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Rob Houwing’s ‘Tops on the Telly’ column
If our readers are a fair barometer - and why shouldn’t they be, eh? - then there wouldn’t exactly be a need for police dogs or baton charges to quell public disorder in Randburg if overseas commentators were employed for away Springbok Tests by SuperSport.
Any uproar, you see, would be counter-balanced by a surprisingly strong South African lobby prepared to tolerate the likes of “Marto”, “Kearnsy” and “Kafe” in Australia or “Nisbo” and “TJ” in New Zealand.
We’ve run a poll for the best part of this week, which has lured not much short of 2 000 respondents, and there’s been a ding-dong outcome to our quest to gauge whether it is worth the expense of SuperSport sending our own English-language microphone men to overseas rugby Tests involving the Boks.
As this was written, the see-saw was tilted ever so slightly - but perhaps significantly - toward this option: “Happy with locals when the Boks are home, and foreigners when abroad.”
This group amounted to 42% of the poll, with a fraction fewer people (41%) preferring Option B: “Fly them over ... overseas commentators are too biased.”
Needless to say, a further 17% of cynical wags picked the cheeky third possibility on offer: “Bok rugby is too depressing to watch, let alone listen to.”
So a very slight majority will willingly put up with the various Antipodean commentators, it seems, however parochial they may become at times - and presumably because they come up trumps for entertainment value, nevertheless.
Personally, I find the Kiwi crew admirably unbiased a lot of the time, but the Aussies notably less so, with Phil Kearns (despite his high-class humour) and Greg Martin the most obvious, see-only-Wallaby-magic offenders.
If there’s one good reason, however, to wish for a “Bok perspective” from the likes of Matthew Pearce and Bob Skinstad - on tour as we speak - then it is because they will invariably have a better ear to game build-up developments in the visiting camp.
I have long maintained that Pearce is suitably dispassionate in his calling of Bok games behind the lead mike, whilst former national captain Skinstad (whom I still find at his naturally-charismatic best when in front of a camera, rather than behind a microphone in the confines of the booth) had his best “game” in a while at Sydney last Saturday, making some incisive observations as No 2.
So South Africans are evenly split on the commentary feed issue, it seems, although an acidic colleague did mutter to me: “I wonder how much further the poll might tilt if any SuperSport cost-saving on overseas travel translated into slightly cheaper DStv subs?”
Rob’s awesome foursome
1. New Zealand v South Africa, Castle Tri-Nations rugby
Wellington, Saturday 09:35, M-Net, SS1, SHD
If the embattled Boks had managed to keep the likes of Flip van der Merwe, Johann Muller and Gio Aplon on tour for the duration, I’d have given the much-debated second string a more realistic chance of at least running the All Blacks close in this one. But there’s been upheaval and disruption galore so yes, I do fear some blood on the proverbial carpet now as the visitors take on more and more of a patch-and-hope look. If New Zealand get comfortably ahead early, there’s every reason to suggest the Boks’ record defeat on those shores (28-0 in Dunedin, 1999) could be eclipsed. Cometh the hour, cometh a much-needed, grand captaincy exhibition by Mr Smit?
2. England v India, 2nd cricket Test
Nottingham, from Friday 12:00, SS2 & SH2
The first Test at Lord’s was seldom less than engrossing, and even more so as the sun shone radiantly on the last couple of days and Day 5 queues reportedly started around 03:00. (Hang on, isn’t Test cricket meant to be dead?) World No 1s India took a bit of a roasting, in the final analysis, and faced a mighty dilemma for Trent Bridge at the time of writing: might Zaheer Khan’s hamstring “go” again, or should the veteran strike bowler be risked once more at a renowned swing-friendly venue? Of course this landscape brings one Jimmy Anderson sharply into the picture as well, and he’s buoyant after a five-for at less helpful Lord’s. I fancy India’s big-name batsmen must fire very meaningfully if another reverse is to be avoided.
3. Western Province v Blue Bulls, Absa Currie Cup rugby
Cape Town, Saturday 17:05, M-Net, SS1 & SHD
I’ve been see-sawing for days in my tip for this appealing derby, where some new faces on view across the ranks perhaps won’t be such a bad thing. In the end I went “Province” purely on home-ground factor, but not comfortably at all – I just sense that some old forward limitations are coming back to roost at Newlands and the ever-earthy Bulls will try to exploit the situation. Mind you, neither front row fills me with massive awe at present! WP might need decent flashes of their traditional (but more recently neglected?) backline flair to prevail here: it could just as easily go the other way.
4. F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, motorsport
Budapest, Sunday 14:00, SS1, CSN, Maximo & SHD
This really has become a race for the GP connoisseur, considering the slowness of the circuit and high skill and mental durability levels thus required. Four different winners in the last four races at the Hungaroring reflects how unpredictable it is. Interest in this year’s campaign has been rekindled in recent weeks anyway, with defending champion Sebastian Vettel suddenly not having things all his way and a quartet of drivers considered to be in the running for the 2011 title after a one-sided start. Even seasoned F1 critics are struggling to confidently tip a winner here, the last race before the summer recess of almost a month.
If our readers are a fair barometer - and why shouldn’t they be, eh? - then there wouldn’t exactly be a need for police dogs or baton charges to quell public disorder in Randburg if overseas commentators were employed for away Springbok Tests by SuperSport.
Any uproar, you see, would be counter-balanced by a surprisingly strong South African lobby prepared to tolerate the likes of “Marto”, “Kearnsy” and “Kafe” in Australia or “Nisbo” and “TJ” in New Zealand.
We’ve run a poll for the best part of this week, which has lured not much short of 2 000 respondents, and there’s been a ding-dong outcome to our quest to gauge whether it is worth the expense of SuperSport sending our own English-language microphone men to overseas rugby Tests involving the Boks.
As this was written, the see-saw was tilted ever so slightly - but perhaps significantly - toward this option: “Happy with locals when the Boks are home, and foreigners when abroad.”
This group amounted to 42% of the poll, with a fraction fewer people (41%) preferring Option B: “Fly them over ... overseas commentators are too biased.”
Needless to say, a further 17% of cynical wags picked the cheeky third possibility on offer: “Bok rugby is too depressing to watch, let alone listen to.”
So a very slight majority will willingly put up with the various Antipodean commentators, it seems, however parochial they may become at times - and presumably because they come up trumps for entertainment value, nevertheless.
Personally, I find the Kiwi crew admirably unbiased a lot of the time, but the Aussies notably less so, with Phil Kearns (despite his high-class humour) and Greg Martin the most obvious, see-only-Wallaby-magic offenders.
If there’s one good reason, however, to wish for a “Bok perspective” from the likes of Matthew Pearce and Bob Skinstad - on tour as we speak - then it is because they will invariably have a better ear to game build-up developments in the visiting camp.
I have long maintained that Pearce is suitably dispassionate in his calling of Bok games behind the lead mike, whilst former national captain Skinstad (whom I still find at his naturally-charismatic best when in front of a camera, rather than behind a microphone in the confines of the booth) had his best “game” in a while at Sydney last Saturday, making some incisive observations as No 2.
So South Africans are evenly split on the commentary feed issue, it seems, although an acidic colleague did mutter to me: “I wonder how much further the poll might tilt if any SuperSport cost-saving on overseas travel translated into slightly cheaper DStv subs?”
Rob’s awesome foursome
1. New Zealand v South Africa, Castle Tri-Nations rugby
Wellington, Saturday 09:35, M-Net, SS1, SHD
If the embattled Boks had managed to keep the likes of Flip van der Merwe, Johann Muller and Gio Aplon on tour for the duration, I’d have given the much-debated second string a more realistic chance of at least running the All Blacks close in this one. But there’s been upheaval and disruption galore so yes, I do fear some blood on the proverbial carpet now as the visitors take on more and more of a patch-and-hope look. If New Zealand get comfortably ahead early, there’s every reason to suggest the Boks’ record defeat on those shores (28-0 in Dunedin, 1999) could be eclipsed. Cometh the hour, cometh a much-needed, grand captaincy exhibition by Mr Smit?
2. England v India, 2nd cricket Test
Nottingham, from Friday 12:00, SS2 & SH2
The first Test at Lord’s was seldom less than engrossing, and even more so as the sun shone radiantly on the last couple of days and Day 5 queues reportedly started around 03:00. (Hang on, isn’t Test cricket meant to be dead?) World No 1s India took a bit of a roasting, in the final analysis, and faced a mighty dilemma for Trent Bridge at the time of writing: might Zaheer Khan’s hamstring “go” again, or should the veteran strike bowler be risked once more at a renowned swing-friendly venue? Of course this landscape brings one Jimmy Anderson sharply into the picture as well, and he’s buoyant after a five-for at less helpful Lord’s. I fancy India’s big-name batsmen must fire very meaningfully if another reverse is to be avoided.
3. Western Province v Blue Bulls, Absa Currie Cup rugby
Cape Town, Saturday 17:05, M-Net, SS1 & SHD
I’ve been see-sawing for days in my tip for this appealing derby, where some new faces on view across the ranks perhaps won’t be such a bad thing. In the end I went “Province” purely on home-ground factor, but not comfortably at all – I just sense that some old forward limitations are coming back to roost at Newlands and the ever-earthy Bulls will try to exploit the situation. Mind you, neither front row fills me with massive awe at present! WP might need decent flashes of their traditional (but more recently neglected?) backline flair to prevail here: it could just as easily go the other way.
4. F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, motorsport
Budapest, Sunday 14:00, SS1, CSN, Maximo & SHD
This really has become a race for the GP connoisseur, considering the slowness of the circuit and high skill and mental durability levels thus required. Four different winners in the last four races at the Hungaroring reflects how unpredictable it is. Interest in this year’s campaign has been rekindled in recent weeks anyway, with defending champion Sebastian Vettel suddenly not having things all his way and a quartet of drivers considered to be in the running for the 2011 title after a one-sided start. Even seasoned F1 critics are struggling to confidently tip a winner here, the last race before the summer recess of almost a month.
