Spillane - Against the Breeze

[bennydorano]

Pat Spillane gets it in the neck today in Paddy Heaney's column in today's Irish News.  Mainly for his presenting style on the Sunday Game.  Maybe someone could post it.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Voilà

Lyst-less RTE should put Pat in his place
Against the Breeze
by Paddy Heaney
20/01/2009

INTRODUCING strangers to Gaelic football can be a very revealing experience. An
objective appraisal from a pair of untrained eyes will provide information we may or may not want to hear.

Over the years, I've brought a variety of people to matches or watched games on television with them. Almost without fail, the response is the same.Two themes predominate. The first is, not surprisingly, the tackle. Or, to be more precise, the lack of a properly-defined tackle. Newcomers struggle to understand why some tackles constitute a foul while others do not. When faced with this query, I always provide the same answer. I tell them not to worry because it's a subject that causes universal confusion – that's part of the joy of it.

The second characteristic of Gaelic football which they find utterly baffling is, wait for it – Pat Spillane. They are utterly baffled how a man who looks and sounds like Pat got a job normally reserved for silver-tongued types. This particular phenomenon is not as easy to explain. To a certain extent, it is an Irish quirk. It could only happen in this country. It could also only happen in RTE.

And having made a right old pig's ear of 'The Late Late Show,' which marked the GAA's 125th anniversary, I decided that enough is enough. By this point it's clear that RTE can't be trusted when it comes to covering Gaelic Games. They need help.
In many ways, Pat Spillane embodies the lack of regard that RTE seems to hold for the people who watch the sport that provides them with their biggest viewing figures every year.

Don't get me wrong. I've no personal grudge against Spillane. As a GAA pundit, he is peerless. But as a TV anchor, he ranks in the same division as the late Richard Whitely of Countdown – a man who proved that practice doesn't necessarily make perfect. So, rather than complain when the new Championship season is up and running, I thought it would be better to get the boot in now when there is time for the boys at Montrose to make the necessary changes.

There are a number of reasons why the eight-time All-Ireland medallist is totally unsuited to presenting The Sunday Game. We'll start with the obvious stuff. A good sports anchor should fulfil some basic criteria. They should be smooth and polished. Think Des Lynam, or the late David Vine. Pat is already struggling. More importantly again, they must be able to do their job without being seen to do their job. Like a good referee, they should be in total control, while also being invisible. When done well, it looks incredibly easy, and perhaps this is part of the reason why the excellent Michael Lyster has never received the fulsome praise he deserves.

Lyster is everything that Spillane isn't. You could watch Lyster for many years without knowing what county he is from. In the absence of anyone else being in the same league as the Galway man, it is time Lyster was brought back as anchor of The Sunday Game. GAA fans are envious every time they tune in to watch a major soccer game on RTE. The wonderful Bill O'Herlihy is a treat to watch as he gently prods, cajoles and teases superb debate, rants and opinions from Dunphy, Giles and AN Other. There is a skill in chairing a show, and Spillane has proved beyond immeasurable doubt that he doesn't have it.

Spillane's preferred style is one of his problems. His 'Jeremy Paxman' approach just doesn't work. It's good that he has no time for the type of ambiguous, wishy-washy responses that he is constitutionally incapable of providing. But his method of extracting straight answers to straight questions is all wrong. Jeremy Paxman interrogates politicians and ministers who are trained to deal with hostile interviews. Spillane works with men who want to give out a few soundbites for a few quid. Spillane's adversarial techniques often only succeed in putting his guests further into their shell. He's like a bullying barrister who wants to leave his witness a weeping wreck. His bouts with Anthony Tohill are typical. They tend to go something like this.
Pat: "An-tinny, last week you told us Dublin were going to win. You were wrrrong. Tell us why were you wrrrong?

Anthony: [Pause] "I don't know if..."

Pat: "You did. You did. Tell us why you were wrrrong?"

Anthony, after forcing another smile, will then try and give some explanation before he is later interrupted.

It doesn't make pleasant viewing and it's time RTE ended the torture of Tohill and their viewers. RTE's misguided decision to cast their most controversial pundit as a presenter was probably a result of copying BBC. They saw the Beeb giving Gary Lineker, the golden boy of English soccer, a similar post with Match of the Day, and they followed suit. The anodyne Lineker has learned his trade and does a decent job.  But Spillane holds the same unflinching gaze when reading the autocue as he did when he started. Ironically, the shortcomings which make Spillane a poor host, also make him a fantastic pundit.

He is bursting with opinions and attitude. And, unlike many of the GAA's talking heads, he doesn't care who he offends. He has caused as many rows in his native Kerry as anywhere else. To date, he is the only GAA pundit who can rank alongside Eamonn Dunphy in terms of creating a national furore. 'Puke football'. You may agree or disagree with the sentiment. But it was an original and emotive phrase which perfectly encapsulated Spillane's disgust at the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final. Then there was the comment about his granny being able to beat Francie Bellew in a race. The list goes on.  By shoe-horning Spillane into the anchor role on The Sunday Game, RTE have hand-cuffed and gagged their prized commentator. It's a ridiculous scenario.

Lyster and Spillane have a talent for the small screen but they have been managed poorly by RTE.  In football parlance, the broadcaster has been keeping Lyster on the subs' bench, while they've been playing Spillane, their best forward, in goals.

A football manager wouldn't get away with it, and RTE shouldn't be allowed to either.

[ONeill]

Mmm, Paddy has decided to leave the comfort zone he has been doggy-paddling in for this last 2 years and decided to stick his neck out. Some harsh stuff here. That's more like it Paddy!

[full back]

Quite a decent piece by Mr Heaney, unless himself & Pat are trying to fill a few newspaper inches in a dull January  

BTW, catch a grip Paddy with your bit on Richard Whiteley
"But as a TV anchor, he ranks in the same division as the late Richard Whitely of Countdown – a man who proved that practice doesn't necessarily make perfect"
A legend

[rrhf]

Its amazing how hidden talent always bubbles to the surface.  I think the IN needs to look at its style of GAA reporting and move with the times and in front of the reader. They cover the facts well but their distinct lack of sharp commentry and edgy opinion would suggest to me a general lack of confidence in their own abiltity to be creative or indeed too tight an editorial regime.   

[INDIANA]

the irish News sits on the fence as much as the indo. One article dosn't make it a revolution.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

... But Spillane holds the same unflinching gaze when reading the autocue as he did when he started.

Ne'er a truer word. He looks as natural (still) behind the teleprompter as a waistcoat and bootees on a poodle, and he fancies himself as a rottweiler.

[Zulu]

I think the lad who hosts the premiership would make a great host of the Sunday Game (I can't think of his name, Darragh something i think), unfortunately he is also RTE's best commentator which might be a problem. Put Pat back as an analyst anyway he'll get things going if nothing else.

[AbbeySider]

The chant by many counties "Pat Spillane's a w**ker" says enough about public opinion on the man.
Id say he is the only pundit that gets a Garda Escort (which I witnessed twice) when walking from Croke Park after matches.

He is big-headed, self centred and a bully who insults other counties and has obvious dislike of any northern team and holds "da kindum" in biased regard. I dont know how he has lasted so long. I have talked to Kerry people and even his own dont like him.

Get him off our screens. He makes me sick.

[Uladh]

Dara o'ceanneaide seems like the best prospect to me.

there are far bigger problems in rte's gaa coverage though... namely commentators and summerisers.

the soccer lads they have laterally farmed in like daragh moloney are way better and they're still not great

[Zulu]

That's the lad Darragh Maloney, are you sure he is a soccer head though? He has definitely been involved in the GAA coverage for a few years now and seems to be fairly knowledgeable. Either he has an interest in the GAA or is a real pro and either is fine by me. He'd be a good anchor and let the best pundits stay where they are.

[dubinhell]

RTE look like they are grooming Joanne Cantwell for pat's job...no harm either

[Doogie Browser]

Darragh Maloney has done quite a few live games as commentator (seems to be a lot of the Saturday qualifier games I recall him doing) and I have always enjoyed his commentary, he is also a very assured and confident host too.

[Uladh]

RTE look like they are grooming Joanne Cantwell for pat's job...no harm either

Jaysus (said in best bertie accent)

[cavan4ever]

Pat is a crap anchor he isn't cut out for the job atall.