Sky Coverage : Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:21 pm  

I am starting to really tire of the peripheral output now. Boots and All is just garbage Hemmings who I do blame and Tomkins who I don't are just bloody awful on a weekly basis. Then we have backchat! the journalist's are quite good but Studd and Stevo are dire. I was just hoping BT would end up with League and give everything a complete overhaul. Carney and John Wells are the only two I actually think are professional out of the whole massive mix of them. I believe Hemmings does not listen to fan feedback and boy it shows.

Re: Sky Coverage : Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:08 pm  

Eddie talking to Tomkins was painful. I was almost expecting him to giggle, sigh and then tell him how much he loved Sam.

Re: Sky Coverage : Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:01 pm  

where was Eddie, at the Salford game as we know it was Brian C fronting the programme & Bill Arthur on commentary along with Stevo.During the game Stevo attempted to make a joke But i thought Bill ignored it my wife said the same.The commentary for me was a breath of fresh air.What do others think.I think Eddie spoils it for me.But ther again he spoils it for eveyone:):)

Re: Sky Coverage : Thu Jun 13, 2013 7:36 pm  

edon10 wrote:

where was Eddie, at the Salford game as we know it was Brian C fronting the programme & Bill Arthur on commentary along with Stevo.During the game Stevo attempted to make a joke But i thought Bill ignored it my wife said the same.The commentary for me was a breath of fresh air.What do others think.I think Eddie spoils it for me.But ther again he spoils it for eveyone:):)

No I think Bill Arthur (permanent inane grin) and Rod Studd are both awful and worse than Hemmings.

The best moment in the last week was during the Widnes vs pies game when Stevo referred to the ape as John Wayne.

Re: Sky Coverage : Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:41 am  

I'm going to stick up for Eddie, I think he's a really good match commentator. His tones and the way he commentates are great in terms of conveying the rise and fall of the game. Compare that to when Bill Arthur commentates, its a much more dreary listening experience.

Eddies problem is that, for 20 years now, he's been sat opposite an absolute plum. Stevo is either insightful nor knowledgable. He is a problem.

In our office there's 3 of us that have played rugby union together. Two of us are Saints supporters. The third has little interest, but has told us that from his point of veiw, Stevo is the face of rugby league. Stevo.

Back chat is embarrasing. They get a couple of journos to talk a bit of sense and then Studd and Stevo shoe horn a staged argument at the end of each section.

Re: Sky Coverage : Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:46 am  

Offside Monkey wrote:

In our office there's 3 of us that have played rugby union together. Two of us are Saints supporters. The third has little interest, but has told us that from his point of veiw, Stevo is the face of rugby league. Stevo.

He's a northern flat capper. Fits the stereotype perfectly. And to think, we have him around on Sky for another 3.5 years.

Even the BBC have moved on. Not only at one point did they have two southern women as anchors (and still have one of course) but the men they have in the studio are all articulate even if some of them do have northern accents, and not one could be classed as a flat capper.

Premier Sports again not only have a woman involved but also have articulate men who present the game very well indeed.

Sky is now the only station to perpetuate the northern flat capper stereotype and not only do they do it through Stevo but they add bloody 'Baz and Tez' to the mix as well making us look like a right dingbat sport.

Re: Sky Coverage : Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:00 am  

Best example was Tuesday morning on Sky Sports when they only covered the brawl at the Salford game with the stupid looking Ref Cam, at least the BBC showed a few tries.

Re: Sky Coverage : Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:27 am  

I can't work out whether Stevo is getting worse with age or I'm just getting more and more tired of him. But 20 years of his guff is enough for anyone.

Yes, he's a 'character', but he's so out of touch with the technical details of the game that it is embarrassing.

I agree with Offside Monkey - you don't notice how good Eddie is at his job until you watch matches with reserve commentary teams. In those games everything tends to feel very flat. My only gripe with him is that he sometimes thinks he is presenting The Eddie and Stevo Show rather than providing comment on a sport that offers entertainment in its own right.

The younger members of the team have each contributed something, but there is also a tendency, probably because they all have mates that are still playing, to be extremely forgiving in their analysis. Terry O'Connor on SL Fulltime is the worst for this - he'll sit there banging on about how the team that just got sodomised by 70 points 'never gave up'.

I do think Brian Carney is a breath of fresh air - he's the most straight talking and sensible of the lot. He needs a bit more experience to get that bit of polish, but I suspect he'll be taking over as anchorman once Eddie packs it in.

Re: Sky Coverage : Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:28 am  

Dux wrote:

I can't work out whether Stevo is getting worse with age or I'm just getting more and more tired of him. But 20 years of his guff is enough for anyone.

Yes, he's a 'character', but he's so out of touch with the technical details of the game that it is embarrassing.

I agree with Offside Monkey - you don't notice how good Eddie is at his job until you watch matches with reserve commentary teams. In those games everything tends to feel very flat. My only gripe with him is that he sometimes thinks he is presenting The Eddie and Stevo Show rather than providing comment on a sport that offers entertainment in its own right.

The younger members of the team have each contributed something, but there is also a tendency, probably because they all have mates that are still playing, to be extremely forgiving in their analysis. Terry O'Connor on SL Fulltime is the worst for this - he'll sit there banging on about how the team that just got sodomised by 70 points 'never gave up'.

I do think Brian Carney is a breath of fresh air - he's the most straight talking and sensible of the lot. He needs a bit more experience to get that bit of polish, but I suspect he'll be taking over as anchorman once Eddie packs it in.

Yeah, Eddie should be just a commentator. He sometimes steps over the mark by offering opinions which make him look ill-informed, but when stevo's your rugby league mentor, what do you expect.

Clarkey's been driven down the sats route, which is a little forced at times, but the "key performance indicators" are a lot more sensible than the result o' metre they had last year.

I think Stevo would suprise you if you met him. He obviously had a lot of playing experience. I bet if you went for a pint with him you could have a good chat about footy, but stick him on telly when he HAS to say something, and he goes bananas. Reel him in, let him do the odd interveiw I reckon.

Re: Sky Coverage : Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:31 am  

Offside Monkey wrote:

I bet if you went for a pint with him you could have a good chat about footy, but stick him on telly when he HAS to say something, and he goes bananas.

I'd be up for that, as long as he promised not to say 'it's as simple as that' or 'et cetera and so forth'.