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My wife calls him Droner Man.
I’m having all my illusions very sadly shattered on this forum. I was only just recovering after reading in a post by David Cormack on the Pinza thread that Matron is in fact a man.
I had, in my innocence, fondly conjured up a picture of a large and formidable Hattie Jacques lookalike from the Carry On films. Images of Matron trying to dominate and smother the terrified Kenneth Williams had weighed heavily on my mind (even more so now if she’s really a man).
Now, from this post, it seems like CarryOnKatie is also a man. I would like to think that the word "wife" is a clue to the fact that the "she" I had supposed she was is actually a "he", unless I have made another very unfortunate politically incorrect assumption.
You will be telling me next that Pinza is in fact a woman. Possibly an old woman, granted, if not a big girl’s blouse.
I’ll get my coat…..Sorry for shattering your illusions Crusty, the user name is a tribute to my wife (who is called Katie).
All the best, Sean
Crikey – I had Katie down as a female too.
I’m glad it’s not just me thinking that CarryOnKatie was a rather attractive woman. If the big cheese of the forum doesn’t know she’s a man, there’s no hope for lowly types like me.
I work with a Katie and a Katy and they are both very sexy with amazing… er, well I’d better not say.
To compound the felony and really put me in a spin, I am beginning to think that Ricky Lake may be a man.
I had also assumed that "she" was a woman, as in the case of the American chat show host Ricky Lake, who was the poor man’s answer to Oprah Winfrey (who may have looked like a man but was definitely a woman).
I may have to go for a protracted lie down in a darkened room at this rate if any more of my senior colleagues on the forum get outed as being a different sex from the one I thought they were. A chap can only take so much (so to speak).
I’m sure it will turn out, at this rate, that Des Scahill is really a woman and that he won the Irish version of the Filly Factor in 1963.Aha; my brain has finally clicked into gear and I realise who you’re all talking about! Only tend to listen to him when I’m looking at old races on ATR/TSL, so the name and the voice didn’t correlate. Usually a race where there are five runners, the order remains the same throughout the race and Hurricane Fly takes up the running after the last fence and wins[so it never surprises me that he sounds a bit bored]. Will try to listen to a few races where there are a) more runners or b) something exciting happens and see how he sounds then. Having said that, I like it; it reminds me of listening to the Melbourne Cup on the radio with Aussie Jim commentating and is rather anachronistic. Am in awe of the fact that he just swots it all up at the last minute, bit like a teenage lad the night before an important exam.
Just listening to Timeform Radio, and the guy who sounds like Chris Moyles has just had a dig at the fact that the Irish commentator [who, he says, gets paid vast amounts of money] never bothers to say anything in the run up to the race [supposedly the horses walk round in circles for ages before they start, snd they have to fill the gap waiting for the commentary to begin]. This has opened up a whole new area of racing previously unknown to me.
Just listening to Timeform Radio, and the guy who sounds like Chris Moyles has just had a dig at the fact that the Irish commentator [who, he says, gets paid vast amounts of money] never bothers to say anything in the run up to the race [supposedly the horses walk round in circles for ages before they start, snd they have to fill the gap waiting for the commentary to begin].
Moehat, yes, that definitely sounds like Des Scahill. I’ve heard Matt Chapman on At The Races moaning that Des is a man of few words before the start of a race and doesn’t say much or engage in any chit-chat with the studio link men.
Matt doesn’t have any problems with John Hunt, one of this country’s top racecourse commentators, of course, who is only too pleased to join in the pre-race banter.Matt doesn’t have any problems with John Hunt, one of this country’s top racecourse commentators, of course, who is only too pleased to join in the pre-race banter.
Give it a rest Crusty – you have made it abundantly clear you have an issue with John.
Your are beginning to become as tiresome as a certain other poster was with the whip issue.
You’ve made your point
Matt doesn’t have any problems with John Hunt, one of this country’s top racecourse commentators, of course, who is only too pleased to join in the pre-race banter.
Give it a rest Crusty – you have made it abundantly clear you have an issue with John.
Your are beginning to become as tiresome as a certain other poster was with the whip issue.
You’ve made your pointYou’re quite right, of course, Paul. I was being a bit mischievous, I must admit.
I have said quite a lot of genuinely complimentary things about him, in fairness, and they were sincerely meant at the time. They’re all meant to be taken with a pinch (if not a drum) of salt.Crikey – I had Katie down as a female too.
I’m glad it’s not just me thinking that CarryOnKatie was a rather attractive woman.
She is Crusty. Been married five years now! I just took the user name in her honour
Crikey – I had Katie down as a female too.
I’m glad it’s not just me thinking that CarryOnKatie was a rather attractive woman.
She is Crusty. Been married five years now! I just took the user name in her honour
Nice one.
Just listening to Timeform Radio, and the guy who sounds like Chris Moyles has just had a dig at the fact that the Irish commentator [who, he says, gets paid vast amounts of money] never bothers to say anything in the run up to the race [supposedly the horses walk round in circles for ages before they start, snd they have to fill the gap waiting for the commentary to begin]. This has opened up a whole new area of racing previously unknown to me.
PJ is not the only one of us on TFR that wishes Des made greater attempts to bridge the gap between cutting to him and the race starting. He particulary lets the side down when something plays up behind or in the stalls, delaying the start commensurately, yet he relays none of this over the PA.
He has acquired the nickname from some of us of "Gielgud", as we could quite imagine someone has to prod him back into action – as per Sir John Gielgud’s puppet on
Spitting Image
** – once the gates do finally fly back.
Harsh? Some may think so. But it’s not condusive to flowing, agile broadcasting, as far as we’re concerned.
gc
**Sir John Gielgud doses off on
Spitting Image
again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwYXxyFltjM
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.
Just listening to Timeform Radio, and the guy who sounds like Chris Moyles has just had a dig at the fact that the Irish commentator [who, he says, gets paid vast amounts of money] never bothers to say anything in the run up to the race [supposedly the horses walk round in circles for ages before they start, snd they have to fill the gap waiting for the commentary to begin]. This has opened up a whole new area of racing previously unknown to me.
PJ is not the only one of us on TFR that wishes Des made greater attempts to bridge the gap between cutting to him and the race starting. He particulary lets the side down when something plays up behind or in the stalls, delaying the start commensurately, yet he relays none of this over the PA.
He has acquired the nickname from some of us of "Gielgud", as we could quite imagine someone has to prod him back into action – as per Sir John Gielgud’s puppet on
Spitting Image
** – once the gates do finally fly back.
Harsh? Some may think so. But it’s not condusive to flowing, agile broadcasting, as far as we’re concerned.
gc
**Sir John Gielgud doses off on
Spitting Image
again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwYXxyFltjM
I think it is a general issue with Irish racing across the board, not just with Des – I can struggle to think of any Irish meeting I have been to where the runners have been called to post.
Similarly it is the exception, rather than the rule, to get any "at the post" or "loading" commentary either.
Usually the first utterance from any commentator is "the white flags raised"
S
It was a bit of a shock going straight from the Irish race to Kelso [Simon Holt, I think]. The only thing I will say is that I realised that, listening to Des was like listening to something on the radio rather than on the telly [ok, I know it was on the radio] in that it made me use my imagination. I question whether that is a good thing, having a rather overactive imagination at the best of times.
Not unlike a newspaper without an editor.Des needs an editor I believe.Perhaps his wife or kids could do the job.But the light bulb must want to change as the joke goes.I wonder if Des does?
PJ is not the only one of us on TFR that wishes Des made greater attempts to bridge the gap between cutting to him and the race starting. He particulary lets the side down when something plays up behind or in the stalls, delaying the start commensurately, yet he relays none of this over the PA.
Harsh? Some may think so. But it’s not condusive to flowing, agile broadcasting, as far as we’re concerned.It’s really poor that he’s doing this. Hadn’t realised he was quite this bad at letting people know what was happening and that it was causing quite the problems it is.
Not only is he letting down the broadcasters, he is also providing a poor service in these circumstances to the racegoers at the track, who surely ought to be able to expect the course commentator to be keeping them up to date with what is happening on the course.
It’s not really a problem on our racecourses because most of the commentators do a good job in letting racegoers know how the loading up etc is going. Some are very good at this, often naming every runner as they go in to the stalls.
The only time there is potential for this not to happen is when someone at, say, At The Races hands over to the commentator too early and they are forced to have a chat with him rather than bringing the on-course audience up to date with the last-minute happenings. Tommo can be particularly prone to this, managing sometimes to say too much to the At The Races linkman at the expense of the spectators on course.Usually the first utterance from any commentator is "the white flags raised"
I have been at an Irish meeting – indeed it might have been at Punchestown – where they had jumped two fences before the commentator (and it was probably Des) realised they were off and started calling.
Usually the first utterance from any commentator is "the white flags raised"
I have been at an Irish meeting – indeed it might have been at Punchestown – where they had jumped two fences before the commentator (and it was probably Des) realised they were off and started calling.
There is a clip, I will try and find a link to it, of a sprint at, I think, The Curragh, where Des was late in the commentary box and he begins the commentary after about a furlong and he is desperately trying to get his breath back.
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