Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Radio relaxation

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but does it seem to anyone else that the kinds of things cricketers say on radio stations, they wouldn't say on television. I'm thinking here, obviously, of Matt Hayden's description of Harbhajan as an "obnoxious weed". There is nothing particularly derogatory in that description, its just that somehow, I can't imagine Hayden saying this to say, Channel 9 or Sky commentators. Television interviews have become exceedingly banal, the questions do not rise above the level of cliche, and unsurprisingly, neither do the answers. The air of a mega-production hangs over the proceedings, the commentators are nattily dressed, and it might all seem a bit proper. But a radio interview is different; you can spend a lot of time chatting, and the conversation can become freewheeling in the hands of an interviewer used to drawing out reluctant interviewees. As the American talk-show radio experience shows, some of the most pointed discussions on topics often felt to be too 'hot' for television take place on air. I'm not going to touch on the larger issue of how toxic such discussions can get, but let me just say for the record that the discussions I've heard on local radio stations about the fortunes of New York teams far exceeds anything I've ever seen on network television (and certainly Imus was legendary for the kinds of political discussions he could get going). Its not clear whether Hayden was being interviewed on the studio, or whether he was on the phone, but clearly the interview relaxed him to the point where he felt he could speak more freely (compare this to his television pronouncements, which are always generic in the extreme).

5 Comments:

Blogger straight point said...

...and that justifies whatever he said...coz he was sooo relaxed...

oz and indian team relations are going downhill and the last thing you want is verbal diarrhea...

3:02 AM  
Blogger Gaurav Sethi said...

Samir,
Buy your point -looks like the radio jock bought a few rounds for Mathew 'n mates, and then did the interview. Whatever cric radio I've ever done has always been a good ol' chirp. There is no veil, think black or otherwise!

5:36 AM  
Blogger Jrod said...

Interesting theory.

Adam Gilchrist got in trouble for calling murali a chucker at a sportsman night.

He would never had said that on tv.

8:28 PM  
Blogger Samir Chopra said...

Sorry about the late response to comments.

SP: The team relations are at the bottom of the slope - if you put Hayden/Symonds/Ponting on one side, and Bhajji on the other. (note: I'm not talking about justifying Hayden's comments, just how he could have been relaxed enough to get there).

NC: Agree here too; there is something quite relaxing about talking over an on-air mike to someone on the phone. I did a radio interview once, and felt quite relaxed doing it.

JRod: When was this? Must have missed it.

6:33 AM  
Blogger Gaurav Sethi said...

to de-stress, do radio! Btw a slip, meant: no veil, thin black or otherwise.

9:49 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home