- 28 Jun 08, 07:00 PM
Vienna
Sometimes us journalists expect more than we end up being given. Take Samuel Eto'o, for instance. Like a lot of big-name footballers this summer, he had been jetted into Vienna by the sportswear company he promotes as they looked to cash in on the worldwide interest in Euro 2008.
Naturally, we saw it as the chance to ask the Cameroon striker if he was on his way to England to play in the Premier League. This was, after all, a player had been told his Barcelona career was all but over by new coach Pep Guardiola.
So we trooped down to the Puma House in central Vienna to find out what the three-time African Footballer of the Year, still only 27, had to say. It didn't exactly go as we hoped.
It doesn't help when both the question and answer go via a translator. But I guess that's our fault for not being able to speak French or Spanish. Even if we had, I doubt very much if Eto'o would have played ball.
The closest thing we got to a story was when our little discussion had come to an end. A waiter appeared and placed a giant Wiener schnitzel sandwich in front of Eto'o and urged him to tuck in. A look of horror flicked across the player's face - and we didn't need anyone to decipher the subsequent exchange.
"Porc? Je suis musulman," he said. There was a brief moment of panic as members of his entourage tried to establish just what went into the Austrian delicacy. Finally, someone assured Eto'o that it was veal not pig. Satisfied he wasn't breaking any Islamic taboo, he wasted little time taking a bite.
One man who was only too happy to talk when I sat down with him for a chat was John Motson. The 62-year-old broadcaster will commentate on his last major football showpiece for BBC television on Sunday when he takes the mic for the Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain.
I'd listened in to his earlier conversations with newspaper heavyweights James Lawton, Henry Winter, Brian Woolnough, Martin Lipton and Matt Lawton. It was a joy to hear him regaling them with tales from his long and illustrious career.
There were two nuggets I particularly enjoyed.
Firstly, he reminded everyone that there had been no names on players' shirts and no television replays when he started commentating. In this day and age, when a player's name is splashed on the back of his top in large letters and an incident is analysed from umpteen different angles, it's easy to forget just how tough it must have been for Motty way back when.
Secondly, one of Motty's famous and detailed "crib" sheets - from England's 5-1 thrashing of Germany in 2001 - had fetched £1900 at a charity auction.
It's worth pointing out that Motty isn't ready for retirement just yet. He will continue commentating on Premier League games for both Match of the Day and Radio 5 Live.
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Surely you mean no 'names' on the back of the shirts, not numbers?
Martin
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Maybe Sam E'to should do the commentary for the match so Motty can have time to pickup his unruly beans. No matter if E'to doesn't speak English, commentary on a televised match is superfluous, and unnecessary anyway, especially "in this day and age when a player's name is splashed on the back of his top in large letters and an incident is analysed from umpteen different angles". But 'ol Motty sure did have it tough in the old days, having to figure all that out for himself from the comfort of his private booth. Kind of have to feel sorry for him getting paid a big salary to watch all those top matches for free. Too bad he didn't have a cushy job like digging in the pits or unloading barges, or something. There may be an excuse for radio announcers, but telly commentators are completely redundant and should be made so.
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This comment has been referred to the censor. A very familiar and frequent practice on this board , and the BBC in general. It is after all, a cardinal sin to do anything other than lavish unalloyed praise and gratitude on all BBC correspondents and commentators. Anything less, severely tests the limits of free speech. BBC = Big Brother Corporation.
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#1
Yep, you're right.
#3
We love comments and we don't mind criticism. That's the whole idea of the blog. Can only suggest you stepped over the mark when making yours.
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Ah, the old "we don't mind criticism" rhetoric....actions speak louder than words.
Mr Motson passed his sell by date many, many years ago and won't be missed. Indeed, tonight, the TV coverage will be accompanied by Five Live in our house.
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Considering "Mr Motson" has had the same style of commentary since he started, then your comment about passing his "sell by date" is absurd and completely redundant.
Thanks for playing the bandwagon game though.
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When is Alan Green retiring? That's when I'll get the champagne out!!
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I like john motson but over the past few years have got a bit sick of the same commentator for all the big games on bbc.
The fact theres no forum post linked to the article says it all really, darent do one.
But then again theres too many nutters willing to post bad s tuff.
Motson was a great commentator, but the BBC should have used more variety and then he could of worked longer and had a better repore with the public perhaps?
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Wow, a news story based on their being no news story. That is top notch journalism. I'd love to find out how many times a day the BBC is asked the question 'What am I paying my license fee for?'
That would be a decent story.
And Motson has been awful ever since he ruined the 2002 World Cup with his breakfast obsession.
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Can only agree with comment 9 above. For the last few years live BBC coverage where John Motson has been commentating has been on mute with 5 Live providing the commentary. As good as Motson was, he has been on a downward slop ever since the WC2002, and his performance in this championship has been far from his best.
The far underrated Barry Davies was, IMHO, a superior commentator who more often than not let the actions speak louder than references from a crib sheet. The greater shame is that 2 years ago when Motson was commentating on the WC Final, the better commentary was Davies doing the Mixed Doubles at Wimbledon on the otherside.
I must say I look forward to the new era of BBC Live football.
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Why does the Beeb consistently try to elevate long servers in their organisation into legends. Phil, Motty is a footy commentator not a 'broadcaster'. I agree with previous comments that Motty has had a very good run, and is probably past his best. I think the Beeb would find that their opinion of longevity periods of their 'icons' is much much longer than those of the public. This is particularly true in sports coverage where the on-air life expectancy is (wrongly) much longer than other in forms of entertainment - music/comedy etc. And someone like Brucie has a big innings the Public like them a lot, judged on ratings.If footy was music on the Beeb someone like Bros would be in vogue, but it wouldn't matter, we would watch anyway for the FOOTY. Lineker/Motty/ Lawro (GHU) are not the story, keep to the FOOTY.
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I think comment 11 is completely right and this is what worries me most about the BBC's insistance on sending staff out and publishing blogs on their travels. Football is the story here not the BBC reporters covering it.
Personally I don't want to know what you're hotel is like, what you do during the day before a match nor what you had for dinner that night. Leave that for your facebook profile. It's self indulgent and irrelevant to the football that I do want to hear about.
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Just dicovered this.
Good comments 11 and 12.
Why don't the intrepid reporters refrain from their own dull diary pieces and report on interviews with the (more intelligent) fans, overseas jounalists (usually superior to all but a hnadful of ours) or staff working on the tournament (to give us an insight as to how things are working).
Not duirected at Phil in particular but anything is better than the dull tales ... "those Turks didn't half keep me awake" and "boy, did I get soaked".
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