What's wrong with BBC sports coverage?

Quick answer: almost everything.


When I was a kid, I loved to watch Grandstand, and one day I asked my dad why it was so called. He explained first what a grandstand was, namely that it offered the best seats in the house, and that that was what you always got on Grandstand. And that sums up what the coverage of a sporting event should be: giving us, the viewers the best seat in the house.


However, in the last few years the Beeb seems to have forgotten this fundamental precept. In, say, an athletics competition, these days the director is never happy to dwell in the stadium to watch whatever activity is going down, be it track, field or whatever, and allow us to absorb the unique atmosphere of such an event. Instead he constantly reverts to a little studio where we can watch "experts" discussing events past or future with their strictly limited diction.  While there are a few good men, such as Michael Johnson, who invariably has an interesting insight, or the estimable Cardiffian Colin Jackson,  more often we must endure the mediocrity of Denise Lewis (great athlete, miserably inept commentator) or the even more pallid charms of Paula Radcliffe, who can't seem to say anything without wearing a false smile. She's like an athletics version of Virginia Wade; indeed, I'm waiting for her to say something like: "Well, so-and-so didn't win that race because they didn't run fast enough". or some such deathless gem of sporting wisdom. Who decided the great British public wanted to see these endless tedious exchanges rather than watching live action? It is only when the big track races begin we approach the original vision of how races should be covered,- and then we have the excellent voice-overs of Steve Cram and Brendan Foster. Otherwise we find the coverage converted to a "One Show" level, the lowest common intellectual denominator being catered to, but not real sports fans. They will end up seeing just the winning throw of the discus or hammer competition being shown, because when it was actually going on we were watching a few has-beens swapping endless platitudes. If not that then we are subjected to endless little filmlets illustrating some (British) athlete droning on about their aspirations. Here's the news: we don't need it!


Eurosport still knows how to cover a sporting event, as can be seen with the current European Athletics championships. There, we stick with the action in the stadium, which is where we want to be- sitting in the best seat in the house. But the problem is not confined to athletics. Snooker too seems to demand a switch to the studio between frames rather than allowing the viewer to drink in the atmosphere in the arena and observe the demeanours of the contestants as they prepare themselves for the next frame.


I'd like to see a return to those original values of programmes like Grandstand. And it wouldn't even be hard: just try this little guideline:


LESS CHAT- MORE ACTION!


I thank you. I must go now, as it's the women's 20 kilometre walk and I don't want to miss a step.