Opinions on the Speed Commentators | Page 2 | FerrariChat

Opinions on the Speed Commentators

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by Pirate75, Apr 7, 2008.

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  1. tuttebenne

    tuttebenne F1 Rookie

    Mar 26, 2003
    3,189
    Bay Shore, NY
    Full Name:
    Andy
    +1
    Peter Windsor seems to know everyone and, even on the pitwalk, always has something relevant to say when he comes across an individual. If my memory serves me correctly, Derek Daly originated the pre-race pitwalk; he did it at Indy and a year or so later Peter Windsor started doing it. I think that was the single contribution Derek Daly made to sports broadcasting.
     
  2. Dave328

    Dave328 Formula 3

    Nov 24, 2002
    2,133
    Katy
    Full Name:
    Dave
    In my humble opinion:
    Matchett and Windsor: By FAR the best!
    Varsha and Hobbs: Both suck balls! (Hobbs specifically wishing they belonged to Hamilton)
     
  3. Kingair33

    Kingair33 Formula Junior

    Aug 28, 2006
    941
    San Francisco, CA
    Full Name:
    Alex
    I like them. They work together well and they are what I have become used to. Who is the main guy for Superbike?
     
  4. rmani

    rmani F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2003
    7,299
    NJ
    Full Name:
    RMani
    I really like the speed crew they do an excellent job and while they sometimes make funny, albeit unnecessary comments they do a great job and are very knowledgeable about the sport, unlike those morons on CBS. Good lord whenever CBS broadcasts a race part of me dies inside from having to listen to those buffoons.
     
  5. kirill

    kirill Formula Junior

    Jul 8, 2004
    584
    Illinois
    Full Name:
    Kirill
    They all great. Varsha may not be as good as the rest. But overall - works great. I love Hobbs - I listen to him at the Indy's when they were interviewing drivers - he is stand up comedian funny.
     
  6. Scuderia980

    Scuderia980 F1 Rookie

    Aug 12, 2006
    3,636
    Mountains--Colorado
    Full Name:
    Dave S. V
    can't stand the crew, can't stand the Speed Tv coverage...TOO MANY FRICKIN' COMMERCIALS... starting midway through last year, i've been watching races via internet....looks pretty decent on my 30 inch lcd. and i don't have a problem with the chinese coverage... duringthe races, the commercials are very few and far inbetween. Can't stand Nissan Pickup ads on Speed, every 5 minutes, jeebers!
     
  7. ItaliaF1

    ItaliaF1 F1 Veteran

    Aug 28, 2005
    5,083
    Nashville,TN
    Full Name:
    John Burrow
    Bob Varsha is OK, but I really think someone else could easily serve as a more interesting commentator. However, I do like how he stood up to Peter Windsor and David Hobbs about the McLaren penalty in Malaysia.

    David Hobbs is by far my favorite. He's always joking about something, and his sound effects and impressions are great.

    Steve Matchett is, without a doubt, the most knowledgeable commentator, and his insight is very interesting.

    Peter Windsor drives me crazy when he is always sucking up to Hamilton for no good reason. He does provide a good element to the broadcast, though.


    John
     
  8. ferraridude615

    ferraridude615 F1 Veteran

    May 4, 2006
    5,836
    Texas
    I like Varsha, Hobbs, and Matchett. They gel very well, Varsha does good play-by-play with ST and DH adding good color commentary.
    I don't care for Peter Windsor very much, you can tell that he isn't well received on the pitwalk and hardly talks with any of the top drivers.
     
  9. robert_c

    robert_c F1 Rookie

    May 12, 2005
    3,417
    SoCal
    Full Name:
    Robert C
    After listening to the terrible commentators for the IRL race Sunday, the Speed team is excellent. I almost turned off the volume because of the commentators for IRL were so bad. I had drinks with the Speed team in Indy at the Omni, and they were a fun bunch of guys.
     
  10. carb308vt

    carb308vt Karting

    Apr 12, 2005
    122
    NYC/Vermont
    Full Name:
    Craig M
    Those guys do a great job. I'm happy with the coverage and quite thankfull considering how little play F1 gets in this country. I mean you can't pick up the NY times and find anything on a race. Also they don't 'dumb-down' the broadcast to reach a bigger audience. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.....
     
  11. gsjohnson

    gsjohnson Formula 3

    Feb 25, 2008
    2,291
    Woodland Hills, CA
    Full Name:
    GS Johnson
    Get in the current century. Buy a TVO. 52" Sony LCD HD flat screen. Commercial free with a sunburn.
     
  12. of2worlds

    of2worlds F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Apr 6, 2004
    16,445
    ON
    Full Name:
    CH
    I have my choice of either Speed or ITV coverage. Speed is way better and Bob Varsha is the glue that holds it all together. It should be noted that he left the coverage for some time in the past and the results were a piss poor program. It was a great day when he returned to do the F1 coverage with his sidekick Hobbs. You can't put a price tag on their many years of 'car' experience.
    ITV are a bunch of homers who seem to think that they are not doing their job if they don't mention Lewis or Jense endlessly. They seem to think they are judge and jury on the actions on and off the track of any of the drivers to. ITV is handy to watch when Speed is running commercials though...
    CH
     
  13. SoftwareDrone

    SoftwareDrone F1 Veteran
    Sponsor Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jan 19, 2004
    7,502
    San Jose, California
    Full Name:
    Mike
    +1.
    What he does out there is not nearly as easy as it looks.
     
  14. climb

    climb F1 Rookie

    Sep 19, 2006
    4,866
    Atlantic Beach Fl
    Full Name:
    Stuart K. Hicks
    I like all three especially David Hobbs. The three work well together and the commentary just flows.
     
  15. Pirate75

    Pirate75 Karting

    Feb 19, 2008
    192
    Scottsdale AZ
    Full Name:
    JT
    Agreed...He is useless! But the others I think are good.
     
  16. tuttebenne

    tuttebenne F1 Rookie

    Mar 26, 2003
    3,189
    Bay Shore, NY
    Full Name:
    Andy
    +1
    How he can pace up and down the grid on a 95/95 day in some Asian nightmare country and not be sweating through his shirt is just amazing - all the while spewing relevant data and commentary on what happened the day before or overnight. I can't imagine someone doing it better. For all the sh_t that Speed TV is, they apparently stepped into something when they secured Peter Windsor.
     
  17. 05011994

    05011994 Formula 3
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    May 1, 2004
    1,859
    Golden, Colorado
    I think they do a great job, i offered to buy them all drinks at the 2000 USGP when I ran into them for getting me up a 0 dark thirty for all these years. I have followed F1 as an avid fan since 1972 and these guys truly make it all the more enjoyable. Hobbs is my favorite, and he cracks me up at least one time each race, yes some of his comments are complete nonsense, but sometimes the situations are complete nonsense. His Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher impressions were classics. There have been more than a few times that the commentary has been more exciting than the product on the track, (1992, 1996, 2002, 2004, not much racing just complete dominance by one manufacturer). We could have a lot worse broadcast team; does the name Derek Daly ring a bell? (his commentary on the San Marino GP a couple of years ago, made me reach for the mute button). These guys and F1 are the one bright spot for the dim-witted SPEED Channel, er, I mean the Pinks/Nascar Channel. Long may Hobbs, Matchett, Varsha and Windsor reign!
     
  18. Joe 575

    Joe 575 Karting

    Dec 18, 2005
    101
    So Cal/Carmel
    Full Name:
    Joe
    They do a great job! My only complaint is that Matchett needs a new pair of brown shoes, same as last year, for the race in review shows!!!!
     
  19. Heat Seeker WS6

    Heat Seeker WS6 Formula 3

    Nov 4, 2003
    1,704
    Milwaukee, WI
    Full Name:
    John G
    Since I live in Milwaukee its always great hearing Hobb's comments each F1 race weekend of our 'lil town, Road America or his 'Seibkins diet'. However during Barain's Q3 qualifying session he mentioned how the fueling system's made by "Intertechnique" during someone's pitstop- thats who I work for! Thank you David- THAT took the cake for me!
     
  20. wheelman76

    wheelman76 Formula 3

    Feb 22, 2004
    1,125
    Midwest
    is it true that they don't go to the races and call them over the tv feed?
     
  21. Drive550PFB

    Drive550PFB Two Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apparently they have several screen feeds, including some lap timing, but they are not at the races. I can't find the link or article, but they have commented on it--but you have to be expecting it.

    Somebody else here help me.

    I commend them on doing something that is apparently very hard to do.
     
  22. wheelman76

    wheelman76 Formula 3

    Feb 22, 2004
    1,125
    Midwest
    That's kind of a bummer.... If I were going to be calling a sporting event, I'd at the least expect to be there.
     
  23. Mr Payne

    Mr Payne F1 Rookie

    Jan 8, 2004
    2,878
    Bakersfield, CA
    Full Name:
    Payne
    Windsor: I don't think Speed could have gotten anyone better. Even Martin Brundle, who does the race walk on the ITV feed, doesn't quite get the love you'd expect. I don't think Speed could get Blundell or Brundle from ITV.

    Matchett: Better racing commentator than any of the other English Language feeds (ITV/Star Sports). Better technical understanding than others, sans Blundell.

    Hobbs: Absolutely excellent. More entertaining than Brundle/Blundell on the ITV feed.

    Varsha: The weak point, for sure. He just seems so straight laced/annoying. I preferred it when they had Townsend Bell sub in (I think that was his name).
     
  24. GV27TIFOSI

    GV27TIFOSI Karting

    Jan 12, 2008
    154
    Peoria, Arizona USA
    Full Name:
    DT
    I like it when someone lines up for a pass or is side by side, they start shouting like a bunch of schoolboys! Of course none can scream non-sensibilities like Murray Walker!
     
  25. Alex Rogo

    Alex Rogo Formula Junior

    Jan 2, 2004
    273
    California
    +1

    Hobbs and Matchett are brilliant, Windsor tries too hard to impress us with how tight he is w/ all the players (most of whom can't wait to get away from him at the 1st opportunity), and Varsha, well, he's sometimes on the mark but often seems to get caught up in irrelevant trivia. That said, he's in a tough position as the only one of the team who's never had a direct role in racing and I think sometimes he tries too hard to "be one of the guys" rather than just a "journo".

    Cheers
     

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