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Matt Dawson isn’t an obvious choice, but let’s give it a chance. No point in crying before you’re hurt.
It can’t be any worse than the current format.
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Wasn’t he involved in C4’s Glorious Goodwood coverage? Did he not spend most of his time laughing and joking with his rugger chums, only turning his attention to the racing long enough to declare that he was ‘surprised by the character Canford Hills showed’?
He was tried. He was tested.
He failed. Miserably.
i probably would go for Jeremy.
I’d probably go for him, too. With a hammer.
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 take it McCririck or Derek Thompson will be appearing on the BBC’s rugby coverage from now on so? A sort of swap deal so to speak.
What a balls of a decision. Someone should check the calendar and make sure it’s not 1 April.
I stopped watching ages ago. It is a terrible programme any way & Matt Dawson probably will make no difference.
Antony,
The Morning Line may be a ‘bit of fluff’ nowadays, but it used to be a proper racing program with serious discussion of the races to be shown later that day.
A group of people that knew their form were allowed to spend five or ten minutes per race, with regular use of archive footage. Big Mac dealt with issues affecting racing in a grown up manner. Jokes were kept to an absolute minimum. The presenters and pundits talked one at a time. Interviews were conducted in a professional fashion and because Ch4 often covered racing on a Friday, they would show interviews recorded the day before.
There was no internet to tell punters what was being backed – Big Mac was the only source of info on steamers, and that alone made it compulsory viewing for punters.
In short, it was a disciplined and informative magazine program that treated it’s audience as adults with an interest in racing and betting.
Sadly in your lifetime, it has declined into a shambles with no structure, and the main performers involved have become parodies of their past selves. The decline is epitomised by the sad sight of Big Mac, once a genuine campaigning journalist, now that most dreadful thing, a ‘celebrity’ who believes his own publicity and plays the role assigned to him.
To those of us old enough to remember the program as it was in the 80’s and early 90’s, the current rubbish is unwatchable and the advent of another ‘celebrity’ seems highly unlikely to change that.
AP
I really enjoy the show. Mixes great racing in with good banter. I’ve never had any problems with it.
Agree with AP. Too true. Big Mac’s steamers were compulsive viewing.
You might find this hard to believe, Anthony, but once, Martin Pipe told viewers that a horse of his would win a big Handicap Hurdle and within twenty minutes, there were queues outside my local Ladbrokes to get the price. Queues.
*sigh* Ain’t the same nowadays is it. No wonder we’re the third fattest country in the world when all a person has to do to purchase a service is shamble toward a keyboard in his Paisley Y-fronts while eating a slice of pepperoni pizza.
Aw what? Matt Dawson is awesome. Come on he’s funny, has plenty of sporting knowledge… perhaps not on the nags, but still… and he’s good on camera. Talks of him being bad on camera is total hipperish.
what on Earth does "hipperish" mean?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysAw what? Matt Dawson is awesome. Come on he’s funny, has plenty of sporting knowledge… perhaps not on the nags, but still… and he’s good on camera. Talks of him being bad on camera is total hipperish.
what on Earth does "hipperish" mean?
Roughly 1000bc there was a meeting between the Greeks and the Maori. They battled many years before coming to a truce and living in peace. They were later reported to have come up with a word together to describe their initial battle. And that word… was "Hipperish".
So to answer the question… "Hipperish" means silly.
sigh* Ain’t the same nowadays is it. No wonder we’re the third fattest country in the world when all a person has to do to purchase a service is shamble toward a keyboard in his Paisley Y-fronts while eating a slice of pepperoni pizza.
Good one Maxilon
. LolGood points made regarding what The Morning Line used to be like but as I pointed out, these days we do have the internet, At The Races & Racing UK.
The purpose the programme was there to serve has been has been usurped. The two dedicated channels can preview the days racing in a more in depth way than Channel 4 could ever hope for.
Channel 4 itself has changed the way it operates of a Saturday morning. I may have only been a ‘fan’ of racing since 2008 ish but from a much younger age my weekend ritual was Trans World Sport, The Morning Line, Football Italia, kids programmes (Cat Deeley does much for a young lad & his Dad).
Only one of those three survives & these days Morning Line is followed by the ‘teen programming’ of T4 which is directly followed by the racing itself. There’s a possibility that C4 are trying to get some cross over between those two very distinct audiences & I can’t say I blame them.
When they decide to abbreviate The Morning Line to ‘TML’ may the time to panic.
Pray they don’t go the same way as Sky’s ‘Soccer AM’ which also used to be a serious preview programme.A good point made regarding John McCririck. On ATR, that’s who he is but on Channel 4 he’s ‘Big Mac’ clown prince of racing.
Had to laugh last night on Question Of Sport, when asked…
"Which jockey rode Imperial Commander to victory in the Gold Cup in March of 2010".
Matt Dawson’s reply…
"Twiston Davies".
Well, he didnt actually say Twiston Davies, as he said another name, but that is who he meant.
I know Channel 4 are looking for ways to save money, why don’t they humanely put down The Morning Line which has ceased to be informative or relevent (except maybe on the big days, Cheltenham Festival, Guineas Saturday etc) and put the savings into the afternoon programming.
(No doubt they could fill the gap with EVEN MORE Friends repeats!)
I can’t find the actual thread about Channel 4’s coverage & I don’t think it’s really worth starting a whole new thread but if I did it would be called:
Channel 4 you great big eejits!
Not two weeks after two fatal falls in the Grand National & all the attendant controversy we have Alice Plunkett introducing today’s racing with a short compilation footage of fallers!
Clever people.
Channel 4 you great big eejits! Not two weeks after two fatal falls in the Grand National & all the attendant controversy we have Alice Plunkett introducing today’s racing with a short compilation footage of fallers! Clever people.
You’re so right Anthony, what stupid people run Channel 4 Racing? People who don’t understand irony and know nothing about the sport I guess
I can’t find the actual thread about Channel 4’s coverage & I don’t think it’s really worth starting a whole new thread but if I did it would be called:
Channel 4 you great big eejits!
Not two weeks after two fatal falls in the Grand National & all the attendant controversy we have Alice Plunkett introducing today’s racing with a short compilation footage of fallers!
Clever people.
Subconsciously I thought the same thing, but just let the thought slide. It was a surprising thing to show the glories of the past NH season to be the spectacular falls that occurred. I’d have thought an 11yo Denman and Kauto Star running younger horses bar one ragged in the GC, as well as other notable victories, would have been the way to primarily show it in its glory.
Believe it or not C4, I tune in to see horses run great races and not them ending up in the dirt.
. Lol
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