreds of games on in a few days. espn should start picking the major teams games. i know the sportscenter has only had a few soccer top plays and some of the plays i see definitly in any top 10. i say marcela balboa and some1 else
I support this petition. All viewers of the World Cup in the USA, whether American or ex-Pats deserve quality commentating so the game itself and the atmosphere of such a tournament can be conveyed accurately. Derek Rae and others can do that better than the chosen crews. It's in ESPN's best interests, as well as the audience's, to ensure high quality and relevant commentary. Thank you.
ESPN the worldwide leader in sports needs to recognize the Worlds most popular and important sport. Please get your product up to par or we will find other programming.
O'Brien may know sports but you cannot write soccer knowldege into his brain the same way he wrote calling the world cup into his contract. #1 team must be Smyth and Rae please!
