Is it me, or do the BBC overreact to lower ranked players?

[Billy]

Davis' "All of a sudden..." makes me wince.

[SnookerFan]

I liked Hendry when he first started commentating, but now he is becoming a bit BBC duchey.

Asked yesterday if anybody left could stop Ronnie he claimed a straight out "No", despite the fact that Bingham already beat Ronnie at The Crucible. He also claimed he wrongly predicted Bingham would lose every round at The Crucible.

Brings me back to the Original Post, Hendry hates lower ranked players. He see their existence as some kind of insult to his own.

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

I liked Hendry when he first started commentating, but now he is becoming a bit BBC duchey.

Asked yesterday if anybody left could stop Ronnie he claimed a straight out "No", despite the fact that Bingham already beat Ronnie at The Crucible. He also claimed he wrongly predicted Bingham would lose every round at The Crucible.

Brings me back to the Original Post, Hendry hates lower ranked players. He see their existence as some kind of insult to his own.

Hendry hates RONNIE'S existence, so what chance does anyone else have?

Hendry's complete gash as a commentator and a pundit. I don't know what you lot are seeing/hearing because it's not what i am.

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

The BBC has its faults - especially on the commitment front - but I still maintain no one does it better. The backstage stuff, interviews, stats, musical montages, light-hearted stuff etc etc, is what makes the major tournaments so great to watch.

Hand these big ones over to Eurosport or ITV and the game would be dead inside of three years.

Agreed. They have the blend just about right imo.

All they really need is a gag for Dennis- his incessant wittering drives me nuts.

But the second the bbc ditches snooker is the second i ditch the bbc. We can all cut costs, aunty.

[SnookerFan]

Hendry hates RONNIE'S existence, so what chance does anyone else have?

Hendry's complete gash as a commentator and a pundit. I don't know what you lot are seeing/hearing because it's not what i am.

Is that true?

I know they didn't always see eye to eye as players, but they seem to be on fairly good terms now. Ronnie always praises Hednry's achievements, and Hendry wishes him well when he breaks his own records.

Selby's uncharacteristic excuse making after his Ronnie is more telling, in my opinion.

[strike101]

Hendry hates RONNIE'S existence, so what chance does anyone else have?

Hendry's complete gash as a commentator and a pundit. I don't know what you lot are seeing/hearing because it's not what i am.

absolutely not true. he gives ronnie a lot of respect. he just doesn't kiss ronnies ass. he keeps it real. calls ronnie on his drama and antics but maintains he is by far the best in the world when hes focused. I have no problem with hendrys commentary on ronnie, and I'm a huge ronnie fanboy

[SnookerFan]

What's that about Ronnie making rape jokes in the press conference?

[gavpowell]

What's that about Ronnie making rape jokes in the press conference?

I see you had two attempts at the derailment yesterday and still didn't really get the reaction you were looking for!

I like Hendry as a pundit, though I also thought it was a bit daft they were even asking the question "can anyone stop him?" Well yes, there's Bingham, Hawkins(who at that stage had played out of his skin) and Ronnie himself. I also found it immensely satisfying that the attempts to whip up drama fell flat, as Selby, then Bingham got soundly beaten. Then on finals night they were talking as if 7-1 down was an impossible mountain to climb, whereas Ronnie has been overhauled a few times in this event at the final stage! I think that's the problem since Everton left - only Davis watches any snooker, and you just don't get the in-depth knowledge of the lower-ranked players.

[sharkster63]

all i know is that the commentators almost cried when there most sensational amazing etc.. player Judd Trump was being beaten I could almost see the tears comming down. its a shame.... naughty naughty snooker commentators....

[SnookerFan]

I see you had two attempts at the derailment yesterday and still didn't really get the reaction you were looking for!

It was a question, not a derailment. I didn't hear what was said, so wanted to get the facts rather than Twitter reaction.

[SnookerFan]

The BBC has its faults - especially on the commitment front - but I still maintain no one does it better. The backstage stuff, interviews, stats, musical montages, light-hearted stuff etc etc, is what makes the major tournaments so great to watch.

Hand these big ones over to Eurosport or ITV and the game would be dead inside of three years.

I quite like ITV's coverage.

I agree that it's minimalist compared to the BBC, but in a way that improves it. So there's less messing about, and more sensibly analysing snooker. Alan McManus and Neal Foulds both talk a lot of sense in the studio. And Clive Everton in the commentary booth too, of course.

[SnookerFan]

all i know is that the commentators almost cried when there most sensational amazing etc.. player Judd Trump was being beaten I could almost see the tears comming down. its a shame.... naughty naughty snooker commentators....

The BBC do have their favourites.

[SnookerFan]

How would you guys feel about Dominic Dale commentating on one of the 'big three' events on the BBC? The commentators for the BBC get a lot of criticism on here, mainly deserved.

Dale has commentated for BBC Wales, and I vaguely remember he briefly commentated for Eurosport. But, how would you feel about him appearing at one of the major tournaments for the BBC?

I can't really remember what I thought about him when I've heard him commentate. Which could indicate he didn't say anything too controversial or wrong. He's a nice guy, and does collect snooker memorabilia. That probably gives him more knowledge than most of the BBC put together. Playing in qualifiers might help him talk about some of the guys that the BBC can't be bothered to learn about too.

Or is commentating for a big tournament a step too far for him?

[Giggity1984]

Initially I thought Hendry was good, but I read something on here that has completely put me off him as the glass smashed and I realised it's true. Someone said that all his comments are about bottle and pressure and everyone should be making 140+ breaks every frame no matter what's at stake. I know that was his mentality as a player(and one of the reasons he was so successful), but **** me it's really boring to know what he's going to say before he says it.

He seems disinterested if both players aren't at 98% pot success rate and trading centuries.

I'd much rather have Steve Davis who seems to understand that the players are HUMAN BEINGS.

Dennis, Willie and JV are all beyond ****e though. They have honestly been saying the same **** in commentary for 20 years.

[tetricky]

Re Hendry....this is why a pro may not be particularly insightful.....some can only see the game the way that they played it. In the same way that more talented football players tend to be less good coaches....because they can't explain how they did what they did, nor understand why others can't do it.

Someone like Steve Davis is good, because he's a nuts and bolts commentator....at one time or another having analysed every aspect of the game...because that's the sort of player he was. He understands, much better than most, how things work for most players.

Dominic Dale, would he be good? I don't know. What specific about his knowledge, analysis, or broadcasting ability marks him as being more worthy than others (note: likes collecting cues is a very short conversation in a commentary, that plays very inconsequentially with the majority of the audience)?