Jonathan Pearce: not the only World Cup commentator looking foolish
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Version 0 of 1. Name: Jonathan Pearce. Age: 54. Appearance: Jowly, crumpled, confused. Why's that? Well he was commentating on the World Cup match between France and Honduras for the BBC. Yes. And a shot from the French striker Karim Benzema hit the inside of the post, rolled along the line, and may have bounced off the Honduran keeper into the goal. Immediately, Fifa's new technology signalled a goal to the referee, and he awarded one. Gosh, how terribly exciting for people who give a toss. Yes, and Pearce certainly is one. So when an animation then appeared on the stadium screens showing the ball not crossing the line, with the words "NO GOAL", he went fully crackers, shouting: "It signals no goal! No goal has gone up on the screen!" Except? Except what everybody had just watched was the first contact between the ball and the post. The screens immediately went on to show the second contact with the goalkeeper, confirming that it had indeed marginally crossed line. The word "GOAL" then appeared. Presumably this calmed Pearce down? Rather the opposite. "Oh goodness me!" he shouted. "They've changed their minds now! Does goal-line technology work or doesn't it?" I'm getting a bit confused myself. Basically, the answer is yes. After many years' of waiting, goal-line technology has finally been introduced, and was needed in a big match, and has proved that it works perfectly, confusing nobody except Jonathan Pearce, who kept countering for the rest of the match. His co-commentator Martin Keown tried explaining what had happened, but to no avail. I see. So is Pearce normally a halfwit? No, but he gets shouty when roused. I think he was just terribly excited because he thought he had another bit of Fifa incompetence on his hands. Luckily for him, he's not the only commentator making a prat of himself at this World Cup. Who are the others? Well, despite being quite informative, Phil Neville was roundly mocked for sounding (and perhaps being) utterly bored throughout the England match. Keown himself spent half the Honduras game admiring all the fouls, and even described one French player as "more of a man" than another. Andy Townsend continues trying to pass off "I've seen em given, Clive" as worldly wisdom whenever someone claims a penalty … Are there machines that could replace commentators yet? Some say Phil Neville is getting close. Do say: "G-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-l …" Don't say: "… disallowed." |