posted Mar 9, 2008

Yes Ollie W, I think they can Qualify. They'll win 2-0 with goals from Barry Middleton & a Penalty Corner from Richard Mantell. Just call me "Mystic Tug"

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posted Mar 10, 2008

I totally forgot that it was on....

and to hear that i could have annoyed the wife by watching the hockey as well as the rugby this weekend... gutted..

Well done lads...
bring on GOLD at Bejing.

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posted Mar 10, 2008

Excellent gutsy performance last night, best from GB/England for years. We played with more pace and better control, and managed to make India look pretty ordinary. Should have scored at least a couple more, which would have been a truer reflection of the game. Still plenty of work to do though, in defence and at short corners in particular, if we want to make a mark in Beijing.

6 wins out of 6 - Jason Lee will be able to claim that taking the English players in the squad out of domestic league hockey to focus on this event was the right strategy.

Pity the TV coverage wasn't better: only one camera covering the action from halfway, with a couple more for replays around the goal, and a pretty comatose commentary from Barry Davies: I don't think this is the way to attract newcomers to the game.

Anyway, one small step at a time.

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posted Mar 10, 2008

BBC take a look at eurohockeyleague.eu to see how to cover hockey matches.
Commentary was shocking.
Davies & Kerley's delivery was amateur & boring.
GB deserved better.

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posted Mar 10, 2008

The guys played great last night! I was so proud of them! They didn't look nervous or let the pressure get to them. I think the final result was very fair after a good few hard weeks work by the team.

TV coverage was very poor - the quality of the camera and the bored commentator's didn't do much to attract anyone to the game but at least it was on! I agree one small step at a time!

See you in Beijing!

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posted Mar 10, 2008

The TV Coverage came from WorldHockey, not from the BBC. The Sky Sports Highlights had a similar picture quality (or lack of). I had no problem with the commentary from Barry or Shaun. See alright to me.

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posted Mar 11, 2008

Are you deaf dear Tuglous? I need to teach you a lot more clearly...
Commentary was dire and has been previously too... Completely lacklustre and most of the fouls were incorrectly called - though I found it difficult to understand some of the decisions - perhaps that's my natural argumentative nature with umpires...
Any hockey I've ever watched has been nigh on impossible to follow as the speed is to quick and I've played for 14 years.... Until the tech is developed /used to better follow it then hockey won't become a big spectator sport. Sad but true..

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posted Mar 12, 2008

When ever I have watched hockey on TV it's been so hard to follow what's going on -
Comparing to ice hockey doesn't seem right because there are so many little things that can be called as fouls in "field" hockey and to follow the game you need that intricacy - I don't follow ice hockey but my gut tells me that's not the same in ice hockey.
Perhaps it's just poor broadcast quality that causes the problem.
Of course it would help if you had commentators watching the game closely and calling the fouls correctly. So many times, the pratically ignored the action on the pitch and just waffled on...
Maybe mic up the umpires rugger style...
Agree with Tug about all penalty corners should be shown direct from behind the goal in real time, rather than just the slow mo... Would be great to be able to see that kind of move in real time - you can't see any part of it from the side view they currently use

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posted Mar 15, 2008

I completely disagree with you Mabilu - it is purely the coverage you have seen - I would urge you to watch the eurohockey highlights (simple search from a FWSE will point you to the right website, or I believe an earlier post linked to it) to see how it should be done.

Hockey is a wonderful spectator sport, and an amazing sport to play.

Also, Ollie - maybe you can answer this one - where was the website coverage "from 20:55 - 23:00"..?

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