Announcers for 2021 Champs Finals

[arne]

I watched the AKC Agility Championship finals on ESPN and was really impressed with how much announcers added to the event. I thought they were particularly beneficial to any new comers watching.  In the past NADAC has had live streaming of the event.  They have also had announcers over the PA. Has there ever been any consideration to having the announcers speaking on the live stream for the finals runs?  I think it could add a lot for any viewers watching the live stream and to promote future NADAC Champ events. They could set the stage prior to the class running (i.e. dog x has a 12 second lead entering the final round).  They could introduce the teams as they came to the line. They could praise particularly nice handling skills or point out key course problem areas. If they had access to the scorers table data, they could immediately say if a dog was faulted and maybe explain the fault and penalty associated with it.  After the run they could speak to how the run might have impacted the overall placements. I know this would be much more difficult to implement than to request but just a thought.

Arne Lindberg

[Amy McGovern]

There are announcers.  Are you looking for something different than what they already do?

[arne]

There are announcers.  Are you looking for something different than what they already do?

I think so Amy unless I remember it incorrectly.  I remember the announcer talking over the loud speaker during many of the runs - that was fun.  The announcers did a great job.  I would not change any of that for any round but the finals.  I do not remember the announcers for the finals being a part of the streaming video - like you would see in many televised sporting events.  Giving a play by play on the streaming video (not PA) so people watching on line really get drawn into the excitement. 

 ...there are 5 dogs in this class separated by only 10 seconds.  This class final run is totally open ..... OOH Buck just picked up a 10 second fault for missing the dog walk.  That's going to cost him.... Red just moved into first place with that run of 38.21 seconds - some really tight turns there at the end! .... Lassie is going to turn in a nice time but she is not going to beat Red.

Maybe they did this and because I was in the finals I did not hear it?  If so sorry for the post. 

Arne

[Ed and Tres]

You are asking for a sportscaster.

NADAC scoring is not instantaneous which would also not allow for your example, You may know how close 2 dogs are to each other but you would not know the score that quickly.

Would have to be coordinated with the Live stream provider yet possibly not recorded for the person paying for the video since they would want the audio for the run with the PA announcer and no sportscaster.

Interesting thought but Four legged Flix or some other video company may not want this complication of a service they are trying to make money with.

Sportscasting is a talent and doing it for a sport which is not commonly known is a difficult ask and if not done well is not worth doing.

[arne]

You are asking for a sportscaster.

NADAC scoring is not instantaneous which would also not allow for your example, You may know how close 2 dogs are to each other but you would not know the score that quickly.

Would have to be coordinated with the Live stream provider yet possibly not recorded for the person paying for the video since they would want the audio for the run with the PA announcer and no sportscaster.

Interesting thought but Four legged Flix or some other video company may not want this complication of a service they are trying to make money with.

Sportscasting is a talent and doing it for a sport which is not commonly known is a difficult ask and if not done well is not worth doing.

All excellent points.  I will say there are other sports with a sport caster that are subject to final review -- horse racing, many Olympic sports like track and field or speed skating.  I agree sport casting takes a talent to do well.  AKC had ESPN recruit a couple talented agility people.  Four Legged Flix would probably not be able to do this on their own. But I think the people NADAC has announcing now over the PA have the talent and knowledge to do it well. I might be in the minority but I think it would be cool if I make finals to have the sport casting sound in the personal video I pay for. 

I realize NADAC is not ESPN.  They are not going to have multiple camera angles and fancy charts and displays. (frankly I found the multiple camera shots took away from what I wanted to see) But I do think AKC brought in new competitors to its venue because of how they did broadcast their finals with sport caster style. All I am saying it could be an opportunity for NADAC to do the same, probably at a much lower budget level. It would be a lot to take on for sure. 

Arne Lindberg

[Jim geiser]

I agree Arne. I think some commentary would definitely bring a lot to the broadcast. It is no secret where everyone stands going into the finales, if your at the event. Once the top teams are announced it is easy to put them in a spreadsheet and come up with the leaders and how far back each team is. I think two people could bounce off of each other and make it very entertaining.

Jim Geiser

[Rosemary]

As someone who has run in finals and was super nervous I think having someone critiquing my run as I am doing it would be an unwelcome distraction.  What the announcers currently say is "authored" by the handler running so it's not really disruptive.  I believe that the sportscasters in AKC are heard by the television audience only.  I could be wrong, but these are my thoughts.

[Linda W. Anderson]

Sam and Scott did a wonderful job announcing at the last Champs!  I agree, I would not like someone critiquing my performance during finals if my dog and I are lucky enough to make finals.
Linda

[Richard Wolfe]

As someone who has run in finals and was super nervous I think having someone critiquing my run as I am doing it would be an unwelcome distraction.  What the announcers currently say is "authored" by the handler running so it's not really disruptive.  I believe that the sportscasters in AKC are heard by the television audience only.  I could be wrong, but these are my thoughts.

Lord, you would hope so!!!!  If I were running my dog and he screamed at a problem point or mistake like the other night,  I would NOT be happy!!!!!  LOL!!!!!!!

[David Tharle]

I can't think of a sport where the arena/stadium/court/rink announcer and broadcast announcer are the same person(s).  Two different types of things going on there. 

Most importantly, given how many people purchase their runs and watch them again & again over the years, is it worth the possibility of ruining that enjoyment by having a "Colour Commentator" pointing out their failures or second guessing their handling strategies (Sometimes you get enough of that leaving the ring LOL). Just a thought.

[arne]

Yah play by play given in the arena where the competitors could hear was not my vision. That certainly could be distracting to some.  My question was more specifically adding a sports caster to the live stream of the finals run. As David said, I would not envision that broadcast to be going out on the arena speakers.  But anyone in the stands could be listening to it with headphones from their phone or computer.  Friends, family and any other live stream audience watching from home would also hear it.  I think the excitement generated by the sports caster would draw in some of that home audience to the sport of agility and more specifically NADAC.

David had a good second point that some would not want to hear the sports caster on their purchased run that they watch over and over. I am not sure the sports caster voice would need to end up on the videos sold to the participants.

[Janice_Shavor]

Think about when someone was video-ing you with a Novice level dog ... and providing commentary where that person thought you should have run a little differently.  Especially when they are right!  Watching this once or twice with that commentary is sort of OK.  After that I would just rather not hear those comments again.  Hmmm.  Might have to go edit that video and take the sound down at times <evei grin>!

[Jim geiser]

Interesting points of view. I think Arne was looking at it from a broadcast standpoint. Drawing interest in the event from some who are not familiar with NADAC or agility. Knowing this is the time this team needs to beat give an audience anticipation of the can do it. I don’t think a good broadcaster would be critical of a handlers choices. I think they would be upbeat and encouraging. People that do broadcasting want to draw people in and make them feel good about what they are watching.

That is what I would envision......

Jim

[Janice_Shavor]

Commentary for broadcasting is quite a different skill.  I do remember with an AKC Nationals was broadcast on (maybe) Animal Planet.  At that time you could communicate with them.  This was only the finalists.  For 24" through 16" they showed several of the contestants.  for 12" dogs and below you might, just might, get to see most of a run but more likely only 1 or 2 dogs had partial runs shown.  And there was just a lot of "cuteness stuff" included in the broadcast.  I simply pointed out they might need to consider how many people had big dogs vs small dogs and that they should at least show the full run of the winner of the jump height.  Amazingly, the next year was much better covered, both from the experienced handler's viewpoint and the general public viewpoint with the "silly cuteness" clips.

Perhaps streaming the final runs after the fact with experienced comments would be really great.  I have tried commenting runs and that is NOT a natural skill for me.

[Margaret MacEwen]

The AKC Championships were televised, so the commentary was for the viewer at home.  I don't think the competitors heard the commentary while they were running.

I most definitely do not want to hear "OH, and the judge called the dogwalk contact, that's going to take them out of the competition" while I am running my dog. 

If the NADAC Championships are going to be televised then they should have someone to comment to keep the at home audience engaged, otherwise the announcers we have had over the years are perfect for our own inner circle.  Although the sound system could be better for the recordings.