On Sports Commentary

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I watch a lot of sport. For most of the year it’s just your run of the mill obsession but when these big events roll around I definitely go a little bit overboard. Last night I was flicking around between rowing, golf, weightlifting and badminton. It was sensational.

All of this preamble is really just to say that when I give my opinion on sports commentary this isn’t something I’m just doing on a whim. This is something I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about.

Pretty much without exception, Australian commentators are terrible.

At what point was the decision made that the TV audience didn’t want to hear analysis but instead wanted to hear a bunch of former players just cheering for their favourites? Seriously, it doesn’t matter the sport the modus operandi is the same. Whether it’s cricket, rugby, football or especially at the Olympics, Australian commentators are just one-eyed cheerleaders who have thrown all pretense of impartiality to the wind and seem to enjoy yelling.

Of course, the gold standard was always Richie Benaud. A man who understood that sometime you just had to let the moment speak for itself and that there was no point in saying something which the audience could already see for itself. Compare that advice with the tripe that gets wheeled out on Australian TV screens and it’s bloody depressing.

Let me know what you think — is there a single good Australian commentator on TV at the moment?

Jez

PS: Radio commentary is of course a different beast and a different skillset. To listen to it done well, listen to Gerard Whately’s call of Kyle Chalmers’ gold — it’s sensational.