a trainer in the mouth
A couple of months ago I posted an article concerning politicians’ seemingly innate ability to say exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time (foot in mouth) and is personified by Cameron’s latest blooper where he explained “Every time I go to Iraq or Afghanistan, I’m blown away.” Well, not to be out-done our World Cup athletic presenters have tried to go one better by employing the undoubted skills of childrens’ TV anchorman, Ortis Deley, a man of little skill, limited vocabulary, poor timing and no athletics knowledge whatsoever.
With commendable restraint the BBC admitted that Daley experienced “some difficulty with the demands of live television”. No sh*t, Sherlock. Over the course of just a few days Deley’s gaffes included:
– The renaming of the world’s most prolific athlete “the Honourable Leo Usain Bolt”.
– Calling Oscar Pistorius, the SA double amputee “the fastest man on no legs”. Ouch.
– Inventing a whole new event “the men’s 100m hurdles”.
– Asking his fellow studio guest presenter, four times Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter, Michael Johnson, whether he was a pole vaulter.
– Concluding one broadcast with “So we have a gloriously sunny day here in the studio. We’ve seen some action this morning as well. Jessica Ennis. Good night.” Incredible.
Admittedly, he’s not the only sports’ presenter to have suffered the vagaries of live TV with other classic ‘Colemanballs’ including “Moses Kiptanui, the 19 year-old Kenyan who turned 20 a few weeks ago” from the great man himself; “very unusually, it has just turned noon here in Washington” from Huw Edwards; and an admirable “Did your great-grandfather have any children” from the ever erudite Fern Britton; with Clive Tyldesley giving us “Gilberto Silva: does exactly what it says on the tin.” Er, right. Pass the autocue please.
