[Slapsie Maxie]

Dies at 86

On Phil Bennett: "They say down at Stradey that if ever you catch him [Phil Bennett] you get to make a wish."

On Jonah Lomu: "I'm no hod carrier but I would be laying bricks if he [Jonah L] was running at me."

"It’s high enough, it’s long enough AND IT’S STRAIGHT ENOUGH."

"He’s like a demented ferret up a wee drainpipe."

"He’s like a raging bull with a bad head."

"That one was a bit inebriated – just like one of my golf shots."

"He kicked that ball like it were three pounds o’ haggis."

"The All Blacks that day looked like great prophets of doom."

"My goodness, that wee ball’s gone so high there’ll be snow on it when it comes down.

"He’s as quick as a trout up a burn."

"Those props are as cunning as a bag o’ weasels."

"A day out of Hawick is a day wasted."

*And it’s a try by Hika the hooker from Ngongotaha (Wales v New Zealand 1980).

"I look at Colin Meads and see a great big sheep farmer who carried the ball in his hands as though it was an orange pip."

[Wilfrid]

One of the great British broadcasting characters.

From memory, as two rugby players squared up for a fight:

"It's handbags at ten paces."

And his perennial comment on horrible acts of violence behind the referee's back:

"A bit of argy bargy there."

[SRD]

A great showman and entertainer who loved the game and did his best to be fair, but not always good at saying what was happening, I recall one piece of his radio commentary that went something like "Oh a lovely shimmy. What a pass. Oh that's fantastic. And again. Oh my. And the ball is cleared." as the ball travelled the length of the pitch, through half a dozen hands, only to be dropped in the tackle and cleared back nearly to where they started.

[Wilfrid]

That voice and some nice highlights:

plKhGUKRZ2I

[Slapsie Maxie]

There are certain commentators without whose voices watching sport never seems the same anymore. John Arlott for cricket, Dan maskell for tennis, Peter O Sullivan for Horse a racing, Murray Walker for Formula 1 and, of course, Bill McLaren for rugby.

The only one I cannot think of is for football. Perhaps, David Coleman, or radio commentator, Peter Jones.

The current crop struggle to come close.

Slapsie

[Wilfrid]

Eddie Waring for rugby league. I am not a John Motson fan, but his was a pretty distinctive voice too; the trouble is, so many commentators now sound like him.

As I am not the first to observe, there has been a growing tendency toward homogenization of accents and styles.