Something Britain Unquestionably Does Better Than the United States!
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by user Alex Holowczak
I often rant that the Brits are better at sport than the Americans. And you lot often argue the contrary. However, I think I have found something that Britain does much better than the USA in sport. And I don't think you can argue with me on this one. Feel free to if you can though!
The Brits have the better commentators on sport than anyone in America. A few examples:
- Murray Walker - see his quotations - even now people think he should commentate on Formula One. He brought excitement and drama to races - his voice could make the most boring races exciting. He made huge errors, often mixing up team mates, getting mixed up between people with similar names (e.g. Brundle and Blundell). At the end of it all, he was a legend.
- Sid Waddell - a Darts commentator - a few of his quotes - "Even Hypotenuse would struggle to work out those angles", "Bristow quickens... Ahhh! Bristow!" (A pun on the advertising campaign of Bisto gravy, which went "Ahhh, Bisto!" "When Alexander of Macedonia was 33, he cried salt tears because he had no more worlds left to conquer - Bristow is only 27." No relevance to anything. At all. "Jocky Wilson - What an athlete!" - Wilson wasn't exactly slim... Still, along with Tony Green, of bullseye fame, the two are famous and most British sports fans will know them.
- John Motson - Football - Has a huge amount of statistics and always does his best to stay neutral, even when his co-commentators let him down in that respect. Another veteran of the game, and is the Number 1 commentator in the game.
- Ted Lowe - Snooker - Commentated on snooker for over 40 years, his nickname was "Whispering Ted Lowe" since he commentated before the commentary box era, and had to sit in the arena and whisper into a microphone to work. Another with famous bloopers - "For those of you in black and white, the pink is next to the green." When Cliff Thorburn made a 147 in the World Championship, he said "Good luck, mate" over the commentary - another famous line.
- Richie Benaud - Cricket - Again good neutrality, and says what needs to be said and no more. Has great commentary. Okay, he's an Aussie, but you get the idea! Other cricket commentators that are popular are Jonathan Agnew and Henry Blofeld. Blofeld is particularly famous for his incredible use of English to describe things, describing not only the cricket, but the pigeons flying past the commentary box window....
- Bill McLaren - Rugby - Commentated for over 40 years - another with great quotations - "There's five minutes left to no side." Scottish accent, but always knew what was going on.
The USA doesn't have this. Other than John Madden, and maybe Al Michaels, there are no really famous sporting commentators (that I know of). When four of the above retired, they all recieved honours. People are begging Walker to come back. Benaud is greatly missed in Britain. Murrayfield (where Scotland play rugby matches) had a standing ovation for him on his final commentary from there when the PA made the crowd aware of it. Motson and Waddell still commentate, and both are hugely popular.
So I think I have finally found something that we do better than the United States at in sport - that no-one can argue with! Or have I?
