NBC Broadcast, Ralph vs. Diffey

crowe176
Posts
6613
Joined
9/8/2006
Location
Spring Lake, MI US
1/4/2020 7:05pm
It's never going to be perfect, there's just too much happening too fast. I just want two guys in the booth that are as consumed by the sport as we are.

Y'all need to stop getting these dudes shit canned lol.
2
crowe176
Posts
6613
Joined
9/8/2006
Location
Spring Lake, MI US
1/4/2020 7:07pm
PRM31 wrote:
Somewhere along the way the announcers went from watching the race like a fan in the stands and calling it, to watching a monitor and calling...
Somewhere along the way the announcers went from watching the race like a fan in the stands and calling it, to watching a monitor and calling it. All downhill from there.
Yep
2
mike_v812
Posts
29
Joined
11/19/2019
Location
Cleveland, OH US
1/4/2020 7:24pm
Ralph’s style has always sounded so cheesy and annoying. Bailey and Art had it all.
12
2
HusqFan3
Posts
719
Joined
4/30/2018
Location
Sammamish, WA US
1/4/2020 7:32pm Edited Date/Time 1/4/2020 7:40pm
kage173 wrote:
I like Ralph. The guy knows motorsports and is truly a professional announcer with decades of experience. People may disagree with the tactics that the broadcast...
I like Ralph. The guy knows motorsports and is truly a professional announcer with decades of experience. People may disagree with the tactics that the broadcast team use (e.g. green kawasaki,) to focus on new viewers but Ralph himself is very good.

But either way, I dont get the obsession with the broadcast teams. They could have a donkey braying the whole time for all I care. I turn it on to watch the gnarliest racers in the world race, not grade announcers on broadcasting.
I can only speak for myself, so I won't try putting words into anyone's mouth, but I harp on the broadcast team because of the massive...
I can only speak for myself, so I won't try putting words into anyone's mouth, but I harp on the broadcast team because of the massive disparity between the show on the track and the show in the booth. I'm a racing fan, first and foremost. I'm not a fan of supercross and motocross because I love riding, or because my family was into it (I've never even touched a dirtbike in my life). I was drawn in by the racing on the track, and it is BY FAR the best racing in the world. Period. There is passing, there is contact, there is danger, the winner is almost always guaranteed to make passes to earn their position. And it is ALL IN THE RIDERS HANDS. There is no one in their ear coaching them, there are barely any team orders, the only connection a rider has out of the track is a tiny pitboard that reads laptimes and "P U S H". If you show the racing in Supercross to anybody with an open mind to racing of any kind, they will immediately see the value in it. The racing is phenomenal. And then they have to listen to Ralph miss calls, Ricky stumble over his words, and the camera director miss passes and exciting moments, while the viewer at home hears the crowd in the stadium LOSING THEIR FUCKING MINDS and then the camera cuts to a rider laying on the track 25 seconds later. The broadcast team is AMATEUR HOUR compared to the athletes on the track, and it does a disservice to anybody with a vested interest in the success of the sport. Whether that be riders, teams, or fans.
Well said all the way around. Not to get off topic but agree the racing is 2nd to none. I find it baffling that 10’s of millions of people love watching cars go around in a circles for 2hrs but MX/SX is about a niche as it gets. Not only is there 10x the excitement/passing but the riders are racing the track as much as the competition and the track is literally changing with every lap. Even if the leader has a 10sec gap it only takes the smallest of errors for the to crash out of the race. What other motor sport offers that level of intrigue.

The only reason i care is because if MX/SX had even 1/10th the viewership/sponsorship of NASCAR for example, you’d have a gate if 22/40 riders racing for a million dollar purse each weekend with every rider being a factory/competitive rider capable of winning instead of 5 or 6 guys...

Oh and networks like ESPN would actually cover. At the moment ESPN.com covers badminton, supernet ball, and snooker but not MX/SX?.?.?.?

Sigh...
6
1

The Shop

1/5/2020 1:08am
Racer111 wrote:
WHY is Ralph out for the first 3 rounds? Anyone know?
APerry151 wrote:
I forget which podcast, but one of them mentioned that this wasn't about a scheduling conflict or anything like that, and it wasn't Ralph's decision. Seems...
I forget which podcast, but one of them mentioned that this wasn't about a scheduling conflict or anything like that, and it wasn't Ralph's decision. Seems to me like there was no real reason other than that's what NBC wanted.
that was on pulp matthes was telling JT
booze45
Posts
17
Joined
7/9/2015
Location
Elk Grove, CA US
1/5/2020 10:29pm
kage173 wrote:
I like Ralph. The guy knows motorsports and is truly a professional announcer with decades of experience. People may disagree with the tactics that the broadcast...
I like Ralph. The guy knows motorsports and is truly a professional announcer with decades of experience. People may disagree with the tactics that the broadcast team use (e.g. green kawasaki,) to focus on new viewers but Ralph himself is very good.

But either way, I dont get the obsession with the broadcast teams. They could have a donkey braying the whole time for all I care. I turn it on to watch the gnarliest racers in the world race, not grade announcers on broadcasting.
Kage 173, you just don't get it.

Watch the NFL, with any one of the half dozen great teams of announcers calling games. They are describing the action of a sport we all are familiar with, but their insight and timing of details make the games so much better to watch. And Al Michaels makes Chris Collingsworth(like John Madden) better. Joe Buck makes Troy Aikman better. Jim Nance makes everyone better.

Watch the NBA, with their great teams of announcers, Again, the game is familiar, but the announcers make the game, which is already great, so much better to watch. Kevin Harland makes Chris Webber great. Mike Breen makes Mark Jackson and Jeff VanGundy really good.

Ralph, and donkey's braying don't qualify in making the broadcast better. Grant Langston is great. Ricky Carmichael and Jeff Emig are really good. But Ralph is just not good enough at calling the action for this great sport. And he doesn't make the color announcers better. He just is too average. Probably a really nice guy, but way too average for our sport.
5
2
Johnny Oz
Posts
256
Joined
3/26/2019
Location
AU
1/6/2020 12:50am
I guess every country finds their own accent easier to understand but l did not like Leigh commentating (l'm an Aussie), he seemed to have a 'yelling' type of voice? We have this Scottish chick on our TV news programme in Oz, she's sh!t !
1
5
motomike137
Posts
8180
Joined
4/22/2010
Location
Fenton, MI US
1/6/2020 7:31am
kage173 wrote:
I like Ralph. The guy knows motorsports and is truly a professional announcer with decades of experience. People may disagree with the tactics that the broadcast...
I like Ralph. The guy knows motorsports and is truly a professional announcer with decades of experience. People may disagree with the tactics that the broadcast team use (e.g. green kawasaki,) to focus on new viewers but Ralph himself is very good.

But either way, I dont get the obsession with the broadcast teams. They could have a donkey braying the whole time for all I care. I turn it on to watch the gnarliest racers in the world race, not grade announcers on broadcasting.
I can only speak for myself, so I won't try putting words into anyone's mouth, but I harp on the broadcast team because of the massive...
I can only speak for myself, so I won't try putting words into anyone's mouth, but I harp on the broadcast team because of the massive disparity between the show on the track and the show in the booth. I'm a racing fan, first and foremost. I'm not a fan of supercross and motocross because I love riding, or because my family was into it (I've never even touched a dirtbike in my life). I was drawn in by the racing on the track, and it is BY FAR the best racing in the world. Period. There is passing, there is contact, there is danger, the winner is almost always guaranteed to make passes to earn their position. And it is ALL IN THE RIDERS HANDS. There is no one in their ear coaching them, there are barely any team orders, the only connection a rider has out of the track is a tiny pitboard that reads laptimes and "P U S H". If you show the racing in Supercross to anybody with an open mind to racing of any kind, they will immediately see the value in it. The racing is phenomenal. And then they have to listen to Ralph miss calls, Ricky stumble over his words, and the camera director miss passes and exciting moments, while the viewer at home hears the crowd in the stadium LOSING THEIR FUCKING MINDS and then the camera cuts to a rider laying on the track 25 seconds later. The broadcast team is AMATEUR HOUR compared to the athletes on the track, and it does a disservice to anybody with a vested interest in the success of the sport. Whether that be riders, teams, or fans.
Bingo
2
1
motomike137
Posts
8180
Joined
4/22/2010
Location
Fenton, MI US
1/6/2020 7:37am Edited Date/Time 1/6/2020 7:40am
kage173 wrote:
I like Ralph. The guy knows motorsports and is truly a professional announcer with decades of experience. People may disagree with the tactics that the broadcast...
I like Ralph. The guy knows motorsports and is truly a professional announcer with decades of experience. People may disagree with the tactics that the broadcast team use (e.g. green kawasaki,) to focus on new viewers but Ralph himself is very good.

But either way, I dont get the obsession with the broadcast teams. They could have a donkey braying the whole time for all I care. I turn it on to watch the gnarliest racers in the world race, not grade announcers on broadcasting.
booze45 wrote:
Kage 173, you just don't get it. Watch the NFL, with any one of the half dozen great teams of announcers calling games. They are describing...
Kage 173, you just don't get it.

Watch the NFL, with any one of the half dozen great teams of announcers calling games. They are describing the action of a sport we all are familiar with, but their insight and timing of details make the games so much better to watch. And Al Michaels makes Chris Collingsworth(like John Madden) better. Joe Buck makes Troy Aikman better. Jim Nance makes everyone better.

Watch the NBA, with their great teams of announcers, Again, the game is familiar, but the announcers make the game, which is already great, so much better to watch. Kevin Harland makes Chris Webber great. Mike Breen makes Mark Jackson and Jeff VanGundy really good.

Ralph, and donkey's braying don't qualify in making the broadcast better. Grant Langston is great. Ricky Carmichael and Jeff Emig are really good. But Ralph is just not good enough at calling the action for this great sport. And he doesn't make the color announcers better. He just is too average. Probably a really nice guy, but way too average for our sport.
I'm with you right up to the point where you say RC is good. He isn't, he's trying way to hard and every other sentence he has to recover from a tank slapper, pull in the clutch and shift gears mid sentence. Even if he ever smooths it out I still just think he has a delivery full of garbled non cohesive Rickyisms that make me cringe.

Oh and Leigh could replace Ralph in a heartbeat in my book. I know Ralph is a very knowledgeable motorsports guy but I don't care for his delivery and colloquialisms.
5
1
Camp332
Posts
8673
Joined
8/16/2006
Location
Zoo Jersey US
1/6/2020 8:04am
I've been listening to Ralph so long that he is "Part Of The Broadcast" in my mind. Diffey initially got me annoyed only for the fact I wasn't seeing Ralph in the booth, but then as the broadcast went on, my mind opened up and actually appreciated the fact he didn't try to talk every damn second of the race. There is my 2 cents Bro.
3
mark_swart
Posts
2524
Joined
11/2/2011
Location
Chapin, SC US
1/6/2020 9:17am
In defense of all of our announcers, unlike most normal sports, in SX/MX there are 22 opponents and races on the track. Try calling a football event if there are 22 games going on simultaneously. It has to be a challenge to get locked onto the focal point of the action every time. I give them some grace on that, although they definitely lag sometimes.

I also want to give RC props. I feel like he is doing considerably better than before, maybe he put some time into it the same way he honed his craft as a racer. I'm happy to see the progress.

I watched this race with a neighbor who had never seen one before. I think he enjoyed the racing, he caught onto the classes and qualifying format easily. The one thing he didn't get was our filler programming in the middle. That is a true weakness for our program right now, and I'm not sure what the answer is. But I'm pretty sure that NFL halftime programming doesn't feature random girls who like football. I think the answer has to be to get those trackside reporters to the pits in between heats and mains to speak with credible participants in or contributors to the event, be it riders, team managers, team owners, mechanics, riders wives/girlfriends, whatever. We need to get past "mid show filler" to having "mid-show content" that is relevant to the racing that night.

Have Blair talk to a rider on a warmup bike, or sit in with a team talking in the semi. Let's see a mechanic swapping out a clutch or a motor (my neighbor was shocked when I said that this actually happens sometimes). Johnny O hiding the donuts from Jett Lawrence.

Put three teams on notification each week that they could be spotlighted in that time slot, and pick the one that has the most interesting thing going on. They might hate it at first, but the broadcast will be better for it as well as sponsor representation.

I'm sorry to crush the dreams of Makeup to Mud, I am all about growing our female rider and fan base (my daughter rides), but I'm willing to bet the only thing Makeup to Mud is growing is more girls wanting to be featured on the broadcast. Growing this demographic is an entirely different (and important) issue that doesn't need to be in the middle of our sport's premiere broadcast on a weekly basis.
6
1
mxer192
Posts
145
Joined
9/5/2012
Location
Highland mills, NY US
1/6/2020 9:21am
The broadcast overall still missed a lot of moments because they were telling a story. Like when barcia took the lead in the beginning of the main. I think i could be better but it was better then ralph
3
moto9
Posts
230
Joined
11/11/2016
Location
Waimea, HI US
1/7/2020 11:08am
I was never a big Ralph fan, I mean he was fine, but the new guy sucks!
Also,sometime it's hard to understand what the track side bimbo is saying...pull her out.
Put weege in the booth, he would by far be the best...hands down.
RC is improving, but I think Blair would be a better fit with weege, move RC back to the floor and bring back Taft.
Another guy that's pretty good is JT, I watched a couple of gp races and he speaks well, easy to listen to and has great in-site and knowledge of the sport, riders....he also does his pre-race homework, something RC doesn't seem to do.

8
Tarz483
Posts
6344
Joined
2/25/2009
Location
Mankato, MN US
1/7/2020 6:42pm
moto9 wrote:
I was never a big Ralph fan, I mean he was fine, but the new guy sucks! Also,sometime it's hard to understand what the track side...
I was never a big Ralph fan, I mean he was fine, but the new guy sucks!
Also,sometime it's hard to understand what the track side bimbo is saying...pull her out.
Put weege in the booth, he would by far be the best...hands down.
RC is improving, but I think Blair would be a better fit with weege, move RC back to the floor and bring back Taft.
Another guy that's pretty good is JT, I watched a couple of gp races and he speaks well, easy to listen to and has great in-site and knowledge of the sport, riders....he also does his pre-race homework, something RC doesn't seem to do.

You bring up a very good point about Telling a story.
Is the beginning of a super cross race really the time to be telling stories?
I mean it's a very Action packed sport. And especially the beginning.
When watching you can't even take in all the action.
Tell stories before after and in between races there is enough going on, on the track. And if you must tell stories tell them toward the end when there is a lot of seperation. Same with Replays.
Shouldn't this be common sense?
Hcallz5
Posts
3278
Joined
8/20/2013
Location
UT US
1/7/2020 7:09pm
I think everyone saw that Seely was a deer in the headlights behind the mic, that shit isn't just for anyone. Ricky has been doing better and I feel like Leigh just brings more to the program than Ralph personally. He jives better with Ricky I feel like too.
Ake89
Posts
139
Joined
12/17/2015
Location
Argyle, TX US
1/7/2020 7:38pm
Diffey is great. Ralph sucks and Ricky is getting better. Ricky is still not very good
2
1
McG194
Posts
4111
Joined
9/7/2017
Location
Palm Coast, FL US
1/7/2020 8:43pm
I have no idea what color bike AC was on.
2
philG
Posts
10861
Joined
5/12/2012
Location
GB
1/8/2020 4:32am
YamaLink wrote:
I've been told Ralph is the best when it comes to handling all angles of the broadcast. Both ears getting info from multiple producers, spotters, etc...
I've been told Ralph is the best when it comes to handling all angles of the broadcast. Both ears getting info from multiple producers, spotters, etc, and trying to be a partner to Fro or whomever. That said, he's my least favorite part of SX. Oddly enough, Ralph is fantastic in the booth for other forms of racing.
I've listened to Diffey many times, and it's not a step back or lateral move. Thankfully.
cason402 wrote:
they have spotters? really? i'm serious here, I've never noted them (broadcasters) telling me anything other than what was on the screen. I'm watching the position...
they have spotters? really?

i'm serious here, I've never noted them (broadcasters) telling me anything other than what was on the screen.

I'm watching the position column trying to follow what's going on and they are never, never seeing major things happen.

a rider moving up, a rider falling back, a rider going down and losing a multitude of places, they are totally oblivious.

then the rider is on the screen and they fumble about, trying to tell a world wide audience what happened when they know nothing of what happened.

so, if there are spotters, what exactly are they spotting, and what are they communicating, it is not working.
Yes.. and no.. back in the day i have worked as a spotter for the comms guy at a GP. He can only look one place at a time and having a guy sat beside you looking at what you arent is a help. And if you are doing TV comms at the venue like SX, having a guy looking what is going on out the window is a help. I would doubt they would be hooked up by radio though. You can only talk about what you can see and hope the director is switched on, a good director will listen to the comms guy to see if he is missing something.
slipdog
Posts
10055
Joined
7/25/2009
Location
Nor Cal, CA US
1/8/2020 5:15am
It's never once dawned on to give a shit who is doing the announcing.

I think the overall production is weak when it comes to following the action but as long as I get to watch the races live on tv I'm good. I hear the crowd scream and know we missed something sometimes, but they cut back to it and always show a replay so we see it within 20-30 seconds. I have no complaints...
mx 219
Posts
4035
Joined
8/15/2010
Location
South Central, PA US
1/8/2020 5:16am Edited Date/Time 1/8/2020 5:17am
any chance Reed asked for him to announce? It's Reed last year, they did all the big opening ceremonies for Reed. He got to hang out/ride the track all by himself a few days before the race.Also, the initial rumor was Reed would line up for A1 then retire. Maybe he asked if he could have Leigh announce his last race (assuming he was truly only planning to get his 250th start then walk away).
1
huck
Posts
17024
Joined
8/16/2006
Location
Mountain Home, AR US
1/8/2020 5:55am
PRM31 wrote:
Somewhere along the way the announcers went from watching the race like a fan in the stands and calling it, to watching a monitor and calling...
Somewhere along the way the announcers went from watching the race like a fan in the stands and calling it, to watching a monitor and calling it. All downhill from there.
You mean like back in the day when they would do voice overs after the race?
JeepnMike
Posts
2525
Joined
10/18/2012
Location
Enumclaw, WA US
1/8/2020 6:38am
crowe176 wrote:
Man, obviously I'm in the minority, but I like Ralph. Hearing his voice every January just ads to the excitement of A1 and indicates its the...
Man, obviously I'm in the minority, but I like Ralph. Hearing his voice every January just ads to the excitement of A1 and indicates its the start of the season and best race series in the world. If he goes, personally, I'll be bummed. He comes off as someone who loves the sport, and loves his job. Can't ask for much more in my opinion.
Might be just you and I, but I agree. I am likely not sitting there listening waiting for him to screw up, I probably hear what I want to hear which is a guy that keeps the show moving, and has an amazing talent to add excitement and raise the volume for what is going on. The only time Ralph has really annoyed me was last season when he mentioned at least 15 times that Oldenburg had a new son Ryker, but am I going to build hate for the guy on it? Just an annoying moment, but it also shows how much of a family this traveling circus is.

I know the Ralph haters will assume you and I are idiots and likely not purist MX fans and probably don't know what we are talking about.. But whatever.
1
olympiamann
Posts
282
Joined
1/25/2014
Location
Sheridan, WY US
1/8/2020 7:11am
Please Hurry up and get Ralph back.Im dreading round 2 with that Aussie Accent through the whole broadcast. Yuck
4
PRM31
Posts
3488
Joined
8/7/2009
Location
Northern, VA US
Fantasy
1/8/2020 7:29am
PRM31 wrote:
Somewhere along the way the announcers went from watching the race like a fan in the stands and calling it, to watching a monitor and calling...
Somewhere along the way the announcers went from watching the race like a fan in the stands and calling it, to watching a monitor and calling it. All downhill from there.
huck wrote:
You mean like back in the day when they would do voice overs after the race?
No, not at all. Just like a good baseball, or hockey announcer, or even better, any good radio announcer. They describe the entire event so you can imagine being there. Listen to an MRN radio broadcast of NASCAR, you’ll know what’s going on front to back.
As soon as anything happens on the track, you know, like those times you hear the crowd go crazy on the TV broadcast, they should immediately be describing it. But no, they only talk about what the cameras are showing, whether it’s relevant or not.
Just toss in tidbits of what’s going on throughout the pack, like a good radio announcer: Who’s leading, anyone gaining on leader; any battles in the pack, who, how many; anyone moving up or falling back; anyone down, are they up and going; track conditions, sections causing problems for any riders; etc. Just a constant dialogue with the color commentator of the entire event. It may be 80% of what the cameras are following, but don’t hesitate to cover it all, camera or not.
Just listen to an old radio broadcast and you’ll know what I mean, and quickly understand just how good announcers can be, and how bad this coverage can be.
1
huck
Posts
17024
Joined
8/16/2006
Location
Mountain Home, AR US
1/8/2020 7:35am
PRM31 wrote:
No, not at all. Just like a good baseball, or hockey announcer, or even better, any good radio announcer. They describe the entire event so you...
No, not at all. Just like a good baseball, or hockey announcer, or even better, any good radio announcer. They describe the entire event so you can imagine being there. Listen to an MRN radio broadcast of NASCAR, you’ll know what’s going on front to back.
As soon as anything happens on the track, you know, like those times you hear the crowd go crazy on the TV broadcast, they should immediately be describing it. But no, they only talk about what the cameras are showing, whether it’s relevant or not.
Just toss in tidbits of what’s going on throughout the pack, like a good radio announcer: Who’s leading, anyone gaining on leader; any battles in the pack, who, how many; anyone moving up or falling back; anyone down, are they up and going; track conditions, sections causing problems for any riders; etc. Just a constant dialogue with the color commentator of the entire event. It may be 80% of what the cameras are following, but don’t hesitate to cover it all, camera or not.
Just listen to an old radio broadcast and you’ll know what I mean, and quickly understand just how good announcers can be, and how bad this coverage can be.
Oh, I know. I just think it's funny that guys are wanting it to be like 'the good old days'...but I believe Bailey said that he'd record the 'play by play' after the race, while just watching it on the screen.

A good announcer can make or break a broadcast.
1/8/2020 8:11am
I definitely prefer Ralph as well.
1
3
PRM31
Posts
3488
Joined
8/7/2009
Location
Northern, VA US
Fantasy
1/8/2020 9:25am
I don’t actually think the announcers are the problem, it’s the methodology of only talking about what’s on the camera.

I don’t really think the older races were necessarily covered better. Some recent cringe worthy moments by color analysts aside, we have it reasonably good today as far as announcers go IMO. Yet, watch a Supercross and you’ll come away knowing so little about the event. IMO is because of how they are doing it, not because they aren’t capable. I actually think if you told Leigh and RC to pretend there is no video they would do a great job. Certainly Leigh would do well.
The coverage of the 450 main at A1 only mentioned 12 riders. 10 riders in the main were never even mentioned. Only four sponsors were mentioned: “Rocky Mtn KTM” (x4), “monster energy Yamaha” (x3), “HRC Honda” (x1), and “Rockstar Husqvarna” (x1). Neither of the passes between 51 or 9 were covered live. Though in fairness they did cut to it reasonably quickly. But had the announcers been watching the event out the window instead of staring at a monitor they could have described it in near real time. As for the riders beyond about 8th, I have no idea how they finished or why, or how it progressed. Was it crashes, did they just fall back? No idea.
RichieW13
Posts
2407
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Thousand Oaks, CA US
1/8/2020 10:20am
Did Leigh Diffey previously cover the Dakar rally? The new guy they have this year is really struggling.

Post a reply to: NBC Broadcast, Ralph vs. Diffey

The Latest