Sports Commentary

Why is sports commentary so important and how does it work? Do we really need other people to tell us what is going on in a sport when we can clearly see it for ourselves?

 

The function of commentary is to describe a sequence of an event, which then gives listeners and viewers background information which can be classed as entertainment.

 

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. Sports Commentary is one of several varieties which greatly rely on adverbs for their effect. For example; 'Now Smith passes beautifully to Gray, who heads it very firmly and deliberately to Pritchard.' This way each action is described the way it's actually performed. 

 

A lot of the time commentators speak from a text, but during live coverage they are required to describe and comment on events as they happen. The purpose of televison commentary is different to radio commentary because events cannot be seen on the radio so therefore the commentators convey an exact description of the developing action.

 

The structure of a commentary varies depending on what kind of activity is being commented on. For example when there isn't a lot of activity the commentators will start to give background information about the players themselves or the game. But when a lot of development is happening then the pace will change and so will the atmosphere to acknowledge the viewers. More reserved and emotive language is used when describing the event, this helps the commentators have more style to the way they present their comments.

 

Turn taking is essential in commentaries, often there will be two people who will do the talking, one will be the actual commentator and the other person will be a sportsman or sportswoman who will provide advice or will summaries. The two people will mainly interact in an informal way to show their sides of an activity. On TV commentaries the adviser pauses on a number of occasions and lets the lead commentator describe the scene. There are occasions when both speakers begin talking at once about the same topic, normally having a different point of view.

 

The present or past perfect may also be used to reflect the situation of the game. E.g. has changed, gone, hasn't passed yet. In many cases passive rather than active sentences are used, so that they can create an end focus by repositioning a long subject at the end of the sentence as an adverbial.

There is hardly any hesitation heard in commentaries, but when they do occur normally its by the adviser. Some of the distinctive features of a commentary are; that the audience have expert knowledge so they are able to fill in gaps missed out by the commentators. Also the structure is spontaneous so a lot of it is informal conversation, this means that the commentators have to be fluent and continuous throughout the whole event.

 

Stress and rhythm are used to enhance meaning, and pauses are tend to be used for emphasis or breathing when nothing significant is happening. The lexis that is used is subject specific and technical. For example, 'great position, and again hes causing problems.' Figurative language can also make commentaries vary characteristic, which enables commentators to develop a personal style. The grammatical features are distinctive and the mood is normally declarative. The clause structures are mainly simple or loosely co-ordinated.  

 

One of the resources I used was the second edition advanced english langauge book by Sara Thorne

The website I used was; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_commentator

 

Farhad Rahmani