Streaming Thoughts

I was completely surprised when I saw that the BCAPL Texas State tourney had streaming!  It's been asked about the in past, but never came to fruition, so I was surprised we had streaming this year.

One of my scotch doubles matches was on the stream, but I haven't watched it yet.

All throughout the tourney (5 plus days), there was streaming!  I was pleasantly surprised that they even had some women's singles matches on there BEFORE the finals!  Usually we don't get enough showtime when the men are around, so that was another cool thing.

However, I am mostly disappointed in the stream.  Well, not the STREAM itself, but the people who spoke on the stream.  Well, not ALL the people, but one person.

I didn't watch my scotch doubles match because we played badly and lost.

However, my women's team played the hotseat on the stream.  I played real good that match and won all my games.  Yet, I heard later that the male of the announcers told people I was struggling all throughout the tournament.  In reality, I played good every single match of the women's teams except the finals.  And that first match that was streamed that he commented on, I won every game!

While we played in the hotseat, one of my friends was getting texts and she told me that the guy announcer kept saying she couldn't make balls (but then she would and he would be shocked), or he would say certain people were playing badly and missing easy shots (or shots we should make).

The female announcers were great and didn't hurt feelings, but the male announcer HURT my teammates.

I don't know how to say this without coming right out and saying it: that because he was judging our runs and pointing out what he thought we were doing wrong, I hope my teammates never listen/watch the recording of the finals.

I don't like to say harsh things about anyone, and I'm not suppose to do this just because he did, but because he wasn't passive enough, and because I KNOW my teammates will be affected by his words, I think it's okay for me to express how disappointed I am that he talked badly of my teammates.

Let's be fair, he didn't just second guess MY team, he second guessed everyone who was on the stream; everyone was fair game.  If anyone didn't get out, he would comment on it in a bad way.

I'm actually SCARED to hear what he said about the matches that I lost.  To be told AFTER the event that he was saying I was struggling the entire tournament (which isn't true at all), what did he say when I lost a match?  (and lost a lot in the finals?)

I watched my final run only to take screen captures for a blog entry and that time he was gentle, but I think it's only because I won that game.  If I had lost, he would have been more judgmental and harsh.

I know some of you are thinking he prolly didn't mean anything.  And yes, he didn't.  And yes, he's a guy and guy's say things differently than females.

But females also take things differently.  Part of it is being emotional and caring what other's say.  But, there is a NICE way to point out we dogged it.  There is a NICE way to say something after misses.

I was very impressed and very thankful for the females announcers who were so much nicer.  I heard them give compliments, or wonder what options we were going to take.  Not keep pointing out what we did wrong.

My teammate who received the texts from someone watching didn't tell me she was upset, but I knew she was.  It's tough to be judged, and for him to make comments in front of everyone watching online, makes it worse. 

I realize it's tough to comment on pool for a week and not make judgements, but he really needs to be careful with his word choices.  For people to say things to us in the middle of matches and afterwards tells you he affected even our friends.

My fear is that if my teammates listen to the recording of when they played bad, that they will be affected by it.

How can you not?

How can that not be a reminder during our next big event that people in the crowed judge us and will judge us?  It makes competing that much worse.

I recognize this happens all the time anyway from people in the crowd, but to HEAR it is another story.  And I don't want the teammates to recall how bad he blasted our play.

I am trying to look at things from a different take:  Facts.  If I played bad, it's not a judgement if someone says I played bad; it's a fact.  But, it takes years to not let little things get in your head and not let words affect us.  I still struggle with that all the time.

Do you think it crossed my mind he was talking about us playing bad on the stream during the finals?  You bet!  Do I think it crossed the mind of my teammate, too?  I do!

The male announcer has no idea the damage he did.  He prolly thinks he did a great job.  There's a difference when talking about a match than when judging a person's decision.  I applaud the female announcers, but I loathed the male announcer's comments.

Like I said, I only heard how he was, and only watched one recorded game, so I may be being too biased and unfair, but based on those two matches alone and what I heard from others, I hope my teammates never ever watch the recording of our final match.   It will be too tough.  And I don't want anything to take away from our win (OR future wins).  Even though we struggled in the finals, we still PULLED IT OFF, Sir!

Note 1:  I just tried to locate the videos to capture verbiage difference between the announcers for this blog entry, but I can't find them.  Maybe the recordings aren't viewable anymore and I don't have to worry about my teammates coming across the carnage.  Whew.

Note 2:  I am deliberately not sharing the company who did the stream. I'm very thankful for them - they did all the hard work!! I'm just uncomfortable about the comments from the male announcer.