Along with many others, no doubt, the Winter Olympics has been compulsory viewing in the Carneades' household over the past week. The Winter Olympics is notable for the immense levels of skill required. Just sliding without falling on ice is tricky, yet the top contestants fly into the air and rotate so rapidly their features become a blur. It's been while since we've had anyone to equal the likes of John Curry, Robin Cousins or Torvill and Dean, but Cousins' erudite, analytical commentary is still an integral part of the Olympic figure skating competition for BBC viewers. And it contrasts sharply with the incredibly stupid, vacuous, inept and repetitious, mixed metaphor commentary we sometimes get on snowboarding, or the Luge, for example. Comments like 'That's a world class start!' or 'They're calling him the next Klammer / Bergman / [insert name here]' reveal the lamentable inadequacy of so many sport commentators, as they grope for phrases so well worn they wouldn't sell on ebay.
When you can see what's happening for yourself, the last thing you need is some has-been or never-even-been-there telling you what's taking place before your very eyes, or adding their own brand of hysterical bigotry. If they want to do that, they should commentate on snooker - except the egregious Virgo has that style sewn up.
Cousins' - like Snooker's Davies - knows the sport inside out and explains what's happening in detail. His eye for precision and minutiae is extraordinary, and his expert accompaniment, in partnership with the delightful Sue Barker, make watching those events in which they're involved a real joy. Great pity the Beeb doesn't have more of these people.
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