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How did he land this job in the first place. Nothing personal.
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I thought the same, mate. I reckon it's due his knowledge as not just a rider, but also an Ohlins tech. Which I get, but there seems to have been a lack of understanding that television, as a medium, requires a certain animation to an individuals personality and interviewing technique.
People think that because somebody did the sport, they must be good at talking about the sport which most of the time isn't the case.
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Please dont get me wrong, i have the greatest respect for Simon (racing career) but when you land this kind-of "public" position, you have to be spot on. He gets names wrong, tyre choices, etc. I feel for the guy. Personally i dont think he will be around in 2019. My view.
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In fairness I expect the odd mistake in live broadcasting(look at Murray Walker) but in any sport they promote former pros to analytical roles when they lack the knowledge to analyse things.
One of my favourite things in bike racing is when a new female presenter is announced and on the various forums and social media platforms they go "does she even ride?" like it makes a difference, Suzi Perry rides bikes and she's .....
I thought Jodie Kidd was pretty poor for the TT this year. Steve Plater and Cam Donald are great though. In the GPs James Toseland is very good at getting into the garages and giving technical insights.
Yeah the most important thing for anybody involved in bringing a sport to the viewers is to actually do some research, especially when you're new to the sport like Jodie is and I think she failed massively there BUT this new look team was always going to be up against it since they broke up a long term team of presenters/commentators who were very popular with fans. Matt Roberts attempts at a grid walk were atrocious but that's not his forte, he's a presenter and a bloody good one but he looked amateurish dithering around on the grid there.
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Walker-isms were hilarious. Was always funny when he would be full roll and his partner couldn't even correct him. Loved the guy though. His voice was iconic and he was always filled with enthusiasm over the races. Could make the dullest race watchable.
I always love the one when he pointed out that the first 3 cars were all Ford Escorts then remembered he was commentating on the Ford Escort Cup race.
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Good old Murray.
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second this. he has really grown on me
Me too - He was admittedly awful at the outset, but he is getting better week by week (He's never going to be Dylan Grey though).
I do like his insights and the interviews he manages to get throughout the practice/qualifying sessions, although if you're only watching the race then you'll never hear them.
I also like it when he corrects the guy commenting alongside Matt Birt, god than man is ....... annoying (so much so I'm refusing to commit his name to memory)!
Macca
I loved Murray. His enthusiasm was palpable and infectious, and the Murrayisms were when he got carried away and were endearing in any case.
If you have ever heard an interview with him outside of his race calling he is an erudite and accomplished man, as opposed to Nick Harris imo. I think he might have done some bike racing commentary earlier in his career as well.
Yep, he was born into it, his father Graham was an IOM TT winner, Murray briefly raced motorbikes himself, then started commentating on hillclimb events before becoming a TT commentator on Manx Radio, he became F1 commentator in the 1970's but there's hardly a motorsport he never commentated on, he covered Rallycross, Motocross, Rallying, GP Motorcycling, Touring Cars. The man's an encyclopedia of motorsport, he's probably forgotten more than I'll ever know.
He's getting better but he's not Dylan Gray
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