Monday 2 April 2018

Football Commentators


I spent much of this afternoon grumbling about a football commentator.  This is not unusual.  These men, it ought never to be a woman, these men spend much time gathering useless information about the people involved in the game and then fill the time spouting this dross throughout as if they are attempting to appear knowledgeable about the game.  This does not work!  When a goal is scored I have no interest in being told that this is the first goal the man has scored since September when he scored against blah blah blah!  Tell me about the goal he scored today!  There is no need to inform us that this player or that once played for Manchester United's under 16 side, almost a million young men did so and only seven made it to the top!  I have no interest in the man's private life, his wage nor the seven clubs that 'may' be chasing him as most of this information is pure guesswork or straight forward lies from the hacks.  Just explain the game to us.  Explain the tactics, why are they playing 'three at the back' and not 'four?'  Explain why the opposition do not play 'two up front' and as the game progresses explain also why the co-commentator with twelve years experience at the top level cannot explain the tactics other than saying "He went for it, got his head to it, but put it over," in similar manner which thousands of us at home could happily do for half the money!   
I often watch games on BBC ALBA, this is great because the commentator speak Gaelic and I understand nothing of what he says thereby allowing me to watch the game almost undisturbed.  Now I have an idea, I have found a stream that in amongst the dubious adverts and malware offers me football coverage, of dubious quality, that uses no commentator!  This is brilliant as the crowd noise is heard but there is no constant whine of needless chat from someone who considers his voice more important than the game.  Let the TV people give us the chance to watch a game without commentators for a while, see how much they can save and how our ears will benefit. 
I look forward to the day.



2 comments:

the fly in the web said...

As I can't access TV coverage of cricket...not that I would pay Sky in any case....I listen to the Test Match Special Test coverage, or would do if the BBC would allow me to. Rights issues, they say...
There are some superb commentators who let you know exactly what is going on, but more and more people who treat the thing as entertainment, telling boring stories of their experiences...

Adullamite said...

Fly, I used to like Brian Johnston and his crowd at cricket.