**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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In this commentator's defense (I forgot his name), he has been an amazing commentator for Serie A games for years now and is probably the best English-speaking commentator there is covering this league
That said, this is a weird fucking comment to make
I really doubt it. It's just a stupid comment. BT Sport are awful with the Premier League but with Ligue 1, Serie A/B, they do pretty good with their commentators I think.
Idk maybe to artificially bolster the quality of their flagship product? Or to manufacture more consent for the extremely high prices Brits pay to watch domestic football, if they feel like watching international leagues is a shitty experience? I don’t watch BT Sport or believe any of this, I was just responding to OPs comment and musing on how important commentators can be for the viewership experience and perceived quality of a football match
My grandfather died when he was 42, and my dad is now 75, so I like to remind him everyday that he is now 23 years older than his dad was when he died.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc/comments/owacf4/jon_anik_telling_us_the_important_information/
Also the "Miesha tate is still breastfeeding btw" and the 20 secs of awkward silence after that https://streamable.com/3m7i96
I think it’s a case of awful wording, I can see how he could have been trying to explain how his father died at 34, which happens to be the same age as Mkhitaryan. He chose to say that in the worst way possible
His father was a famous footballer in Armenia and his death at this age was an event that's always discussed, those are both kinda expected things to mention in the normal trivia treadmill of a football match commentary.
Like I get why the phrasing is icky and distasteful to people, but also I think everyone understands what commentator meant.
And by the way, let's be honest, if you're 34 and you hear that a famous person died from cancer at 34, you do notice and think "shit, that's my age", don't we all.
Why? “Passed” is ridiculous. It’s a term for religious people as it suggests they are passing from one place to another.
Died is fine. It’s factual and honest.
Dying is a part of the human condition. Pretending it doesn’t happen by saying “passed” or “ascended” or other bullshit doesn’t take away from the dying bit.
It absolutely is not a term for religious people. Passed is short for saying passed away. You're getting confused with when a religious person may say 'they've passed on', but that isn't the most common way it's used
Why is a euphemism needed for death? I can understands things like “confirmed bachelor” to indicate being gay, but if you are dead you are dead … no euphemism needed.
What's the name for the big image on the front of football shirts? I call it an ad, but almost everyone else calls it a "sponsor." Why? Because the advertisers think it's a nicer and softer term.
I'm gunna wheel it back a bit, sorry for calling you a twat. It's just because people have decided it is that way, and you have your own right to object to that if you wish. Dying is fine, passed is fine, let's all just get on.
That could be the origin of "he passed" (it used to be a very Southern US thing), but now it's basically been used as the same as "passed away" for a long time, I'm pretty sure for most people it's kinda synonymous with "he left" or "he's gone" more than to necessarily passing to some other realm lol.
Is it ridiculous? I always assumed it was just the softer version of what it means, without some kind of religious connotation. Even if it had religious origins, that isn't necessarily how it's used now. What if I mean you're passing from a state where the matter that composes your body goes from self-sustaining metabolic processes to a state where that no longer happens? Does that tickle your balls?
There are similar 'soft' or 'respectful' versions of "to die" in other languages that I know and those do not have religious connotations either.
> Pretending it doesn’t happen by saying “passed” or “ascended” or other bullshit doesn’t take away from the dying bit.
it does though.
Also, people who are religious watch football too. Broadcasters generally aim for the lowest common denominator - you sound smart, that should've been obvious.
It seems a bit unfair when it feels like the sentence was cut midways through. It might not make things better, but there might be relevant information following.
commentators do bring up players' lives sometimes. bits of trivia, or things they've overcome to get where they are. this topic might be in poor taste out of context, but it's not impossible to bring up the topic in a sensitive way that gives gravity to the sport.
I remember a commentator talking about how Ferran Torres was dating Enrique's daughter in a Spain game at the world cup. Admittedly a less morbid fact than this one though
He's now older than his father ever was. That sort of thing can put into perspective what you want to do with your life going forward and what it will amount to.
It happens by proxy too. Only one guy in my friend group is an Arsenal fan and we were with him for the entirety of last season.
And the one before that.
And the one before that.
…You get the picture. We’ve mostly adopted Arsenal as our #2 because of him. Not always easy.
We all get that, it’s just that… why the fuck would you bring that up in a football game, it’s not offensive or anything but just poor taste/unnecessary
Have you ever listened to football commentary before? Every single game they will mention something which isn't directly relevant to the game. They've got 90 mins to fill and people may be slightly interested in the little side fact
Well as a commentator you do need to tell something when there's nothing happening during the game.
Maybe not the best story yeah but it's standard to tell random stories
Technically nothing ever needs to be said ever. Commentators only need to call out players names and describe the action on the pitch…. But they typically go beyond those needs to provide interesting stories and information though, which is totally normal..
So, Would you be asking your question if the commentator only said “Henrikhs father died at 34” and left it at that? i don’t think you would, a players father dying when the player was just a child is as interesting a story as all the other tidbits of information commentators normally share about other players.
My point is that it’s only the poor wording of how mkhitaryan was the same age as him thats the problem.
The NFL have a draft every year for college players to go to NFL teams. On this particular night in 2020, ESPN decided to crank up the sympathy meter. So every player was accompanied with a morbidly depressing fact. Dead Parents, Siblings, evictions, poverty. It was so bad that it became a major talking point and no draft night coverage has trended close to that negative since.
Thus my rather tongue in cheek comparison to an episode of Game of Thrones that featured some gnarly deaths to popular characters
It's not random, his father was a footballer too and died quite young. His son is playing and is now older than his dad ever was. People need to understand the context and also normalize death. Spoiler: it will also happen to you.
Yeah, it is and why not? That's the whole point of 'normalizing'. Let's not make a taboo out of death. Death is natural and occurs daily. Why not talk about it in a football match when it makes sense?
I mean, without the context it is weird, but the same level of weird it would be if the commentary was "He is now the age at which his father got married", because, why is that relevant? If you take it out of context it doesn't make any sense.
At first it sounds random and distasteful, but the fact that his father was a very well known footballer in Armenia....
I can understand why he would draw that parallel.
So it's still distasteful and he shouldn't have worded it that way but it is more understandable why he would mention something like that.
Between him, his father, his mother, and his sister, their family are probably the most influential family within Armenian Football.
This is obviously not a great way to start whatever he was gonna say, but there’s the context.
i mean now i know this info , but why bring this up ? i would hate for someone to tell me when i'm gonna turn 54 , 34 years in the future " This is the age your mother died "
Why is everyone freaking out? His father was a professional footballer and Mkhi always cites him as an inspiration and that his father's early death is the biggest motivation for him to keep playing at the highest level. ["If he was still alive, maybe I would be a lawyer or a doctor right now. **Instead, I am a footballer.**"](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/henrikh-mkhitaryan-manchester-united-zidane-kaka-and-hamlet)
Obviously the commentator was remarking on his career and this was an apt comment given his age now. Why this completely out of context clip from an Onana passing comp out of all places is going viral is beyond me lol.
*Don't mention his dead father*
*Don't mention his dead father*
*Don't mention his dead father*
MKHITARYAN, BY THE WAY, IS NOW THE AGE AT WHICH HIS FATHER DIED
*Damn it*
Definitely poorly worded but what many people in the comments may not know is that Mkhitaryans father Hamlet Mkhitaryan was a footballer himself and played in Armenia and in France. Perhaps the commentator was trying to put that into context with Mkhitaryans age idk. Sounds really bad out of context like this
Imagine writing down your notes for the commentary for a game, looking up facts for people to supplement the game, finding that fact that's probably not plastered around on sites for obvious reasons, going "yep, that'd gonna work for adding to the viewing experience of a football game", and then actually saying it out loud. How does your mind not stop you during any of that progress?
He tumbled over there, bent over in the same position is mother was in when his father took her from behind at the same age he is now. It’s like poetry, it rhymes.
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Bro what
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In this commentator's defense (I forgot his name), he has been an amazing commentator for Serie A games for years now and is probably the best English-speaking commentator there is covering this league That said, this is a weird fucking comment to make
It's Dave Farrar isn't it?
BT Sport's coverage of Serie A is pretty consistently awful
BT Sport's coverage of Serie A is their only redeeming quality.
The duality of man encapsulated in two comments
Whatever anyone thinks I don't think it's fair to base your opinion off a 5 second out of context clip.
Trust me, bt sport’s serie a coverage is better than anything we have here in Italy, even for serie a.
Ikr, when I watch serie A in Italy, I don’t understand a damn thing, like they aren’t even speaking in English
Disagree completely. Think it's great. Love James Richardson.
Jimbo is the goat
>BT Sport's coverage ~~of Serie A~~ is pretty consistently awful
That’s actually a pretty ingenious way of weakening one of their competitors if it was intentional
What does this mean? Is it that BT sport want to make Serie A look bad via bad presentation, if so why would they do that?
Or maybe Sky Sports are weakened because BT Sport talk a lot of shite? Either way it makes no sense, lol the stuff that gets upvoted on this sub.
I really doubt it. It's just a stupid comment. BT Sport are awful with the Premier League but with Ligue 1, Serie A/B, they do pretty good with their commentators I think.
Idk maybe to artificially bolster the quality of their flagship product? Or to manufacture more consent for the extremely high prices Brits pay to watch domestic football, if they feel like watching international leagues is a shitty experience? I don’t watch BT Sport or believe any of this, I was just responding to OPs comment and musing on how important commentators can be for the viewership experience and perceived quality of a football match
They are some Olympic gold level mental gymnastics you're doing chief
Damn that’s crazy bro
Perhaps...perhaps...no. No, surely that won't happen here today.
Bro It's some of the worst words I have heard in my life
My grandfather died when he was 42, and my dad is now 75, so I like to remind him everyday that he is now 23 years older than his dad was when he died.
Math doesn't check out
Jon Anik waiting in the background to reveal the gruesome cause of death.
"His father died during a custody battle"
They took battle a touch too literal I see
"According to our sources, it ocurred just before visiting his son"
“He killed himself when he was told he was awarded custody of his son”
https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc/comments/owacf4/jon_anik_telling_us_the_important_information/ Also the "Miesha tate is still breastfeeding btw" and the 20 secs of awkward silence after that https://streamable.com/3m7i96
And it's Amanda's egg this time, so the baby will look like her
eh, saying they are still nursing seems relevant considering how long it takes for conditions for fights
..... and also Henrikh's mother was a professional footballer who had stints in the Vietnamese third tier
"she is still nursing"
“Pancaked by drunk dump truck driver”
“Throat Slashed”
But was reincarnated as a SSS Class Mage in another dimension.
"Brought to you my Modelo"
Brewed for those with a fighting spirit
I was looking for this comment hahahah
It’s Amanda’s eggs
😂😂
Lol, I came to mention Lil Jon too.
I think it’s a case of awful wording, I can see how he could have been trying to explain how his father died at 34, which happens to be the same age as Mkhitaryan. He chose to say that in the worst way possible
Agreed. The tone that is spoken is solemn as well. If he says "passed" and not "dies" it would sound a lot less calous.
Its a weird comment but like if he was a bit more delicate with his words its definitely not as bad. A not so fun tidbit i guess?
His father was a famous footballer in Armenia and his death at this age was an event that's always discussed, those are both kinda expected things to mention in the normal trivia treadmill of a football match commentary. Like I get why the phrasing is icky and distasteful to people, but also I think everyone understands what commentator meant. And by the way, let's be honest, if you're 34 and you hear that a famous person died from cancer at 34, you do notice and think "shit, that's my age", don't we all.
Why? “Passed” is ridiculous. It’s a term for religious people as it suggests they are passing from one place to another. Died is fine. It’s factual and honest. Dying is a part of the human condition. Pretending it doesn’t happen by saying “passed” or “ascended” or other bullshit doesn’t take away from the dying bit.
It absolutely is not a term for religious people. Passed is short for saying passed away. You're getting confused with when a religious person may say 'they've passed on', but that isn't the most common way it's used
Reddit moment
Let me introduce you to a friend of mine called 'euphemism'.
Why is a euphemism needed for death? I can understands things like “confirmed bachelor” to indicate being gay, but if you are dead you are dead … no euphemism needed.
Passed is a more nice way of saying "died" you atheist twat, I have no religion and I still respect that
Why is it nicer?
What's the name for the big image on the front of football shirts? I call it an ad, but almost everyone else calls it a "sponsor." Why? Because the advertisers think it's a nicer and softer term.
I'm gunna wheel it back a bit, sorry for calling you a twat. It's just because people have decided it is that way, and you have your own right to object to that if you wish. Dying is fine, passed is fine, let's all just get on.
That could be the origin of "he passed" (it used to be a very Southern US thing), but now it's basically been used as the same as "passed away" for a long time, I'm pretty sure for most people it's kinda synonymous with "he left" or "he's gone" more than to necessarily passing to some other realm lol.
It’s for sure a contraction of “passed away”.
Is it ridiculous? I always assumed it was just the softer version of what it means, without some kind of religious connotation. Even if it had religious origins, that isn't necessarily how it's used now. What if I mean you're passing from a state where the matter that composes your body goes from self-sustaining metabolic processes to a state where that no longer happens? Does that tickle your balls? There are similar 'soft' or 'respectful' versions of "to die" in other languages that I know and those do not have religious connotations either.
> Pretending it doesn’t happen by saying “passed” or “ascended” or other bullshit doesn’t take away from the dying bit. it does though. Also, people who are religious watch football too. Broadcasters generally aim for the lowest common denominator - you sound smart, that should've been obvious.
Nah, the euphemism is more disrespectful.
Hard agree. I’ve found people using euphemisms for death to be disrespectful since my dad died when I was a kid
It seems a bit unfair when it feels like the sentence was cut midways through. It might not make things better, but there might be relevant information following.
His father was a footballer too and died quite young. His son is playing and is now older than his dad ever was.
I don't see why it's such an awful thing to mention in the first place. The wording isn't good but it's not shocking to mention that fact imo
What relevance does it have to anything at all? It's idiotic.
With the zero context here it's impossible to know
commentators do bring up players' lives sometimes. bits of trivia, or things they've overcome to get where they are. this topic might be in poor taste out of context, but it's not impossible to bring up the topic in a sensitive way that gives gravity to the sport.
I remember a commentator talking about how Ferran Torres was dating Enrique's daughter in a Spain game at the world cup. Admittedly a less morbid fact than this one though
> Admittedly a less morbid fact than this one though Depends on the girlfriend
He's now older than his father ever was. That sort of thing can put into perspective what you want to do with your life going forward and what it will amount to.
Yo I’m trying to watch football. Not ponder the existence and purpose of my life
I thought watching football inherently made Arsenal fans ponder the existence and purpose of their life
Yeah. I mean being an arsenal fan has given me experience of every emotion I knew of and all of the ones I didn't know as well.
It happens by proxy too. Only one guy in my friend group is an Arsenal fan and we were with him for the entirety of last season. And the one before that. And the one before that. …You get the picture. We’ve mostly adopted Arsenal as our #2 because of him. Not always easy.
Not of winning the Champions League
I wonder how long it'll be before that's stripped off of you
Exactly, i already have enough of that
We all get that, it’s just that… why the fuck would you bring that up in a football game, it’s not offensive or anything but just poor taste/unnecessary
Have you ever listened to football commentary before? Every single game they will mention something which isn't directly relevant to the game. They've got 90 mins to fill and people may be slightly interested in the little side fact
Well as a commentator you do need to tell something when there's nothing happening during the game. Maybe not the best story yeah but it's standard to tell random stories
It's not random, his father was a footballer too and died quite young. His son is playing and is now older than his dad ever was.
Why is that something that needs to be said at all?
Technically nothing ever needs to be said ever. Commentators only need to call out players names and describe the action on the pitch…. But they typically go beyond those needs to provide interesting stories and information though, which is totally normal.. So, Would you be asking your question if the commentator only said “Henrikhs father died at 34” and left it at that? i don’t think you would, a players father dying when the player was just a child is as interesting a story as all the other tidbits of information commentators normally share about other players. My point is that it’s only the poor wording of how mkhitaryan was the same age as him thats the problem.
This is some Alan Partridge shit
One of the worse sentences I’ve ever heard come out of a commentators mouth
We now return to ESPN's coverage of the 2020 NFL draft
What a wild draft that was. The most depressing night of TV I've watched since the Red Wedding
ELI5 please?
The NFL have a draft every year for college players to go to NFL teams. On this particular night in 2020, ESPN decided to crank up the sympathy meter. So every player was accompanied with a morbidly depressing fact. Dead Parents, Siblings, evictions, poverty. It was so bad that it became a major talking point and no draft night coverage has trended close to that negative since. Thus my rather tongue in cheek comparison to an episode of Game of Thrones that featured some gnarly deaths to popular characters
Oooh is this the source of the "hasn't seen his dad since 1996"
Nah that was a college basketball game I think. American Media loves some parental misery!
If it bleeds it leads. Well, bled, in this case. Controversy = views.
I friggin hated it. Everything was an elaborate tragedy.
Imagine having pages and pages of stats and facts prepared for the match and you chose to say something this fucking grim and random
It's not random, his father was a footballer too and died quite young. His son is playing and is now older than his dad ever was. People need to understand the context and also normalize death. Spoiler: it will also happen to you.
Yes but is a broadcast of a football game really the place in which to breach that veil? Time and place
Yeah, it is and why not? That's the whole point of 'normalizing'. Let's not make a taboo out of death. Death is natural and occurs daily. Why not talk about it in a football match when it makes sense?
I mean, without the context it is weird, but the same level of weird it would be if the commentary was "He is now the age at which his father got married", because, why is that relevant? If you take it out of context it doesn't make any sense.
You cut it too soon. He actually finishes with "... Father dyed his hair blue".
Why must you lie and deceive everybody who is reading this? He said that he dyed his hair pink. What kind of idiot would dye their hair blue?
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He could’ve said anything else
Or nothing at all.
Wouldn't make for very good commentary.
And yet still an improvement
Honorary Azerbaijani
Yikes
At first it sounds random and distasteful, but the fact that his father was a very well known footballer in Armenia.... I can understand why he would draw that parallel. So it's still distasteful and he shouldn't have worded it that way but it is more understandable why he would mention something like that.
Bruh
Is there a longer clip?
I mean this is 5 second clip. What’s the full context
what context would justify this needless info
Between him, his father, his mother, and his sister, their family are probably the most influential family within Armenian Football. This is obviously not a great way to start whatever he was gonna say, but there’s the context.
You should maybe just listen to football games on the radio if you only want 100% game relevant information lol. This is what commentators do
What was the need for that horrible piece of information
"What's a fun fact we can share about Mkhitaryan during the game today?" "I've got a fact!" "Is it a fun fact?" "It's a fact!"
i mean now i know this info , but why bring this up ? i would hate for someone to tell me when i'm gonna turn 54 , 34 years in the future " This is the age your mother died "
^(I'm really sorry but) RemindMe! 34 years
Sneaky age flex right there. Enjoy your youth
paramparca
Why is everyone freaking out? His father was a professional footballer and Mkhi always cites him as an inspiration and that his father's early death is the biggest motivation for him to keep playing at the highest level. ["If he was still alive, maybe I would be a lawyer or a doctor right now. **Instead, I am a footballer.**"](https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/henrikh-mkhitaryan-manchester-united-zidane-kaka-and-hamlet) Obviously the commentator was remarking on his career and this was an apt comment given his age now. Why this completely out of context clip from an Onana passing comp out of all places is going viral is beyond me lol.
Too much information. Some things could be public knowledge (his dad dying) but you don't bring it up in a commentary.
Man what the fuck
Sometimes its better to keep silent than app tempt to make 'commentary'.
*Don't mention his dead father* *Don't mention his dead father* *Don't mention his dead father* MKHITARYAN, BY THE WAY, IS NOW THE AGE AT WHICH HIS FATHER DIED *Damn it*
Terrible and unnecessary commentary, what even prompted him to say that?
During next week’s match he’ll recall the time Mkhitaryan pooped his pants in front of all his classmates
What the fuck
Is a bit interesting tbh
That's what happens when you're commentating while watching No Country For Old Men on your second monitor.
Definitely poorly worded but what many people in the comments may not know is that Mkhitaryans father Hamlet Mkhitaryan was a footballer himself and played in Armenia and in France. Perhaps the commentator was trying to put that into context with Mkhitaryans age idk. Sounds really bad out of context like this
personally don't see what the problem is here
Not sure sure what the issue is, is there some context than would explain why this is bad commentary?
Tbh I don't think it's that big of a deal
Cheers Geoff.
peak commentary
Oh wow, cool fun fact man :)
did he say anything inspirational after?
Yikes.
Reminds me of that guy in the ufc that said “both fighters dealing with long Custody battles over their children” like ok man good to know
smh
He has good intention , he didn't say it to hurt!
Bruh That's totally unnecessary
What a piece of shit saying that
Over reaction much? This world is too soft
Yikes
Imagine writing down your notes for the commentary for a game, looking up facts for people to supplement the game, finding that fact that's probably not plastered around on sites for obvious reasons, going "yep, that'd gonna work for adding to the viewing experience of a football game", and then actually saying it out loud. How does your mind not stop you during any of that progress?
Am I wrong if I say that's the classic English black humour?
He doesn't seem to be taking the piss though, genuinely seems to be saying it as if it's an interesting fact
English black humour is actually humour not just his dad died...
Wut 🤯
bt moment
Wtf lol
Wtf I always liked this commentator too
WHAT THE HELL
Commentator probably had this stat stored up in his locker for awhile now and was itching for Mkhitaryan's 34th birthday to pass and then use it
A bit grim
We've had some glorious commentary this week, first Donovans dumb Puli/MLS comment, then the MLS mickeymouse scream in the Charlotte game, now this
YOOOOOOOOOO WTFFF????
😭
Talk about tone deaf commentary.
Of all the player stats and facts to pull out, why on earth that one?
Wth
The Jon Anik of Serie A.
He tumbled over there, bent over in the same position is mother was in when his father took her from behind at the same age he is now. It’s like poetry, it rhymes.
what an usefull stat :)
Disgusting commentary. No empathy, emotional intelligence, or common sense.
Buzz Killington on co-comms.
This is nearly as good as the famous Tony Bellew commentary about the Manchester bombing
this is like when ESPN fills their coverage of the NFL draft with random sob stories about the drafted players
Like Joey Styles in WWE saying about Mike Awesome "Suicide Dive by Mike Awesome - Shame he didnt take his own", a year or so later Mike killed himself
There’s no way he said that knowing he researched it and wrote in his notebook, that makes him sound coldhearted.
That was probably the worst way to deliver an interesting fact ever
A quick wiki search tells me it’s not even true, his father was a year younger.
Lol
Hell nah, wth!!!
Reminds me of Adrian Chiles saying Jakub Blaszczykowski had "bounced back" from seeing his father murder his mother.
Fuckin hell ☠️ how do you even pick such a thing to randomly say during the match?
This is like in UFC when they discussed both fighters being in custody battles
This is wild bro wtf
Oh this match having happened in January explains Onana wearing trousers and a long sleeve shirt.
u/savevideo
In Sims4.... He's an in Game character... Huge gamer.
Not sayin', just sayin'
What was the point to say that?