Everyone's a hero!

Nothing is as tough or as easy as we think it to be. Saw one of the world cup matches, where a single commentator was weaving a story around the entire match so seamlessly, that I just was struck at how much of effort he must have put in not just before the match (probably had his share of ‘helpers’ who feed him the data, still its only good if you have the presence of mind to apply it at the right place and right time), but also his ability to pick up the general tempo of the whole game when he sees something happening during the match, and also think and comment as to what would happen after the match.


The best in business are good, everyone knows that. But why? I can imagine his 'player list' full of stats, interesting trivia, a few ‘did you know’ scribbled or printed out next to each player, coach, staff, team, crowd, country, and even sometimes against the television audience themselves. And the ability to pick them and bring them out as a casual point requires not just background prep, but also constant presence of mind, and observation. For example, one of the matches, when one of the subs missed the ball completely and got the defender in front of him, the commentator remarked ‘and that’s the first contribution of the newly subbed xxx, I’m sure the coach didn’t send him in to do that!’. And it was a South Korean player, all of whose names sounds so similar.

The commentators are one of the unsung heroes in making the matches more interesting, sometimes more controversial, but mostly helping the audience keep up with the pace of the match, however fast or slow it might be. Always thought commentators job was the easiest, maybe not that easy after all…