Motty!

[Anonymous]

Is hanging up his sheepskin after 50 years and the BBC is rightly celebrating his legacy with a week of John Motson related web and program activity. Ironic really considering the BBC lost the rights to show most football for 30 of those years and he is exclusively a football commentator but clearly a nice guy.

Doubly ironic considering that the BBC has been the exclusive broadcaster for the Olympics , Athletics World Championships, Commonwealth Games and related broadcasts and another 46 year veteran who was a far far better commentator got almost no mention when he retired in 2000  David Coleman. He even covered six football World Cups.

Back then these Olympic type events were much more in the public eye than they are now, (Not counting the London Games) easily front page news - UK Athlete's won quite often and there was a lot less football available. but then Coleman was a hard guy to work with and didnt suffer fools - and he was the first broadcaster to receive the Olympic Order award, in recognition of his contribution to the Olympic movement.

[sheepdog]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I remember Motty in the trademark sheepskin coat - mic in hand - in a snow blizzard 

I shall watch how England do in the World Cup ... but ... I'm not a particular fan of footie = I don't understand the game other than the aim is to put the ball in your opponents net 

I'm more of a rugby league fan = more scoring (of tries & goals) & the lovely physique of the players 

Motty, yes I like Motty ... he will be missed imhho (humble / honest)

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In England's case, the fun actually comes from guessing the cliche from the commentators. 1st prize is at what time will a commentator mention something about 1966. Second prize is actually finding something Garth Crooks says thats actually worth listening to...

[Anonymous]

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@sheepdog wrote:

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In England's case, the fun actually comes from guessing the cliche from the commentators. 1st prize is at what time will a commentator mention something about 1966. Second prize is actually finding something Garth Crooks says thats actually worth listening to...

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You've made me laugh @sheepdog ...  ... I'm guessing that hopes are not high for the England team 

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The prize for the  most enthusiastic commentary I've ever heard on any sport has to go to Murray Walker, whom as someone once said (can't remember who just at the moment), commentated as though his trousers were on fire and F1 commentary hasn't been the same since.

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@AnonymousTotally agree with that nomination for Murray Walker, I've always loved F1 and his 'Murrayisms' were famous

1. Nigel Mansell is the last in the race apart from the 5 in front of him
   
2. This would have been Senna's 3rd win if he had won the two before
3. There are 7 winners of the Monaco GP on the starting grid today and 4 of them are Schumacher
4. The lead car is unique, apart from the one behind it which is identical
5. Jenson Button is in the top ten, in 11th position
6. And Schumacher is 37 seconds ahead so he can refuel the car, change all four wheels, take off his helmet, have a smoke and a cup of tea and rejoin first.

They were just a few. MW is an absolute legend

[Anonymous]

I think the Scottish guy you are referring to @sheepdog is Andrew Cotter who also does golf really well.
Coleman wasn't the best ever but I think he was certainly in the top five in the UK - Along with Bill McLaren for rugby, Richie Benaud for cricket, Peter O'Sullevan for horse racing and Harry Carpenter for boxing. Honorable mentions going to Sid Waddell for darts, David Croft for Formula One and Steve Cram for athletics. When you have Martin Brundle who was not being exactly a commentator has a knowledge and way of presenting it that is second to none and freely admits his Formula 1 career such as it was was merely the training that he needed to have done be a TV F1analyst.
Then you have to ask yourself what might have been imagine for a minute it's Seb Coe had decided to become a commentator, or Mike Brearley. I can't also fail to mention the great Sean Kelly for cycling. Who's style leaves a lot to be desired but knowledge and ability to read a race is the best in the world.

[jonsie]

I seem to remember that Motty actuallywon a competition to commentate for a BBC MOTD game when he first started out. The BBC and viewers were impressed and they decided to keep him on.....I can't say I was too keen on him at first but he did become a very good and knowledgeable commentator but there always seemed to be a bias for one team or a personal dislike of another team although he did his best not to show it there appeared to me to be just something about him?

MOTD has changed so much over the years from the good old B&W days back in 1964 when it started off on BBC 2 when only one match was shown. In those early days the commentator was at the match covered by the cameras but when they started showing 2 then 3 games the commentators were actually in the studio. I was brought up with the likes of Kenneth Wolstenholme and David Coleman presenting the programme and also commentating, no slow motion replays back then. Kenneth Wolstenholme, David Coleman, Jimmy Hill, Des Lynam all had there own style and strong opinions. Love him or loathe him, Jimmy Hill was Mr MOTD....and interviews with the brilliant outspoken Brian Clough made it a programme to watch, whether at home or in the pub, you made sure you were near a TV.Unmissable.

It's all a bit too bland these days with the sickly sweet Gary Lineker and has been pundits.

Bac to Motty, didn't he retire once about 10 years ago? Or was he sort of persuaded that a new breed of commentator was needed? He only makes odd appearances now so maybe he's just asked back for nostalgic reasons. I do find him quite boring now in all honesty....

[Cleoriff]

He might be a bit boring @jonsie but there are members of a certain age who will remember he was prone to making the occasion gaffe.

The most famous was....

"For those of you watching in black and white TV, Spurs are in the all yellow strip"

@MarjoA picture of Motty in his sheepskin (just so you get the image)

[Anonymous]

This is the photo I always remember of Motty 

Also ... 'Whispering' Ted Lowe in snooker's Pot Black tv programme in black & white

Famous quote ... '& for those of you watching in black & white the pink is next to the green'

@Cleoriff Murray Walker's enthusiasm was so infectious 

[Cleoriff]

@AnonymousThe excitement when Murray was commentating particularly at the start of the race had me on the edge of my seat. The cars were all lined up on the grid, 5 lights on...and then he would say 'LIGHTS OUT....AND IT'S GO GO GO'. He literally raised the level of excitement.  Even if the race was boring and processional he would keep up his commentary which made us laugh.

David Croft is good but him along with Ted Kravitz don't do much for me. They tend to wander completely off topic chatting among themselves...and then interrupt themselves when someone pulls off a remarkable overtake or crash. Malaysia 2016 was  classic example. Hamilton was leading the race and ready to take the lead in the drivers championships and his engine exploded. Ted and Crofty were chatting away...and then it was 'Oh my God whats happened/ It's Hamilton.. Hamilton is out of the race'

To me that's similar to ITV going to adverts in extra time in football and a winning goal being scored during the break..

[Anonymous]

I dont have Sky F1 anymore - used to get it 'free' as part of HD but that wasnt going to last,.also the coverage was exhusting 16-20 hours per grand prix. Coupled with the Mercedes processeions of recent years..

I honed it to a fine art for 2016. No practice or f1 show. Last 10 minuites of qualfying, press conference Teds notebok, Martins gridwalk and then lights out..first few laps then FF  tire changes then FF to more tire changes then ff to the end. Teds notebook and thats all she wrote in under an hour.

But yeah I agree @Anonymous banters okay in its place, not during the race.

Intresting Fact : The BBC gave up live F1 even though it was costing one tenth what they pay the FA for highlights of the Premier League.

[jonsie]

I enjoy the actual race but unlike @Cleoriff I have no interest in practice or the pre-race build-up on race day. Qualifying and the race itself is all I watch but like @Cleoriff, I miss the commentary by Murray and even more so when he was joined in the box by James Hunt when he retired from driving. In comparison, no one has come close.    

When I was in hospital for 12 months I watched the F1 via Modbro once I got the phones working again but had to turn the sound way down so as not to annoy others and even muted when I was being attended to by medical staff. That was fine because all the race info was right there onscreen so in the end I preferred that rather than listen to some of the inane, what was supposed to be informative banter, but was in fact drivel at times!