Fox Sports 2015 U.S. Open Thread (Joe Buck, Greg Norman)

[Mr. Desmond]

Okay, we now know Ryan Moore is a "local hope 3 time USGA Champion," droned into us after 2 days...

[Chilli Dipper]

Okay, we now know Ryan Moore is a "local hope 3 time USGA Champion," droned into us after 2 days...:-$

I feel like I've just read [Url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrid_Reid#/media/File:WReid.jpg]Wilfrid Reid's stationery![/Url]

[Chilli Dipper]

I read your post last night and then within a few minutes Justin Rose made a decent length putt on his final hole and Norman said something along the lines of "you're gonna feel better on Thursday night if you shoot a 72 rather than a 73." I tad Simms-esque, and even Madden-esque, but with his Australian accent it sounds kinda charming. :-P

The Brits call those [URL=https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Colemanballs]"Colemanballs."[/URL]

[saturday]

Jim Nantz, we need you.

[ChrisP]

Jim Nantz, we need you.

Eh I don't like Nantz. Tirico and Hicks are better. Nantz is too cliche on everything and bores me to death.

[RandallT]

Where is Greg today?  I guess he drew the afternoon shift.

Steve Flesch doing a nice job holding down the fort.

I loved those slow mo shots of Rickie's driver off the deck and then Tiger's 3-wood. Why don't they do more of that?????

[Missouri Swede]

One of the first things I notice about the broadcast is the audio quality:  The talking heads all sound very tinny--not much bass, and a little distorted.  That's not even getting to what they're saying. For all of the high tech they seemed to promise, I just want to turn the sound off.

[Golfingdad]

Okay, we now know Ryan Moore is a "local hope 3 time USGA Champion," droned into us after 2 days...

Yeah, but did you know Jordan Spieth is 21 years old?  I bet not. ;)

[Chilli Dipper]

The four-man booth in the tower right now is working better than the Buck-Norman duo. The main commentary crew could definitely use one of these guys, and it probably doesn't hurt that they have more golf broadcast experience than the A-team.

[RandallT]

The four-man booth in the tower right now is working better than the Buck-Norman duo. The main commentary crew could definitely use one of these guys, and it probably doesn't hurt that they have more golf broadcast experience than the A-team.

Agreed- I think you mean Shane/Pavin/Flesch/Hanse.

Not much technology this morning by Fox. Jason Day approach on that par 3 3rd hole is the first I've seen in a while. No "chase cam" yet either! (what is that for anyway???).

[turtleback]

One of the first things I notice about the broadcast is the audio quality:  The talking heads all sound very tinny--not much bass, and a little distorted.  That's not even getting to what they're saying. For all of the high tech they seemed to promise, I just want to turn the sound off.

I find the video quality and the camera work deplorable.  How many times do they show the green as the ball is coming in and you have no clue where the ball is  On a couple of occasions the camera man never DID find the ball and the director switched away.  Same with drives.  I don't know if they aren't using the right filters (there seemed to be a lot of subtle glare) or having focusing problems or what.

They have also done a poor job, IMO, in explaining and framing the holes.  When guys tee off it is very difficult to see what the target or even the target line, is.  Or on an approach it is almost impossible to see where the green is, let alone the flag.  Visually this is probably the worst major in recent memory, which is a shame because the course looks pretty spectacular.

I hope they figure it out by Sunday.

[jamo]

They've done some wide shots that I've liked quite a lot. One par 3 (pretty sure it was 17) where they stayed on the camera from behind the green as the ball landed and rode the slope towards the hole on Spieth's tee shot. That was pretty cool. [quote name="Golfingdad" url="/t/69068/fox-sports-2015-u-s-open-thread-joe-buck-greg-norman/90_30#post_1157241"]Yeah, but did you know Jordan Spieth is 21 years old?  I bet not. ;) [/quote] I bet he played on Wednesday with Ben Crenshaw.

[cubdog]

I had a feeling this was going to be bad. Little did I know. Bad camera work, bad commentary, bad graphics etc. I guess it could be worse. Fox could have inked a long term deal. Oh wait, they did! The good news is, by the time the FOX contract runs out I'll be so old I'll likely be blind and deaf.

cubdog

[colin007]

I'm watching it on mute. Seems pretty good to me, except for the unnecessary talking heads. Show some more golf. I love the wide shots.

[Rick Martin]

LMAO Weiskopf trying to talk about Jason Day as if he knows anything about the current crop of players - Fox should have stuck w/ MLB and NFL.

[PuttsLefty]

I find the video quality and the camera work deplorable.  How many times do they show the green as the ball is coming in and you have no clue where the ball is  On a couple of occasions the camera man never DID find the ball and the director switched away.  Same with drives.  I don't know if they aren't using the right filters (there seemed to be a lot of subtle glare) or having focusing problems or what.

They have also done a poor job, IMO, in explaining and framing the holes.  When guys tee off it is very difficult to see what the target or even the target line, is.  Or on an approach it is almost impossible to see where the green is, let alone the flag.  Visually this is probably the worst major in recent memory, which is a shame because the course looks pretty spectacular.

I hope they figure it out by Sunday.

Endlessly. Half the time all I see is a screen full of brown grass being panned across by the camera. Sometimes I think the cameraman is hunting it too.

[Golfingdad]

Endlessly. Half the time all I see is a screen full of brown grass being panned across by the camera. Sometimes I think the cameraman is hunting it too.

Yup.  This is infuriating.  Just happened again a few minutes ago.  Camera just pointed right at the hole and Bubbas ball was nowhere to be found.

[Clambake]

I find the video quality and the camera work deplorable.  How many times do they show the green as the ball is coming in and you have no clue where the ball is  On a couple of occasions the camera man never DID find the ball and the director switched away.  Same with drives.  I don't know if they aren't using the right filters (there seemed to be a lot of subtle glare) or having focusing problems or what.

Years ago I was at a tourney with a friend and we struck up a conversation with a CBS cameraman, and my friend asked how did they manage to follow the ball so well. The cameraman said that working the Tour every week you learn where the guys tend to hit and learn their shots, and then they kind of predict where it is going to go before they find it in the viewfinder. Fox likely has a bunch of cameramen new to golf, and they haven't learned yet how to do his. Unfortunately, they probably never will if they're only broadcasting one tournament a year. Frank Chirkinian must be rolling over in his grave.