Friday 11 September 2009

True to my Word

Regular readers will know that one thing I dislike is bad sports journalism. They might also remember this blog post: http://theriseandriseoftimlovejoy.blogspot.com/2009/08/if-theres-one-thing-i-hate.html

If you can't be bothered to click on that - a quick summary. I was bored and fed up with tennis reporters/interviewers who kept on asking Ana Ivanovic a question along the lines of "How does it feel to be fit?" and I presented two examples. I also said this:

I'm going to make a vow, right here - if I ever see/hear/read a journalist asking Ana Ivanovic a question like that again, I'm going to find an address for them or their employer and write a letter of complaint. It is pathetic journalism, and if it makes me annoyed, God only knows what she must think.

The two people in question in that blog post were Marcus Tennis (he with the awesome surname) and Elie Seckback. Well guess what kids? Seckback just can't help himself...


I'll be fair, the rest of the video isn't too awful. But it's the first 40 seconds we're looking at here people. Because even though he dresses the question up a bit, and focuses on the "fashion" element that does exist in the female tennis world, I still wasn't too impressed, and I still think that a decent interviewer would perhaps ask pertinent questions about her tennis game, or at least tackle a subject that hasn't been widely acknowledged before.

SO....I e-mailed him. To be honest, I didn't complain, I just pointed out my feelings in a nice and professional manner. And I'm pleased to say Elie Seckback replied promptly:

hello patrick
thanks for the e-mail
last month i got over 2 millon hits 87% of them males 18-35
so sometimes some questions make it
interviews are for the most part longer that what you end up seeing
but i'll keep what you said in mind --
thanks again
elie

Well done Elie, and if my e-mail makes sure that you ask proper questions to female athletes, my life will be 0.00001% better off.

Now, another vow. If I see/read/hear anything else about The Beatles this week, I'm going to poke Richard Starkey in the eye.

Thursday 10 September 2009

The Sloppy Star

Shall we just take a look at the sports headline from yesterday's Shropshire Star? Yes, I think we shall!




















Fantastic. The real question is though - how is the paper floating over my laptop like that?!

Wednesday 9 September 2009

Ewar's HoF Inductee #1

Hello, good morning, and welcome, to a new feature here on TRAROTL - Ewarwoowar's Hall of Fame. Over the coming months I'll be selecting a group of people who deserve to belong in the hallowed kingdom of my Hall of Fame, and tell you a little about them and why I like them. Shall we have Inductee #1? Shall we?

STEP FORWARD MR CHARLES "Charlie" GIBSON!
















Who else watches ABC World News on BBC 2 weekdays at about 1:30am?

Only me? Cool. I absolutely love the show, for one reason only - there is never any news on it from outside the US/doesn't impact the US. Now that wouldn't be a problem, but the fact the show is called 'World News' and then blatantly ignores the rest of the world just amuses me greatly. As Bill Bryson once said, "If you want to make the whole of Europe disappear, just open up an American newspaper."

Charles Gibson was born in Illinois in 1943, but moved to Washington DC when he was 12. Charles graduated from Princeton University in New Jersey, and then moved into a media career, starting on RKO Radio. He joined ABC News in 1975, and is perhaps best known in the States for presenting the morning news show from 1987-1998, then 1999-2006. He has anchored the World News show since 2006, but he will be retiring from that at the end of this year. Before long, the majesty of Charlie signing off with "I'm Charles Gibson - I hope you had a good day" will be gone forever, sadly.

In 2008 he was heavily involved in the race to be President - he was the co-moderator of the Democratic debate between Obama and Hilary Clinton, and he conducted the first interview with Sarah Palin after she became the Republican's vice-presidential candidate. Away from his job, he is married with two children, and in 2006 he donated $85,000 to a university in Virginia to establish a music scholarship fund named after his late brother.

Charles Gibson, we salute you!

Tuesday 8 September 2009

Fantasy Football Leaderboard

Feels like ages ago this, doesn't it? In case you've forgotten, Gameweek 4 saw the Mighty Mancunians defeat Arsenal 2-1 at OT. Arsenal's misery was compounded by seeing their manager get sent off for kicking a water bottle.

(Just going off tangent for a minute: if any other United fans ever read this - stop it with the whole "Wenger paedophile" chants. Was funny for about 15 minutes in 1997, but ridiculous now, and gives our club a bad name.)

Rant over! Also this Gameweek, Liverpool came from behind twice to beat Bolton, Chelsea crushed Burnley, and Hull managed to get a good point at Molineux. Right, the table!

1) Melchester Rovers (Daniel) 205 SAME
2) Clunge FC (Dylan) 202 DOWN 1
3) FATHEADZ BOYS FC (colby) 193 SAME
4) Boddy Dazzler FC (Darryl) 182 UP 2
5) Cynical Ben (Ben) 179 UP 1
6) Crem de la Prem (andy) 178 UP 2
7) Fantasy FC (Rob) 176 DOWN 2
8) Tommy Tank FC (Mitchell) 174 DOWN 4
9) Renford Rejects (Patrick) 163 SAME
=9) The Lamplight Tandem (Jon) 163 UP 3
11) Warrior's XI (arun) 154 UP 1
12) Miller-Urey XI (Don) 151 UP 2
=12) IsJohnCarewElectric? (formerly IsTonyDaleyElectric) (Shaun) 151 DOWN 2
=12) Dynamo Sawyer (Richard) 151 DOWN 4