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Commentators, you must acknowledge failures as much as great plays. It’s not mean, it’s exciting. So much fun comes from “oh no” moments as a spectator. Trust your judgement and be emotionally invested in the players’ success.

That’s a good point. The scrutiny that femme folks face is definitely a concern. For me, even though I’m very masc, I am pretty anxious about hurting feelings. I’m less likely to get tomatoes, but I think treating the players’ fails with respect is still important.

I personally try to sympathize with the failure. It’s not “wow they are bad”, it’s “oh no! that’s not what they wanted to happen!” I’m not critiquing. I’m sad, too! I want them to win. If the concern is the “niceness”, I think that approach works pretty well.

The main thing I want people to recognize is that ignoring failure does not protect the players. If anything it’s a detriment to what everyone wants out of being on stream. A good show. Call the lows so the highs are even higher! It’s more fun that way.