Melanie Smith-Taylor

[lauriep]

What you haters don’t get is that they get little to no help from the network in background information. At the last competition she was at, she spent most of the night before the event tracking down riders, doing interviews, anything to fill all that airtime. NBC should have producers and their teams out compiling this info for the live commentary. But they don’t. So The two of them are stuck trying to come up with intelligent, but not too technical, things to say to the viewing audience. And, there is the small detail that they aren’t watching the live horse in front of them. They are watching on a monitor and having to react to that.

Get over yourselves. Find a topic you can actually be positive on. It might surprise you how good it feels. If you don’t like her style, fine, your option. But don’t then try to tear her down with snide remarks you know nothing about.

[fordtraktor]

When y’all win Olympic gold and the World Cup, then show that you can manage to talk about every ride for 6 straight days on 3 sports without saying anything that wasn’t 100% brilliant and accurate on every level, and without offending anyone, let us know and we’ll petition NBC on your behalf to replace MST. Until then I will continue to appreciate MST’s commentary.

[Tonkafriend]

I was watching the NBC live stream of the show jumping team final with the excellent British commentator. His pride in the British gold, and the way he barely kept it together after their win, after over 5 hours of thoughtful, not over bearing (non-partisan) commentary, was one of the most moving Olympic moments I’ve experienced. It was so clear that he knew and really cared about so many of the riders and horses. Don’t get the same experience w/M S-T

[Velvet]

The haters hate her lack of dressage and eventing knowledge. Not technical issues with the network feed. :rolleyes:

[JER]

[QUOTE=lauriep;6485123]
What you haters don’t get is that they get little to no help from the network in background information. At the last competition she was at, she spent most of the night before the event tracking down riders, doing interviews, anything to fill all that airtime. NBC should have producers and their teams out compiling this info for the live commentary. But they don’t. [/QUOTE]

It really isn’t the network’s job to do that. Even for the big sports (NFL, MLB), you really do need to do your own info gathering and preparation.

You can – and some announcers/commentators do – go to people for coaching and sharpening up your skills in the booth.

Good prep is usually quite evident. Clare Balding has become quite a star for her excellent Olympic presence on the BBC – it doesn’t matter what sport you throw at her, she studies it and can talk about it with authority. Bob Costas is very impressive that way as well.

[trafalgar]

Bob Costas does a good job. I do think he sometimes overdoes rehashing bad outcomes with the athletes however.

[dani0303]

FWIW my non-horsey father commented on how much he liked MST’s commentary. He knows more about horses than the average american, but not nearly as much as we do.

[chancellor2]

[QUOTE=supershorty628;6485087]
I think she probably meant that some people have the educated hands and legs to use a double bridle correctly. Or that some people choose to. She’s not stupid…I highly doubt that she thinks only certain people at that level are allowed to use it.

Not saying that I dis/like her commentary, just pointing that out.[/QUOTE]

But that is not what she said. She said simply what I wrote. She didn’t say it had anything to do with educated hands etc.

MST educating people on dressage would be like me saying “show jumpers get 5 faults for every rail they knock down”.

Oh wait, I meant four faults but well, that’s close enough. It’s not close enough. Do you want your child’s math teacher rewarding 2+2=5? Close enough? No. It isn’t. If we want more people coming into the sport and watching it, we owe it to the sport to be correct. Or at least, not blatantly WRONG.

[BabyGreen]

Just reinforces the American people’s opinion of snobby dressage people. Put yourself in Melanie’s place: trying to explain ride after ride of the most boring sport since golf to people who have not idea what it’s about.

[chancellor2]

[QUOTE=BabyGreen;6486157]
Just reinforces the American people’s opinion of snobby dressage people. Put yourself in Melanie’s place: trying to explain ride after ride of the most boring sport since golf to people who have not idea what it’s about.[/QUOTE]

What about ice skating? What’s the difference between a toe loop and triple salkow (I have no idea how to spell it). Yet I still like to watch it. And having a commentator actually knowing what they are talking about it important to the experience.

Your statement just reinforces my opinion of hunter jumper people. Good enough seems to be just that. Good enough.

[snoopy]

[QUOTE=JER;6485454]

Good prep is usually quite evident. Clare Balding has become quite a star for her excellent Olympic presence on the BBC – it doesn’t matter what sport you throw at her, she studies it and can talk about it with authority. [/QUOTE]

Clare is the best…and EVERYONE likes her.

[lmlacross]

[QUOTE=chancellor2;6486180]
What about ice skating? What’s the difference between a toe loop and triple salkow (I have no idea how to spell it). Yet I still like to watch it. And having a commentator actually knowing what they are talking about it important to the experience.

Your statement just reinforces my opinion of hunter jumper people. Good enough seems to be just that. Good enough.[/QUOTE]

Oh, dressage riders are such elitist snobs! Oh, HJ folks are such mediocre horse people who know little more than to pose in the saddle and hand their horses off to grooms.

It’s like “Call Me Maybe.” A song that has been overplayed to the point of absurdity.

Why undercut a perfectly legitimate analogy with such a dime-a-dozen, ignorant generalization?

[HRF_Second_Chance]

I love how all these ramblings always turn into this somehow… My sport is better than your sport. Dressage people are snobby, h/j people can’t ride, eventers are the best because they gallop at big obstacles that don’t fall down…

Just because MST can’t ride a GP dressage test doesn’t mean she doesn’t know what it is. In case none of the ‘uppity and snobby’ dressage people have never watched an upper level showjumper warm up or be schooled on the flat, they all know how to do quite a bit of dressage. It helps make their horses more elastic, flexible and adjustable to ride. And not a single one discounts dressage as boring or unncessary. While they may not be performing a piaffe or a canter piroutte, they understand its great importance to their sport.

[anon68314200]

[QUOTE=HRF Second Chance;6486253]

Just because MST can’t ride a GP dressage test doesn’t mean she doesn’t know what it is. In case none of the ‘uppity and snobby’ dressage people have never watched an upper level showjumper warm up or be schooled on the flat, they all know how to do quite a bit of dressage. It helps make their horses more elastic, flexible and adjustable to ride. And not a single one discounts dressage as boring or unncessary. While they may not be performing a piaffe or a canter piroutte, they understand its great importance to their sport.[/QUOTE]

MST made plenty of obnoxious comments about riders lacking hairnets and other ‘super important’ style information during the eventing. Not to mention her snotty comment that the ‘groom was in trouble’ when the French jumper riders rein broke.

Yeah. Commentary on hairnets and attacks on grooms. That real competent classy stuff.:no:

[HRF_Second_Chance]

Yeah but you have to remember that’s her perception. Sorry it’s the Olympics and she’s from the States. We wear hair nets here. So from her PERSPECTIVE she feels they should wear hair nets. To finish off the picture. You spent all that time braiding a mane but not 2 seconds to net your hair?

Attacking the groom? Yes she did say that the groom would be in trouble because it’s their job to check tack. At the time nobody knew why it broke.

It reminds me of the Wedding Singer. “I HAVE THE MICROPHONE SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY DAMN WORD I HAVE TO SAY.”

I guess nobodies remote comes with a mute button…

[chancellor2]

[QUOTE=lmlacross;6486223]
Oh, dressage riders are such elitist snobs! Oh, HJ folks are such mediocre horse people who know little more than to pose in the saddle and hand their horses off to grooms.

It’s like “Call Me Maybe.” A song that has been overplayed to the point of absurdity.

Why undercut a perfectly legitimate analogy with such a dime-a-dozen, ignorant generalization?[/QUOTE]

To make a point. I do not believe that all HJ people say “good enough” Some of my good friends are HJ people.
My statement was just as ignorant as calling dressage people “snobby”…and I will happily admit just that.

[chancellor2]

@lauriep;6485123

What you haters don’t get is that they get little to no help from the network in background information. At the last competition she was at, she spent most of the night before the event tracking down riders, doing interviews, anything to fill all that airtime. NBC should have producers and their teams out compiling this info for the live commentary. But they don’t. So The two of them are stuck trying to come up with intelligent, but not too technical, things to say to the viewing audience. And, there is the small detail that they aren’t watching the live horse in front of them. They are watching on a monitor and having to react to that.

Oh poor little Melanie had to do her JOB?
Poor wittle girl.

[HRF_Second_Chance]

I saw something (maybe on Facebook) where she explains how things went on XC day because they kept cutting back and forth to them, then to something else (because of delays on course) and they were completely flying by the seat of their pants.

[chancellor2]

[QUOTE=HRF Second Chance;6486474]
I saw something (maybe on Facebook) where she explains how things went on XC day because they kept cutting back and forth to them, then to something else (because of delays on course) and they were completely flying by the seat of their pants.[/QUOTE]

Yes, but the other commentator was doing just fine that day.

[War_Admiral]

[QUOTE=Tonkafriend;6485309]
I was watching the NBC live stream of the show jumping team final with the excellent British commentator. His pride in the British gold, and the way he barely kept it together after their win, after over 5 hours of thoughtful, not over bearing (non-partisan) commentary, was one of the most moving Olympic moments I’ve experienced. It was so clear that he knew and really cared about so many of the riders and horses. Don’t get the same experience w/M S-T[/QUOTE]

I dunno, he was very knowledgeable for sure, but he took plenty of cheap shots at the USA for “lowering the standards of dressage w/ [their] helmet campaign” and plenty of REALLY cheap shots at the KSA showjumpers by bringing up how much they paid for their horses every time one came in the ring. :rolleyes: Credit where due, though, after the BBC received complaints he backed off both of those positions.

ETA: I was watching the BBC coverage, you may not have heard those parts on NBC.