How do you leave in the middle of a game to run commercials … while the game is still going on? NBC has been doing that on their coverage of Olympic soccer and they finally got burned. This morning during the Nigeria – Belgium match, Nigeria scored their second goal while NBC was on a commercial break. Thank goodness for the Telemundo coverage – they know how to treat a soccer game.
They’re doing the same with the marquee Brazil vs Argentina game. C’mon! I mean … if you’re going to commit to broadcast the game live … broadcast the game live. Otherwise – tape delay it and squeeze the commercials in without disturbing game action. Or just leave it to the Spanish stations.
The other thing is the color commentary is atrocious. Marcelo Balboa may sound coherent (which is a plus for most athletes) but his insight is laughable. He wonders why Belgium sat back and tried to defend against Nigeria while they didn’t against a powerhouse like Italy. I’ll tell you why – Nigeria is fast as shit. They counter-attack in seconds – not from long passes but from dribbling fast. Italy isn’t as fast and IMO shouldn’t be mistaken for their much more accomplished (and experiences) senior team.
Marcelo Balboa did all the US games for ESPN during the 2006 World Cup and he was just as bad there. He talks like he’s a coach and we’re the team, yelling and cajoling to try to make his point. Almost like he’s pissed. Dude – there’ no airplane passing by, and you’re doing the games from studio in New York. Talk to us like a normal analyst.
NBC – they suck at football and they suck at futbol. But they’re great at showing tape-delayed gymnastics and swimming!
UPDATE: it happened AGAIN – Argentina’s second goal – during commercial.
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