I have a theory that match commentators actually see and hear less than we do at home. How else to explain the hopeless performance of John Motson during tonight's England-Germany friendly? Fully ten minutes after we had all heard the comical sound of a few thousand Germans singing "Zere's only von team in Vembley", he suddenly said "is that German singing we hear"?
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The man in the muddle
I have a theory that match commentators actually see and hear less than we do at home. How else to explain the hopeless performance of John Motson during tonight's England-Germany friendly? Fully ten minutes after we had all heard the comical sound of a few thousand Germans singing "Zere's only von team in Vembley", he suddenly said "is that German singing we hear"?
I think that's just Motson's uselessness showing. For some reason he's been elevated to the status of national treasure by people who don't enjoy football, and who mistake his incompetence and gingoism for endearing enthusiasm. I forget the percentage, but during the last World Cup an extraordinarily high number of digital viewers chose to watch the BBC with alternative commmentary through the magic of the red button. Motty belongs to the age of Jimmy Hill and the sooner he's pensioned off the better for the BBC's football coverage.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Ken got there first because questioning the worth of a national treasure does indeed seem to be a dangerous sport in itself. I've never ever really seen the appeal of Mr Motson and anyway he's way way past his best. During the world cup matches I chose the digital option of no commentary - just the crowd noise, or just turned the tv sound down and turned the record player volume up, much more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteSimon James
My favourite "famous last words" from last night was Chris Waddle on R5: "The Germans have nothing going forward. It's going to be a long night for them".
ReplyDeleteI often find that the TV commentary team seem to be watching another game, certainly when it comes to England. I get the impression that they want to keep in with the FA.
ReplyDeleteI used my 'red button' and opted for the Radio 5 commentarty instead.
Jim White also noted the difference in the styles in his Telegraph column on Friday: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/08/24/sfnjim124.xml