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Another annoying aspect of his commentary –
STOP SUCKING THROUGH YOUR TEETH !!!!!!!!!!
I quite enjoyed his commentary at Donnie today. Thought his call in the 2:20 was particularly enjoyable aswell as the Grimthorpe.
I quite enjoyed his commentary at Donnie today. Thought his call in the 2:20 was particularly enjoyable aswell as the Grimthorpe.
Likewise, I found Tommo accurate, fluent and entertaining in the Doncaster races that were covered on C4 today. I think he read the Grimthorpe especially well.
The Grimthorpe was almost a carbon copy of 2005 when Run For Paddy touched off Lou Du Moulin Mas.
Wonderful race and disappointed so few turned up. Seems to be a regular occurrence these days
Are owners that obsessed with Cheltenham ?
I have today been watching the video of the Southwell jumps meeting from Wednesday on At The Races and thought Tommo did a very good job.
I can’t seem to turn on At The Races or Channel 4 without seeing or hearing him at the moment.
He certainly seems to getting more work on Channel 4 as a host and as the racecourse commentator on meetings taken by Channel 4, such as Doncaster today.
His Southwell commentaries were excellent, I thought, full of extra bits of information. I still think it will be such a shame if he gets the boot later this year from the racecourse commentary rota. He’s still at the top of his game, makes the effort and does plenty of homework before his races, which he passes on to those listening.
He did, however, keep saying that the horses were "on the right" or "on the left" as they ran down the far side (he would have been doing the commentaries from the monitor so that’s all right for TV viewers) but the crowd would not have been seeing that view and it would have been the opposite way round for left and right if they were following the action with the side view from the stands using binoculars. Couldn’t see if there was a big screen.
Have heard a couple of commentators saying "on the right of picture" etc recently, as though the TV viewer is more important than the racecourse crowd, which I have always thought should be the number one priority, although I realise that the TV viewers will be much higher in number.
Some commentators are often still going on for so long at the end of races, well after the first batch has passed the post, that even At The Races is fading them out after the first few and not always when there is a pressing race elsewhere to join. We were told that they were keeping going at the request of At The Races.
Ian Bartlett could recently clearly be heard adding his extra bits for the tail-enders purely for At The Races (different tone and delivery of voice etc) after seemingly pressing the button to cut off the sound for the racecourse audience.I thought his commentary on the first at Doncaster on Friday was pretty poor, the way he kept pronouncing Smokey Oakey towards the finish, all that was missing was "down the back stretch" and "they hit the wire togther" and he could have been American!
I quite enjoyed his commentary at Donnie today. Thought his call in the 2:20 was particularly enjoyable aswell as the Grimthorpe.
Likewise, I found Tommo accurate, fluent and entertaining in the Doncaster races that were covered on C4 today. I think he read the Grimthorpe especially well.
Good old Thommo……’and the leaders thoroughly enjoying himself,ears pricked’ Yep he sure was! ‘Ikorodu Road’ thats named after the most dangerous road in Nigeria’, So it is Thommo, and then theres ‘Mac aeda’ he’s named after an Irish King’..Nowt like chuckin in a Geography and History lesson at the same time! the guys a legend!
I’ve heard Thommo give brilliant commentaries, though I think his best, in relation to a big field seemed so impressively ‘in the zone’, it struck me that he’d had a drop of the vino collapso, and was ‘on fire’.
But I don’t believe I’ve ever heard him ignore horses in front, to commentate on the ones behind – which has to be a big plus, as I get the impression that most of the others do so, maybe deliberately as some kind of joke; a competition to see who could get away with the zaniest commentary on the ‘finish’.
Yesterday, a refinement of this game or perhaps, competition, was introduced;: the commentator was so keen to seem as if he was cheering the fancied horses home in front, that, for several seconds, he completely ignored a horse that was absolutely flying from quite a way back; and it was virtually on the line before he mentioned it. I think it was beaten a head in the end.
I don’t understand it. These guys have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game, they’re mustard at identifying the silks of the horses and owners, and geniuses at calling the races, but for some reason I’ve never been able to fathom, they seem to prefer to b*alls up the finish. Why the lack of professionalism? The demands of TV to make it sound like a hysterical commentary on Armageddon? Beats me.
Statistically, it’s crazy to call home a winner as if everyone was on it, when mostly they won’t be. In no other sphere of life do you hear someone raving ecstatically about the result of an event that will make the majority of people, losers, costing them money, when they had hoped it would be a good investment, and cause sometimes – during a bad run – bitter disappointment. Well, outside of Wall Street, the City and the big insurance companies and banks, that is.
Talking through my pocket? You bet. My pockets are megaphones, when I’m sinking.
To adopt a line from the splendidly deadpan stand-up Diane Morgan:
"Hello! I’m Tommo, and this is my own grandmother. Yes, I will LITERALLY sell anything!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJb0Izry818
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I work with a woman who, despite having no interest in racing (and being a little bit of an anti) fancies Thommo.
I am not making this up.
BlueSky @pghenn.bsky.social
So don't run, just like the others always do
That video has made my day. Cheesy or what?
Reminds me of the time when it was reported years ago that Tommo managed to get himself either free or much reduced hotel accommodation during the televised Chester meeting in May by producing a tipping sheet to be put under the doors of other guests. One of the sheets got put under the door of his colleague, Jim McGrath…..
I’m sure Jim found it very useful for his TV work the next day.
I think the story came out during the coverage of the Lynda and Jack Ramsden court case at which Tommo was called as a witness. He was asked by one of the barristers how much he earned and turned to ask the judge if he had to answer that question. He was told he had to do so. That was the most memorable part of that case, apart from the pictures of Lynda Ramsden’s different stunning outfits for every day of the case.
I’ve been a big supporter of Tommo in recent months but I gave him a black mark during the Channel 4 coverage from Musselburgh last month when, in three of the four TV races, he insisted on not handing over to David Fitzgerald by name and saying instead: "Let’s go for the call" or "Let’s go live".
One of those occasions was when David had clearly been given a Channel 4 microphone, or some arrangement had been made for him to have a chat with Tommo, and all Tommo could do was say "Let’s go for the call". David, ever the professional, did not return the favour and graciously said "Thanks, Tommo."
As it was David’s first time on Channel 4 via the course commentary, it was a bit of a poor show by Tommo.To adopt a line from the splendidly deadpan stand-up Diane Morgan:
"Hello! I’m Tommo, and this is my own grandmother. Yes, I will LITERALLY sell anything!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJb0Izry818
gc
Jesus Christ almighty. Put me off my tea.
You see, what you chappies don’t realise is that Thommo (if I may call you that Derek?) is basically a post-modern ironic icon in waiting.
Like so many things past – Bernard Manning, ‘Are You Being Served?’, ricketts etc – his expanding canon of work will only become fully appreciated with the passage of time.
Fortunately, such visual epitaphs as that You Tube clip will enable future generations to wallow in the full ‘Thommo’ experience long after we’re gone.
Makes you proud to be British.
Mike
Many years ago I had the pleasure of serving Derek in the Market Street bookies in Newmarket. To this day I am not sure if it was just an act or whether he genuinely did not have a clue what he was doing.
The thing about his appeal to women is that certain glint in his eye. Something that lots of men think they have, or wish they had, but seldom is the case.The thing about his appeal to women is that certain glint in his eye. Something that lots of men think they have, or wish they had, but seldom is the case.
And a sexy voice, apparently.
BlueSky @pghenn.bsky.social
So don't run, just like the others always do
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