Sid Waddell
You should hear him do darts. From an interview http://sport.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,966596,00.html
What's the most important thing about being a commentator?
Well, the thing about darts is that it's a sport where the better the players, the more repetitive the process becomes. So it helps to have loony commentators like me who are able to alter the perspective, to build the drama that the viewers may not be aware of, or to just make them laugh. You have to be able to keep the anorak happy, but you also have to keep Joe Public aware of the drama and significance, all the while doing the mathematical probability for them.
So many to choose from, Sid, but what's your best-ever line?
[Thinks for three seconds, then booms] "He's up where that leopard was on Kilimanjaro." It baffled everyone, because there's a story behind it. Kilamanjaro is a snow-capped mountain in Africa, of course, a brilliant paradox. The Masai call its western summit Ngai Ngai, meaning the house of the gods, because it's 24,500ft high. Now, a perfectly frozen carcass of a snow leopard was found at that height, and no one has ever been able to explain what was doing up there. Nobody else knew what the hell I was talking aboot.
Erm, what were you talking about?
The point I was making was that Phil Taylor was like that snow leopard, in that he's gone to places with darts that no one else has ever been able to reach.
http://mrankin.home.cern.ch/mrankin/Waddell.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Waddell
StevenPWaldon said:
You should hear him do darts. From an interview http://sport.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,966596,00.html
What's the most important thing about being a commentator?
Well, the thing about darts is that it's a sport where the better the players, the more repetitive the process becomes. So it helps to have loony commentators like me who are able to alter the perspective, to build the drama that the viewers may not be aware of, or to just make them laugh. You have to be able to keep the anorak happy, but you also have to keep Joe Public aware of the drama and significance, all the while doing the mathematical probability for them.
So many to choose from, Sid, but what's your best-ever line?
[Thinks for three seconds, then booms] "He's up where that leopard was on Kilimanjaro." It baffled everyone, because there's a story behind it. Kilamanjaro is a snow-capped mountain in Africa, of course, a brilliant paradox. The Masai call its western summit Ngai Ngai, meaning the house of the gods, because it's 24,500ft high. Now, a perfectly frozen carcass of a snow leopard was found at that height, and no one has ever been able to explain what was doing up there. Nobody else knew what the hell I was talking aboot.
Erm, what were you talking about?
The point I was making was that Phil Taylor was like that snow leopard, in that he's gone to places with darts that no one else has ever been able to reach.
http://mrankin.home.cern.ch/mrankin/Waddell.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Waddell
Did he drop his elbow? Were his stroke mechanics in line? Was he firmly planted in the requisite stance? Etc. Etc..... 
