Hugh Porter

islwyn
islwyn Posts: 650
edited July 2013 in Pro race
So according to today's papers, Hugh Porter has been let go from the BBC due to his age.

This is outrageous! He's the best in the game and was the voice of the Olympics.

Hugh Porter is a master at Cycling commentary. His rapid creation of relevant, thoughtful, knowledgable and creative sentences, delivered with passion and authority, is all the insight and drama BBC Sport needs for its Cycling coverage. Give him his job back!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... d-men.html
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Comments

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,533
    Not sure if......
    _
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Not sure if......

    Solid effort : 7 / 10
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Richmond Racer
    Richmond Racer Posts: 8,561
    Erm...no, sorry, Porter being replaced was well overdue. I admit that he's better on track commentary than road but Simon Brotherton teamed up with Chris Boardman for the Minsk coverage, was a marked improvement.

    As for road...he has no clue who the teams are apart from Sky, no idea who the riders are apart from the headlining Brits, and no idea of the tactics. God knows how many times David Millar had to (gently) correct his mistakes during last year's Worlds RR.
  • LeicesterLad
    LeicesterLad Posts: 3,908
    Richmond Racer wrote:
    Erm...no, sorry, Porter being replaced was well overdue. I admit that he's better on track commentary than road but Simon Brotherton teamed up with Chris Boardman for the Minsk coverage, was a marked improvement.

    As for road...he has no clue who the teams are apart from Sky, no idea who the riders are apart from the headlining Brits, and no idea of the tactics. God knows how many times David Millar had to (gently) correct his mistakes during last year's Worlds RR.

    +1

    Porter is well past it on the road, error after error. He's worse than Phil and Paul.
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  • smithy21
    smithy21 Posts: 2,204
    I'm with Rick and Iain on this one.
  • islwyn
    islwyn Posts: 650
    Okay, so, I did mean more so track than road, but he's a great icon for cycling and I don't think he should be dropped entirely.
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    I've enjoyed his track commentary, and I think it's a shame, but he's really not good enough any more. Would be nice to have him giving his opinion in a studio at track meets as I think he could still add some value when he has a bit more time to consider things rather than commentating.
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,808
    Steve Rider does the classic interviews with F1 stars on Sky, John Motson gets a token match a week, Barry Davies does the synchronised swimming, it happens to all the best commentators.

    Simon Brotherton is just as good at track, if not better for being "fresh"
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    Have to say I think it's the right move, though it's never nice for someone to be moved on, especially someone with Hugh's enthusiasm and standing in British cycling. But things move on and unfortunately he has struggled in recent years.
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • skylla
    skylla Posts: 758
    mind that door..
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    he's emotive, he's passionate, but regrettably nowadays thats it. watching 2 of the supposed highlights this year Olympic road race and the worlds, he blundered through them..... wasn't pleasant.

    having said that he's still not the worst. that antony whatever his name that commentated on the vuelta sounded awful....
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    This is how all cycling commentary should be-

    http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=EqYgAX6D ... qYgAX6D43Q
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  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Or this...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ru3vGR8nck#t=410
  • skylla
    skylla Posts: 758
    NapoleonD wrote:
    This is how all cycling commentary should be-

    http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=EqYgAX6D ... qYgAX6D43Q

    Best enjoyed with just the left earphone in.
  • Richmond Racer
    Richmond Racer Posts: 8,561
    or this

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFdtvUex-l0
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,700
    I heard, earlier. Sad.
    However, definitely showing signs of following a Duffer's decline.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    I like Hugh Porter, but in recent years he's definitely been struggling to inform viewers about little things like riders and race situations. It happens to us all eventually.
  • rebs
    rebs Posts: 891
    Think it'll be more then just his age. But its a change that should have been made awhile ago.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    Or this...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ru3vGR8nck#t=410

    This is hands down heavyweight. Thanks for the reminder.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,533
    This trumps it all. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bGv7ltJGPA
    _
  • awavey
    awavey Posts: 2,368
    I dont think its necessarily the wrong thing for them to have done, its just the manner of it, the Telegraph article makes out it happened only in the week before Hugh had been expecting to fly out to Minsk, then the BBC compounded it by suggesting he'd taken the decision to retire himself and showing that tribute...except hes still doing the Winter olympics...I dunno youd have thought theyd have been thinking about making commentating changes directly after the Olympics, not wait till a week or so before a major event they are covering.
  • LutherB
    LutherB Posts: 544
    frenchfighter wrote:
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    Or this...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ru3vGR8nck#t=410

    This is hands down heavyweight. Thanks for the reminder.

    Great finish, great commentary!
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    His commentary for road events was IMO quite dire, it was OK for the track events though.

    I think ideally you'd have a different set of commentators for track and road, they require different styles.
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,120
    Anyone having withdrawal symptoms get yourselves to Abergavenny in July. He'll no doubt still be commentating on the elite circuit race and the Grand Prix road race. Much as I like the man (he got the crowd to give me a cheer when I got dropped in a junior crit many years ago :lol: ) it was definitely overdue I'm afraid.
  • Yellow Peril
    Yellow Peril Posts: 4,466
    Now then... Hugh was a bit past his sell by date, he struggled with the road commentary although he could still "light the afterburners" for a bit of track. Probably a good move by the BBC but poorly executed. the trouble with large organisations is that it is always someone else's responsibility to do these things so they f*ck it up and leave it embarrassingly ill timed.

    I guess he'll still do the Revolutions?
    @JaunePeril

    Winner of the Bike Radar Pro Race Wiggins Hour Prediction Competition
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Never liked him sorry, absolutely terrible listening to him in olympic road rces imo. He didn't have a clue ....
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    This trumps it all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bGv7ltJGPA

    Trouble with all of these examples are they are commentating on something very exciting. That's easy. The ultimate test should be on something very dull. How about this?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-oAsDCGNA
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,093
    I'm glad I wont have to listen to Hughie talking about riders "putting the hammer down" or the track girls "making a good fist of it" any more. In fact his commentary of women's cycling was misogynistic at best.

    Respect for his cycling career though. I found my copy of "Champion on Two Wheels" at me moms the other day.
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  • IanLD
    IanLD Posts: 423
    From an accuracy and awareness point of view relating to road racing, I've got no problem with him going. Any chance he could take Phil with him too...

    He is quite a bit better when it comes to track, but still time for him to go.

    No reflection on his achievements on the bike, but that was quite a while ago.
  • Abdoujaparov
    Abdoujaparov Posts: 642
    Ha, that Danny Hart commentary was quality - hadn't heard that before.

    On Hugh Porter, he made a few big mistakes during the Olympics, but one massive one in the women's keirin final, shouting continuously about Anna Meares as Pendleton crossed the line to win Olympic Gold. It basically sounded as though Meares had won the race so they had to edit the commentary afterwards for the highlights. You can see why the Beeb would take that sort of stuff seriously cos these are historic moments that great commentary can help define ("some people are on the pitch...they think it's all over..." etc). It's also one of the reasons why quite a few of the commentators seemed to be sh*tting it during the Olympics!

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