It's a nice wide world we live in. A colleague was waxing lyrical about the Brazillian volleyball ladies a few days ago, reckoning them the best looking team in the Games. I made an effort to catch them, to find they were playing (and beating) the Japanese team, who I'd already marked out as a bunch of absolute crackers, and my favourites. As I type, they're in the bronze medal match with the nearly as fabulous South Koreans - you won't get a cuter contest anytime soon!
The end of the olympics could see the end of another era as it's rumoured that the legendary BBC commentator Barry Davies might be announcing his retirement at the end of the games.
It's eight years since he retired from MOTD so younger readers may not be that familiar with him but for a generation of viewers in the pre-Sky era Barry and John Motson on the Beeb and the late Brian Moore on ITV were the only voices that mattered on football.
Apart from 35 years on MOTD (and four years on ITV and three on BBC radio before that) Barry's covered 19 Olympics (12 summer, 7 winter), 10 World Cups, 7 European Championships, 27 Wimbledons (including both Singles's Finals) and 11 Boat Races, as well as commentating on athletics, badminton, hockey, ice hockey, skating, gymnastics and cycling. He's covered every summer olympics since Mexico in 1968.
He is the only commentator on British TV to have done the final of the World Cup, European Championship, European Cup, Champions League, FA Cup, Cup-Winners Cup, League Cup, UEFA cup and World Club Championship live.
Barry twice did the opening and closing ceremonies of the summer olympics and if it hadn't been for the BBC deciding that it is now classed as a "News", rather than a sporting event, would probably have done London 2012. As it is, he's covering the ceremonies for the Olympic Broadcasting World Feed.
He's 75 in a couple of months time and has hinted that it might be time to finally call it a day, so tonight's Netherlands v Germany hockey final might be his BBC finale. If it is, it will bring down the curtain on one of the great broadcasting careers.
Here he is commentating on Gary Lineker's hat-trick against Poland in a must-win first round game at the 1986 World Cup:
1 day to go and it wud be great to stay in third place in the medal table, but them russians are having a gold rush at the minute! think we can hang on to third
I remember a lovely little comment in a paper during the point in their respective careers that Barry Davies was starting to get resigned to the fact that John Motson was being handed the major finals. As Barry made an observation during a midweek game that something to do with goalkeeper substitution was amiss, he soon had to admit that there had been a change in the rules that he was not aware of. This is no exact quote, but the reviewer in the paper imagined Motty sitting at home, taking a satisfying sip of cocoa and saying "327, Appendix 3, Subsection 9..." to himself! Legends, both!
All the respect and admiration from around the world for the achievements of GB medal winners must surely evaporate virtually overnight if the rumours are true about the bloody Spice Girls and One Direction playing the closing ceremony are true! We want Ozzy.
^ 50 years of British music has to include some greats, not just manufactured pop shite, if they don't include some decent bands the whole thing will be a complete joke. Oh, and somebody tell McCartney the ceremony is on Monday
(11-08-2012 18:48 )brummie Wrote: [ -> ]All the respect and admiration from around the world for the achievements of GB medal winners must surely evaporate virtually overnight if the rumours are true about the bloody Spice Girls and One Direction playing the closing ceremony are true! We want Ozzy.
) the Japanese team, who I'd already marked out as a bunch of absolute crackers, and my favourites. As I type, they're in the bronze medal match with the nearly as fabulous South Koreans - you won't get a cuter contest anytime soon!
