Who are the live commentators?

[Sdhaurmsmom]

Just got done watching the online videos of the Eventing dressage. They have a running typed commentary…who is doing that? Who is writing those comments?

I think they need to keep in mind that they have an audience of perhaps millions…and avoid unfortunate comments such as the following, printed in reverse order (top comment was the final comment):
bold and italic are mine:

"# I know it is not right for me to say but not a bad test for an Anglo Arab

But a good horse is a good horse irrelevant of it,s breed

We dont see many anglo Arabs in our sport"

GEEZ! If you KNOW it’s NOT RIGHT for you to say, especially in front of an audience of so many internationally - why the H$LL did you feel compelled to write it out anyway?!!

Yank that person off the line and gently remind them that it’s not for them to pass barely-veiled judgments on breeds in this situation…do it on your own time…:mad:

Unbelievable.:eek:

[yventer]

During the break, it said it was Imtiaz Aneez.

[Larksmom]

on television

the commentators are Kenny Rice and Melanie Smith taylor. Kenny used to cover horse racing on ESPN. Melanie of course is a Gold Medalist show jumper.

[Xctrygirl]

My thought as I read them last night was that anyone out there could put commentary. Ala Youtube.

I could be wrong.

Not at home to check.

~Emily

[Party_Rose]

Again I say…

I wish Robert Ridland had the job!

[lauriep]

Melanie is doing the NBC color commentary on the network, and is only going to be in the NYC studio. She isn’t in Beijing.

[yventer]

I think the OP was talking about the typed commentary that appears in a box under the live feed video frame.

[FullCircleTraining]

Yes, it is Imtiaz Aneez who is doing the typed commentary on the streaming video. He apologized tonight for his comments about Anglo Arabs (although I agree they never should have been made to begin with).

[whitewolfe001]

Yeah that is a pretty tacky thing to say.

I don’t know who they are, but I was watching the eventing dressage today and cringed when the female commentator said,

“This is a modified version of Grand Prix dressage”

Ummm… sorry, no. It’s equivalent to Third Level.

You’d think they would get someone more experienced to be the commentator on these things.

Good thing for her that she could immediately see the scores given for each movement right away. Gave her some pretty big clues on whether or not the horse was doing well. Most of her commentary was “Oh, that was good, it got an 8”.

EDITED: Oh, sorry, just re-read, I didn’t realize you were talking about the typed commentary… haven’t seen those…

[BoysenLTD]

[QUOTE=FullCircleTraining;3428733]
Yes, it is Imtiaz Aneez who is doing the typed commentary on the streaming video. He apologized tonight for his comments about Anglo Arabs (although I agree they never should have been made to begin with).[/QUOTE]

I was watching live when he said the comment about the anglo arab…I AGREE if he is breed bias he has no place commenting on the breeds in this sport. Who is he anyway…oh yeah I quess he went to the olympics…not very sportsman like in my opinion. Purple, blue or orange a good horse is a good horse! Go USA Go world Whatever breed you ride…Ride on!

[NowThatsATrot]

Agreed with the typed comments on the live feed. I got so sick of the breed/nation bashing that I just switched it off. The poor typing skills didn’t really help matters; I’m not a perfect typist but the excessive typos and abbreviations are really irritating.

I love the live feed and I’m glad they made an effort to have someone there giving a play-by-play… Maybe just another choice next time?

[mbm]

errrr… while what he said may of been in poor taste lets not crucify him… i mean can you think how hard it would be to have to watch the rides and type and do it for hours on end?

give the guy some credit and a break , huh?

plus, he is an american and a dressage rider

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=whitewolfe001;3429009]
Yeah that is a pretty tacky thing to say.

I don’t know who they are, but I was watching the eventing dressage today and cringed when the female commentator said,

“This is a modified version of Grand Prix dressage”[/QUOTE]

That’s Melanie Smith Taylor, 1984 SJ gold medalist. It’s not that she doesn’t know the difference: she’s trying to make things clear to people who don’t know the various horse sports.

Melanie’s pretty good, but I really loved having Jimmy Wofford in Athens.

[LKF]

[QUOTE=BoysenLTD;3429028]
I was watching live when he said the comment about the anglo arab…I AGREE if he is breed bias he has no place commenting on the breeds in this sport. Who is he anyway…oh yeah I quess he went to the olympics…not very sportsman like in my opinion. Purple, blue or orange a good horse is a good horse! Go USA Go world Whatever breed you ride…Ride on![/QUOTE]

No surprise that something stupid comes out of his mouth.

[ponyjumper4]

I’m sure Imti didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just his sense of humor.

[Party_Rose]

Thank you poltroon

Perhaps a class at horse shows should be offered on the history of riders, horses, trainers, owners, events, etc. and everyone that enters the tested class would have to do their studying on their own time. Are there really trainers today that would not share a story or two at least every once in a while with a client of theirs? I can’t seem to get the USET’s website moving tonight, but they use to have an area with old photos and (I think) bios.

Reminds me of the 1992 World Cup Finals in Del Mar. Ushers were asking George, Frank and Bill to move, as no standing in the aisle was allowed. Being horrified, I said something and was immediatly put incharge of that area, which was the seating for the riders & trainers by the ingate. What amazed me was that I really had nothing to do with horses for over 21 years, I was living on the “other” coast and I knew (some personally) more people than those that were currently involved in the equine industry.

Education is so important and again I say poltroon, THANKS :winkgrin:

[snoopy]

[QUOTE=mbm;3430258]
errrr… while what he said may of been in poor taste lets not crucify him… i mean can you think how hard it would be to have to watch the rides and type and do it for hours on end?

give the guy some credit and a break , huh?

plus, he is an american and a dressage rider :)[/QUOTE]

He riders for India and is an event rider.

[allanglos]

Since Anglos are one of the most successful breed of eventers in the world, this guy’s comment shows his compete ignorance.

http://www.anglo-arabians.com/AA_eventnews.htm

[Thames_Pirate]

[QUOTE=allanglos;3431961]
Since Anglos are one of the most successful breed of eventers in the world, this guy’s comment shows his compete ignorance.

http://www.anglo-arabians.com/AA_eventnews.htm[/QUOTE]

Actually, it’s not ignorance, it’s bias. Imtiaz owned only Arabs until he got to the Intermediate level, I believe. His family still owns Arabs, and he has students who ride Arabs. He just doesn’t care for the breed, though he recognizes a good horse when he sees it.

I agree that we should cut him some slack; it’s not easy typing that fast while watching and giving analysis. He knows there are typos. He apologized for them. He is well-educated in multiple languages. He is also a good rider (Sydney Olympics, Jerez WEGs, qualified for Athens, etc.) with a unique equestrian background–it’s a lot harder to compete at the top when you’re the only one from your country, have no NF, and are financing yourself with no sponsership (yes, he has sponsors now, but he didn’t until he earned them–again, made tougher by the fact that he’s not part of a team). He made a poor choice making a biased statement, but let’s not judge him without walking a mile in his shoes.

[Beezer]

OK, I honestly cannot be the only person who choked out a laugh when he wrote that.

I have nothing against Anglo-Arabs, even rode one in junior jumpers as a kid. But I was thinking the same thing as what he typed. It’s also fairly close to what some friends said when I saw them over the weekend. Sure, we didn’t say it on a webcast, but still, the sentiment was there.

People comment on the unusual (which is why we loved Teddy – and everyone always commented on his size and how he shouldn’t have been able to do what he did).

On the subject of who the commentary is: Until I saw the name here, I had no clue who was doing the running commentary, and truth be told, I still don’t have a clue who he is.