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Larry Merchant is 80 years old. Harold Lederman is 70 years old. Emanuel Steward is 67 years old. And "the kid" Jim Lampley is 62 years old.
If they didn't have jobs at HBO, they would have a hard time getting jobs at any company -- with the exception of WalMart ... where they'd be encouraged to work as greeters because they're too old to be trusted with the cash registers.
The HBO team is OLD. They are biased. They are set in their ways. Before most fights, they will actually tell you how they "expect" a fight will go. And if it doesn't go the way they expect it to, it takes them several rounds to recognize what it actually happening in the ring and comment on it.
If you didn't look at the television screen and just listened to their commentary, you would have no idea at all what is going on in the ring. They spend most rounds telling stories or talking about the way a fighter "usually" fights or things a fighter did in a previous fight ... and little if anything about what's actually happening in front of them at that moment.
HBO needs to overhaul it's entire broadcast team. You don't need four guys -- who collectively clock in at close to 300 years old. You can do it with ONE person. Or two people at the most. People who still like boxing. Who are excited. People who haven't "seen it all" and can still be genuinely happy to be there at ringside.
More importantly, people who are willing to do their homework. If a guy hasn't stood in the ring in front of Larry Merchant or Jim Lampley and fought, there's a good chance they've never seen him before. You don't see them at ringside for other bouts. They don't attend shows they aren't paid to attend. They don't scout new talent. Unless it's a "superfight," Merchant and Lampley come off looking like it's chore that they had to show up and cover the event ... and give the impression (especially Merchant) that they'd rather be somewhere else.
When that is the case, it's time to bring in new blood.
If they didn't have jobs at HBO, they would have a hard time getting jobs at any company -- with the exception of WalMart ... where they'd be encouraged to work as greeters because they're too old to be trusted with the cash registers.
The HBO team is OLD. They are biased. They are set in their ways. Before most fights, they will actually tell you how they "expect" a fight will go. And if it doesn't go the way they expect it to, it takes them several rounds to recognize what it actually happening in the ring and comment on it.
If you didn't look at the television screen and just listened to their commentary, you would have no idea at all what is going on in the ring. They spend most rounds telling stories or talking about the way a fighter "usually" fights or things a fighter did in a previous fight ... and little if anything about what's actually happening in front of them at that moment.
HBO needs to overhaul it's entire broadcast team. You don't need four guys -- who collectively clock in at close to 300 years old. You can do it with ONE person. Or two people at the most. People who still like boxing. Who are excited. People who haven't "seen it all" and can still be genuinely happy to be there at ringside.
More importantly, people who are willing to do their homework. If a guy hasn't stood in the ring in front of Larry Merchant or Jim Lampley and fought, there's a good chance they've never seen him before. You don't see them at ringside for other bouts. They don't attend shows they aren't paid to attend. They don't scout new talent. Unless it's a "superfight," Merchant and Lampley come off looking like it's chore that they had to show up and cover the event ... and give the impression (especially Merchant) that they'd rather be somewhere else.
When that is the case, it's time to bring in new blood.
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