The Pie and Bovril Dead Pool 2021

[Raidernation]

Murray no-Walker now [emoji22]

[senorsoupe]

Unless I am very much mistaken, Murray is being reunited with James Hunt

[paranoid android]

Bury Walker.

[Wile E Coyote]

Genuinely though Murray Walker died about 5 years ago

[Amandajoan]

Seems Marvin Hagler dead aged 66.

[jimbaxters]

10 minutes ago, Amandajoan said:

Seems Marvin Hagler dead aged 66.

Loved watching Hagler fight. A machine of a boxer. Gutted if he's gone. 

Points will be gratefully accepted for Murray however.

[supermik]

1 hour ago, Amandajoan said:

Seems Marvin Hagler dead aged 66.

Father Time has beaten him, Leonard cheated him.

Quite possibly the greatest boxer of the last 50 years.

[chomp my root]

9 hours ago, Amandajoan said:

Seems Marvin Hagler dead aged 66.

Marvelous.

[Miguel Sanchez]

Week 11 update

Two deaths this week. Up first is actor Trevor Peacock: Trevor Peacock obituary | Television | The Guardian

Quote

Trevor Peacock, the actor and songwriter, who has died aged 89 after suffering from dementia, was best known and much loved for his endearing performance as a bumbling parish councillor, Jim Trott, in The Vicar of Dibley (1994-2007), one of a delightful gallery of village worthies circling, and answering to, Dawn French’s enthusiastic parish priest.

Jim’s particular dimness was manifest in an acute inability to say what he meant, prefacing a “Yes” with a string of stuttering “No’s”. This had landed him in deep trouble. He had, for instance, in a history of two marriages, been spliced, by accident, with another man.

Peacock’s charm as Trott came from purveying a sense of hopeless, otherworldly decency in which serving as the butt of others’ dismissiveness was all part of his function. Peacock himself was no such weakling, operating over several decades as a character actor, founder company member of the Royal Exchange in Manchester, musical-theatre librettist and composer, and also pop song writer.

Peacock died at 89, so he's worth 36 Base Points for @JustOneCornetto, @LoonsYouthTeam, @Savage Henry and @The DA.

===========================

Second this week was the motor racing commentator Murray Walker: Murray Walker, the voice of Formula One, dies aged 97 | Formula One | The Guardian

Quote

For generations of British fans, Murray Walker, who died on Saturday at the age of 97, was, quite simply, the voice of Formula One.

The affection with which he was held by the paddock and across the sport rose from an enthusiasm and often overlooked a dedication to his craft that has rarely been matched in any discipline. Few commentators come to truly epitomise their subject, but over Walker’s 23 years of bringing F1 to the nation he was acknowledged as a true great, and a unique talent.

Walker first commentated on F1 full-time in 1978 for the BBC. His excitable, enthusiastic style quickly became his trademark. Clive James famously referred to him as talking like a man “whose trousers were on fire”. Yet his effervescence was the product of a genuine love for the sport and his desire to convey the passion he felt to fans. He succeeded beyond compare.

Walker served in the army in the second world war and then extensively commentated on motorsport while also pursuing a successful career in advertising, working on accounts including Weetabix, Mars, Vauxhall and Embassy cigarettes. Over a stellar career covering racing he interviewed the greats of the sport, including Enzo Ferrari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

He was in the right place at the right time to make his mark in F1 in the early eighties as Bernie Ecclestone began building the sport into the global sporting powerhouse it is today. Walker brought this exponentially increasing audience with him. In a sport that can often be bewilderingly complex and arcane, Walker wanted to make the action appeal in the most graphic way possible, his descriptions exaggerated, often dramatically portentous and subsequently gripping, even to the uninitiated viewer.

There was no sense this was the off-putting hyperbole of much modern commentary, but an honest reflection of his passion.

I've posted some classic moments of his commentary from British touring cars in the past few pages, and there are really innumerable other things I could post. I'm going to go with two:

With the way media works nowadays, I don't think you can get sports commentators like Murray Walker anymore. With saturated coverage and immediate social media reaction, the sounds commentators make are more intrinsic than ever to the coverage that people watch. In the past this meant the commentator had to be clear and distinctive, describing something accurately because the viewer might not be able to see every detail for themselves. This was fine, and we can all picture our favourite sporting clips right now, and they all have an excitable man talking over it. 

Today, with videos and gifs and clips, it seems like most sports commentators think they need to be part of it. I was watching Sportscene recently and Liam Mcleod was commentating on a match. I don't watch that much football anymore but here I felt every complaint I've ever seen about him on here. A goal happened and he starts shouting for about a minute in that over-emphasised way he does. Hideous. Ironically the same problem plagues modern-day formula one, with Sky Sports' current lead commentator David Croft labouring under the misapprehension that people watch the races to hear him. Shouting isn't enthusiasm. People aren't watching because of you. People don't want to remember you. 

Despite everything you knew about Murray Walker or everything you've learned in the past 12 hours, that was never how his style worked. It was always natural. It was always sincere. It was always appropriate. I can think of very few sports or commentators where the sportspeople themselves were as intimately acquainted with the main voice of the sport, or respected them as much. I think that says a lot.

Walker died at 97, so he's worth 28 Base Points for @Amandajoan, @Arch Stanton, @buddiepaul, @Cardinal Richelieu, @choirbairn, @CountyFan, @Fuctifano, @jimbaxters, @peasy23 and @sleazy. He was Vice-Captain for @doulikefish, @D.V.T. and @Willie adie for 42 points, and Captain for @ICTJohnboy for 56 points.

As a result, the standings now look like this:

1. Savage Henry 344
2. Fuctifano 259
3. Bishop Briggs 241
4. Ned Nederlander 230
5. choirbairn 208
6. Lofarl 193
7. doulikefish 163
8. Indale Winton 152
9. The DA 146
10. Arch Stanton 141
11. sparky88 135
12. ICTJohnboy 124
13.  Ludo*1 121
14. Arbroatlegend36-0, pub car king 113
16. stanton 112
17. senorsoupe 110
18. chomp my root 108
19. dee_62 101
20. psv_killie 96
21. JustOneCornetto, lolls, Mark Connolly 94
24. Bert Raccoon 93
25. amnarab 91
26. HI HAT 90
27. buddiepaul, Cardinal Richelieu, jimbaxters, peasy23, sleazy 86
32. amandajoan 84
33. weirdcal 83
34. D.V.T. 76
35. gkneil 69
36. Sweaty Morph 68
37. Lex 63
38. 101, Billy Jean King,   nessies long lost ghost, Raidernation, thistledo 58
43. cdisaaccie, El Guapo, lichtgilphead, The_Craig, theportman, TxRover 55
49. The Hologram 50
50. willie adie 42
51. LoonsYouthTeam 36
52. CountyFan 28
53. Bulbasaur, coprolite 25
55. Everyone else 0

The spreadsheet has also been updated with these scores: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-OTo44wF_W7A4Q0NFnd1sX3qEDdxTLDobvjhhSgnzkg/edit?usp=sharing

[CountyFan]

Peter Allis was the other one who had the ubiquitous thing you're getting at with Walker. Those two were a totally different breed to any modern commentator in pretty much any sport I can think of. 

[Bold Rover]

Only one of them was likeable.

[Cardinal Richelieu]

13 minutes ago, Bold Rover said:

Only one of them was likeable.

What's your beef with Allis / Walker?

[Arch Stanton]

10 minutes ago, Cardinal Richelieu said:

What's your beef with Allis / Walker?

She was shite at spelling the word "colour". 

[Cardinal Richelieu]

14 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

She was shite at spelling the word "colour". 

[mozam76]

Those BTCC clips are wonderful. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

 

[Bishop Briggs]

My insane stalker Mr. Alli has just red dotted over 40  (and counting) posts on this thread.

Nurse!!!!

Edited March 14, 2021 by Bishop Briggs

[Ludo*1]

33 minutes ago, Bishop Briggs said:

My insane stalker Mr. Alli has just red dotted over 40  (and counting) posts on this thread.

Nurse!!!!

Clicking on your profile reveals it was 10 and that you started the wee dot war:

 

[BillyAnchor]

7 hours ago, CountyFan said:

Peter Allis was the other one who had the ubiquitous thing you're getting at with Walker. Those two were a totally different breed to any modern commentator in pretty much any sport I can think of. 

I'd add Dan Maskell

[Bold Rover]

1 hour ago, BillyAnchor said:

I'd add Dan Maskell

Bill McLaren?