Carlton Kirby

orraloon

So was Orla's choice to not for once expose the sig amount of thigh due to the presence on set of Hannah? Just askin'.

womack

bobones said:

Hatch's habit of repeating his previous sentence for emphasis is getting very annoying, .e.g., "Bernal is on the attack. Bernal is on the attack", "What's happened there? What's happened there?", etc., etc. Does it all the time. Bring back Carlton I say!

I'm with you mate, I'm watching on S4c.

I'm with you mate, I'm watching on S4c.

sherer

more ubbish from Kirby about Juraj Sagan. Claimed Peter gifted him the Slovak championship , when he hasnt even entered it the last two years

bobmcstuff

Lanterne_Rogue said:

I'm another one who enjoyed Hannah Walker's contribution today. Also, there's a cheeriness about Eurosport's coverage in general that makes for good company generally - the analysis afterwards is hardly pulling up any trees, but it always helps if the people in the studio give the impression that they're not all immediately about to text their agent to complain about who got the alpha seat on the sofa.

Yeah I think having the Breakaway later on might make for some slightly more insightful analysis, rather than immediately after the race.

Their pre-race show is usually quite good too.

If nothing else it creates a bit more of an atmosphere around the race than when they just show the footage and pack up afterwards.

bobmcstuff

sherer said:

more ubbish from Kirby about Juraj Sagan. Claimed Peter gifted him the Slovak championship , when he hasnt even entered it the last two years

To be fair, that probably amounts to the same thing...

blazing_saddles

The quality of the Giro commentary has only served to highlight Kirby’s appallingly low standard and even lower level of knowledge.
Hungary became one long Bauhaus fixation even to the point where he was adamant that the German sprinter would try to defend the leaders jersey up the 12km MTF.
He’s also starting to display worrying signs of dementia with Maggie B having to correct him over numerous basic mistakes.

daniel_b

blazing_saddles said:

bobmcstuff said:

At least he is repeating something that makes sense

I much prefer someone who repeats the odd sentence to someone who repeats pretty much the same commentary, ever single race.

I agree wholeheartedly - he tends to use the repeating of a sentence to add gravitas, rather than kirby's just talking faster, higher pitched and louder approach, and then realising it was not required at all.

Thought Blythe, Hatch, Lloyd and Kelly were an awesome combination yesterday and the day before come to that.
For some of it it just sounded like a group of friends talking about a sport they are passionate about - very refreshing, and really listenable.
Not afraid to have an actual joke as well, and I don't think I heard a pun, bad or otherwise, the entire day.

daniel_b

Just watched ruta del sol stages 1 & 2.
Jarring hearing kirby's commentary after enjoying the giro teams easy chatter.

Plenty of tooting on bidons, and apparently at one point they were playing chess.

Only 1 pun in the entire giro broadcast as far as I noticed, lloyd saying we'd have to 'wait until the dust settles' before giving a verdict.
Not too bad, and picked up on by hatch.
Blythe continues to get better and better, and I think they as a whole are getting more out of kelly as well, who I sometimes find a bit meh when paired with kirby.

takethehighroad

I've certainly noticed an improvement in Kelly when he's with Dan Lloyd. He even joins in with some jokes from time to time.

Rob Hatch even signposts clichés such as "the race can't be won here, but it can be lost" whereas Kirby uses those clichés as a general rule

bobmcstuff

takethehighroad said:

I've certainly noticed an improvement in Kelly when he's with Dan Lloyd. He even joins in with some jokes from time to time.

Rob Hatch even signposts clichés such as "the race can't be won here, but it can be lost" whereas Kirby uses those clichés as a general rule

Kelly once ran a team that Lloyd was on I think, so they know each other pretty well

yorkshireraw

Blyth's ability to correctly identify riders from a 2 second, moving camera shot (often at long range) is brilliant.
His sheer enthusiasm for what he is watching ("I flippin love bike racing") is great.

daniel_b

yorkshireraw said:

Blyth's ability to correctly identify riders from a 2 second, moving camera shot (often at long range) is brilliant.
His sheer enthusiasm for what he is watching ("I flippin love bike racing") is great.

Agreed, genuine enthusiasm, not forced, and boy does it come through on the commentary.

Makes SUCH a huge difference with regards to how much I enjoy the racing.

Really enjoying the banter between blythe and kelly too, blythe trying to get him off the turbo and out on his bike.

Be nice if there was someway to feedback to Eurosport about it - and not in a tweet.
*I have e-mailed commentary@eurosport.com with a raft of compliments, and alluding to the fact of how good this team is without the need to fill every silence with words, good rider identification, flagging any mistakes they make and correcting them, and the lack of puns being a blessing.
Also suggested Simon Richardson and Magnus Bäckstedt would make good additions to the team - and asked if they could be given the opportunity to commentate on more grand tours together.

Pross

It feels like CK is gradually being squeezed out as the cycling is becoming more and more the GCN brand rather than ES. He doesn't seem to have been given many of the big gigs but that could be due to other contracts he has I suppose.

rick_chasey

Pross said:

It feels like CK is gradually being squeezed out as the cycling is becoming more and more the GCN brand rather than ES. He doesn't seem to have been given many of the big gigs but that could be due to other contracts he has I suppose.

Hatch normally does the Giro tbf.

daniel_b

Pross said:

It feels like CK is gradually being squeezed out as the cycling is becoming more and more the GCN brand rather than ES. He doesn't seem to have been given many of the big gigs but that could be due to other contracts he has I suppose.

We can but hope.

And yes Hatch generally does - and sadly kirby normally lands the tour, although I think (?) last year they swapped things around, so Hatch did the first half, and kirby the finish and vice versa for a different stage.

That may all change with the multiple commentators now, which I personally think works really well - hopefully the wider team will have a bigger input on other grand tours.

I forget who had the Vuelta last year?

thejimmymethod

daniel_b said:

Pross said:

It feels like CK is gradually being squeezed out as the cycling is becoming more and more the GCN brand rather than ES. He doesn't seem to have been given many of the big gigs but that could be due to other contracts he has I suppose.

I forget who had the Vuelta last year?

Kirby had the Vuelta last year, it overlapped with the Giro which Hatch and Brian Smith were doing

carl_p

Can't stand Hatch and his affected pronunciations and then undoes it all with 'pelatun'. Prefer Kirby's more down to earth approach, but Blyth is excellent. I do wonder if coverage will move away from ES in favour of GCN online app.

womack

carl_p said:

Can't stand Hatch and his affected pronunciations and then undoes it all with 'pelatun'. Prefer Kirby's more down to earth approach, but Blyth is excellent. I do wonder if coverage will move away from ES in favour of GCN online app.

100% with you Carl although I think we will be in a minority on here where it is fashionable to bash CK.

Just the sound of Hatch makes me cringe especially if Gwuparmour are in the break!

Personally watching the Giro on S4c.

orraloon

Ooh, Kirby fanbois. Have a toot but watch out for those roundabouts. And repeat...

womack

orraloon said:

Ooh, Kirby fanbois. Have a toot but watch out for those roundabouts. And repeat...kquote>

What like

Bernal attacks
Bernal attacks

DeVlaeminck

carl_p said:

Can't stand Hatch and his affected pronunciations and then undoes it all with 'pelatun'. Prefer Kirby's more down to earth approach, but Blyth is excellent. I do wonder if coverage will move away from ES in favour of GCN online app.

I know some will think I'm joking but I have no idea what the GCN app is or how it works and I'm hoping to be able to continue in that state of ignorance for a while yet.

bobmcstuff

womack said:

orraloon said:

Ooh, Kirby fanbois. Have a toot but watch out for those roundabouts. And repeat...

What like

Bernal attacks
Bernal attacks

As opposed to Kirby who repeats the same commentary for every race?

Actually in that case Kirby would probably have called Bernal getting dropped. Or ignored it entirely to continue an irrelevant anecdote.

andyp

bobmcstuff said:

womack said:

orraloon said:

Ooh, Kirby fanbois. Have a toot but watch out for those roundabouts. And repeat...

What like

Bernal attacks
Bernal attacks

As opposed to Kirby who repeats the same commentary for every race?

Actually in that case Kirby would probably have called Bernal getting dropped. Or ignored it entirely to continue an irrelevant anecdote.

Or Bernal attacks, Kirby misses it, sees him alone and decides he's been dropped for the remaining 3 kms of the stage and insists on his narrative despite all evidence to the contrary.

Pross

DeVlaeminck said:

carl_p said:

Can't stand Hatch and his affected pronunciations and then undoes it all with 'pelatun'. Prefer Kirby's more down to earth approach, but Blyth is excellent. I do wonder if coverage will move away from ES in favour of GCN online app.

I know some will think I'm joking but I have no idea what the GCN app is or how it works and I'm hoping to be able to continue in that state of ignorance for a while yet.

Why? It's just an app that allows you to access all the GCN cycling coverage with live coverage and a library of past races. It's much like ES Player without the other sports and, I think, a bit cheaper (I'm still using ES Player).

blazing_saddles

womack said:

What like

Bernal attacks
Bernal attacks

What Bob said.

One size fit all commentary:

Puns, giggles, street furniture and roundabouts, descents and rain, more puns and giggles, start list whataboutery.
Repeat puns and giggles, repeat roundabouts and the "technical" finish, start list whataboutery every 15 minutes for however long as it takes to get to 10kms to go.
To keep viewing public awake, occasionally scream down the mike for no apparent reason, except when there is a crash, then pause for effect, as if you didn't see it........

Attention! Do not, under any circumstance try to analysis what is actually happening in the race as it means co commentator has no option but to correct stupidity.

Last 10kms begin hysterics.
Last 2kms scream like you are trying to give yourself an embolism.

womack

As I said earlier there would not be much support for the anti Hatch brigade on here.

To be honest I would rather listen to Quigley above both Kirby and Hatch.

Just my personal opinion and I realise a lot on here like him but personally I can't stand listening to Hatch.

But the good thing in life is that not everyone is the same or we would all be riding a Trek, driving a Fiesta, voting Labour and supporting Man Utd.

bobmcstuff

andyp said:

bobmcstuff said:

womack said:

orraloon said:

Ooh, Kirby fanbois. Have a toot but watch out for those roundabouts. And repeat...

What like

Bernal attacks
Bernal attacks

As opposed to Kirby who repeats the same commentary for every race?

Actually in that case Kirby would probably have called Bernal getting dropped. Or ignored it entirely to continue an irrelevant anecdote.

Or Bernal attacks, Kirby misses it, sees him alone and decides he's been dropped for the remaining 3 kms of the stage and insists on his narrative despite all evidence to the contrary.

Yep, and then disagreeing with the poor sap co-commentator when they try to correct him.

It's amazing how much better Kelly is without Kirby there.

bobmcstuff

blazing_saddles said:

womack said:

What like

Bernal attacks
Bernal attacks

What Bob said.

One size fit all commentary:

Puns, giggles, street furniture and roundabouts, descents and rain, more puns and giggles, start list whataboutery.
Repeat puns and giggles, repeat roundabouts and the "technical" finish, start list whataboutery every 15 minutes for however long as it takes to get to 10kms to go.
To keep viewing public awake, occasionally scream down the mike for no apparent reason, except when there is a crash, then pause for effect, as if you didn't see it........

Attention! Do not, under any circumstance try to analysis what is actually happening in the race as it means co commentator has no option but to correct stupidity.

Last 10kms begin hysterics.
Last 2kms scream like you are trying to give yourself an embolism.

And tipping the same 3 or 4 riders who have never won anything as "dark horses" for the stage because they're the 4 riders whose names he remembers.

kingstongraham

Imagine ck trying to keep talking about the race today. The bits I saw were a pleasure to listen to. No actual commentary for long stretches, but chatting.

daniel_b

bobmcstuff said:

andyp said:

bobmcstuff said:

womack said:

orraloon said:

Ooh, Kirby fanbois. Have a toot but watch out for those roundabouts. And repeat...

What like

Bernal attacks
Bernal attacks

As opposed to Kirby who repeats the same commentary for every race?

Actually in that case Kirby would probably have called Bernal getting dropped. Or ignored it entirely to continue an irrelevant anecdote.

Or Bernal attacks, Kirby misses it, sees him alone and decides he's been dropped for the remaining 3 kms of the stage and insists on his narrative despite all evidence to the contrary.

Yep, and then disagreeing with the poor sap co-commentator when they try to correct him.

It's amazing how much better Kelly is without Kirby there.

Not just me who noticed that then, his personality and humour is really coming across in this company.
Suspect the same would happen for Magnus Backstedt.