Who is The Best Darts Commentator?

ratinakeg · 30-01-2009 01:28AM #1

Personally I'd go for Chris Mason as he has done a great job recently on ITV and I'm looking forward to hearing his wise words tomorrow/later.

Here is the PDPA poll results on the best commentator;

Iceman wins commentators poll,
ITVs Alan Warriner-Little headed the table in a poll conducted on the darts website dartsmad.com.
The poll which was taken during and after the ‘3’ major TV Darts events on ITV, BBC & SKY asked Darts fans who was their favorite Darts commentator, here is the top 10.

1st Alan Warriner-Little 52.4%
2nd Sid Waddell 20.6%
3rd John Gwynne 10.6%
4th Chris Mason 4.1%
5th John Rawling 2.9%
6th Tony Green 2.9%
7th David Croft 2.9%
8th Dave Lanning 1.8%
9th Stuart Pike 1.8%
10th Nigel Pearson 0.0%

:eek: Sid was second!:eek:

Healio · 30-01-2009 01:33AM

Although not been around for a few years, I always liked John Part on the BBC. Everytime I hear him speak it reminds me of the BDO darts.

Degag · 30-01-2009 04:02AM

I don't think i've ever heard Alan Warriner Little commentate...

I like John Part commentating, his reputation for counting skills is very evident when he does...

As for the PDC, i know that Wadell, Gwyne and especially Harrington annoy me... at times i'd rather there was no commentary!

Degag · 30-01-2009 04:22AM

I don't think i've ever heard Alan Warriner Little commentate...

I like John Part commentating, his reputation for counting skills is very evident when he does...

As for the PDC, i know that Wadell, Gwyne and especially Harrington annoy me... at times i'd rather there was no commentary!

DublinWriter · 30-01-2009 06:48AM

Sid Waddell:

“Bristow reasons . . . Bristow quickens . . . aaah, Bristow”
“He looks about as happy as a penguin in a microwave”
“Keith Deller’s not just an underdog, he’s an underpuppy”
“Jocky Wilson – what an athlete.”
“His eyes are bulging like the belly of a hungry chaffinch”
“The players are under so much duress, it’s like duressic park”
“If we’d had Phil Taylor at Hastings against the Normans, they’d have gone home”
“When Alexander of Macedonia was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer. Bristow is only 27”
“He’s sweating like a hippo in a power shower”
“There’s only one word for that – magic darts.”

morrowa64 · 30-01-2009 06:59AM

Sid Waddell is a legend. He could make watching paint dry sound interesting. His one liners are are as good as anyone out there:)

Jaysoose · 30-01-2009 10:10AM

morrowa64 wrote: »

Sid Waddell is a legend. He could make watching paint dry sound interesting. His one liners are are as good as anyone out there:)

Gotta disagree, maybe once upon a time this was the case but now if your names not phil taylor or Adrian 'Naturally gifted' lewis then you dont get a look in. He even talks non-stop about taylor during other peoples matches, really poor commentator now and his non-sensical rambling got tired a long time age.

jwshooter · 30-01-2009 10:24AM

must come to the defence of sid ,i enjoy him ,girlfriend hates him .
criss mason has to be the worst of the worst in the PDO .
the BDO are cxxp turn ya off watch n darts .

Kingp35 · 30-01-2009 10:33AM

John Part is the best commentator out there. He is has such great knowledge of the game and doesn't talk rubbish. Missed him at the BDO this year. John Gwynne is a close second for me.

As for Sid, he is the most annoying man on the planet. He should just retire and put us all out of our misery!

nhughes100 · 30-01-2009 10:42AM

Part is quality, didn't think too much of Warriner but he was a hell of a lot better then Mason(I've got a combine harvestor accent). Who the hell voted for Tony Green? Bristow is also excellent doing the colour commentary. Sid can be good and does come up with some great one-liners, it's just when Taylor is playing he tends to over do it. But that's Sky TV for you.

ratinakeg · 30-01-2009 01:43PM

nhughes100 wrote: »

Part is quality, didn't think too much of Warriner but he was a hell of a lot better then Mason(I've got a combine harvestor accent). Who the hell voted for Tony Green? Bristow is also excellent doing the colour commentary. Sid can be good and does come up with some great one-liners, it's just when Taylor is playing he tends to over do it. But that's Sky TV for you.

I find the west country and Bristol accents hilarious but I find him to be a good commentator.
He should be commentating later seeing that he got hammered again!

Ronan|Raven · 30-01-2009 03:32PM

Mason is alright I think. Part would be my favourite.

Double tops to save the leg

mirwillbeback · 30-01-2009 03:53PM

Gotta say Waddell. I know he swings off Taylor's nuts, but he does bring a touch of comedy.

On an side note, let me say happy 28th to MBC - I once had a bet he'd be World Champion before he was thirty, so not looking good.

Enjoy your night Paulie.

Degag · 30-01-2009 05:02PM

mirwillbeback wrote: »

On an side note, let me say happy 28th to MBC .

Who?

Evolution Enter · 30-01-2009 07:39PM

I love Mason's accent, although I prefer it when it's coming outta Cathy Barry's mouth (not sure if I can say that??)

Gwynne is the best on Sky, for colour commentary, it's better having a former pro doing

Think Jerry Lawlor in WWE

jwshooter · 30-01-2009 08:18PM

Evolution Enter wrote: »

I love Mason's accent, although I prefer it when it's coming outta Cathy Barry's mouth (not sure if I can say that??)

Gwynne is the best on Sky, for colour commentary, it's better having a former pro doing

Think Jerry Lawlor in WWE

cathy barry lad , is there a story there ? ??????????

Evolution Enter · 30-01-2009 08:48PM

Just google her name, "actress", of sorts

whaaames · 01-02-2009 10:50PM

i think sid is either very entertaining or very annoying, but he's always saying the same things, i reckon during this years worlds i heard him claim that 'taylor tried to do 22 180s against barney in dublin' about 20 times...

john gwynne for me, even when he's reporting on soccer saturday i cant help but think darts...

Evolution Enter · 02-02-2009 01:34AM

The whole way through ITV's coverage of the final tonight, I couldn't help but think how much better the commentary was. When Taylor missed double 16 and 8 I didn't have to hear the whole lecture on that being the only weakness in his game or anything like that.

And it was nice to hear the commentators talk about Thornton, cos usually on Sky Taylor's opponents don't get a mention

Kingp35 · 02-02-2009 11:11AM

I have to agree I thought both Mason and Warriner were very good. There excellent knowledge of the sport really helped them because they gave us some really good insights into the game. Stuart Pyke we all know is a good commentator and the other guy was pretty god too. Excellent work all round.

Evolution Enter · 02-02-2009 02:12PM

Yeah, listening to Mason cringe at poor counting and slack darts was brilliant. Honest commentary, and on the few occasions he did wander off on a story about a player/manager/wife it was a good one

I'd love to see more pro's guest commentate during the Premier League now, like say Priestly/Manley/Lewis

It'd also keep more players in the public eye and not overexpose the eight players

Ronan|Raven · 02-02-2009 02:32PM

Mason was brilliant and the lack of that twat Sid was lovely not having to hear about the UNDERSTACKA!!!!! Overstacka etc etc.

Degag · 02-02-2009 03:03PM

Mason surprised me actually... i always thought he was a bit of a twat tbh... but he came accross pretty well on commentary.

+1 about Sid though, the more i listen to him, the more i think he knows nothing about the sport.

Jaysoose · 02-02-2009 05:37PM

If sky has any sense they will try and poach Warriner to commentate instead of sid i thought he was very good and even though mason has acted the tit in the past he was usually spot on with his analysis and put his thoughts across well.

Wake up sky and get rid of the taylor love in and bring in the new lads.

Evolution Enter · 02-02-2009 07:30PM

No chance of that happening. Whatever my feelings on the man now, he was a part of getting me into darts.

Joke wore off is all. He still has a place, but needs to tone it down and maybe concentrate on non-Taylor matches and be told not to mention Taylor unless it's an immediate part of a draw.

He still says some interesting and funny things, it's just the other 95% of the time when he's dribbling on that kills me

Bluezar · 02-02-2009 10:19PM

I personally love Sid Waddell. I think the man is so entertaining and his one liners are legendary...

I also like Warriner on ITV4, really knows his stuff..

As for Mason, Can't stand the man...Full of sly comments about other players!!!!!

Degag · 03-02-2009 02:53AM

Bluezar wrote: »

I personally love Sid Waddell. I think the man is so entertaining and his one liners are legendary...

I also like Warriner on ITV4, really knows his stuff..

As for Mason, Can't stand the man...Full of sly comments about other players!!!!!

I thought what he said about his fellow professionals was very positive.

You have to remember that he was being paid to commentate... if a player hit a bad score or shot or counted something wrong etc... he has to criticise it... constructively of course.

whaaames · 03-02-2009 06:14PM

players can have the makings of good commentators, it's their knowledge of the board and counting that makes it floe easier. John Part was always good when he commentated on the BDO world championship.

I kinda like Rod Harrington aswell, he tells it like it is, and unlike sid waddell doesn't sugar coat everything phil taylor does, or doesn't do...

Kingp35 · 04-02-2009 01:19PM

So it has just been announced that according to a Daily mail poll that Sid Waddell has been named the 8th best sports commentator of all time! Pure madness.

Anyway here is an article written by Sid himself about his style of commentary. Some interesting reading.

http://www.skysports.com/experts/expert_story/0,19793,12535_4891074,00.html

SkySports.com wrote:

his week I was very surprised to hear that the sports journalists of the Daily Mail not only named me in their top 50 sports commentators of all time, but ranked me as high as eighth in their list.

I was certainly in some esteemed company in the top 10 alongside the likes of Richie Benaud, Bill McLaren and my old buddy David Coleman whom I used to work with on darts from 1979-80. I was chuffed when I was named Sports Commentator of the Year in 2002, but to be named in the top 50 of all time alongside greats such as those was quite amazing.

My commentary style has been subject to a lot of criticism over the years (the phrase 'Tourette's Syndrome' has been used by some particularly unkind sorts) and there has been plenty of internal criticism from people who think commentators should be ex-players.

I have resisted that over the years and one thing I do not want to become is an anorak; I've never just sat there and spewed out the players' averages. David Vine once told me that a commentator should be a bloke who knows an awful lot about the sport and who has a better view than the people sat at home watching. The idea is to then let the commentator loose with a pair of binoculars - and that's something I've never deviated from.
Tabs

I don't think I could commentate on football because you've got to keep tabs on 22 players and maybe three or four substitutes. In darts I've only got to worry about two people.

The difference with darts is that you've got to keep the viewers interested in a game where everybody in the hall - including the commentator - is watching a bloke's back. So to maintain interest I'll reference all sorts of weird and wonderful things from Elvis and Bruce Springsteen to the Old Testament and Ivanhoe.

It's so important to use aspects of your personality - who could ever forget Benaud's line about going "straight into the confectionary stall and out again"? You can bet in Liverpool on Thursday night I'll mention 'A Hard Day's Flight'.

But I think a darts commentator needs to use more of their personality than in other sports because as the standard of darts rises you see the two players doing the same thing. The repetitive nature of darts argues that the commentator should never tell the viewer what they can already see; his job is to add to the experience with what you know and feel yourself.

A darts commentary also has to be done with high energy and must use words to reflect the drama which is not necessarily apparent in the play.

Humour

Furthermore, the game of darts has never been far from humour. In the old days some of the players might have had too much to drink so I'd use the word "tired" a lot. Nowadays, we have the humour of people like Peter Manley who encourages the crowd to boo him.

I think my appearance in the Daily Mail list is a reflection on the humour and enthusiasm I bring to the commentary box, as well as the knowledge I've gained from watching darts for 37 years.

It's nice to think that my sense of humour might actually augment the game. In fact there's a kid in Norwich who has just done a thesis on the effect of my commentary on the prestige of darts!

But I'd love to know what you think. Do you think a darts commentator has more to do than commentators in other sports? What is it that makes your favourite commentator - Andy Gray, David Lloyd, Sir Ian Botham or anybody else - so special?

Send in your thoughts using the feedback form below and I'll look forward to reading them.

Evolution Enter · 04-02-2009 01:34PM

That's one of his better written pieces, and probably the best argument for his style of commentary, even if he did write it himself

I used to love Waddell when I first started watching darts, only problem I have now is when you are looking at Wade v Barney you are still listening to him talk about Taylor

Barney hitting a great shot shouldn't be Taylor-esque, being a 5 time world champ, one of those being over Taylor, it seems insulting.

Darts on sky wouldn't be the same without Waddell, if he just toned down the relentless Taylor talk, maybe I could go back to enjoying Waddell again, and look forward to Taylor matches the way I used to

nhughes100 · 04-02-2009 03:08PM

I think you should read Sid's book "Bellies and Bullseyes", it's a good easy read, funny and explains a good bit about his style. You can't just commentate on darts by repeating the scores and calling the checkouts. I agree that he completely overhypes Taylor but you gotta think a lot of that is forced by Sky.

Evolution Enter · 04-02-2009 03:19PM

True, and if last years Premier League proved anything, the crowd are there to see Taylor. I remember a venue half emptying after Taylors match and Wade and Lewis played to a half empty venue. Taylors match always has to be last now.

But for the future of the sport, a little less Taylor talk would go along way. Think about darts at the moment. Taylor has won 7 or maybe eight televised tournaments in a row, but when you think back to tournament highlights, it's the rest of the field that gives them to you. Wade's nine darter at the grand slam, Barney v Baxter and Barney's nine darter at the World Championships!! Priestly coming back and playing well after chemo. Wade hooking up with Chamberlain and getting stick from the crowd.

These have been the top stories in past year in the soap opera that is TELEVISED darts, yet, all I hear when I turn on the tube is Taylor Taylor Taylor

Waddell is right when he says calling scores and checkouts is repetitive and has to be avoided, but what he has failed to realise is that away from those he has become even more repetitve - "understacka", "overstacka", "Tayloresque", "16's weak part of board", "Barney in wrong frame of mind", "Mardle the pro or Mardle the entertainer", "Part best counter in the game"

Expect all these phrases to the beaten and flogged to death several times, every night, for fifteen premier league nights as well as four other Sky televised tournaments this year.

Sorry for rant, it's all been said before..................kinda Waddell-esque

Kingp35 · 04-02-2009 05:59PM

I have to agree with evolution enter, it's the constant repeating himself that makes Sid annoying, not the crazy phrases that he comes up with. It's the constant Taylor ass licking that annoys me the most. We all understand he is the best and will probably never be equaled so we don't need to hear it all the time. If he toned that down I would like him as a commentator but he will still never be up there with teh commentators that really understand the sport. Sadly after 37 years I don't think Sid does.

Double Top · 05-02-2009 12:43PM

think your spot on there king, i use to like sid but now like you said he just reapeating himself, every time klassen is on the tele and he's commentating he never stops talking about how bad his throw is "if your teaching your kid to throw darts don't let them copy klassen it all wrong" he said one night and i could'nt believe it. heres just some of the repeat offenders by sid waddell
Stompe: he use to be a trolly driver
barney: he's fired his zen master
painter: gun slinger walk
taylor: all his averages over the past year
klassen: back leg jumping off the ground
part: the snarl

might be annoying but always make a good drinking game:D take a drink every time he mention these or says "understacker" fantasnagormical"

Evolution Enter · 06-02-2009 02:45AM

Just on tonight, Waddell described Wade celebrating a leg as having Taylor-isms, and Kings performance as Taylor-esque.

And was it my imagination or did he commentate on 3 out of 4 matches??

Degag · 06-02-2009 02:52AM

Well if he commentated on Taylors game he did... went to the pub for that game so couldn't hear the commentary.... thank god:rolleyes:

Kingp35 · 06-02-2009 01:38PM

Evolution Enter wrote: »

Just on tonight, Waddell described Wade celebrating a leg as having Taylor-isms, and Kings performance as Taylor-esque.

And was it my imagination or did he commentate on 3 out of 4 matches??

Yeah he did, he was extra annoying last night. He also couldn't resist talking about Barney's zen master. He mentioned Taylor in all the games. He is far too predictable, time for a change from Sky I reckon.

Evolution Enter · 06-02-2009 02:28PM

Yeah, he said something about Taylor sacking the Zen master and playing oasis, I kinda zoned out from the commentary

One of the funniest parts of the night was Wade v Part, where Harrington commented on the importance of keeping the head motionless and that Wade was forcing his shoulder which was causing the dart to dip.

I thought this was an excellent comment and a great piece of advice for throwers, definitely something to work on in our own practice. Then Waddell jumps all over what Harrington said and rabbitted on about Wades shoulder moving for the rest of the game, but never mentioned it before Harrington opened his mouth.

Thought it made him look like a complete spoofer

Who is The Best Darts Commentator?

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