And I'm already on record as heartily disliking Porino.
I'm not dissing on Porino too much. He has a decent technical eye (he coached for a while after retiring from USST and while at the U of Utah pursuing his degree) and knows how to translate into more "everyman" language. For true ski racing wonks he's not the ideal commentator because sometimes he either oversimplifies or simply misreads what he sees because it takes extra views of certain things to make the proper technical analysis (GS and SL are so fast-paced these days that there are times when slow-motion replays are the only way to see where things go pear shaped).
He's paid to do a job for a network that primarily caters to those not versed in a sport that's not seen as first or second tier here in the U.S. He does it admirably well (especially considering he's sometimes up at 2:30am MST to do a live call on a race). And he's evolved a bit, becoming a fairly decent embedded reporter in pro road cycling stage races (reporting from the back of a motorcycle careening over twisty mountain passes going speeds that no sane driver would dare hit - and doing so without flinching - is no small feat).
The U.S. will likely never get the same level of analysis of races as ORF - just as ORF will likely never get the same level of American football analysis as any of the major networks here in the States. On that: try watching the BBC's coverage of the Super Bowl. They bring in former NFL stars to analyze the game in a way that makes sense to Brits. Often this means simplifying things that most Yanks simply know rote. It's
not an easy task, especially to do on the fly.
So I respect Porino, Doug Lewis, Christin Cooper, and others who have worn this mantel with pride, humility, and candor.
