England’s glorious day in the sun lifted the BBC pundits but there was still caution amid the commotionComplain about the licence fee if you must but the bottom line is the BBC’s comprehensive World Cup coverage offers something for everyone. Toddlers across the land, for example, have been cavorting joyously to the simple pleasure of the Kicky Kicky Kick Kick song from the Hey Duggee cartoon. Meanwhile on Radio 5 Live there is the Robbie Savage breakfast show, for those who have not yet graduated to CBeebies.It is a broad church. But the actual match coverage must please everyone at once, no mean feat. England’s support can be roughly split into two categories – the blindly optimistic and the morbidly fatalistic – and...
The fetishising of Team GB feeds into the notion of medal hunting, of glossy PR at the expense of sport for allIn medical practice the phrase “the dose is the poison” is sometimes used to describe the principle that an excess of anything can be deadly. Take enough of it and it will kill you, from kitten tears to unicorn laughter to everyday ingestion of diesel residue from your own family car.At times during the BBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics it has been tempting to wonder if this rule also applies to extreme, nauseating doses of public niceness; if it is possible, given sufficient exposure, to die of niceness. Related: How much will Team GB's 'medal moments' in Pyeongchang really...
Corporation’s rugby correspondent will call it a day at the end of the 2018 autumn internationals after 46 yearsIt is not easy putting words to televised sporting pictures, let alone painting the whole verbal picture for radio listeners. The temptation is to gabble on, desperately fill the silence and, if all else fails, state the bleeding obvious. To make the whole thing resemble a cosy, fireside chat with close mates is a great deal harder than it seems.Rugby has been especially lucky with many of its pre-eminent ‘voices’. For years the late Bill McLaren imbued the sport with such warmth, humanity and soul it was almost a surprise when any genuine “argy-bargy” broke out. The “big laddy”, the “boilerhouse”, the...
From England’s victorious youth football squads to cricket’s county championship underdogs, there are strong claims aplenty this yearThey did not beat the double world champions over three compelling Tests, but Warren Gatland’s Lions deserve a place on the list for their part in a thrilling series in New Zealand that will stand the test of time. Often under the cosh, there were times when it looked as if the Lions would be hopelessly outmatched against a team as brilliant and confident as the All Blacks, especially after losing 30-15 in the first Test. Instead of allowing their hosts to run away with it, Gatland’s tourists responded with a magnificent performance in the second Test, fighting hard to win 24-21. Their...
Given sport’s bad reputational year, it is fine that the BBC is preparing to get Chris Froome to defend himself on what is normally a controversy-free programmeFor more than 60 years the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year has served up a mildly diverting few hours of saccharine and froth. The formula is long established: laud Britain’s sporting heroes, relive their glories through stirring montages, and throw a threw softball questions for them to answer.Usually it makes for an easily digestible, if unchallenging, three hours of viewing. On Sunday night, however, the BBC is expected to break with tradition by firmly questioning Chris Froome about his failed test at the Vuelta a España when he appears via video link from...