Even is On

I'm enjoying Ray Hudson's ridiculously emphatic color commentary for the pivotal La Liga matches today, but he's claiming up and down that Barcelona's first goal against Atletico Madrid was offside, when Samuel Eto'o was clearly even with the last defender.

I'm (unfortunately) getting used to horrible commentary for soccer games. Yesterday it was, I think, the penalty kick in the DC-Toronto match, where the play-by-play guy called the infraction as a "shirt tug," apparently oblivious to the fact that Marvell Wynne completely took Luciano Emilio's legs out from underneath him. But I expect more from Hudson. In fact, Barca's fourth goal -- at which point all this is pretty academic anyway -- looked more likely to be offside, but Ray emphatically dismissed that possibility. He was watching the same TV feed as I was, so I don't know what the hell he was thinking.

While we're on the subject, a memo to ESPN. Listing Juan Toja's favorite music was kind of funny the first time. Now it's rapidly becoming insulting to the intelligence of your viewers, even with the Spinal Tap reference. He's got a mullet. We get it. It's only a matter of time before Dave O'Brien tries to tie that in to Clint Dempsey's godawful rapping, and he's not even in the league any more.

Then there's production, as the RSL-Dallas match apparently had no cameras actually following the play on the PK call that got Salt Lake back within one goal.

It pisses me off because I have no experience producing soccer telecasts and only very little calling them, and yet I know with absolute certainty that I could do a better job.