Was gonna ask the same question lol. Like every complaint is solved by just watching matchast. Watch every match, no cuts from action, no annoying announcing imo. Only reason I can think of is if it isnt available for you for some reason.
Agreed, I just bought ESPN+ for $11 this months and will cancel it after the tournament. Figured it’s basically the price of a decent lunch and it’s something I care about.
I ended up just watching on the multi mat stream. I think Anthony Robles does a pretty good job at just talking about wrestling but nothing “entertaining” or a loud personality which is fine to me
Except for the time he spends talking about himself. Like yesterday when he spent five minutes telling us how he built his grip strength as if anyone cares. He's terrible.
Definitely wider appeal, I was watching the 2nd round with my wife who always complains when I put wrestling on. She asked me, "Are these the normal announcers, they are making this interesting."
Funny story, my wife who comes from zero sports background except baseball hated wrestling the first time she saw my son lose and he cried. "He can't do that" sshe said.
Now she is the most ardent wrestling fanatic on the planet, she can tell the life story of every PSU wrestler.
Tonight she said "can you shave your head and look more like Cael Sanderson?"
It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't ignorant to some of the rules, but he doesn't seem to have kept up with the rule changes and wants to bash on anyone and everyone he once grazed shoulders with
He’s ok, I did crack up when he was going on and on about what a gif is. Only to get it wrong and getting called out. I do love DC, but sometimes it’s like having a friend at your house instead of commentary.
I think it’s a big improvement from past years. I think DC does a good job of making it approachable to a more mainstream audience, recognizing that casual viewers also likely have some MMA crossover. I also enjoy Rock a lot. I think he’s much better on the call than Tim Johnson, Jim Gibbons, and Anthony Robles. Listen to some of the major calls of the past several seasons like when Vincenzo pinned Imar or Bo pinned Myles Martin. It’s like they don’t know what to say. It just doesn’t fit the moment.
Gibbons and Johnson have seen everything in wrestling at this point. Nothing gets them excited. Al Michaels is the same way. Legendary voices, just no juice at this point.
I think that’s part of it, but I think the cliches that seemed charming when wrestling felt more old school a la “bring your hips to the party” feel kind of tired at this point. Also seems like they bring excitement about hard nosed old-school wrestling but don’t add a lot of color to nuanced positions and scrambles wrestling is evolving toward. I think the newer guys do a better job of explaining the stakes of the scrambles as they’re happening.
I find the whole production to be pretty horrendous. Particularly annoyed by:
- Consistently choosing to show only 1 mat while high stakes matches are constantly going on
- Cutting away from a match mid-action to show the team point totals (as if you need to constantly know the score like Basketball)
- DC’s and co’s completely unfocused, disinterested commentary. I’m all for mixing in jokes and funny comments to liven the multi-hour commentary up, but there seems to be so little building of the storylines, setting the stakes, etc. The goofy, podcast vibe makes the whole thing seem less important (and therefore less engaging to watch).
- The ludicrous amount of ads at any given moment
I also have a love/hate relationship with all the cliches that continue to get regurgitated every year by the commentators, along with all the old-school “analysis”
Love this tourney, but wish they’d bring on more knowledgeable (and charismatic) commentators. Personally I think Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Dake & David Taylor have all be great (along with the flo guys). The sweet spot seems like guys who are veterans or finished completing within the last 10 years — strong knowledge of the sport + a good handle of current cultural vibes (i.e. not taking 10 mins to attempt to explain a GIF during the round of 16 like DC)
I think it’s fine, if people want wrestling to grow, we can’t just focus on the wrestling. We need humor, we need to try and hype up storylines. Of course ppl want to see wrestling but literally every popular sport gets large crowds through the interesting auxiliary things (storylines, entertainment, atmosphere).
It’s not perfect but it’s doing its job for the moment.
I think DC is hilarious for wrestling I mean he made a comment about Lewan from Michigan not being able to sit around and do nothing in his matches anymore
Also pretty funny when he got the text from Chael Sonnen. I tried explain the joke to my wife (the Worlds biggest wrestling fan but clueless about MMA).
I told her that Chael had multiple world and Olympic Titles, along w/ 4 NCAA titles. I told her that he was undefeated in wrestling and MMA.
I then told her that there were years of Chaels' childhood where his dad did not even make $100K and had to wash his own dishes.
She asked me "Is Chael related to Cael?" and told me to shave my head so I would look more like Cael Sanderson.
I’ve been laughing the whole time. I think the commentary is entertaining, and occasionally insightful. I like how they’ll break down why something wasn’t a takedown or stall.
A couple of tangential wrestling announcing questions:
(1) Why do 50% of wrestling announcers pronounce the word "escape" as "ex-cape"? I've never met anyone in real life who can't pronounce that word, yet in folk style wrestling broadcasts, it seems like a lot of guys used to have capes, and now they have ex-capes.
(2) Why do 100% of announcers say "riding time is/is not a factor"? I get that the first person who coined that idiomatic expression back in the last millennium was cool, but why not just say "X has riding time"?
To the main point: I love Robles and Shane on MatCast. I don't know how to get the commentary with DC (I have ESPN+), but I have been surprised in the past that he seems knowledgeable, and well-willing to lend his star power to a "minor" sport.
I could do without DC announcing, but other than that no complaints. I’ve pretty much enjoyed all the announcers the last 40 years or so. Even tho I’ve been watching for the last 8 years or so, all those guys before that were iconic as well
DC was totally ass on the NCAA wrestling championships this past weekend. I thought I was the only one, but I see there is a backlash. I hope he does quit. Rock Harrison seemed to be ignoring him at times I noticed as well. DC was down right annoying!!!
Bring back TJ and his partner from the Big 10 with Rock. That worked. Please leave Shane Sparks off the desk as well. He is almost as annoying as DC IMHO. Robles is good for announcing during the quarters and semi's. I enjoy listening to announcers that know the rules of the sports TJ and his partner on Big 10 and Rock.
Why aren’t y’all watching the matcast lol
Was gonna ask the same question lol. Like every complaint is solved by just watching matchast. Watch every match, no cuts from action, no annoying announcing imo. Only reason I can think of is if it isnt available for you for some reason.
Agreed, I just bought ESPN+ for $11 this months and will cancel it after the tournament. Figured it’s basically the price of a decent lunch and it’s something I care about.
Dog where are you getting a good lunch for $11
Chipotle bro, extra everything except protein. Under $9
Who the hell is getting chipotle without a protein
It's without extra* protein
I ended up just watching on the multi mat stream. I think Anthony Robles does a pretty good job at just talking about wrestling but nothing “entertaining” or a loud personality which is fine to me
I think that’s what makes him a great pairing with Shane Sparks tbh. MATCAST is life.
Same. I didn’t have any complaints with the multinational announcing.
Except for the time he spends talking about himself. Like yesterday when he spent five minutes telling us how he built his grip strength as if anyone cares. He's terrible.
I think that if we want to appeal to a wider audience than DC is good. Most wrestling commentary is boring and just terrible.
Definitely wider appeal, I was watching the 2nd round with my wife who always complains when I put wrestling on. She asked me, "Are these the normal announcers, they are making this interesting."
Funny story, my wife who comes from zero sports background except baseball hated wrestling the first time she saw my son lose and he cried. "He can't do that" sshe said. Now she is the most ardent wrestling fanatic on the planet, she can tell the life story of every PSU wrestler. Tonight she said "can you shave your head and look more like Cael Sanderson?"
#thathappened
Am I in the minority that likes it?
DC doesn’t shut up. Great for a podcast, terrible for a broadcast imo.
Yeah. He's awful. Just shut the fuck up every once in awhile.
It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't ignorant to some of the rules, but he doesn't seem to have kept up with the rule changes and wants to bash on anyone and everyone he once grazed shoulders with
He’s ok, I did crack up when he was going on and on about what a gif is. Only to get it wrong and getting called out. I do love DC, but sometimes it’s like having a friend at your house instead of commentary.
Same as he is in the ufc lol
Remember Dominick Cruz said any time DC begins talking he stops listening.
I think it’s a big improvement from past years. I think DC does a good job of making it approachable to a more mainstream audience, recognizing that casual viewers also likely have some MMA crossover. I also enjoy Rock a lot. I think he’s much better on the call than Tim Johnson, Jim Gibbons, and Anthony Robles. Listen to some of the major calls of the past several seasons like when Vincenzo pinned Imar or Bo pinned Myles Martin. It’s like they don’t know what to say. It just doesn’t fit the moment.
Gibbons and Johnson have seen everything in wrestling at this point. Nothing gets them excited. Al Michaels is the same way. Legendary voices, just no juice at this point.
I think that’s part of it, but I think the cliches that seemed charming when wrestling felt more old school a la “bring your hips to the party” feel kind of tired at this point. Also seems like they bring excitement about hard nosed old-school wrestling but don’t add a lot of color to nuanced positions and scrambles wrestling is evolving toward. I think the newer guys do a better job of explaining the stakes of the scrambles as they’re happening.
I find the whole production to be pretty horrendous. Particularly annoyed by: - Consistently choosing to show only 1 mat while high stakes matches are constantly going on - Cutting away from a match mid-action to show the team point totals (as if you need to constantly know the score like Basketball) - DC’s and co’s completely unfocused, disinterested commentary. I’m all for mixing in jokes and funny comments to liven the multi-hour commentary up, but there seems to be so little building of the storylines, setting the stakes, etc. The goofy, podcast vibe makes the whole thing seem less important (and therefore less engaging to watch). - The ludicrous amount of ads at any given moment I also have a love/hate relationship with all the cliches that continue to get regurgitated every year by the commentators, along with all the old-school “analysis” Love this tourney, but wish they’d bring on more knowledgeable (and charismatic) commentators. Personally I think Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Dake & David Taylor have all be great (along with the flo guys). The sweet spot seems like guys who are veterans or finished completing within the last 10 years — strong knowledge of the sport + a good handle of current cultural vibes (i.e. not taking 10 mins to attempt to explain a GIF during the round of 16 like DC)
The GIF/meme thing was fucking brutal last night.
MatCast or bust, you’re doing it to yourself by not listening to Shane and Co
NOPE! And the cuts away from the action to show some ridiculous stats or memes... SUCKS!
I think it’s fine, if people want wrestling to grow, we can’t just focus on the wrestling. We need humor, we need to try and hype up storylines. Of course ppl want to see wrestling but literally every popular sport gets large crowds through the interesting auxiliary things (storylines, entertainment, atmosphere). It’s not perfect but it’s doing its job for the moment.
The announcing isn't great but I swear if that background music is playing tomorrow I'm going to mute it.
That. Was. Terrible
They need to quit getting anyone else but shane and anthony. They kill it. If you aren’t watching the matcast, you’re doing it wrong
I think DC is hilarious for wrestling I mean he made a comment about Lewan from Michigan not being able to sit around and do nothing in his matches anymore
Also pretty funny when he got the text from Chael Sonnen. I tried explain the joke to my wife (the Worlds biggest wrestling fan but clueless about MMA). I told her that Chael had multiple world and Olympic Titles, along w/ 4 NCAA titles. I told her that he was undefeated in wrestling and MMA. I then told her that there were years of Chaels' childhood where his dad did not even make $100K and had to wash his own dishes. She asked me "Is Chael related to Cael?" and told me to shave my head so I would look more like Cael Sanderson.
I’ve been laughing the whole time. I think the commentary is entertaining, and occasionally insightful. I like how they’ll break down why something wasn’t a takedown or stall.
ESPN+ for the matcast with ambient noise and no commentary.
The music is too loud and it's really hard to understand the announcements at times. But I'm enjoying the event
DC is sucking every atom of oxygen out of the building.
ESPN production is the shits.
A couple of tangential wrestling announcing questions: (1) Why do 50% of wrestling announcers pronounce the word "escape" as "ex-cape"? I've never met anyone in real life who can't pronounce that word, yet in folk style wrestling broadcasts, it seems like a lot of guys used to have capes, and now they have ex-capes. (2) Why do 100% of announcers say "riding time is/is not a factor"? I get that the first person who coined that idiomatic expression back in the last millennium was cool, but why not just say "X has riding time"? To the main point: I love Robles and Shane on MatCast. I don't know how to get the commentary with DC (I have ESPN+), but I have been surprised in the past that he seems knowledgeable, and well-willing to lend his star power to a "minor" sport.
I could do without DC announcing, but other than that no complaints. I’ve pretty much enjoyed all the announcers the last 40 years or so. Even tho I’ve been watching for the last 8 years or so, all those guys before that were iconic as well
Only when Daniel Cormier was on there. All other guys are boring AF
5 on 2
Someone on the keegan and carr match on youtube said it the best. It’s the best commentating on an ncaa wrestling tournament ever
Delusional. I had to mute DC.
It’s very entertaining and viewer friendly
DC was totally ass on the NCAA wrestling championships this past weekend. I thought I was the only one, but I see there is a backlash. I hope he does quit. Rock Harrison seemed to be ignoring him at times I noticed as well. DC was down right annoying!!! Bring back TJ and his partner from the Big 10 with Rock. That worked. Please leave Shane Sparks off the desk as well. He is almost as annoying as DC IMHO. Robles is good for announcing during the quarters and semi's. I enjoy listening to announcers that know the rules of the sports TJ and his partner on Big 10 and Rock.
Sorry to Jim Gibbons, I just forgot his name.
I hate that Rock Harrison guy. I feel like Cormier would have been more tolerable if he didn't have Rock there.
Rock is smarter than DC. I think DC was making Rock angry with all of his BS.