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I think that people in the public eye, especially those that court controversy and make an effort to have an attnetion seeking kind of presence can expect people to ask questions about their private lives too. They make it easier on themselves if they give the information rather than let rumours and speculation flow.
FairyBridge
, not everyone in the public eye is there because they choose to be so; and not everyone who chooses to be in the public eye is doing it to be self-serving. Human beings are much more complex than the black-and-white image you present.
Our Mr McCririck is a paradox: an intensely private – even shy (
yes!
) – man who believes in his cause so deeply that he shouts long and loud about it, even at the expense of his own health and comfort. That sordid appearance on Big Brother was more about advertising the sport he loves, much less about putting himself through an ordeal for his own satisfaction.
He may be misguided. I certainly think his style of rabble-rousing does little good. But do you believe that someone who believes in something so deeply, and acts on his belief, should be the prey of every trivial, nosy parker who chooses to victimise him? Does he, unlike you or me, have no right to privacy and dignity?
Your last suggestion – that he would make it
"easier on himself"
if he caved in to the media gossip-mongers by disclosing his private health problems – is neither reasonable nor true. Do you think they would back off one iota if they got a sniff of revelations?
In any case, why should anybody be blackmailed into giving way to this sort of pressure? After all, the glaring media spotlight is not making his health any better, now is it? If you wish him well, the kind thing to do would be to allow him some peace and quiet.
I never said I did not wish him well, and I am certainly no great lover of most of the press. I worked in PR for many years and have had the mike shoved in my face at various awkward moments.
It is just that the reality is people in the public eye are just that – in the public eye and under view. Sometmes the more you hide stuff the more they crave it. Personally I could care less what is wrong with him, I have enough drama in my own life not to need to live vicariously off of others misfortunes.
However some of the people wondering what is up with him might be doing so out of concern rather than nastiness and this subject may well have been posted here for this reason, that is the point I’m making.
I have met him through a charity I was involved with and found him to be generous but his shouting and banging tables was tedious and seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever other than to maintain his crazy image. But hardly shy. I’d agree a lot of seemingly bolshy people are shy though and it’s all a cover up.
I’d like to have a drink with him and a quiet talk, sure he must have a lot of funny and touching stories to tell, if only he’d knock the mad man act on the head.
So, good luck to him whatever ails him.
That sordid appearance on Big Brother was more about advertising the sport he loves, much less about putting himself through an ordeal for his own satisfaction.
Are you sure Pinza? I always thought he did it solely for the money
Our Mr McCririck is a paradox: an intensely private – even shy (
yes!
) – man who believes in his cause so deeply that he shouts long and loud about it, even at the expense of his own health and comfort. That sordid appearance on Big Brother was more about advertising the sport he loves
Very rare you come out with a contradiction like the above Pinza! I have never met anyone that is Shy who can put themselves across so vociferously as John McCririck,antics fashion and all! That Sordid appearance on Big Brother was purely for personal financial gain and John has about as much inhibition as myself,the difference is i would want £100k to wear his "Trawler Pants" in public!
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Pinza
Either you’re taking the p*ss, or you’re just plain barmy?
Do shy retiring types dress in the most outrageous apparel, wear wrist-watches on both hands, cover themselves in enough bling to make Del Trotter wince, wave their arms around in crowded places while wailing like a banshee, deliberately stand behind the interviewee when racing is on a rival channel, or pick their nose and eat the product in front of TV cameras.
JM is undoubtedly a self-publicist, and so blatant and outrageous in acting out the persona he has deliberately created to carve out a career for himself, that he could have little complaint when people actually take an interest in him.‘Shy’ may be taking it a little too far, but I suspect his somewhat forced persona and appearance together with the trademark bluster do mask an underlying (and deep) insecurity and inferiority complex. An essentially lonely self-hater who feels happiest (less unhappy) when the centre of attention and believes the way to gain this attention he craves so much is by endeavouring to ‘stand out from the crowd’ in a most brazen and conspicuous manner
Seen him many a time off-camera at York and Donny. Fine and ‘Big Mac’-like when in company, but alone the mask drops to reveal a featureless face with the ‘thousand-yard stare’ and a drooping body appearing to carry the weight of the world on its shoulders
I fall between the love/hate marmite-like affect McCririck has on most folk. Never liked his TV manner and very much doubt I’d enjoy sharing a beer with him but his unquestionable love of racing and care for it allied to the equally unquestionable fact that he was once a first-class campaigning journalist means I’ll always have a small soft spot for him
As Gingertips points out he’s long had a rather worrying tremble of the head; whether this marked the early stages of a degenerative affliction that’s now getting worse I don’t know, but whatever, it is his business and his alone
I agree with Pinza. I think Big mac is a paradox; egregiously eccentric on the one hand and intensely private on the other. His public persona can easily be construed as a one big act; if so, an act that has brought him huge dividends throughout his tv career. His private life, as much as we know, is somewhat different. Very few individuals have managed to crack the inner sanctum of himself, the Booby and the dogs – and even fewer have scratched the surface of the "real" John McCririck.
I too have have noticed the shaking and, although I do not know for certain, it could well be that he is in the early throes of Parkinson’s disease. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
I like John McCririck; the public front, faults and all. He does upset people and he does go over the top at times – but he does know his racing. He really does.
He once said of my two racing equine heroes: " Arkle is the greatest race horse that has ever lived " – and "Sea Bird is the nearest thing to the perfect racing machine."
That’s good enough for me.
Long may you thrive big man.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Does anybody know what Curley did for big mac that "saved his bacon" as refered to in that interview ?
Being shy in private and yet flamboyant in public are not the contradiction. Many shy people go a bit over the top to counteract their shyness and I think Big Mac is one of these people. I have spoken to him once and he was a very nice chap. He might be over the top but he publicises racing in a positive way. Oh and I do agree with him in that Arkle is the greatest racehorse that ever lived.
Does anybody know what Curley did for big mac that "saved his bacon" as refered to in that interview ?
I fear that question will never be answered.
- Total Posts 17716
Seen him many a time off-camera at York and Donny. Fine and ‘Big Mac’-like when in company, but alone the mask drops to reveal a featureless face with the ‘thousand-yard stare’ and a drooping body appearing to carry the weight of the world on its shoulders.
Neatly observed,
Drone
– your description of the man, and sensitive analysis of his psychology strike me as bang on the money. I’m sure many of us at the racecourse have seen that deflated, lost figure you describe. You’ve unpacked my crude "shy" with surgical skill!
So many seemingly ebullient public figures (not least actors) use loud, gregarious behaviour as a mask for feelings of deep, lonely inadequacy.
I don’t watch C4 racing and my main exposure to Mac now is on The Sunday Forum. When it’s him, Claude Duval and Chappers, it’s all good-natured banter and he seems comfortbale.
On other occasions, he strikes a more discordant note against a quieter, more thoughtful panel with younger journalists.
He rightly lauds David Ashforth as a great journalist but he has been in his time a superb investigative reporter and he has done much to improve the lot of the punter. He is well informed on internal racing politics (no question).
I’ve never liked his politics and I do think at times he has been given more licence to put across a particular political standpoint than any other presenter.
My main thought is that he is becoming a face of racing’s past – his points of reference are the 50s and 60s when the sport was different, society was different and the people in racing were different. He exhibits a faux deferrence to people in authority which seems curiously misplaced in these more egalitarian times.
I wish him well, respect his history and hope one day he commits his experiences to paper – it will make a hell of a read !!
McCririck calling horse racing “Barbaric” again
Should this guy really still be given airtime on ATR & C4 Racing to freely air his views when he has such a view of the sport?
He can have any views he wants but why does horse racing continue to employ him?
Noticed there were a lack of such comments from him when he was covering the Breeders Cup for American TV.Well if it generates a response by "Outraged from Tunbridge Wells" then I’m sure the producers are happy they have created a talking point.
Other than the fundamental right of freedom of speech, I can see no reason why Mr McCririck is not currently serving 15 years penal servitude for expressing his opinion, however flawed it may or may not be.To paraphrase Voltaire:
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
He seems to be getting less TV airtime these days, coincidence I wonder? As for papers you don’t have to read them.
He is entitled to his opinion though, even if it seems the opposite of those working in racing, just because one’s lived a life off of the racing gravy train, doesn’t mean one can’t speak out against the sport.
Once the whip is banned completely though, they’ll move onto fences next..
The man is a loon
Several years ago he was screaming for Therealbandit to run in the Gold Cup. On Saturday, without humility, he had a go at Scudamore for the connections of Grand Crus contemplating the big race instead of the RSA.
Wouldn’t surprise me if he was talking through his pocket.
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