A Question on Commentating

[skipaway]

Why in skating and in tennis (I'm watching Wimbledon) do the women commentators only commentate women's events, yet, men (Dick Button, John McEnroe) commentate on both women's and men's events.
Dick Button even commentates pairs, yet Peggy doesn't. Are these women commentators not good enough to call a "men's" event?
Any opinions?



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[leap of faith]

Not sure reasonings but on CTV in Canada Tracy Wilson commentates for mens all the time.
So did Barb Underhill when she was with them.

[Meredith]

Because of their status, perhaps it's because they [i:bad0eebf64]can[/i:bad0eebf64]. Funny, listening to McEnroe this afternoon I thought of Button too. I intensely dislike the commentaries of both.

Here's a thought: put McEnroe and Button in the booth with one another and see who can outtalk the other. :)

That said, I think Jim Courier, Mary Carrillo and Martina Navratilova have done a magnificent job of commentary on TNT all week. Kudos to this trio.

[rack]

It's good old fashioned sexism. The national networks are worse than the cable stations at least in the tennis tournaments (although I think Mary Carillo may do men's tennis during the US Open on CBS).

Possibly in men's skating the theory is it bolsters the "masculinity" of the competitors (and thus the sport) if there are only men commentating.

One of the two hundred or so commentators the Yankees have this year is Suzyn Waldman, so at least one woman is getting work doing play by play in a "man's" sport.

[centerstage01]

I know on ABC women do commentary for golf and Monday Night Football.

[KittyKins]

I think that CTV chooses the best commentator based on ability, not gender. I think that Tracey Wilson and Debbi Wilkes have done an excellent job of commentating for the men's event. I think Dick Button does a good job of doing the women's event too. Now in pairs and dance, the commentators generally (at least on Canadian TV) are former skaters in those disciplines. They don't do the same for the men's and women's events, but I still think the commentators do an excellent job.

[loveskating]

I've thought about that too...speculated it was just proprietary, that perhaps Dick was already there when Peggy came in...rather like seniority or something? Its not a big deal to me.

I have a lot of problems with the commentary since 1998, and last season was the worst ever so I couldn't say I think they do a good job. I thought Paul Wylie did a stellar job at the Pro Championships in 2001, and that Roz was absolutely great at GWG. I can't recall the competition, but Boitano did a great job in 2001. I generally thought Peter and Susie were more balanced and fair than anyone else overall.

The tapes I have from Canada would indicate that Paul Martini is really a great commentator, very fair and knowledgeable but I don't get to hear much of his commentary.

[Artemis]

[quote:b42ff76fd8="loveskating"]The tapes I have from Canada would indicate that Paul Martini is really a great commentator, very fair and knowledgeable but I don't get to hear much of his commentary.[/quote:b42ff76fd8]

I guess you didn't hear much of the discussion around the time of SLC. :o

I would agree with you that in the past Paul has been a good comentator, but this season I really grew to cringe every time I heard his voice. Not only did he not know when to shut up and just let us enjoy the skating, so many of his comments were often downright nasty. And although I do applaud his directness in talking about judging bias and corruption, he didn't need to harp on quite so much about it.

I think Barb Underhill is a much better commentator overall, along with Tracy Wilson. Debbi Wilkes is so-so -- she's pretty knowledgable, but often too biased, and frequently inconsistent.

[KittyKins]

Paul doesn't commentate much because he is employed by CBC to do commentating, and CTV has the rights for most figure skating events - really all except the Olympics. I prefer Tracey Wilson much better than the rest. She is fair, not negative, and is honest. I find the others to be too negative. I like Debbi Wilkes too, but not as much as Tracey.