ABC Grandstand - For-effing-ever!

[XFactor1979]

ABC Grandstand is where its at!

i couldnt help but notice some of the conversations they just veer off in, especially in crucial periods of matches, you are yelling at the tv screen for australia to take a hat trick next ball because england have wrested the initiative. yet this is what ABC Grandstand is discussing:

commentator 1: '... so i could get to choose free view in my hotel room'

commentator 2: "ah yeh... im really into dexter right now, ive starting watching season 4 on dvd"

1: "john lithgow's the main villain in season 4"

2: "ah yes, john lithgow talented funnyman, third rock from the sun"

1: "yeh but he could also do drama, and play a sociopath"

2: "talented actor... "

1: "speaking about funnymen, leslie nielsen passed away the other day"

2: "yep, the naked gun... as the next ball is left alone..."



also when i lived in England (a place where i couldnt help but feel compelled to support the team (of all the teams, can you believe i was going for India?) playing against England on their home soil ) Test match special can be accessible via radio 5 live, or radio 4 longwave. and that's also a winner right there!

what abc grandstand should do is allow the messirs of test match special take over the air for a session or an hour. we wouldnt have any idea what the score actually is in the cricket. But you can listen to Blofeld talk gibberish in his mongrel accent. Henry Blofeld is an expert on clouds

 

[OzBomber]

But when Channel 9 veer off it's not okay?

I'd probably listen to them if it weren't for the 5 second delay.

 

[Noobz0r]

Skull

 

[krusden]

In a 5 day test, all commentators veer off.

Hell, i cricket and I veer off.

What a load of crap from the Op, at least grandstand have thinking pommy commentators on it like Aggers and Roebuck instead of that flog mark bloody nicholas.

But it seems you'd prefer for the commentators to be nasty old axe grinding twits like slats and heals.

Oh, no-one forces you to listen to grandstand matey.

 

[Martha D]

they are all ordinary.

 

[legend166]

They're on air for 8 hours a day.

What a farce they talk about other things

 

[Gough]

But when Channel 9 veer off it's not okay?

I'd probably listen to them if it weren't for the 5 second delay.

Get a digital radio, no delay with that.

 

[Martha D]

The problem is that most of them think they have talent.

 

[davey_magik]

Far superior to the peanut gallery in the Ch 9 box.

 

[CAS79]

Grandstand have been looking after cricket at so many levels for so man years and still do when the commercial stations don’t give a toss.

Sure they tell stories but with some of those long run ups they need to fill the spaces. Maxwell needs to be put to bed in his nursing home now but other than that it's a good bunch of blokes trying to do their best on ABC budget

 

[nineteen eighty]

Get a digital radio, no delay with that.

Ummm as an fyi, it's an even greater delay on digital radio mate!

 

[Tom12]

GS720 anyday over the channel 9 boys. (Lawry, Tony and Benaud all hold their own though)

 

[Cuddly Carlotta]

But when Channel 9 veer off it's not okay?

I'd probably listen to them if it weren't for the 5 second delay.

Feel the same about the AFL. I'd much prefer to listen to ABC radio but the delay is sooooo annoying. Even though it's only a second or two. Why can't that be corrected?

 

[buddyruff]

What a terrible thread.

Applauding a radio station for talking about other stuff during the cricket...wtf?

 

[Tapee]

Grandstand on the radio is a second or so ahead here, makes for perfect background viewing (hear something happens, look up to catch it live). As for the offtopic conversations, I quite enjoyed Skull's 30 minute deodorant analysis, comparing roll-on to spray-on along with the sage recommendation of baby powder .

 

[Tyberious Funk]

OMG

I love grandstand. Yeah, they get sidetracked from time to time, but that's part of the fun. It's like listening to a bunch of old mates shoot the breeze. They are still a million times more insightful than the channel 9 idiots.

Kerry O'Keefe is a perfect example... tells jokes and comes off sounding a bit like the class clown, but he's also very capable of some insightful stuff.

 

[Johnson#26]

TF, good post. Love Grandstand. Get the bat and ball out in the garage and chuck 774 on. No worries.

 

[XFactor1979]

But when Channel 9 veer off it's not okay?

its ok to have conservative/ biased commentary?

the objective of channel 9 is the audience is stupid, lets commentate to them as if they were stupid

and lets keep the audience stupid

kerry o'keefe ftw!

anyway im not sure whats going to happen on the next episode of Two and a half men - do you? its such a great show?

 

[krusden]

OMG

I love grandstand. Yeah, they get sidetracked from time to time, but that's part of the fun. It's like listening to a bunch of old mates shoot the breeze. They are still a million times more insightful than the channel 9 idiots.

Kerry O'Keefe is a perfect example... tells jokes and comes off sounding a bit like the class clown, but he's also very capable of some insightful stuff.

everyone thinks he's a bit lightweight because of his persona however it's telling that they turn to him for his post-day comments at 6pm or thereabouts and what he says is 100 times more insightful than you'll read in the papers next morning.
needs more harsha bhogle, but then anything cricket suffers from not having that man on it so that's the most minor of minor quibbles.

 

[Hellgood]

Prefer watching cricket, but it's great when I'm at work... gets me through the day

 

[sherb]

The conversation wandering onto things not cricket is part of its appeal for me.

I remember as a kid listening to Test Match Special on the BBC when I could and people like Brian Johnston, Trevor Bailey, Fred Trueman, John Arlott etc would regularly deviate from topic.

It was especially good listening when there was a break in play due to rain or light.

 

[Martha D]

I love cricket and especially like watching the skills employed in a Test contest. I hate the rubbish and nonsense that is spoken and written about the game, keeping in mind the fact that it is a GAME. If it is not friendly, if banter is not tongue-in-cheek, if we can't enjoy it when we lose, if players indulge in unpleasant sledging (as distinct from friendlty wit), it's not cricket.
Let's remember that it's a game and enjoy it as such. Let journalists not pander to the silly notions that some sad sports followers have.
If a cricketers lose a game in the right spirit they are winners in the best sense, not losers.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

needs more harsha bhogle, but then anything cricket suffers from not having that man on it so that's the most minor of minor quibbles.

Harsha and Kerry together make a terrific combination. They bicker like an old married couple, but equally both have a good understanding of the game... Bhogle being good at ball-by-ball commentary and O'Keefe being good with expert comments.

I sometimes wonder about how much of their interplay is for real, and how much of it is staged... at the end of the day, I guess I don't really care. They work better than any Channel 9 commentators. Michael Slater in particular makes me want to slit my wrists

 

[Martha D]

the listening of commentators talking about Test Cricket should be like an opera..

channel 9 have turned it into a Rap song.

 

[Tom12]

I think Agnew in particular adds alot to the GS box. Maxwell and Kerry are more upfront than the channel 9 commentators, and there's only so much to talk about without repeating yourself as the ch9 boys are prone to doing.