BBC Wimbledon commentators

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

RE: BBC Wimbledon commentators

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
Off topic, my latest Clare Balding beef: she's been pronouncing the first syllable of Lorenzo Musetti's surname like the first syllable of "music"!

Another one, though CB is not alone in messing it up: it's every single one of the buggers! They have only to listen to Barbora Krejcikova (I can't reproduce the caron - the little hook over the "c" - as Activeboard doesn't support it) say her name on her WTA page to hear quite clearly that her first name is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, as we do "Barbara" in the English-speaking world. What is it about the mere fact that the second vowel is an "o", not an "a", that compels people to stress it rather than the first "a"? Is it just that they're anxious to demonstrate that they know about the spelling difference? disbelief That said, I'd be surprised if they did listen & could actually HEAR it. Non-linguists seem unable to use their ears to pick up differences in sound/emphasis.

steven · Tennis legend

I have some sympathy with the commentators there. I know the supposedly golden rule in Czech is that the stress is always on the first syllable, but it's not a particularly strong stress and words of more than two syllables can have secondary stresses, long vowels can sound a bit like they are stressed and so on. Listening to Barbora say her name on the WTA site, the stress on the first syllable is only very slight the first time she says it, then when she says it more slowly, it sounds more like the second syllable is stressed, if anything. Also, when she says her surname, the stress sounds to me as if it is clearly on the second syllable, but that might just be the quality of the vowel sounds tricking me.

Either way, stress doesn't seem as key in Czech as it is in some languages and there's a thread at https://linguaphiles.livejournal.com/907272.html? with contributions from linguists and others who seem to have experienced similar confusion when trying hard to get Czech stress right.

the addict · Tennis legend

So refreshing to have Ash Barty in the commentary team. So knowledgeable about the players, tactics and the whole experience at Wimbledon.

steven · Tennis legend

Yes, she's more interesting talking about that than she ever seemed to be on court.

Var · Pro player

steven wrote:
Yes, she's more interesting talking about that than she ever seemed to be on court.

I third this about Ash.I have really enjoyed her commentary. I really cant stand Clare Balding though, however hard I try

the addict · Tennis legend

Var wrote:
steven wrote:
Yes, she's more interesting talking about that than she ever seemed to be on court.
I third this about Ash.I have really enjoyed her commentary. I really cant stand Clare Balding though, however hard I try

Well you either love her or hate her. But at least she comes over as knowing about tennis - and I don't believe that anyone else have shown that they can do the high-profile link at this time. There are several who might step up in the future but I would rather see the likes of Annabel, Laura, Naomi etc contimue to do what they do well.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

the addict wrote:
Var wrote:
steven wrote:
Yes, she's more interesting talking about that than she ever seemed to be on court.
I third this about Ash.I have really enjoyed her commentary. I really cant stand Clare Balding though, however hard I try
Well you either love her or hate her. But at least she comes over as knowing about tennis - and I don't believe that anyone else have shown that they can do the high-profile link at this time. There are several who might step up in the future but I would rather see the likes of Annabel, Laura, Naomi etc contimue to do what they do well.

I agree, the link role is very different to the expert role; Mark Chapman, for me, is the best in the business although not sure he has done tennis? On Radio 5, Claire McDonnell is doing a good job and the past few years, Tony Livesey has been good as well. But Chappers is the best; Steve Crossman is good on Radio 5 football and will go into bigger roles

Jan · Hall of fame

I have studiously avoided the main channels. Any matches I've watched have been through iPlayer, so you just get the tennis without the linking stuff.
I'm not a huge fan of the on-court interviews. But I thought Annabel did a good job today.

Dannythomas · Lower Club Player

Then of course there is the question of the correct pronounciation of Djokovic. Pretty much every American will tell you the first O is pronounced as in Joe while the Brits unanimously pronounced the O as in John. Listening to Novak say his own name it seems to be somewhere in the middle , probably closer to the British version ! I guess after all these years commentators and the rest of us should be able to say his name correctly!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Jan wrote:
I have studiously avoided the main channels. Any matches I've watched have been through iPlayer, so you just get the tennis without the linking stuff.
I'm not a huge fan of the on-court interviews. But I thought Annabel did a good job today.

Me too ! God bless i-player biggrin - and I always choose the non-commentated site, if there is one - although Ash has been quite good)

(Overall, though, I far prefer Clare Balding to Sue Barker - the dynamics between Sue, and John Lloyd, and Andrew Castle, just made my stomach turn - unwatchable)

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Sunday 14th of July 2024 07:40:28 AM

Elegant Point · Satellite level

Coup Droit wrote:
Elegant Point wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
the
The radio commentators go much more off piste and talk about the players and their lives, hobbies , stuff around the tennis. Makes it very listenable. Krejcikova (which they pronounced Kray-cheek-over) apparently a) has a love of mowing the lawn to relax which led into a conversation were it was clear Laura had never cut a lawn (presumably she has people who do it for her), whereas Naomi said it was her favourite chore at the house which she rather than her partner does (who is her partner, I read somewhere about a night club owner?). B) Kray also likes Lego models and her team buy her Lego models of the city or place she wins tournies at , her favourite model being Tokyo skyline apparently c) Kray is very shy and focused, not at all certain of her tennis standard being good enough and needs building up.
all quite mundane stuff but it was discussed for something like half an hour over various points and was really interesting
I have never cut a lawn, is the assumption therefore that I have people to do it for me ?
Yes, whole load of little Oompa-Loompas who do each blade with nail scissors

LOL - Im sure people would pay to watch that!