I love a good football commentator. I also love to hate a bad commentator. My ideal commentator is actually BBC's John 'Motty' Motson, a source of the most obscure football trivia you'll ever hear.

I like the passion in south american commentators voices. I actually like when they shout "goooooaalll" for ages. It makes me happy when a commentator, who's supposed to be impartial, gets really emotional and caught up in the game.

And then theres the bad commentary. Not trying to cause trouble here but its been a long standing source of humour over in the UK when an American commentator (who doesn't usually cover football) is forced to commentate on a match. I love hearing stuff like "And the Hotspurs are currently two for six in offence, but the goaltender is really where the shutout is happening". Nonsense.

I found this clip on youtube which inspired the thread, so please post your own stories or examples of great, strange, passionate or funny commentary.



RELEASE THE kraken!

The legend that is Ray Hudson




"As electrifying as a hairdryer thrown into a hot tub, my friend"

Yea most of the time I find my self wishing they would shut up so I could hear the supporters singing. Far more entertaining to me. And yea the media over here has a bad habit, (especially the sports media) of putting guys that know nothing about the game on assignment. Espn likes to hate too which is where most yanks get there facts from. Highlights and hating something/jocking something.

I have a liking towards Peter Drury of ITV as well as of course Martin Tyler and Andy Gray although some don't like them. Motson is a legend for sure. David Pleat is hilarious, although he doesn't deserve all the slack he gets, he has his moments. Jonathan Pearce and Guy Mowbry I like as well

Andy Gray.

While insight and general football knowledge play a huge role, I think the real key is the pacing and tone. It's not just the crescendo before a huge chance, but the ebb and flow of their banter as the ball is propelled to and fro on the pitch. There is a casual attitude that somehow still honors the formality of the commentators position. Against the English, the straight forward, generally obvious, almost reporter like quality of the American commentary just doesn't stack up. Maybe it's this, the general American style of sport commentary is based on stats, which is primarily responsible for giving the announcers a superior analysis of the game than their viewers. In soccer, you simply do not have enough numbers to fill the time. The emphasis must be a clever description and turn of phrase. In this area, we Americans are ill equipped to measure up

Check out David Colemans introduction to this Italy vs Chile match. Absolutely classic!

Release THE kraken!    

In my opinion all the best commentaries comes from fanzone. Theres so much passion and so much heartbreak haha and they're all funny as f**k.

 "and its bent of all people.

The commentators for the Barca vs Sporting Gijon weren't half bad. ESPN is becoming a lot better with commentators

I love south american commentators, just like Ant. I remember watching Messi's solo goal against Getafe, when he was like "Messi, Messi, Messi, Messi Messi, still-a Messi, MEssI.... Messi!Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!