I have no time for pet hates being things such as people driving slow in the right hand lane or chewing with their mouth open – if you aren’t used to these things by now you’re in trouble – but I can absolutely understand pet hates when it comes to sports media.
Here are five of my own in sport and the media.
1. The interviewer being in the same shot as the interviewee
Why is the interviewer on camera? Unless it is a specific talk show like Larry King, Rove Live or David Letterman, we do not care who is interviewing them.
This pet hate does have exceptions to the rule like anything else, such as shows like the above or when the interview is a special one off such as Lance Armstrong on Oprah.
Normally though I see this on the news. You will have someone from Fox Sports or Channel Ten getting a quote from the person in question, and all you can focus on is them in the corner of the camera.
Get out of their face and let them answer the damn question!
Half an arm and the mic is of course acceptable, but we don’t need to a full side on view of their head.
If the reason is so we know who is asking the question, do we really care?
2. Commentators getting caught up by irrelevant issues
Don’t get me wrong. I rate and understand how hard the art of commentary is. But one of the worst things you can do as a commentator is turn it into a stand up gig or get sidetracked.
There is a fine line between pleasure and pain with this, but there are plenty of examples even by the best in the business.
One is AFL’s own Bryan Taylor. Former Collingwood sharp shooter and now sharp talker, Taylor clearly knows his stuff. But his best work is when he calls the play. After all that is what a commentators number job is, to call the play.
If I had a dollar for the amount of times he went on a rant about Michael Barlow’s stats in his first game for Freo or snuck in his funny the first time not the hundredth, self-given nickname of ‘Por-pie’ for Hayden Ballantyne (related to the ‘Porpoise’ Jason Porplyzia from Adelaide I assume), I wouldn’t be living in Armadale.
Save it for The Footy Show or Soccer AM guys.
3. Overuse of certain words to describe players
I see it time and time again. A player retires or does something amazing, and they are referred to as a champion or legend of the game.
The more something is used or done, the less meaning it has (in most cases anyway) and just because someone has had a great career doesn’t make them a great of the game itself.
World-class players are among the top few in their role. It’s a tough one, because to some, anyone that makes it to the AFL, EPL, A-League, PGA Tour or whatever are elite.
Just because you are a pro and getting paid for what you do doesn’t make you world class though. Elite to me is the few very best at their role in whatever spot.
Santi Cazorla is the perfect example. He is a quality player in the best league in the world. He ain’t world class though. If he was, he’d start for Spain.
Greats and legends are people like Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong. Wait, maybe forget about that last one.
You get the point though.
4. The term ‘favourite’
This is a tough one, because it’s hard for the media to do much else. However as I said at the start, it doesn’t make it right to me.
What is a favourite to you? To me it’s the team most likely to win based on form, certain stats, match-ups, ground advantage and so on, not who is shorter odds on the betting market.
Odds are created by the public who are generally sheep when it comes to sport betting and will tend to follow trends.
Hawthorn are ‘premiership favourites’ right now with most betting agencies. They have been since 2008. That’s five years including this year. Five years as favourites!
Based on what? The fact they have the most popular player in the comp in Lance Franklin? Of course. The fact they haven’t had a decent ruckmen or haven’t beaten sides like Geelong since they day in 2008? Of course not.
Point is, the term favourite just annoys me sometimes.
I’m sure the underdogs like Sydney aren’t complaining though.
5. People not realising the role of the antagonist
An antagonist is someone there to provoke. They get emotions flowing. Generally they are not liked, but their role is as crucial as any on the show.
When I was much younger, I used to wonder how certain people got to be where they were. They were always wrong in my opinion, and basically I just saw them as a bloody dickhead!
After a while though, I realised these guys were on there to make the discussion more interesting. How boring is listening to everyone agreeing with each other!
It’s not a position I would like to be in, but the role of the antagonist is one I now at least understand. You can liken these guys to shock jock or sensationalist kings like Kyle Sandilands, who say outrageous (that is to the general consensus) stuff to get people talking.
There are also some cases where people have no idea, and it is hard to figure out whether they are this or simply have no idea what they are talking about, but after a while you should figure it out.
So there’s five of my pet hates. I have plenty more, but that’s enough emo for now I think…
What are your pet hates Roarers?
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