sportsbarTHE COMMENTATOR CURSE
April 9th 2008 07:28
Ever thought you could make it as a commentator?
There is an acid test that has and will forever stand the test of time…
Do you have the capacity to single-handedly change the results of games?
“You – as a commentator, change the result of a game” I hear you ask…
There are those who are simply born with the commentators curse… No matter how late in the game, no matter how large the odds are stacked against, a commentator has to accept his responsibility and not put his foot in his mouth… There are careers at stake!!
Now I am writing this in relation to the NCAA Basketball final that was on the other day… Now I admit I’m no basketball fan, but gee I could have commentated on that game. With 2 minutes to go my mates team was 8 points up… This is a big deal! The stadium had about 50,000 people in it… So these kids were literally playing for NBA contracts, every scout in the country probably watched the game.
My mate at $50 on the team in front at $1.80…
“You can’t lose from here” I famously remarked
… Now I put my hand up – I feel sorry for the poor boys I condemned… They had no chance… Sure enough… in the space of 2 mins and with only seconds to play they had squandered their lead and were only 3 in front. The other team made a last ditch raid and off balance and under pressure landed the most unlikely of 3 points to send it into overtime…
Needless to say, after escaping jail they went on to win the Championship easily in OT…
If only they had known that the key player in the championship game was hundreds of Thousands of miles away sitting on a couch, taking his lunch break…
For what it’s worth – I’m sorry boys…
Note… THIS IS BY NO MEANS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.. .
Players have had their careers ruined by over-zealous commentators… too willing to bring the fat lady to centre stage…
Which makes Tony Grieg the best commentator of all time – well by these parameters anyway!
“There is no way in the world he can drop it… oh no, I can’t believe it, that was a sitter, how did he drop that?”
Or the Infamous Greigism
“That is a great shot – oh wait no it isn’t there is a fielder underneath it, he’s gone! He’s hit it straight down the man’s throat. Can you believe it?”
No Gregy… We can’t… how can you keep doing this to us… Whenever Ponting hits a hook shot and greg is commentating I cringe… can he get the Aus captain out again?
Sport commentators have a proud history of changing results and moments single handedly… so much so, you wonder if they go to classes to perfect the act…
AFL is another classic example of how a commentator can make a 1-million-dollar-a-season player forget how to kick a ball 10 metres in a straight direction…
So all you aspiring journalists and commentators get cracking, because you have a proud tradition to up-hold…
I know I am working very hard in this field.
Does anyone remember Phil Gould’s “In what world can the Roosters beat the Storm” last year?
Matt John’s certainly didn’t miss it… he laughted, his face went red and he knew exactly what Phil was up to… he was knowingly giving the Roosters the win… the impossible… Storm only lost 3 games last year… and Gould was the reason for one of those – of that I have no doubt…
Ever been on a golf course? “Geez your hitting them well today mate!”
From that point on in the round, you spend more time in the water than Grant Hackett!
It is a mysterious thing the commentators curse… it happens way too often to be a passing coincidence…
You should try it sometime… maybe just around the pub… your down by 2 balls on the pool table, they are on black – it is an absolute sitter – just utter loud enough for everybody to hear – “There is no way he he/she can miss that…” Or the more sporting.. “WE can’t win from here…” and see what happens…
So to illustrate my point I would like to throw this out there…. More in hope than anything else…
So from this point of view… Queensland a dead-set certainties to win Origin this year… There is no way in hell NSW can win… Look at the Maroons – Inglis, Slater, Smith, Lockyer, Thurston…
The Blues have no chance in hell…
Unless that is…
There is an acid test that has and will forever stand the test of time…
Do you have the capacity to single-handedly change the results of games?
“You – as a commentator, change the result of a game” I hear you ask…
There are those who are simply born with the commentators curse… No matter how late in the game, no matter how large the odds are stacked against, a commentator has to accept his responsibility and not put his foot in his mouth… There are careers at stake!!
Now I am writing this in relation to the NCAA Basketball final that was on the other day… Now I admit I’m no basketball fan, but gee I could have commentated on that game. With 2 minutes to go my mates team was 8 points up… This is a big deal! The stadium had about 50,000 people in it… So these kids were literally playing for NBA contracts, every scout in the country probably watched the game.
My mate at $50 on the team in front at $1.80…
“You can’t lose from here” I famously remarked
… Now I put my hand up – I feel sorry for the poor boys I condemned… They had no chance… Sure enough… in the space of 2 mins and with only seconds to play they had squandered their lead and were only 3 in front. The other team made a last ditch raid and off balance and under pressure landed the most unlikely of 3 points to send it into overtime…
Needless to say, after escaping jail they went on to win the Championship easily in OT…
If only they had known that the key player in the championship game was hundreds of Thousands of miles away sitting on a couch, taking his lunch break…
For what it’s worth – I’m sorry boys…
Note… THIS IS BY NO MEANS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.. .
Players have had their careers ruined by over-zealous commentators… too willing to bring the fat lady to centre stage…
Which makes Tony Grieg the best commentator of all time – well by these parameters anyway!
“There is no way in the world he can drop it… oh no, I can’t believe it, that was a sitter, how did he drop that?”
Or the Infamous Greigism
“That is a great shot – oh wait no it isn’t there is a fielder underneath it, he’s gone! He’s hit it straight down the man’s throat. Can you believe it?”
No Gregy… We can’t… how can you keep doing this to us… Whenever Ponting hits a hook shot and greg is commentating I cringe… can he get the Aus captain out again?
Sport commentators have a proud history of changing results and moments single handedly… so much so, you wonder if they go to classes to perfect the act…
AFL is another classic example of how a commentator can make a 1-million-dollar-a-season player forget how to kick a ball 10 metres in a straight direction…
So all you aspiring journalists and commentators get cracking, because you have a proud tradition to up-hold…
I know I am working very hard in this field.
Does anyone remember Phil Gould’s “In what world can the Roosters beat the Storm” last year?
Matt John’s certainly didn’t miss it… he laughted, his face went red and he knew exactly what Phil was up to… he was knowingly giving the Roosters the win… the impossible… Storm only lost 3 games last year… and Gould was the reason for one of those – of that I have no doubt…
Ever been on a golf course? “Geez your hitting them well today mate!”
From that point on in the round, you spend more time in the water than Grant Hackett!
It is a mysterious thing the commentators curse… it happens way too often to be a passing coincidence…
You should try it sometime… maybe just around the pub… your down by 2 balls on the pool table, they are on black – it is an absolute sitter – just utter loud enough for everybody to hear – “There is no way he he/she can miss that…” Or the more sporting.. “WE can’t win from here…” and see what happens…
So to illustrate my point I would like to throw this out there…. More in hope than anything else…
So from this point of view… Queensland a dead-set certainties to win Origin this year… There is no way in hell NSW can win… Look at the Maroons – Inglis, Slater, Smith, Lockyer, Thurston…
The Blues have no chance in hell…
Unless that is…
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