kakcpa
04-06-2009, 01:30 PM
Now that the PBA 2008-09 season has concluded here's my season ending grades and comment:
Stone, I give him a C-. He is not very knowledgeable about the sport, but it's clear he is learning. His catch phrases are irrelevant to what's going on, but perhaps the ESPN/PBA bosses like that sort of thing. I still think Stone lacks credibility as it relates to bowling.
Pederson, I give him a B+. Pederson, obviously is knowlegeable,
but I still think me misses a few things that he can be telling/teaching the views what is going on, or perhaps what has happened.
I give the ESPN production a low C-. It's a very low budget production. I won't even get into high definition. I cannot count how many times a bowler would make his shot, and the camera was stuck on the bowler, missing the action. How about in the USBC Masters, where the bowler on the right lane was blocking the view of the pins! It's unforgivable that you couldn't see the result of Wiseman's shot vs. Nolen to see if he won or not, because Wiseman was in the way! I also don't like when the graphics pop up, they they play that sound.
Time Slot, I give that a D-. Been through this a million times. Going up against NFL football just shows you where ESPN/PBA's priority is. If you want viewers, you don't put your show against the NFL. You lose all the causual bowlers who are also NFL fans.
Different Innovations: A-. I liked some of the new formats this year, like the Don Johnson eliminator tournament, Plastic Ball, and the Marathon formats. This kept things interesting, and provided some new twists, rather than the same old boring "final 64" bracket tournament.
PBA Extra Frame Coverage: A-. I thought this was a great feature to have, and was well worth the money. There were some very exciting moments, if you caught them, leading up to final games to determine who made the TV finals. It was refreshing to see a variety of bowlers, than the sames ones you see every week. The announcers were refreshing as well. There were some glitches, but it's the internet, and that can be expected from time to time.
Next season's first 7 shows on a tape delay basis: F! No further commment.
More observations:
For quite sometime now, they've used a professional broadcaster as the "play by play" guy, and of course a pro as the "color" commentator. We've been over this a million times, but the way I see it, the only room for improvement for the broadcast team is to get two pros in there commentating.
Anyway, I don't know if people caught this, but in the Long Island event, Pederson said the famous quote "hit 'em thin and watch 'em spin". Stone, who obviously never heard the quote before, was impressed with Pederson, thinking that Pederson made it up right then and there. I believe Pederson played on with Stone to make him believe that too. Gave me a bit of a chuckle.
Now that Stone's 2nd season is over, do you think he will, or deserves to be back for a 3rd season? How do you think Pederson is doing? Do they bring him back, too?
There are certain things they are missing, I think. For example, when things like when Barnes left the 1-2-4-7, they could tell the average person that doesn't know any better, something about lane condition, and how difficult the shot really is. These guys make it look so easy, but it's not. I don't think they educate the person who is not knowledgeable about bowling that much. Perhaps they assume their viewership understands a thing or two about bowling, and maybe they think they don't need to go into great detail?
So what are your grades and thoughts about how this season went? Do you think the tour is around for the long term? Or are we seeing something that is slowly becoming extinct?
Stone, I give him a C-. He is not very knowledgeable about the sport, but it's clear he is learning. His catch phrases are irrelevant to what's going on, but perhaps the ESPN/PBA bosses like that sort of thing. I still think Stone lacks credibility as it relates to bowling.
Pederson, I give him a B+. Pederson, obviously is knowlegeable,
but I still think me misses a few things that he can be telling/teaching the views what is going on, or perhaps what has happened.
I give the ESPN production a low C-. It's a very low budget production. I won't even get into high definition. I cannot count how many times a bowler would make his shot, and the camera was stuck on the bowler, missing the action. How about in the USBC Masters, where the bowler on the right lane was blocking the view of the pins! It's unforgivable that you couldn't see the result of Wiseman's shot vs. Nolen to see if he won or not, because Wiseman was in the way! I also don't like when the graphics pop up, they they play that sound.
Time Slot, I give that a D-. Been through this a million times. Going up against NFL football just shows you where ESPN/PBA's priority is. If you want viewers, you don't put your show against the NFL. You lose all the causual bowlers who are also NFL fans.
Different Innovations: A-. I liked some of the new formats this year, like the Don Johnson eliminator tournament, Plastic Ball, and the Marathon formats. This kept things interesting, and provided some new twists, rather than the same old boring "final 64" bracket tournament.
PBA Extra Frame Coverage: A-. I thought this was a great feature to have, and was well worth the money. There were some very exciting moments, if you caught them, leading up to final games to determine who made the TV finals. It was refreshing to see a variety of bowlers, than the sames ones you see every week. The announcers were refreshing as well. There were some glitches, but it's the internet, and that can be expected from time to time.
Next season's first 7 shows on a tape delay basis: F! No further commment.
More observations:
For quite sometime now, they've used a professional broadcaster as the "play by play" guy, and of course a pro as the "color" commentator. We've been over this a million times, but the way I see it, the only room for improvement for the broadcast team is to get two pros in there commentating.
Anyway, I don't know if people caught this, but in the Long Island event, Pederson said the famous quote "hit 'em thin and watch 'em spin". Stone, who obviously never heard the quote before, was impressed with Pederson, thinking that Pederson made it up right then and there. I believe Pederson played on with Stone to make him believe that too. Gave me a bit of a chuckle.
Now that Stone's 2nd season is over, do you think he will, or deserves to be back for a 3rd season? How do you think Pederson is doing? Do they bring him back, too?
There are certain things they are missing, I think. For example, when things like when Barnes left the 1-2-4-7, they could tell the average person that doesn't know any better, something about lane condition, and how difficult the shot really is. These guys make it look so easy, but it's not. I don't think they educate the person who is not knowledgeable about bowling that much. Perhaps they assume their viewership understands a thing or two about bowling, and maybe they think they don't need to go into great detail?
So what are your grades and thoughts about how this season went? Do you think the tour is around for the long term? Or are we seeing something that is slowly becoming extinct?