So I was talking with one of my racquetball buddies about watching online and I wondered who he thought was the better commentator: Russ Mannino vs. John Scott

I like Russ Mannino over John Scott. His style and racquetball knowledge is far superior over John's and John talks too much about this guy Pablo and is kind of silly.

Better yet was the times Sudsey did it from a 5-time pros perspective. More Sudsey More please............

I definitely like to hear Russ Mannino's breathing on the mic more than John ... just waiting for him to start snoring or something :)

Love to Ace

So I was talking with one of my racquetball buddies about watching online and I wondered who he thought was the better commentator: Russ Mannino vs. John Scott

I like Russ Mannino over John Scott. His style and racquetball knowledge is far superior over John's and John talks too much about this guy Pablo and is kind of silly.

Better yet was the times Sudsey did it from a 5-time pros perspective. More Sudsey More please............

seriously?

Coach Manny

Love to Ace

So I was talking with one of my racquetball buddies about watching online and I wondered who he thought was the better commentator: Russ Mannino vs. John Scott

I like Russ Mannino over John Scott. His style and racquetball knowledge is far superior over John's and John talks too much about this guy Pablo and is kind of silly.

Better yet was the times Sudsey did it from a 5-time pros perspective. More Sudsey More please............

seriously?

Yes...

I personally enjoy listening to John during a match. His comments always crack me up. I think Russ and John work very well together: Russ being the serious, experienced voice and John.

A few of John's comments that cracked me up:
* people will be missing flights when he said all the streaming would be in HD.

* small children are crying when Chris let out a huge roar yesterday against Rocky.

* John tells Pablo to shut up when he says his best weapon is the drive serve.

* Russ is going through his stone tablets

I love racquetball and I love watching racquetball, but seriously, the IRT Network commentators need some work.

(1) If you examine what percentage of the commentary is actually regarding the match at hand, you'll find it's quite small. Take the 2011 US Open Finals for example. The commentators talked about everything but the match.
(2) Who the #^&$*# is Pablo? Stop talking about Pablo. I don't care if Pablo is eating a piece of chocolate cake.
(3) Sudsy--stop talking about how awesome you are.
(4) John--stop with the stupid mother-in-law jokes.

Really?

These are NOT professionally trained commentators. They are grass roots, let's get 'er done types and what racquetball needs. There is no way racquetball could afford seasoned professional commentators. Are you REALLY serious?? In the meantime whilst racquetball is scratching to get recognized, John, Suds, Russ, Mike, Dave and all the stand-ins, in my opinion. are doing a great job in their efforts to move racquetball forward.

By the way, Pablo is the heart and soul of the production and one SUPER GREAT dude with a great sense of humor. Yes, it is somewhat of an inside joke with the Pablo sightings but it makes for some mystic during the telecast. And I find the mother-in-law slipped in jokes hilarious. "Speaking of jelly donuts..." LOL!!!

Quality of the video broadcast and the commentators are very important. This time the US Open had many broadcasting problems on several different log in locations for me and others. That can be easily fixed with technology understandings and improvements. Better cameras for one but we all know good cameras costs lots of money.

Commentators are the next representation of what we get. When one of the commentators says something and the other one is constantly saying hmmm I don't know what that means because it doesn't make sense to anyone. Or just seems to get things wrong and opinions on what's going on are like the commentator has never been around the sport of racquetball.

Nobody outside the organization doesn't know Pablo let alone what he does. We simply don't know why they keep referencing him. I'm sure he is a great guy since he keeps getting mentioned but it's NOT the commentators and the workers, it's the commentators to the broadcasted viewers/fans.

Watch MMA commentators for reference. Watch baseball games for reference. A little polish is good.

billgeo

Really?

These are NOT professionally trained commentators. They are grass roots, let's get 'er done types and what racquetball needs. There is no way racquetball could afford seasoned professional commentators. Are you REALLY serious?? In the meantime whilst racquetball is scratching to get recognized, John, Suds, Russ, Mike, Dave and all the stand-ins, in my opinion. are doing a great job in their efforts to move racquetball forward.

By the way, Pablo is the heart and soul of the production and one SUPER GREAT dude with a great sense of humor. Yes, it is somewhat of an inside joke with the Pablo sightings but it makes for some mystic during the telecast. And I find the mother-in-law slipped in jokes hilarious. "Speaking of jelly donuts..." LOL!!!

Yes, I am serious.

I understand they are not professionally trained, and that the IRT cannot afford professionally trained commentators. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't try to improve. A little professionalism on their part would go a long way. That's why I'm giving my critique.

The mother-in-law jokes are actually extremely offensive, particularly towards women. If Bob Costas said one on of those on the air, he would probably be fired. How does John not realize these jokes are inappropriate?

Pablo may be a great guy, but you know what, so is Gandhi. That doesn't mean I want to hear about him during the match. Give him credit at the beginning and/or end of the broadcast, but please, stop referencing some guy who nobody knows during the middle of the matches.

I did a little experiment. I watched Game 1 from the Kane vs Hawthorne match from Kansas City and tallied how many times John referenced Kane, Andy, and Pablo.
Kane: 16
Andy: 14
Pablo: 7

Tell me that's not excessive? Incidentally, Jose Rojas was the other commentator and he never once mentioned Pablo. Thank you Jose.

rballman seriously? You have been a member of MNP for 16 hrs. and all you have to post about is negative comments about the irtnetwork and the commentators. How long have you been watching on the irtnetwork? Where else can you watch live pro racquetball at a great price? John, Pablo and Russ are the heart and soul of the irtnetwork and do a super job.
The "color commentating" done by the players, Sudsy,Ben, Anthony, adds depth and insight to the broadcast. One of the best cemmentators was Mitch Williams as he was always giving a great players perspective on the matches (we miss you Mitch). Of course they are not perfect professionals like other sports have, but that is what makes the irt broadcasts unique and entertaining. I for one am a little tired of the "professional" announcers with all the notes they have so they can spout tons of useless facts and figures and antedotes.
Most of them spout it out with a dreadful monotone that is boring. I will take John and his bunch anytime. By the way, Pablo is a great guy and without him and his hard work the irtnetwork would not function. I love John's mother-in law jokes, and I seriously doubt the offend anyone (least of all his mother in law). Keep it up John and the boys.
Thank you so much for giving us live racquetball.

I would like to see Mike Orr with John Scott. Even Leo Vasquez would be good too. Those guys can keep the conversation about the match going even when there is a towel timeout.

Thanks for the support and encouragement as always Jason. Always happy to commentate as I enjoy it.

My .02 here. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course and being a paying subscriber of the network as well, I enjoy the broadcasts and also realize that these guys aren't making millions persay so I think they are doing a great job and there is always room for improvement for all of us, so I'm sure John and company will read and consider all contructive criticism.

Personally, I like when they mix it up and have different people commentate and more importantly have it interactive to the subscribers whether that be have emails/texts sent in or start a chat room which was mentioned. Although the actual play is important to commentate, I believe its equally important to get the viewers involved and provide insight to all areas and topics in racquetball that paying subscribers may have questions on and such...

Just my opinion of course and thanks again foir the mention Jason, I hope to commentate again someday as I do enjoy it and eat,sleep,breathe this stuff as a FAN of our great sport.

Best!

Mike

Well you know, when I watch pro baseball or football,e tc ... these are professional announcers. And of course, the IRTNetwork announcers are not. That's a given and it doesn't bother me personally that they are not. BUT I'm not a major sponsors maybe looking to put money into the IRT ... maybe there are some big sponsors like Richard Branson. There was a comment during the Royster-Lowe grudge match that he might be watching ... the jokes continued and he was referred to as Mr. Branson when in fact he is a "Sir" ... cause he's quite an entrepreneur and billionaire. WHY would he be watching ... cause Royster has a connection with him.

So if I'm Sir Richard Branson and watching ... would I be impressed enough to invest in the sport ?? Sure, its not that simple ... but I hope you see my point. This was one thing I always tried to do when I was filming and had commentators or did commentary myself. I would try to be more like a pro announcer than not ... sure ... we're all one big happy family, but it's NOT about us ... its about the sport. So I would recommend the announcers stuck with the sport and not so much their personal jokes and such.

Ones I enjoy: Fran Davis is very professional ... has tons of energy, knows what she's talking about ... maybe promotes herself a little too much, but HEY that's her livelihood. Russ is good early on but there wears down :) Mitch was great. Ben Croft is great. Javier is excellent in spanish. I've had Tim Doyle and Woody Clouse do some and they were great ... though after a "few beverages" they get a bit loose :)

I love Leo but he puts me to sleep. Haven't heard MO. JS lacks confidence. Royster tries to build too much drama. Llacera was good, lots of different insight, but was a bit over-excited ... but together Llacera-Royster made a good team.

Brum would be the best non-pro commentator for these events. his insight of the game his ability to articulate would be unsurpassed. I don't care if he comes from yesteryear he would adjust and would be awesome. funny the whole nine yards. he would actually be good for the game.

This is good conversation I think and people are good about their descriptions of their side and experience in all this. I thought it would be a good time to bring this up and wonder what others thought.

There are two perspectives here it seems: fans from the outside looking in and those that know these guys quite well. Commentators are for the fans from the outside, buddy chat is reserved for sideline conversation with you buddies. IMHO

Um, and who cares if someone has only been a member here for their first post. Maybe they've been lurking like many or many this is their first time coming to the site or may this is the first time they like to respond to a topic. One has to have a first post.... :)

rballman

I love racquetball and I love watching racquetball, but seriously, the IRT Network commentators are a joke.

(1) If you examine what percentage of the commentary is actually regarding the match at hand, you'll find it's quite small. Take the 2011 US Open Finals for example. The commentators talked about everything but the match.
(2) Who the #^&$*# is Pablo? Stop talking about Pablo. I don't care if Pablo is eating a piece of chocolate cake.
(3) Sudsy--stop talking about how awesome you are.
(4) John--stop with the stupid mother-in-law jokes.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I personally think John is hilarious. Too me...that is entertaining.

He does describe the game well and is knowledgeable about the game.

Think he does a great job.

What would you like to hear in reference to the match at hand?

Reference to number 1....can you give examples of what you look for in reference to the match.

You don't already see what is going on?

I don't know anyone who watches more matches on IRTNetwork than me. It's hard for me to understand what you are referring to.

I do realize that not everyone's feelings are the same but what about number 1 do you feel they should be describing that they are not?

Thanks for your feedback,

Manny (someone trying to make a difference..that is why I ask)

Thought I'd add to the chat here and clear some things up. If the detractors knew how important Pablo was then they would be quiet. If it we're for him, then you wouldn't be watching anything at all. Russ, Fran, Ben, etc all do a great job. As for my announcing feel free to criticize it all you want. It's not going to change anything. I in fact am classically trained, Rball isn't the only sport I call. I do MMA, baseball, volleyball, and basketball. The in-law jokes came at a recommendation from Joe Buck who I have had lunch with numerous times now. He is my mentor on the air. I talk fast because that's my style. Get over it. Mr. Branson in fact doesn't like to be referred to as Sir Richard Branson because he thinks it's too presumptuous and formal. If you did research you'd know that...finally I do love the back and forth both on the air and here. I eat it up like a pig. Speaking of pig I'd like to say hi to my mother in law watching back in Kentucky.

Thanks for coming on here John!

Great responses from the true racquetball fans that appreciate what we have now that we didn't have just a few years ago.

People want the world when we are just a growing sport barely off the ground.

Thank You Pablo for putting online racquetball on the map in a huge way.

Thank you John for putting so much effort and care with what you do.

Thank you IRTNetwork for offering an amazing product at a GREAT price.

Thank you IRTNetwork for doing so much for the sport.

Hi folks.

It seems I've made some people angry, which was not my intention. If I was overly harsh, I apologize. I appreciate the IRT Network and everybody that makes the broadcasts happen. We all want the sport to grow, which is why I'm giving my criticism. If we want the sport to grow, then we need new fans, right? So I think we should examine this issue from the perspective of somebody new to the IRT Network broadcasts and possibly new to the sport of racquetball. Personally, I think it's a good idea to emulate and examine the commentating of other sports that have made it to prime time. They made it big for a reason. Let's look at UFC commentating. I'm sure they have their Pablo equivalent, but they don't keep talking about him during the fight. And, of course, there aren't the sexist mother-in-law jokes.

About the Pablo references:
It may be that Pablo is a great guy and nothing would happen without him. But frankly, I think that is irrelevant. I'm watching racquetball for racquetball. Give Pablo his credit at the beginning and end of the broadcast like they do in every other sport. The fact is, people at home watching have no idea who Pablo is. If you insist on talking about Pablo, which I think is a mistake, at least tell us who he is and what he does.

Mother-in-Law Jokes:
I'm not sure what to say here. They are inappropriate. Do you ever hear similar jokes coming from commentators in baseball, basketball, football, etc? No, you don't. Because they are offensive and the commentators would probably be fired. Not to mention they are irrelevant to racquetball and detract from the match at hand.

Coach Manny:
I think a good example is the finals of this year's US Open. There was a whole lot of non-match talk. I couldn't hear the ref so there were many instances where I was unsure of what the call was or generally what was going on. I.e. was it a penalty hinder or reply hinder, etc.? I felt it would have been nice for the announcers to tell us what was happening instead of talking about non-match stuff.

Just offering my opinion here. I'm new to the IRT Network, but not to racquetball. Personally, I like John the best, I just wish he'd stop with the Pablo and mother-in-law references.

There's no doubt they have a ways to go, mostly from a technical standpoint. I've been tempted to renew my membership on occasion, but invariably there's technical issues and a (somewhat inexcusable in my opinion) lack of detail on the who, what, when, where, why and how of the upcoming matches. It seems like keeping a commercial website updated with this type of basic information shouldn't be so difficult.

However, from what I've seen, the commentators are pretty solid. John Scott's great, and I think he brings broadcasting skills this venture needs for long-term success. Overall, it seems to me that most of the current crop that jump on the mic are intelligent and entertaining, so the IRT is pretty lucky in that regard IMO.

And really, you're upset about "mother-in-law" jokes? Those are as American as apple pie, Chevrolets, and Marty Hogan. :)