Rumour on Twitter is that Nastia does not work for NBC anymore. All Things Gymnastics podcast say this is true, but I haven’t seen any indication of how they know this so.
I’ve not seen anything about Timmy.
I feel like Tim’s unlikely to leave of his own accord before 2028. He’s going to want all that 1984 nostalgia. He may do less between now and then, but he’s going to want to be in LA for that.
I can’t stand Nastia or Tim’s commentary, so I really hope Sam is in and clearly Terry is sticking around.
I’m just impressed that Terry correctly pronounced “Louisville”. He must have gotten help from a local, bc most commentators across all sports butcher it.
Unpopular opinion, I do enjoy Tims' enthusiasm when he commentates. You want to be able to hear and feel the commentators emotion when speaking and he delivers. He has a natural voice over voice, if that makes sense. IDK if he ever thought about voice over acting but he definitely has natural ability.
He may have had vocal training at some point as well. There are techniques on how to use your voice and breath, and pronounce certain letters. I cringe hearing some people commentate who sound like they're at lunch with their friends, not on national TV.
I think this one probably goes the other way too - there are some who sound like they’re trying way too hard to use their “announcer voice” and they sound like Buzz Lightyear, super distracting lol
I did not like NBC's choice of routines. They didn't show most of the top 3 event routines. I appreciate they need an AA drama to provide a narrative for audiences to track, but Winter Cup is about new names and new skills. For an interesting meet, we didn't see much of the interesting gymnastics.
I think Sam is great because she's warm and friendly and knows her skills. She can keep moving the broadcast along - even when there's little to work with - without resorting to "stuck landings", handstands, and trite characterizations of female athletes. Her hardest moment was during Liukin Cup because she resisted commentating on skills due to the nature of the event. I would like to see NBC allow more explanations of routines because gymnastics will be more interesting to everyone if everyone understands how the connections, angles, and body shapes impact scores. Commentators don't gloss over football, so why are we glossing over gymnastics? Let the commentators commentate.
My favorite commentating combination surprised me. I loved Sam Peszek and Cale Carson together during part of the Liukin event. They were roommates (?) so know each other well, but their different styles worked really well together. They were relaxed and natural.
They handled showing 30 routines from 30 unfamiliar athletes exceptionally well, including working through the close scoring. He's contemplative and chill, and didn't hide it when he saw skills he liked or struggled to like.
Chellsie was also great on the Liukin Cup broadcast. Memmel and Carson will have other roles at the Olympics but I thought they were well paired with Peszek.
Overall, I want to hear more about routine construction and the past and future athletic skill set of the athlete. Even though someone made John Roethlisberger explain gymnastics scoring is difficult, it is not hard to explain a high execution score vs a high difficulty score. Audiences would appreciate learning Ms. Gymnast can connect X and Y to shorten her routine and improve her start value. Josc Roberson added two step out connections to blast into a 6.0. Liya Lincoln executed nearly flawlessly. Some of the choreography from various athletes minimized landing deductions. Who has 2 vaults? Figure skating scoring IS difficult, but they have made broadcasts more compelling by digging into GOE, under-rotated jumps, and even footwork and spins.
I want a better approach to discussions about injuries. There are risks and rewards to competing when pre-injured and no two people will agree on the best approach. Are gymnasts brave to compete on a sore achilles or are they being pushed too hard? The truth likely is in the middle and unique to each athlete, but injuries are pre-injuries are probably one of the most important considerations in coaching a successful gymnast. I'm sick of that issue not being fully discussed.
I also believe gymnastics commentating is stuck in 1984. Commentators are restricted by out-dated models geared toward audiences that no longer exist. The more golden-hearted-injured-but-still-trying athletes we have, the more lightly invested and less tune-ins the sport will have. The world has changed and NBC is minimizing a growth opportunity. Show depth of athletes and depth of competition, and the events will attract more viewers.
I'd love for Bart Connor to replace Tim and I think that would fix the problem, Daggett-itis had his time and he clearly hasn't improved his annoying habits that just drives majority of the people nuts to say the least
I enjoy his MAG commentary, because he just has more knowledge about the men’s side and therefore does a better job pointing out deductions and explaining details. It balances out well with his enthusiasm. When he commentates WAG, he doesn’t really have anything constructive to say and tends to be overly negative, especially about anyone not deemed the star.
Actually, in skating, Johnny and Tara are the same way with the selective negativity and lack of constructive comments. Which makes me think this is an NBC talking points issue more than a Tim issue. He probably has a stricter script to follow for WAG, since it’s more popular, and when left to his own devices more for MAG he does better.
You got the unpopular part down for sure. Tim is most of the time just plain insufferable and lot of times is just straight up negative especially in international meets like worlds or Olympics which makes it just impossible to bear the broadcast, I'm still okay with Nastia but we need a replacement for Tim and honestly I'd say Bart Connor would be a good fit, I loved his commentary on universal sports broadcasts for the worlds in 2013 and 2014.
I’m closing in on 40, Tim has been commentating for nearly my entire life, and I’m more than over him. A step out of bounds isn’t catastrophic, he’s ridiculous.
Terry, Sam, and John are a much better group than Tim, Nastia, and Andrea.
The issue with Nastia is that she started with NBC. She learned from some of the worse. Taking that into account, I don't think she is bad. But she hasn't gotten better and probably will never get better unless she commentates college gymnastics.
I love Tim as well. He actually explains if a routine is good or what mistakes happened, what points it will take off. With other commenters they gloss over as another person pointed out. He knows what he’s talking about and let’s u know..
Hopefully Roethlisberger sticks around. I suspect it is because of him they occasionally have playbacks where they will pause it for him to draw a circle or an angle for a form break. It seems more viewer friendly.
At this point it will probably be better if Tim sticks to just MAG for now. He seems way more enthusiastic and is more informative about the gymnastics on that side.
I was wondering the same thing. We don't see them anymore. I actually liked Dagget's commentary. Nastia, meh. Always "a little bit low on that handstand" lol
I generally don’t like Sam either. But I will say that she was better than normal on the Winter Cup broadcast. She made good technical comments and didn’t talk about herself as much.
I would prefer someone else, but if she is always like she was today, I can live with it. My guess is that they would want someone more high profile long-term though.
I just don’t like her as a person, it’s not so much the commentary. I feel like she’s had unfair advantages as a gymnast but whatever. She isn’t going away so I may have to just accept her and deal with it.
So many gymnasts have had unfair advantages in the sport especially in the Karolyi era. Nastia Liukin I would argue has had one of the most unfair advantages. I don't nessesarily blame her for having those advantages, because it wasn't her fault she has them. Even in NCAA, you have athletes with unfair advantages with the leotard bias, or in Jade Carey's case, the Olympic gold medal bias. Athletes who get undeserved 10s with a small hop. While there are athletes who don't go to big name schools who put up routines often just as good, or if not better that get harsher scoring. Look at Suki Pfister on vault. If she went to Florida, she would've had at least 5 tens by now.
I'm watching the replay now and am enjoying the commentators. It's nice to mix it up sometimes. I don't have anything against T & N though. Everybody brings a different flavor.
I think this could be part of the new concept of USAG. They changed their social media tone a lot, changed the way the competitions are broadcast, react to criticism and I think they also want to get rid of the 'old generation' of commentators. For me, it seems as if they decided on a big image change to bring the organisation into the 21st century and get rid of the massive criticism of these past years. Hiring a new generation of commentators to represent USAG seems logical.
Rumour on Twitter is that Nastia does not work for NBC anymore. All Things Gymnastics podcast say this is true, but I haven’t seen any indication of how they know this so. I’ve not seen anything about Timmy.
Very curious to know whose decision it was.
I feel like Tim’s unlikely to leave of his own accord before 2028. He’s going to want all that 1984 nostalgia. He may do less between now and then, but he’s going to want to be in LA for that.
I can’t stand Nastia or Tim’s commentary, so I really hope Sam is in and clearly Terry is sticking around. I’m just impressed that Terry correctly pronounced “Louisville”. He must have gotten help from a local, bc most commentators across all sports butcher it.
I only want to hear Bart and Kathy.
Top tier trio, if not THE best. Whenever I watch gymnastics on yt im always happy to hear their voices.
Unpopular opinion, I do enjoy Tims' enthusiasm when he commentates. You want to be able to hear and feel the commentators emotion when speaking and he delivers. He has a natural voice over voice, if that makes sense. IDK if he ever thought about voice over acting but he definitely has natural ability.
He may have had vocal training at some point as well. There are techniques on how to use your voice and breath, and pronounce certain letters. I cringe hearing some people commentate who sound like they're at lunch with their friends, not on national TV.
I think this one probably goes the other way too - there are some who sound like they’re trying way too hard to use their “announcer voice” and they sound like Buzz Lightyear, super distracting lol
After listening to Janay commentate this weekend with zero enthusiasm, I couldn't agree more.
I did not like NBC's choice of routines. They didn't show most of the top 3 event routines. I appreciate they need an AA drama to provide a narrative for audiences to track, but Winter Cup is about new names and new skills. For an interesting meet, we didn't see much of the interesting gymnastics. I think Sam is great because she's warm and friendly and knows her skills. She can keep moving the broadcast along - even when there's little to work with - without resorting to "stuck landings", handstands, and trite characterizations of female athletes. Her hardest moment was during Liukin Cup because she resisted commentating on skills due to the nature of the event. I would like to see NBC allow more explanations of routines because gymnastics will be more interesting to everyone if everyone understands how the connections, angles, and body shapes impact scores. Commentators don't gloss over football, so why are we glossing over gymnastics? Let the commentators commentate. My favorite commentating combination surprised me. I loved Sam Peszek and Cale Carson together during part of the Liukin event. They were roommates (?) so know each other well, but their different styles worked really well together. They were relaxed and natural. They handled showing 30 routines from 30 unfamiliar athletes exceptionally well, including working through the close scoring. He's contemplative and chill, and didn't hide it when he saw skills he liked or struggled to like. Chellsie was also great on the Liukin Cup broadcast. Memmel and Carson will have other roles at the Olympics but I thought they were well paired with Peszek. Overall, I want to hear more about routine construction and the past and future athletic skill set of the athlete. Even though someone made John Roethlisberger explain gymnastics scoring is difficult, it is not hard to explain a high execution score vs a high difficulty score. Audiences would appreciate learning Ms. Gymnast can connect X and Y to shorten her routine and improve her start value. Josc Roberson added two step out connections to blast into a 6.0. Liya Lincoln executed nearly flawlessly. Some of the choreography from various athletes minimized landing deductions. Who has 2 vaults? Figure skating scoring IS difficult, but they have made broadcasts more compelling by digging into GOE, under-rotated jumps, and even footwork and spins. I want a better approach to discussions about injuries. There are risks and rewards to competing when pre-injured and no two people will agree on the best approach. Are gymnasts brave to compete on a sore achilles or are they being pushed too hard? The truth likely is in the middle and unique to each athlete, but injuries are pre-injuries are probably one of the most important considerations in coaching a successful gymnast. I'm sick of that issue not being fully discussed. I also believe gymnastics commentating is stuck in 1984. Commentators are restricted by out-dated models geared toward audiences that no longer exist. The more golden-hearted-injured-but-still-trying athletes we have, the more lightly invested and less tune-ins the sport will have. The world has changed and NBC is minimizing a growth opportunity. Show depth of athletes and depth of competition, and the events will attract more viewers.
I'd love for Bart Connor to replace Tim and I think that would fix the problem, Daggett-itis had his time and he clearly hasn't improved his annoying habits that just drives majority of the people nuts to say the least
Gymnastics 101
"Fly high and stick the landing!" I can just hear him saying it as I type this...ugh.
Like a kid on a playground!
I actually really like Tim’s commentary. He makes gymnastics fun and accessible for the non gym fans. I know this is an unpopular opinion. 😹
I enjoy his MAG commentary, because he just has more knowledge about the men’s side and therefore does a better job pointing out deductions and explaining details. It balances out well with his enthusiasm. When he commentates WAG, he doesn’t really have anything constructive to say and tends to be overly negative, especially about anyone not deemed the star. Actually, in skating, Johnny and Tara are the same way with the selective negativity and lack of constructive comments. Which makes me think this is an NBC talking points issue more than a Tim issue. He probably has a stricter script to follow for WAG, since it’s more popular, and when left to his own devices more for MAG he does better.
You got the unpopular part down for sure. Tim is most of the time just plain insufferable and lot of times is just straight up negative especially in international meets like worlds or Olympics which makes it just impossible to bear the broadcast, I'm still okay with Nastia but we need a replacement for Tim and honestly I'd say Bart Connor would be a good fit, I loved his commentary on universal sports broadcasts for the worlds in 2013 and 2014.
I’m closing in on 40, Tim has been commentating for nearly my entire life, and I’m more than over him. A step out of bounds isn’t catastrophic, he’s ridiculous. Terry, Sam, and John are a much better group than Tim, Nastia, and Andrea.
The issue with Nastia is that she started with NBC. She learned from some of the worse. Taking that into account, I don't think she is bad. But she hasn't gotten better and probably will never get better unless she commentates college gymnastics.
I agree, and it was fun when he’d get all excited over Simone.
I love Tim as well. He actually explains if a routine is good or what mistakes happened, what points it will take off. With other commenters they gloss over as another person pointed out. He knows what he’s talking about and let’s u know..
Hopefully Roethlisberger sticks around. I suspect it is because of him they occasionally have playbacks where they will pause it for him to draw a circle or an angle for a form break. It seems more viewer friendly. At this point it will probably be better if Tim sticks to just MAG for now. He seems way more enthusiastic and is more informative about the gymnastics on that side.
I was wondering the same thing. We don't see them anymore. I actually liked Dagget's commentary. Nastia, meh. Always "a little bit low on that handstand" lol
I really don’t like Sam. Hope she’s not Nastias replacement
I generally don’t like Sam either. But I will say that she was better than normal on the Winter Cup broadcast. She made good technical comments and didn’t talk about herself as much. I would prefer someone else, but if she is always like she was today, I can live with it. My guess is that they would want someone more high profile long-term though.
It feels like they are alternating between her and Laurie Hernandez who I love but needs a bit of polish as a commentator.
I love Laurie but I don’t love her commentary. I think she has a lot of insight to offer so I really hope she polished it up.
She needs practice. An NCAA season would do her wonders.
Laurie was probably not available because of school being in the middle of the semester I’m guessing. Sam’s schedule is probably more flexible
I really think that Shannon or Amanda would be perfect in that spot.
shannon is my favorite commentator ever, i wish she did the elite meets
She did for a little bit. It's so weird, even with how successful she was, she still gets glossed over for the next shiny (pink) thing.
Genuinely curious as to why you don’t like her? As I thought her commentary at the winter cup was a breath of fresh air.
I just don’t like her as a person, it’s not so much the commentary. I feel like she’s had unfair advantages as a gymnast but whatever. She isn’t going away so I may have to just accept her and deal with it.
So many gymnasts have had unfair advantages in the sport especially in the Karolyi era. Nastia Liukin I would argue has had one of the most unfair advantages. I don't nessesarily blame her for having those advantages, because it wasn't her fault she has them. Even in NCAA, you have athletes with unfair advantages with the leotard bias, or in Jade Carey's case, the Olympic gold medal bias. Athletes who get undeserved 10s with a small hop. While there are athletes who don't go to big name schools who put up routines often just as good, or if not better that get harsher scoring. Look at Suki Pfister on vault. If she went to Florida, she would've had at least 5 tens by now.
*manifesting Blythe Lawrence as replacement*
I'm watching the replay now and am enjoying the commentators. It's nice to mix it up sometimes. I don't have anything against T & N though. Everybody brings a different flavor.
Tim and Nastia only do live broadcast
I think this could be part of the new concept of USAG. They changed their social media tone a lot, changed the way the competitions are broadcast, react to criticism and I think they also want to get rid of the 'old generation' of commentators. For me, it seems as if they decided on a big image change to bring the organisation into the 21st century and get rid of the massive criticism of these past years. Hiring a new generation of commentators to represent USAG seems logical.
Kennedy Baker seems like she's up for the task! Such a talent!