As I write this the BBC have suspended Gary Lineker from Match of the Day because he keeps airing his political views in defiance of his contract. Various pundits – Shearer, Ian Wright etc – have come out in sympathy and even some commentators are threatening to stop working.
This is brilliant!
Televised commentary has had it’s day. I’m sorry, but it has, although radio commentary is obviously still necessary. Do I want the inane, cliched witterings of a commentator throughout the game? Well occasionally it’s nice to know an unfamiliar players name, but other than that NO! Please give me the crowd noise and nothing else. Motty and Coleman were good in their day, but the latest crop really don’t compare.
I’ve been wat.ching he game for years. I even played it for a while. I know the game, I can see what’s going on and enjoy the way it’s played without help. Just shut up and let me enjoy the game with just the crowd noise.
Except of course, that the crowd noise we get is heavily tampered with since the broadcasters are fined by OFCOM if any bad language or unacceptable language is aired. Thus the ‘real’ crowd noise is manipulated so nothing intelligible is transmitted. A shame, because crowd noise it part of the attraction of a real game.
The big question though, is will I really like the result? I suppose I’ll let you know after tomorrows MOTD!
Update, 22:55 Saturday evening.
So… did I like it? Well here’s a few thoughts:
- Very short – several 90 minute games condenced into 20mins, with no introductions at all, was maybe a bit too minimalist. Maybe there’s a compromise to be made, though it does highlight the tiny amount of actual football the BBC have actually purchased from the premiership.
- Some more creative use of the real crowd noise would help too.
- Regarding what seems to be turning into a strike in all but name at the Beeb, I wonder if the Beeb sports people haven’t rather overplayed their hand. As it stands there are several other content providers in the UK: Sky, BT, ITV, Amazon (occasionally) and several abroad such as Peacock, who also have recent games available for replay, plus if you want radio commentry, Talk Sport and EPSN. So really, how much would the Beeb and Lineker actually be missed if this carried on?