Have heard Sid Waddell commentating on many sports, pool and ten pin bowing, but he is best known for his love of darts, his hyperactive nature makes darts a joy to watch on TV when he is commentating, as he has a genuine love for the sport.

We should maybe try to get him to commentate on the SPL, he can maybe make some of our games sound interesting.

I couldnt disagree more. The most enjoyable thing about watch the Grand Slam over the past week is not having to listen to the complete and utter bull that this man spouts. Id much rather have a former darts player doing the commentary, for example with Sky I much prefer listening when they have Bristow or Harrington covering the matches. They concentrate on the game, talk sense and give you an insight into how a player thinks during a match. Waddell has made a career out of talking absolute nonsense that can hardly pass as humour.

He's got a nasty habit of banging on about Phil Taylor even when he's not playing (that goes for Sky in general as well) so if he knacks that in, then he is fine as a commentator.

I notice the outstanding John Rawling has moved from the BBC to ITV whilst I have been away, and now resorts to doing the darts on ITV4.

His radio five live boxing commentary takes some beating, and ought to get the hell back to the Beeb where he deserves.

It'd be nice if ITV lost their coverage. The spotting at times is horrible. Lost count of the number of shots they missed.

As for Sid Waddell ... well, I both like him and hate him. His enthusiasm can be contagious which I don't mind, but he doesn't half talk some pish.

Total loon. His orgasmic descriptions of anything related to Phil Taylor are really annoying and he rabbles some amount of shite. Geordie twat, likes the sound of his own voice.

Have to disagree DomDom other than the camera work ITV have done a good job for me. Only thing I like about Sky's coverage is Rod Harrington.

Sid Waddell is a parody of his former self. He tries too hard now to impress the television viewer and should revert back to his old ways when he used to just come out with random (but highly amusing) pish. I actually quite like the fella John Gwynne (sp?) who commentates alongside him.

Arguably my favourite commentator of all time though is Bill Mclaren. There used to be nothing quite like a 5 Nations afternoon with auld Bill on duty. My enjoyment of the 6 Nations (as it is now) has definitely diminished since Sir William of McLaren packed it in.

Agree about Bill Mclaren great commentator and what he did not know about the game wasnt worth knowing.

Likewise is counterpart in Rugby League Eddie Waring was very good,just enough humour,too many commentators think they are bigger than the sport.

Does it make you a better commentator if you have played at the top level.
Some excelent cricket coverage most of it from ex pros.

Any way i guess you shouldnt be bigger than the sport you are describing.

Chris Mason, as arrogant as I find him at times, has been a really good commentator for ITV. I think he can be considered proof that a pro can be a very good commentator.

Id agree, thought Mason got better as the week went on, became more natural to him I think.

I didn't like how Mason was sucking up to Taylor when they don't get on after the incident at the world championship 2 years a go after Taylor beat him. I know they might of moved on and apologized to each other but I doubt they are the best of friends.

ITV have a long way to go before they can compete with Sky for darts coverage like getting the music timed right for the walk on and better camera work though it's not as bad as Setanta when they do the darts as I watched a BDO competition a while back and the camera work was shocking.

I think Sid is brilliant at times and it's great how people down south won't have a clue what he is saying.

I was impressed with him as well. I thought he was a right c**t before this tournament and had a lack of respect for Taylor but that probably couldn't be further from the truth

That's probably why he sucked up. He should be going a long way to bury that hatchet as he was the one reponsible for the incident. He probably realises that and will be trying to show some respect to The Power and I say all fair play to him.



That's an interesting one. The BDO coverage was horrible from Setanta but their league of legends coverage was top notch, not missing a shot. Me and my mate were wondering if they used different spotters for the two. The ITV camera work leaves a lot to be desired.

I think that given a lot of the players feel that the Grand Slam of darts is second only to the World Championships, given the best of both bands are present. The spotters on the cameras were absolutely shocking.

I was sitting at home knowing what shots should be coming in, however the cameramen went to a totally random section of the board, think ITV may need to invest in an outshot calculator for the spotters.

And as for Mason and Warriner, both have done a decent job on commentary, however they both try to throw in a few "funnies" whilst commentating, taking a leaf out of the book of the great Sid Waddell and trying to be a bit too much like him.

Rather like Waddell. Read once that he was an Oxbridge boy ( dunno if that is true it would be great to imagine his acent cutting through a tutorial ).

My fav bit of commentary was 'It might be Shakespeare for the words, but its darts for the drama...'

Once also compared Eric Bristow to Alexander the Great...superb. The only commentaries I have heard which were better are the afore mentioned Bill McLaren ( once compared Doddie Weir to a rampaging giraffe ) and Hugh McIlvaney.

The best commentator has to be Martin Brundle. Witty, intelligent and gives an unbiased view on things unlike Ryder and Allen.