Close your eyes for a second, and imagine you’re watching your favorite team play on the television. It’s a Saturday, midday kickoff. The players have lined up on the field, and are just about to shake hands with one another before the match. You’ve just plopped down on your couch/bar stool as the players begin to exchange formalities.
when you close your eyes and picture yourself watching the world cup on tv, do you ever hear this man’s voice calling the game?
Now, tell me about the voice that you hear talking about the scene on display.
If you’re in the United States, odds are you’re hearing a British accented voice reading off the names on team sheets and then rehashing the recent furor that inevitably surrounds each club week in and week out. Martin Tyler, Ian Darke, Rob Hawthorne or Adrian Healey likely come to mind, waxing poetic about the scene unfolding before them. You know, proper English commentators for proper English football. It’s something we’ve become rather accustomed to over the last few years here. And if for some reason you’re not hearing an accented voice, I’d be willing to wager it was someone’s like Taylor Twellman or Kyle Martino, familiar American names who know soccer’s landscape in States.
However, I’d more than willing to hazard a guess that FOX Sports’ Gus Johnson — known predominantly for his work, um, enthusiastic commentating in college basketball and football — wasn’t a voice filling your mind.
