Mike Tucker Gaffs

philamena said:
I think it's one thing to make the odd charming boo-boo, but fundamentally a commentator should be accurate and reliable and should really add to the sense of the action, not be a distraction, which sadly MT too often is now. Yes I'd rather have someone with his level of experience in the sport itself than an ignoramus, but he sounds disorganised and unprofessional these days and I'd rather a better service given it's a job he's being paid for! Separately, I also think having someone bumbly and overly old-school posh really damages the image of the sport on TV. We keep saying we need a higher profile and more accessible feel for eventing... but most new people will experience it for the first time on TV ... and sadly MT's pony club circa 1955 sound does it no favours whatsoever these days.
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Very well said indeed
 
The BBC swimming guy was making mistakes all over the place tonight.

What happened to Lorna Clarke? The Australian coverage had Lucinda Green the lucky sods!
 
kirstyl said:
Personally I feel Clare Balding should have been the main presenter and even perhaps commentator for the eventing. Not sure who she had upset to not be there at all. She was clearly very unhappy at not being there as were the GB team.
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Really? I hadn't an inkling. What makes you say that?
 
Have 2 say MT did get really annoying & nearly turned volume down but my fab comment came from Ian Stark during the SJ when he came out with the classic 'hes a bit dangly down below' - obv talking bout horse (can't remember which) not folding front legs up enuf but stil I was chuckling away for a while . . . !
 
I think you should consider yourselves lucky to have MT and IS, when we have show jumping on RTE (our National broadcaster) we have John hall and Robert Hall , just listen to them for a few minutes when its on from the RDS and you'll realise how good your pair are!:D
 
Firewell said:
Aw poor Mike Tucker! I think he's fabulous, he's the sound of british eventing! Who cares if he makes a few boo boos, he is enthusiastic and that is the main thing. Why don't we just have an automated voice then? Old school british, bless him I love the sound of his british accent. He's done a lot for sport and he's got to be ancient now. We should celebrate these old stalwarts, not cast them off. They'll be someone new in time and for now we should make the most of him and have a giggle, we'll be sad when he is gone, it won't sound the same mark my words!
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This .

The man's an institution leave him alone :D

Far easier on the ear than some of these dull monotone devoid of personality experts they also have. Anyone remember JLC's commentary. OMG put me down now.
 
oh my, how harsh you all are about MT.

Personally, I am grateful that eventing and show jumping are on TV so have no desire to complain about the commentators. I have heard much worse but shall not be naming names.

I, for one, thought the eventing coverage was fab with the exception of the stupid logo appearing just as someone was jumping a fence.

Be nice people! :D
 
Munchkin said:
I'd love to spend a day there!
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with a machine gun... ;) ;)

BBH, Lucinda Green is hardly monotone or devoid of personality, she's a true legend, been there done it and got the t-shirt (100x more than MT), still riding, still training, such insight, a true expert... and she was ousted from the job because 'her voice is too posh'. Fgs.
Well, as said above, MT's posh voice + totally inept bumbling give a far worse impression imho, if we're going to be pernickety about voices! Personally I don't care about their accent as long as they don't make a mistake every time they open their mouth. All credit to Ian Stark for his humour and tolerance!
 
ArcticFox said:
oh my, how harsh you all are about MT.

Personally, I am grateful that eventing and show jumping are on TV so have no desire to complain about the commentators. I have heard much worse but shall not be naming names.

I, for one, thought the eventing coverage was fab with the exception of the stupid logo appearing just as someone was jumping a fence.

Be nice people! :D
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Totally agree with this. Eventing commentary would not be the same without him. Please bear in mind too how long a day these guys have in the commentary box without a proper break and I can't begin to imagine how difficult it is to keep your wits about you and not make a single mistake. We also have no idea how good there tv screens are and how distracting all the other commentators might be. Think Ian and Mike make a great double act and we have to be careful not to go down the route of the commentary bein too "technical" as we want the general public to follow the sport too
 
I think everyone is far too harsh on MT.

I like the fact he just 'chats' away and isn't too scripted, yes he makes mistakes but so do the experts.

MT is the compere in my mind who keeps the discussion going he is not providing the technical insights.

And I also have to say in his defence if anyone heard him commentate at the SJing european championships thank god he is able to fill in and expand as the expert, can't remember who it was, barely said a word and it was clearly hard work keeping it going.
 
I think to be fair, MT is more of an SJ commentator than an eventing one, but I still think he's good - plenty of the other sports have personalities doing the commentary that aren't always perfect. Yes some times I want him to shut up as they can always be relied upon to be the kiss of death for a round (which they fully admit to!), but then sometimes I'm also hoping they have the same effect on other competitors - how sporting of me! :p ;)

I just like seeing him trot round an SJ arena as he tries to interview people, priceless. I don't find IS that enthralling, but then I'm not fond of that accent sorry :o thats just my opinion though, I'm not saying he's a bad person :)
 
kerilli said:
with a machine gun... ;) ;)

BBH, Lucinda Green is hardly monotone or devoid of personality, she's a true legend, been there done it and got the t-shirt (100x more than MT), still riding, still training, such insight, a true expert... and she was ousted from the job because 'her voice is too posh'. Fgs.
Well, as said above, MT's posh voice + totally inept bumbling give a far worse impression imho, if we're going to be pernickety about voices! Personally I don't care about their accent as long as they don't make a mistake every time they open their mouth. All credit to Ian Stark for his humour and tolerance!
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Haven't heard LG commentate tbh and don't really follow eventing tbh but do think Tina Cook and Mary King would be lovely as they are so enthusiastic. IS may have the knowledge but I for one couldn't get inspired about eventing from his delivery. Dull.

Also don't think MT has a posh voice,he sounds just like a favourite old uncle that you wheel out at Christmas, very eccentric but a good sport. The one to eat all the mince pies and not care :D
 
Firewell said:
The age of athletes in the Olympics is interesting to know. On all the athletes profiles, in all the sports their age is recorded. I think it's good to show that our sport doesn't have to be for young people and those that are young its nice to celebrate how well they are doing.
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I agree, also non-horsey people watching are not going to be interested in the horses breeding (although it is good to know if you are horsey, but I thought we are trying to get non horsey people interested in the sport!)
 
jenbleep said:
I agree, also non-horsey people watching are not going to be interested in the horses breeding (although it is good to know if you are horsey, but I thought we are trying to get non horsey people interested in the sport!)
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Agreed, horsey people can find that info out wherever they want, and for some horsey people like me I couldn't really care less (not much point bothering with breeding if its a gelding) I'd rather know what its stable name is and whether polos are its favourite treat rather than who its grandfather was :)

BBH said:
IS may have the knowledge but I for one couldn't get inspired about eventing from his delivery. Dull.

Also don't think MT has a posh voice,he sounds just like a favourite old uncle that you wheel out at Christmas, very eccentric but a good sport. The one to eat all the mince pies and not care :D
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Agree - I don't think he's that posh at all, I think eventing struggles to get away from the posh stereotype, one reason for having Oli T on the team with his not so plummy accent :)
 
BBH said:
Haven't heard LG commentate tbh and don't really follow eventing tbh but do think Tina Cook and Mary King would be lovely as they are so enthusiastic. IS may have the knowledge but I for one couldn't get inspired about eventing from his delivery. Dull.

Also don't think MT has a posh voice,he sounds just like a favourite old uncle that you wheel out at Christmas, very eccentric but a good sport. The one to eat all the mince pies and not care :D
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I would love to hear Mary King commentate! Also did anyone hear Colin Murray on Radio 5? My OH was listening on the way back from London and said he was quite good :) I have to say I was a bit surprised that he was commentating on eventing!

On a different note I do chuckle to myself when the BBC guys who obviously have no idea about horse sport try and comment. Who's the camp Aussie swimmer? Gary Lineker asked him what he thought about the eventing and he was like 'erm...ah....er...' quite funny, obviously had no clue :) And it's not just about horse sports - last night there we has a track athlete and two rowers talking about gymnastics! I love how the games are getting everyone involved hehe :)
 
jenbleep said:
Who's the camp Aussie swimmer? Gary Lineker asked him what he thought about the eventing and he was like 'erm...ah....er...' quite funny, obviously had no clue :)
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Ian Thorpe? aka the Thorpedo - I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought he is hugely camp :o

ArcticFox said:
I wonder what Jennifer Saunders would be like as a commentator? :D
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Brilliant! 'come on peter pan, we'll make the next olympics' :D :D
 
1t34 said:
Pippa Funnel was brilliant on radio 5!
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I agree - and when she's done the odd bit on tv in the past I've always thought she was great (as were Tina Cook and Lucinda Green when I've heard them do bits in the past).

I used to like Ian Stark commentating, but found him irritating how he kept complaining about the modern style hats (comparing them to motorbike helmets - wtf?!) and singing the GB teams praises when they came out wearing Patey hats - I don't think he should be so negative on an issue which is clearly a hot topic of the moment. Nor do I think it's responsible of him to effectively discourage riders from wearing harnessed helmets (particularly the younger riders listening).

I for one will be glad when MT stops commentating - he really grates on me. I'm not doubting he was a great competitior in his time, but that doesn't automatically make him a great commentator!

Give me Clare Balding any day!
 
I don't mind listening to MT, yes he makes some gaffes, but don't they all. I grew up listening to Raymond Brookes-Ward and he was fantastic! Same as listening to Murray Walker. I absolutely hate listening to Andy Austin on Sky! He is hopeless and i for one wonder what on earth he brings to the table! In fact i listened to the Hickstead Derby with the volume on mute! At least MT brings a smile to my face!
 
Alec Swan said:
I'd suggest that Tucker's heading for the same institution as Murray Walker, and it is, an Institution. ;)

Alec.
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You've gone down in my estimation Alec; that was cruel and totally unnecessary.

I so don't want MK to replace him or anybody else for that matter, she really grates on the nerves, she should stop acting like a 15 year old.
 
Maesfen said:
I so don't want MK to replace him or anybody else for that matter, she really grates on the nerves, she should stop acting like a 15 year old.
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Hmm, me too a little - maybe its being northern - I don't mind the old miserable moment, there's no need to smile all the time surely?! :D
 
Australia only has Lucinda back as commentator (thank God!) becasue for Bejing we had some totally clueless idiot who apart from having THE most annoying voice known to man talked total drivel the whole time. I'm not kidding non-stop garbled rubbish. On repeat.
I think every rider in Aus complained to Ch7/10/9 who ever had the coverage - he talked so much the poor co-commentator who actually knew the differnce between trot and canter couldnt get a word in edge ways!

I have been watching the BBC coverage (go technology ;) ) and didn't find Mark Tucker at all annnoying and love his voice. Ok some of his comments were off but I think a lot of the commentry he provided was excellent for anyone watching who didn't know much about the sport. Ian's comments were there for the 'die-hards'. IMO a good mix.

Oh and beware of what you wish for! We ended up with above mentioned blitering fool becasue people complained Lucinda was too posh - this year everyone is over the moon to have her back!
 
Festive_Felicitations said:
Australia only has Lucinda back as commentator (thank God!) becasue for Bejing we had some totally clueless idiot who apart from having THE most annoying voice known to man talked total drivel the whole time. I'm not kidding non-stop garbled rubbish. On repeat.
I think every rider in Aus complained to Ch7/10/9 who ever had the coverage - he talked so much the poor co-commentator who actually knew the differnce between trot and canter couldnt get a word in edge ways!

I have been watching the BBC coverage (go technology ;) ) and didn't find Mark Tucker at all annnoying and love his voice. Ok some of his comments were off but I think a lot of the commentry he provided was excellent for anyone watching who didn't know much about the sport. Ian's comments were there for the 'die-hards'. IMO a good mix.

Oh and beware of what you wish for! We ended up with above mentioned blitering fool becasue people complained Lucinda was too posh - this year everyone is over the moon to have her back!
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He's Mike Tucker.

He's just done a cracker. Said Laura Bechtol???? will be on just after 3.00pm in about another 17mins time. It was 2.15 when he said it.

LOL bless him.
 
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