Carlton Kirby

andyp

I believe this is the petition at the root of all this:

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/get-rid-of-carlton-kirby

rick_chasey

I have floated the possibility of making a petition at various times on the forum so I can’t really comment too much.

I’m sure the guy is rgg and I’m sure it’s awful having everyone slate you online.

I can’t abide his work however and I now refuse point blank to watch any coverage with him on the call.

It’s been a good couple years now.

It works out ok as generally Sporza cover it all except for RCS races and mercifully Eurosport tend to not put him on the big RCS races.

kingstongraham

She's a bit soporific at times, but genuinely knows what she's talking about.

RichN95.

blazing_saddles said:

Commentary in almost all sports just ain't what it used to be, it's just with cycling, the problem seems more acute.

I think for many sports that's just nostalgia talking. But for cycling there are clear better options available

cq20

I’m not a fan of public witch hunts. I believe that Horner’s outburst is because he thinks that some of the Eurosport /GCN commentators were hinting at some doubt over the validity of Horner’s Vuelta win.

ddraver

This is the fourth of fifth petition now isn't it? Don't think it'll go any different from the others.

Thinking of it like that brings me back to a comment Pross made a few weeks back about expecting that he might work on his deficiencies. Far from that, he's actually got even worse...

RichN95.

cq20 said:

I’m not a fan of public witch hunts. I believe that Horner’s outburst is because he thinks that some of the Eurosport /GCN commentators were hinting at some doubt over the validity of Horner’s Vuelta win.

Horner just made a passing comment in a 14 minute video

blazing_saddles

RichN95. said:

blazing_saddles said:

Commentary in almost all sports just ain't what it used to be, it's just with cycling, the problem seems more acute.

I think for many sports that's just nostalgia talking. But for cycling there are clear better options available

Maybe so, but this guy certainly knew just how to deliver a creative, often funny description without having a giggling fit.

https://greatmomentsofsportsmanship.com/60-of-the-best-great-quotes-from-the-late-great-bill-mclaren-part-1-4/

The reason I am 100% with Rick in regard of Sporza's coverage is because they manage to deliver the finale of a big race, such as Flanders, with a measured restraint that wouldn't be out of place at a test cricket match.
It's worth remembering that Kirby's first love is motorsport and I can't help but think his screaming down the microphone is just a terrible attempt to copy another bygone commentator: Murray Walker

kingstongraham

RichN95. said:

kingstongraham said:

When you have higuita, roglic and any other jumbo vista rider all wearing yellow, it can get a bit tricky at a glance.

Fortunately Jumbo will be changing to black for the Tour

In this race higuita having a light blue band on the arms of his yellow jersey is a bit much.

TheBigBean

I find that none of the commentators do what I want which is rapid and complete identification of riders in every group.

RichN95.

Wrong thread

narbs

RichN95. said:

blazing_saddles said:

Commentary in almost all sports just ain't what it used to be, it's just with cycling, the problem seems more acute.

I think for many sports that's just nostalgia talking. But for cycling there are clear better options available

I watch three sports - cycling, rugby and cricket. All three suffer from the opposite of anti-nostalgia, with people keeping their places on comms teams for years after they provide any value.

Listening, for example, to the comms of Sam Warburton and Benjamin Kayser in rugby just makes a mockery of Jonathan Davies being anywhere near a microphone.

mrb123

narbs said:

RichN95. said:

blazing_saddles said:

Commentary in almost all sports just ain't what it used to be, it's just with cycling, the problem seems more acute.

I think for many sports that's just nostalgia talking. But for cycling there are clear better options available

I watch three sports - cycling, rugby and cricket. All three suffer from the opposite of anti-nostalgia, with people keeping their places on comms teams for years after they provide any value.

Listening, for example, to the comms of Sam Warburton and Benjamin Kayser in rugby just makes a mockery of Jonathan Davies being anywhere near a microphone.

Don't you like the cricket commentators?

IMO the likes of Atherton, Hussain and Holding are absolute masters of their craft. Bumble always good for a laugh too.

RichN95.

Every year, for me, the greatest feat of commentary is the Grand National. Those guys are amazing

narbs

mrb123 said:

narbs said:

RichN95. said:

blazing_saddles said:

Commentary in almost all sports just ain't what it used to be, it's just with cycling, the problem seems more acute.

I think for many sports that's just nostalgia talking. But for cycling there are clear better options available

I watch three sports - cycling, rugby and cricket. All three suffer from the opposite of anti-nostalgia, with people keeping their places on comms teams for years after they provide any value.

Listening, for example, to the comms of Sam Warburton and Benjamin Kayser in rugby just makes a mockery of Jonathan Davies being anywhere near a microphone.

Don't you like the cricket commentators?

IMO the likes of Atherton, Hussain and Holding are absolute masters of their craft. Bumble always good for a laugh too.

Can't listen to Vaughan or Norcross and Tufnell is becoming a parody of himself. Agreed that Atherton and Holding are superb - love Agnew, Coney, Guha and Cook amongst others. Cricket's well served to be honest. Again it's certain former players who let it down mainly by failing to understand that the game and its laws/rules and tactics move on, sometimes very quickly.

RichN95.

narbs said:

RichN95. said:

blazing_saddles said:

Commentary in almost all sports just ain't what it used to be, it's just with cycling, the problem seems more acute.

I think for many sports that's just nostalgia talking. But for cycling there are clear better options available

I watch three sports - cycling, rugby and cricket. All three suffer from the opposite of anti-nostalgia, with people keeping their places on comms teams for years after they provide any value.

What I was getting at thought was some voices are from when we young and first engaging with the sport we just associate with their sport and think they were better. So for example with rugby it's either Nigel Starmer-Smith or Bill McLaren. But Andrew Cotter is just as good, sure Eddie Butler has delusions of grandeur. Many of those earlier names set the templates that others use, that much is true.

ddraver

Eddie was ok until they gave him EVERY slow motion voice over at the Olympics 2012.

Since then, I'm not sure he realises that the rest of the world runs on normal speed...

mrb123

As I watch the Masters I would have to say that golf is also pretty well served. Ewen Murray is a consummate professional who should go down as one of the all time greats. The Sky golf team is pretty solid as a whole.

What we might conclude is that the job on the "slower" sports such as golf, cricket, cycling and snooker should in theory be easier than commentating in stuff like the Grand National - as Rich suggests.

RichN95.

ddraver said:

Eddie was ok until they gave him EVERY slow motion voice over at the Olympics 2012.

Do you remember a sketch show called Goodness Gracious Me , with an Asian cast. There was a character on that that claimed that everything was Indian.

Well on BBC Wales Eddie Butler had a series which was basically the same, claiming everything was Welsh. "In 1969 Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, but what many people don't realise was that this was a Welsh achievement". And then he'd tell you about a astronaut in the 60s from Cardiff.*


* This never actually appeared in the show, I made it up as an example. There was a Welsh astronaut in the 60s though - Anthony Llewellyn. Never made it to space though

shirley_basso

mrb123 said:

As I watch the Masters I would have to say that golf is also pretty well served. Ewen Murray is a consummate professional who should go down as one of the all time greats. The Sky golf team is pretty solid as a whole.

What we might conclude is that the job on the "slower" sports such as golf, cricket, cycling and snooker should in theory be easier than commentating in stuff like the Grand National - as Rich suggests.

It's a different skill, sure.

Kirby lacks skills for both.

mrb123

shirley_basso said:

mrb123 said:

As I watch the Masters I would have to say that golf is also pretty well served. Ewen Murray is a consummate professional who should go down as one of the all time greats. The Sky golf team is pretty solid as a whole.

What we might conclude is that the job on the "slower" sports such as golf, cricket, cycling and snooker should in theory be easier than commentating in stuff like the Grand National - as Rich suggests.

It's a different skill, sure.

Kirby lacks skills for both.

That was rather my point.

He'd probably do a decent job on Robot Wars.

orraloon

RichN95. said:

Do you remember a sketch show called Goodness Gracious Me , with an Asian cast. There was a character on that that claimed that everything was Indian.

Appropriate for current meejah obsession

https://youtu.be/2Ev3uaWM1ZU

tailwindhome

Good commentators I could listen to talk about anything.
Mike Costello and Conor McNamara stand out for me.

stage_hunter

rick_chasey said:

orraloon said:

rick_chasey said:

Pross said:

bobmcstuff said:

Apparently there's a petition going round to get rid of him. Jose Been saying how terrible it is.

How terrible it is that there's a petition or how terrible it is working with him?

Former.

You do know there is this thing called humour?

Haha you know either option is equally possible.

Indeed. And might be close to the truth.

blazing_saddles

Flip me, if he isn't doing the Tour of Turkey as well.
I suppose the good news is that this race doesn't finish until Sunday morning, by which time Amstel Gold will be underway.

sherer

andyp said:

I believe this is the petition at the root of all this:

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/get-rid-of-carlton-kirby

1200 people have signed in, not sure how that fits in with percentage of viewers for Eurosport.

From memory when he first start he was sort of the Jonathan Harris Bass role and just did a funny segment from Paris for 10 mins during a long TdF stage. He was ok then, just isnt really up to doing lead commentary every single day

daniel_b

blazing_saddles said:

Flip me, if he isn't doing the Tour of Turkey as well.
I suppose the good news is that this race doesn't finish until Sunday morning, by which time Amstel Gold will be underway.

That was a big dissapointment, I was expecting anyone but kirby

orraloon

Carlton, the ticker can not be gnarly. It is a screen graphic.

daniel_b

In my opinion, he's no longer 'in his pomp'

As an aside, I just had a quick look to see if I could find out how old he is, and it's like he works for some covert agency, as far as I can tell there is no age to be had - closest I could find was one site that reckoned 50-60

kingstongraham

Did I hear right the other day he said that riders "make their own wind"? Discourages unwanted drafting I suppose.