The Sport Thread

I've often wondered this myself. I dont even think the BBC issued a Press Release. When Lynam left, the BBC lost its football anchor and a presenter of some major events (I know thats a bit of an understatement, but you know what I mean). When Rider left, the BBC lost its principal multi-event presenter, arguably the face of BBC Sport.

This weekend will be a good indication of Gary Lineker's credentials. Steve Rider had a long association with Augusta, covering ever Masters from IICRC 1985 through to 2005, either for Channel 4 or the Beeb. I'll personally miss Rider on golf most of all.

Gary Lineker and Hazel Irvine will do a good job with the golf though. Sometimes it's good to have a change.

I prefer John Inverdale on the Rugby personally but although the coverage of the Commonwealth Games was brilliant it could of done with a good male presenter - so i missed him there. It'll be interesting to see what they do at the Olympics - whether they will carry on with the all female team + a bit from Steve Cram or whether they get someone like Gary Lineker or John Inverdale in.

The Beijing Olympics are 8th-24th August 2008, so - in theory - Lineker will be busy with the new football season. I would expect exactly the same line-up as Athens 2004, with Inverdale slotting into Rider's slot.

I'm sure John will be a key member of the Olympics coverage - it was only really due to the clash with the Six Nations he was uninvolved in the Commonwealth Games.

I expect if Steve had still be there either Steve or John probably would have gone to Melbourne - and Craig Doyle might have been part of the Winter Olympic line-up.


It is the male presenters where BBC Sport are lacking - though in fact I think they have the solution right under their noses - Ray Stubbs.

He does the snooker and darts, and IMO can be sacrificed from Score when needed for other events. Having him in the Winter Olympic and Commonwealth Games line-up would have given the coverage a much needed senior male presenter.

And in many ways he now performs the role Grandstand presenters of the past did - doing the half time / full time scores (along with Score), along with the sports news round up at the beginning of Grandstand.


Big weekend this week for BBC Sport then - as well as the Golf we have the Davis Cup Tennis (with Jill Douglas), and Sue and Claire hosting the Grand National.

Who is doing Match of the Day then this week with Gary at The Masters?

Absolutely - Ray has always been a good anchor. I quite like his slightly docile presenting style.

Ray is down to do MOTD on Saturday night - I would expect Mark Pougatch will be at Aintree for 5 Live.

Shameful coverage of the Davis Cup IMHO this weekend. 12pm-1.45pm on Friday before its shunted on to BBCi. No terrestrial coverage of the doubles at all on Friday - all on BBCi. Then 11.00am - 1.10pm on Sunday Grandstand - by which time the tie could be decided anyway.

Why are the Beeb so reluctant to have live sport on BBC1 and BBC2 at the same time these days. I have interactive - and I use it, but many people dont.

Difficult issue here - I thought on occassions during the Commonwealth Games - especially when swimming and athletics clashed - an additional programme on BBC2 should have been available.

Realistically though the majority of the nation now have digital TV - and the Davis Cup isn't really high on the list of the BBC's priorities. BBC2 are also screening the Moto GP on Saturday too - and uninterupted coverage on BBCi suits many people better than the hit and miss coverage you'd get if they squeezed it into Grandstand.


Talking of BBCi - I assume there will be some sort of service for the Masters?

I highly doubt it. The Augusta National Golf Club are notoriously tight for the amount of time they allow live coverage to be broadcast. Even the US networks are only allowed to broadcast about the last 2.5 hours of the opening rounds, then the last 3 hours of the third round and about the closing 16 holes of the final round.

In fact, we hardly ever saw the front 9 at Augusta until they extended the broadcast times for the final round a few years ago.

You'll notice that when the Beeb's coverage starts, they will be eagerly waiting for maybe 10/15 minutes before they join rolling live coverage.

I dont think the ANGC would appreciate the exposure of BBCi!

Just goes to show how much golf (and the organisations that run it) is still an anally retentive elitist sport.

I think last year the BBCi service allowed you to switch between the BBC mix of the event and the US broadcast mix, showing different holes with different commentary?

God - if it did, I stand completely corrected! I must have completely missed that one! I wouldn't miss the BBC commentary anyway, Peter Alliss is a living legend.

The Masters is underway, and Gary Lineker made a very comfortable debut on live golf coverage.

I take it the Beeb have the power to pick and choose what they show from the CBS? Because RTE2 seem to be showing completely different coverage!

The Beeb have broken away for chat, while RTE2 are continuing with live play. I would've thought the Beeb would wait for CBS breaks for their chat?

The BBC takes (as do all other worldwide channels) USA Network's coverage of the Masters, as they take the first two days, then CBS takes the final two. This is why they only started coverage at 9:00 - USA started at that time as well, doing I assume chat and banter.

RTE and all the other channels such as Spain's Golf+ and Fox Sports are taking the international coverage, but it's different for the BBC as they have their own studio and production (they record other shots and play them whilst using USA's coverage and the international coverage). To be honest the BBC's coverage is not that fantastic, there are always interruptions and interviews, and Lineker blames CBS, who aren't even covering it until Saturday.

It would be difficult for chat during commercials as they only last 1 minute, which is why they use their edited scoreboard during this time. The fact they opt out of live coverage to do banter irritates me a bit.



I don't think it did - the only golf event that BBCi covers is the British Open. There would be problems with advertising as well.