And whether watching the games by yourself or surrounded by friends and co-workers, a good sports commentator will take the excitement to epic proportions.
This is why my sweet husband has converted to Spanish speaking commentators in Univision, rather than watching the games on ESPN.
And does he speak a word of Spanish? Nope. But that doesn't matter. What matters is the excitement of the narrative from the Univision folk -- which I absolutely adore. And yes, I do speak Spanish, what with being Mexican and all. And in case you were wondering, outrageous soccer commentary is a fine tradition in any self-respecting Spanish speaking country, which is all of them.
Case in point: ESPN commentators narrate soccer matches as if they were narrating a golf match. If a goal is scored, they say something like "Oh, look! There is a goal!" whereas any hispanic sports guy will yell "Gooooooooooooooool!!!!!" over and over until your ears bleed.
Now, that's commentary.
And going back to my husband's conversion to Univision, during the USA-UK match we flipped the channel to ESPN only to find three very proper guys, dressed in their best finery, around a desk, describing the first half of the match by saying in their most sedate tone of voice: "Now, that was titillating..."
By comparison, the guys at Univision had some guy in a luchador mask interviewing random people in the street, who were jumping up and down, while some girls in shorts and small tops waved assorted flags and danced in the background.
Now that is titillating.
But I doubt that we will see anything like that on ESPN anytime soon.
That is why I say, stick to Univision or any other Spanish channel. Trust me on this one. You will not regret it.
Fluency in Spanish is optional.
Belfebe out.
