SA commentators suck

I have long held that our sports commentators are pretty weak. It is an evident fact to all that to be on TV, particularly for SuperSport you simply have to have played the game at a high level. I can name only two South African commentators that deserve to be given my attention, Bob Skinstad and Hugh Bladen.

Then you get anchors in rugby like Derek Alberts (I took note of the name purely for this blog). You have to be kidding me — I’ve heard less singing at the koor festival in Klein Karoo. Darren Scott is so old and tired that new blood is needed and Matt Pearce is a Bladen wannabe but he has improved. The Ginger Ninja, Sias du Plessis, is the single most monotone TV presenter I have ever seen.

SuperSport, themselves not immune to quotas it would seem with the thinned out Owen Nkumane and Bok bencher extraordinaire Hanyani Shimange and let’s not forget Ashwin Willemse and Breyton Paulse all adding some colour. But I believe that quota aside these guys are the best of the worst to be honest. Our rugby guys, I’m afraid, from one to 10 will get a two from me but the cricket gents are better, much better.

When you listen to international sports commentary, take the IRB Rugby World Cup, when last was an SA commentator really asked to be on the team? Yes we listen to SuperSport commentary for Bok games as SuperSport has spent massive money to be there, which G-D knows I appreciate.

The question perhaps is not about why these people are so weak but how do they get allowed on TV? It is common discussion among sports enthusiasts that when listening to Fox or Channel 9 from Australia and New Zealand we are so woefully behind in our sound it is a true embarrassment. Why?

We truly need to pay attention to this as it’s part of the SA offering and right now it is poor on rugby. Cricket is much better. Soccer I have to say is actually quite decent on the whole.

SABC doesn’t escape this tirade — thank G-D for David O’Sullivan because that is all they have! Nothing else, not a thing. Weak studio design, weak dress ad, weak presentation on all sports. The days of a David van der Sandt? Martin Locke or even Trevor Quirk who at least commentated as opposed to stating the obvious, almost like the viewer is a complete idiot and can’t see what’s happening.

A viewer wants some related facts that add value to the game. You want player and team profiles that make the contest interesting, almost more than a mere one-off game.

C’mon SuperSport and SABC TV up the game please. The general consensus is that the sound is “common” and adds little, if any, value to the viewing experience. Please spend some time working with the people you feel you need to have on the TV screen for your station profile — right now it doesn’t seem you spending any time at all.