Please, spare me from biased English
commentators. I've been watching the cricket on Sky. Yes NZ have
been fairly woeful, but lets put things into perspective. The
English team is chosen from a population of approx. 60 million and
four countries. The whole population of New Zealand could fit into a
large Welsh town!!!! Does this fact dampen the gloating of the
commentators? Of course not. (David Lloyd is forgiven though
because he is funny and entertaining) Then there was the moment that
James Anderson took his 300th wicket. Wow, anyone would
have thought he had cured cancer or solved world famine. OK, fair
enough, it is an achievement, and he only has to get another 500 to
catch up to Murali, or another 300 to overtake McGrath and Walsh.
Then there was the Wiggo & Cav
Show, oops, sorry, the Giro d'Italia. It was not until Wiggins
withdrew that the commentators even acknowledged that there were
other riders in the race.
However, the worst commentary I have
heard so far this year was for the London Marathon. The most talked
about runner in the ladies race was Paula Radcliff. Was she a
contestant? No, she won in 2005,
but we were kept informed about her times at the various stages of
the race, what her fluid intake was, what her heart rate was at every
corner (ok slight exaggeration here but you get the idea!). The main
focus on the mens race was for another Englishman who was not even
going to finish the race, and they did not even know who won the
wheelchair event, just that “their” man came 3rd.
I think that a commentator should be
familiar with all the contestants names and numbers, and inform the
viewing public on everything that is happening, not just the bits that are of personal interest.