Carlton Kirby

blazing_saddles

My only comment on Le Mans would be that if it keeps Kirby away from a cycling microphone, it's a pity that instead of 24 hours, it didn't last 24 days and was in July, not June.

Lanterne_Rogue

bobmcstuff wrote:

awavey wrote:

alanparsons wrote:

I am not denying he has a difficult job, I am just pointing out that he is sh*t at it.

classic example at the end of the race today, Kirby goes full sprint finish style excitement because the lead had changed during a pit stop and was doing his usual hyperbole about how theyd thrown the chance of a win away etc etc

swap over to Radio Le Mans, who are calmy explaining whilst the lead had changed on the track, the car now out front still needed to make its final pit stop too,and the positions would soon reverse...which they duly did.

Its things like this where any half interested amateur can tell he is talking rubbish that are really annoying...

Thought Eurosport's coverage all over was pretty poor, tbf. Kirby was merely the screaming strawberry on top. A particularly egregious moment was him getting excited over an accident we'd already seen dozens of replays of. I dare say by 10am my faculties would also be a bit scrambled, but I'd like to think the fact that the clip was in pitch darkness would have given me a clue that it wasn't happening at right that instant.

sherer

he also seemed to get confused by the Bratislava car claiming it's in Slovenia, when it's the capital of Slovakia.

Not his best effort yesterday and i do wonder how long he spends laughing at his own jokes.. im sure at one point we lost over a minute with just him laughing.

You know the lead commentator is rubbish when they get ignored all the time by their co-commentators

kingstongraham

RichN95 wrote:

alanparsons wrote:

Listening to the F*in idiot on the Le Mans practice now, "dialed back" seems to be his go to motor racing phrase, think "re/engage". It can be applied to almost any scenario, he is being ignored by his co-commentators so does his usual, talk over the top of them.

To be fair to him I think he's quite good at commentating on long events where nothing much is happening, which is a commentator's nightmare. It's when something happens that he struggles.

If by "good" you mean he has the ability to fill every second with some noise coming out of his mouth, then I can agree.

andyrac

Just don't mention the pizza joke he started on Saturday night.....and repeated again on Sunday morning. His co-commentators 'laughed' more out of sympathy than because it was funny.

Have to agree with an earlier point that Eurosport's coverage was all over the place; Radio LeMans commentary is so much better and well informed.

mididoctors

Kirby is a chancer but he is drifting out the back with no one noticing.

blazing_saddles

Jeez, he's obviously sleep deprived after Le Mans. We were watching different races.
He spent all afternoon talking up Bora's Schwartzmann's chances, not realizing that he has only ever won a stage of the Tour d'Azerbaïdjan.
Quite obvious to everyone, he meant Bora's Max Schachmann.
It sounded as if he and that other know it all, Tony Gibb were phoning it in from the pub, after a skinful: joking, laughing giggles and breaking down mid sentence. He ended up causing himself to have coughing fits off the mic.
Then comes the finish and Cav's not there.
"Who will have a go for DD, I think it will be Bernie Eisel" declares Kirby.
At the finish, it's only a DD rider that can get close to Ackermann. Gibb, who has previously stated that Bora don't have a GC rider in their entire squad, reckons it Gasparotto.
Nope, it's Giacomo Nizzilo: who else?

Amateur hour, except for the fact he's getting paid.

Alejandrosdog

Some viewer knows a rid bit more than Kirby about something obscure and he gets this kind abuse.

Ah well

bobmcstuff

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Some viewer knows a rid bit more than Kirby about something obscure and he gets this kind abuse.

Ah well

90% of people who voluntarily pay to have a cycling channel when the TdF is free to air know more about cycling than Kirby.

He deserves the abuse - he's paid to know, it's his job! Or he is at least paid not to make glaring cock-ups every other sentence.

salsiccia1

bobmcstuff wrote:

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Some viewer knows a rid bit more than Kirby about something obscure and he gets this kind abuse.

Ah well

90% of people who voluntarily pay to have a cycling channel when the TdF is free to air know more about cycling than Kirby.

He deserves the abuse - he's paid to know, it's his job! Or he is at least paid not to make glaring cock-ups every other sentence.

No he doesn't. Criticism, maybe, but not abuse.

Alejandrosdog

Salsiccia1 wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Some viewer knows a rid bit more than Kirby about something obscure and he gets this kind abuse.

Ah well

90% of people who voluntarily pay to have a cycling channel when the TdF is free to air know more about cycling than Kirby.

He deserves the abuse - he's paid to know, it's his job! Or he is at least paid not to make glaring cock-ups every other sentence.

No he doesn't. Criticism, maybe, but not abuse.

This exactly. And he's a presenter not a technical specialist, that is the job of the ex pro pundit. I think its actually a good balance because whilst the people abusing him on here might want wall to wall technical comentary and opinion it would be deadly dull to anyone else watching.

I doubt anyone of you would be engage in this level of harassment in your own workplace,

Also whilst i cringe sometimes at some of the things he says, I laugh out loud at others and i suspect that most people couldnt carry off the varied workload that he does.

bobmcstuff

Salsiccia1 wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Some viewer knows a rid bit more than Kirby about something obscure and he gets this kind abuse.

Ah well

90% of people who voluntarily pay to have a cycling channel when the TdF is free to air know more about cycling than Kirby.

He deserves the abuse - he's paid to know, it's his job! Or he is at least paid not to make glaring cock-ups every other sentence.

No he doesn't. Criticism, maybe, but not abuse.

Sure, fair enough. Blazing's post is hardly abusive though (which is what I assume Piti was replying to)

Alejandrosdog

bobmcstuff wrote:

Salsiccia1 wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Some viewer knows a rid bit more than Kirby about something obscure and he gets this kind abuse.

Ah well

90% of people who voluntarily pay to have a cycling channel when the TdF is free to air know more about cycling than Kirby.

He deserves the abuse - he's paid to know, it's his job! Or he is at least paid not to make glaring cock-ups every other sentence.

No he doesn't. Criticism, maybe, but not abuse.

Sure, fair enough. Blazing's post is hardly abusive though (which is what I assume Piti was replying to)

I was commenting on the whif of pack mentality at the sniff of blood in the air.

Pross

Alejandrosdog wrote:

...And he's a presenter not a technical specialist, that is the job of the ex pro pundit.

No, he's the lead commentator. I don't expect him to understand detailed race tactics (although the basics would be useful) but it is very much his job to correctly identify riders and give an accurate appraisal of what is actually happening rather than his little invented fantasy race scenarios he comes up with.

blazing_saddles

My post was a factual recounting of the commentary on the day. Unlike CK, nothing in my post was made up.
If facts constitute abuse, then I guess I'm guilty.
I hadn't realized that consulting the race startlist from time to time required such technical expertise.
Besides, he said yesterday that he doesn't listen to what folks say about him. Which I take to mean that he isn't interested in changing or improving how he does things.
Lucky fellow, I say.
Not many jobs around these days where and individual isn't subject to review or scrutiny from above....

mididoctors

He is a fraud .... Look I am pretty tolerant of him and have a i can take it or leave it attitude. Long transition stages with him rabbiting on about redecorating the hallway or kitchen garden wall vines is a benign if somewhat inane drone while I work at something else till the final number of kilometres.

sherer

he doesnt have an easy joband seems to have been given the cycling gig my default post David Harmon. I dont mind him rambling a bit mid stage during a GT, his problem is trying to tell jokes every 5 mins then spending too long laughing at them.

Not sure about Paris but if he commentats from the event then it's going to be on a much smaller screen that we get at home.

Dont think any of us would be too upset if he never did any cycling again, but also dont want to see the cycling community force him out of his job.

richard_t._biscuit

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Salsiccia1 wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

Alejandrosdog wrote:

Some viewer knows a rid bit more than Kirby about something obscure and he gets this kind abuse.

Ah well

90% of people who voluntarily pay to have a cycling channel when the TdF is free to air know more about cycling than Kirby.

He deserves the abuse - he's paid to know, it's his job! Or he is at least paid not to make glaring cock-ups every other sentence.

No he doesn't. Criticism, maybe, but not abuse.

This exactly. And he's a presenter not a technical specialist, that is the job of the ex pro pundit. I think its actually a good balance because whilst the people abusing him on here might want wall to wall technical comentary and opinion it would be deadly dull to anyone else watching.

I doubt anyone of you would be engage in this level of harassment in your own workplace,

Also whilst i cringe sometimes at some of the things he says, I laugh out loud at others and i suspect that most people couldnt carry off the varied workload that he does.

I really don't see how this thread would count as anything other than criticism (albeit sometimes quite vociferous).
It is not targeted at him (like @ing on twitter would be for instance) and there is little if anything I can see that is directed against anything other than the standard of job he is doing.

awavey

rambling mid stage isnt the problem, calling a completely different race to the one thats happening at the end of the stage is, its not about forcing him out, but when there are alternative sources of coverage, most of us will tune into them instead,

will you watch Le Tour on ITV or Eurosport ? it will probably be ITV for me because of Kirby, so Eurosport end up with their schedules filled with coverage most people who are actually remotely interested in watching are probably going to choose a totally different channel to watch on in the UK. thats all

richard_t._biscuit

As much as the mistakes are frustrating I think it's the air of arrogance and ego that accompanies them that really grates. At least Murray Walker was fairly likeable even towards the end of his commentary career.

I guess this is what makes it a subjective matter though. If you like him you can much more easily put up with the mistakes or lack of knowledge.

bonk_king

I"ll be honest, I don't really watch a great deal of stuff that carlton kirby comments on. The stuff I have watched where he was part of the commentary team just left me thinking that wow, who's this guy, he's a little excitable, and I found it strange how he liked talking about the scenery a lot too.

But reading through a lot of these posts where you guys obviously listen to him a lot, and he is being slated, wrongly or rightly, there's a couple of questions that i'm asking myself. If it's got to the point where even his co-commentators are ignoring him because he is that bad then why hasn't he simply been axed by the bosses? And if he is really that bad at cycling commentary why the hell would they see fit to let him commentate on other stuff too where he is equally as bad? Maybe he has friends in high places.

andyp

Or he's cheap.

OnTheRopes

Or he's on a contract.

orraloon

Or he's on a cheap contract, and it's Eurosport, i.e. fill up the 'schedule', do it cheap, don't bother editing for a 'highlights' package, just transmit the last x minutes of a live recording, e.g. include a minute long shot from a helicopter circling a railway viaduct, oh look there's a train, as per TdS this week...

As per awavey above, Eurosport only when no alternative.

bonk_king

This threads been going since March 2014, that'll be a 5 year contract then, at least, and counting. Do contracts actually exist nowadays that last that long! His bosses have probably had many an opportunity to get rid of him. Maybe he's in it for the pure comedy value he brings because some of the stuff i've read through this thread, and it's took a while, has had me in stitches. But for you guys who take your cycling very seriously and want proper commentary for the big races, and not some buffoon making it up as he goes along, then I fully understand where you're coming from.

I don't suppose there's any chance of him making a guest appearance on the TDF!!!! Haha, i'm already looking forward to that thread.

bobmcstuff

awavey wrote:

rambling mid stage isnt the problem, calling a completely different race to the one thats happening at the end of the stage is, its not about forcing him out, but when there are alternative sources of coverage, most of us will tune into them instead,

will you watch Le Tour on ITV or Eurosport ? it will probably be ITV for me because of Kirby, so Eurosport end up with their schedules filled with coverage most people who are actually remotely interested in watching are probably going to choose a totally different channel to watch on in the UK. thats all

Like I said - when people who are keen enough to actually pay for cycling coverage go elsewhere for the biggest race of the year this surely shows they have a problem.

Problem is for most races Eurosport is the only reliable/legal source in the UK so they have us over a barrel really.

awavey

Richard T. Biscuit wrote:

As much as the mistakes are frustrating I think it's the air of arrogance and ego that accompanies them that really grates. At least Murray Walker was fairly likeable even towards the end of his commentary career.

I guess this is what makes it a subjective matter though. If you like him you can much more easily put up with the mistakes or lack of knowledge.

but Murrays mistakes werent because he was getting things wrong,it was because his brain and what he was thinking and the words that came out often got slightly jumbled up which happens to most commentators to be fair, and we know he hated making them, if Kirby was just making those kinds of mistakes I dont think it would be a problem, Ned does from time to time and no one cares much.

But in a f1 context Kirby would be describing a car about to be lapped as the leader of the race, then hed complain about the cameras getting too close to the cars,then he'd obsess over some trivial point of the race, like the sun was in the drivers eyes affecting them, that was having no impact what so ever, then we'd get to the last lap and he'd have Vettel in a Red Bull, Hamilton in a Ferrari, and Jos (ie Max's dad who retired years ago) Verstappen winning in a Mercedes...

there was one of the minor stage races I caught earlier this year when they must have been half way into the days stage and he was doing his winner prediction thing and said all his money was on this one rider dead cert for winning, and he asked Brian Smith his pick, and Brian replied that he wasnt going to pick that particular rider because if they had any sense theyd be back at the hotel in the bar having a coffee, theyd abandoned the race the day before.

blazing_saddles

awavey wrote:

[
But in a f1 context Kirby would be describing a car about to be lapped as the leader of the race, then hed complain about the cameras getting too close to the cars,then he'd obsess over some trivial point of the race, like the sun was in the drivers eyes affecting them, that was having no impact what so ever, then we'd get to the last lap and he'd have Vettel in a Red Bull, Hamilton in a Ferrari, and Jos (ie Max's dad who retired years ago) Verstappen winning in a Mercedes...

there was one of the minor stage races I caught earlier this year when they must have been half way into the days stage and he was doing his winner prediction thing and said all his money was on this one rider dead cert for winning, and he asked Brian Smith his pick, and Brian replied that he wasnt going to pick that particular rider because if they had any sense theyd be back at the hotel in the bar having a coffee, theyd abandoned the race the day before.

Yup.
He's currently completely lost interest in the Slovenian race and is now on his soap box about motorbikes being too close in front, too close behind, in between and on the wrong side of the lead group of 4.
Unfortunately, he's found a more than willing partner in another arch moaner, Tony Gibb. It's been going on non stop for the last 10 minutes and they are still at it.

It's like a campaign to film races from space.

Alejandrosdog

I never liked Tony gibb at the Tuesday night world champs at Hillingdon all those years ago but he knew what he was doing.

He’s no softy, if he thinks the bikes are too close then they’re probably too close.

Wayne Plunger

Might be one of very few but prefer to listen to him than Rob Hatch, he really makes my sh-t itch.

Out of the lot give me Declan Quigley though, just my personal preference.