“DAE le hate it when ur le fundy dad watches le sports ball???”
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I don’t
It’s not that different than other media. There is really good analysis out there but you have to really go out of your way to avoid the bullshit. The stuff that really gets eyeballs is the low hanging, drama oriented, sound-byte-y stuff.
In F1 they’re usually great. More grounded observations / opinions, from either former drivers or at least people who have been around the paddock for decades. They feel more “objective” regarding what they talk about and what they’ll allow themselves to hypothesize about.
I don’t watch much NBA and NFL but the analysts / opinion guys seem goofy and way too loose with opinions. I think they’re all entertainment so the more outlandish their statements the better the engagement.
In chess the players and analysts are all way above my level, but as far as I can tell, they do a good job at breaking down the position and giving you an idea of what super grandmasters are thinking. But this is more commentator and less analyst.
Funnily enough, my mind jumped to Martin Brundle as a classic example of a good analyst - or at least he was in the 90s and 2000s. He’s still good, but it just isn’t as new or exciting anymore - he was a fantastic counterpoint to Murray Walker’s boundless enthusiasm with a lot of sensible chatter and in depth knowledge.
Another guy I quite like is Jimmy Bullard, particularly on Sky Sports News or Soccer AM - no bullshit, everything in layman’s terms, and has a laugh with it.
It is interesting to hear a current or former pro player share insights about the game.
Media personalities that haven’t been professionals are useless and feed on clickbait.
I don’t find the designation to be that much of a thing. There are former players that are great and there are former players who are completely awful clickbait clowns. Same is true for non former athletes.
The good former pros definitely have a valuable perspective though I think there’s also something to be said for a bit of a removed perspective.
