Donna Simmons is a legend!
Sap Sucker
night and heard this fantastic new commentator. Knowledgable without
being uppity, passionate without being silly, wonderful, clear, lyrical
voice... Five minutes of listening to her call the first two wickets and
I was a fan. Too bad we won't get to hear her again until the West Indies
tour.
Chris Kuan
Although, I think she should go to whatever speech school
Channel 9 sent Mark Taylor to - just so she can slow down
her pace from Akhtar to Moody.
--
Chris Kuan, BHP Information Technology
Concatenate for email: mr gazpacho @ hotmail . com
"The fools must be dealt with, however."
- Dan Pop, comp.lang.c <danpop.9...@news.cern.ch>
Linda
Sap Sucker wrote in message ...
>I listened to ABC radio for the first time during the World Cup last
>night and heard this fantastic new commentator. Knowledgable without
>being uppity, passionate without being silly, wonderful, clear, lyrical
>voice... Five minutes of listening to her call the first two wickets and
>I was a fan. Too bad we won't get to hear her again until the West Indies
>tour.
agree that she is superb. She is clear, accurate and full in detail, which
is just what radio needs.
I got a bit cheesed off with comments on IRC yesterday that she was too
verbose - seems a fairly yawning-style comment awaiting a female
commentator. I've never felt she does anything other than a good job when
I've heard her, but as the only woman commentating at this level so far
she's destined to have a few daft reactions from some quarters.
Linda
Rohan Chandran
>
>I got a bit cheesed off with comments on IRC yesterday that she was too
>verbose - seems a fairly yawning-style comment awaiting a female
>commentator. I've never felt she does anything other than a good job when
>I've heard her, but as the only woman commentating at this level so far
>she's destined to have a few daft reactions from some quarters.
See, this is exactly what I don't like - the implication that if I
don't like her commentary, it must be a "daft" or "sexist"
reaction. It appears that in some quarters, men will just *have* to
like her, because she's a woman commentator and therefore to not like
her would be politically incorrect.
For what it's worth, I rate her somewhere alongside Bob Willis. In
fact, I think Boring Bob probably gives me more. I've said this on IRC
before - months ago - and I was attacked by all and sundry for not
liking Donna Simmons (sp?), but nobody batted an eyelid at my dislike
of Bob Willis. Who are the ones with pre-conceived notions, I wonder ?
Incidentally, my mum thinks Donna is pathetic too - does that make her
sexist as well, I wonder ?
Rohan.
--
"Cricket is like beer" - Atul Khanzode, Stanford Cricket Club, 1999.
cricke...@my-deja.com
ro...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Rohan Chandran) wrote:
> "Linda" <linda....@lineone.net> said
> >
> >I got a bit cheesed off with comments on IRC yesterday that she was
too
> >verbose - seems a fairly yawning-style comment awaiting a female
> >commentator. I've never felt she does anything other than a good job
when
> >I've heard her, but as the only woman commentating at this level so
far
> >she's destined to have a few daft reactions from some quarters.
>
> See, this is exactly what I don't like - the implication that if I
> don't like her commentary, it must be a "daft" or "sexist"
> reaction. It appears that in some quarters, men will just *have* to
> like her, because she's a woman commentator and therefore to not like
> her would be politically incorrect.
>
> For what it's worth, I rate her somewhere alongside Bob Willis. In
> fact, I think Boring Bob probably gives me more. I've said this on IRC
> before - months ago - and I was attacked by all and sundry for not
> liking Donna Simmons (sp?), but nobody batted an eyelid at my dislike
> of Bob Willis. Who are the ones with pre-conceived notions, I wonder ?
>
I agree entirely. I didnt listen very much to the radio this
tournament, since I got to watch most of the games on the telly. But
there were 2 days I listened to chunks on the radio for a while, while
she was on. I first heard her ages ago on the TV - 1993 or 1994 I think
it was - and thought she was pretty poor then, and I thought she was
still the same this time around as well.
Besides, not only was she verbose, but she wasnt particularly
informative for large stretches - which is a pretty poor combination
for a radio commentator, really :-) There was this one instance when I
switched on the audio commentary on the computer and she was on, and in
the next 5 minutes I didnt find out anything I *really* needed to know
- I found out who the batsmen were, of course, and from that I could
surmise which side was batting :-), but that was about all. I didnt get
the team score, the individual score, the overs bowled, nothing. I
eventually ended up opening a 2nd window to check CI for those details
rather than wait much longer. Which wasnt a problem in that instance,
of course, but it isnt particularly good commentary, IMHO.
And, of course, you can think she's a poor commentator without being
sexist - it sometimes amazes me how different peoples views can be on
the same commentator :-) I mean, today I found out that Alex thinks
Gower is boring and utterly un-listenable - which completely floored
me, since it hadnt even crossed my mind that anyone could possibly
think that :-)
> Incidentally, my mum thinks Donna is pathetic too - does that make her
> sexist as well, I wonder ?
>
Naah, youre the only one in the family who is.
Sadiq [ who prefers Phil to Donna ] Yusuf
> Rohan.
> --
> "Cricket is like beer" - Atul Khanzode, Stanford Cricket Club, 1999.
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Mike Holmans
decided to opine:
>"Linda" <linda....@lineone.net> said
>>
>>I got a bit cheesed off with comments on IRC yesterday that she was too
>>verbose - seems a fairly yawning-style comment awaiting a female
>>commentator. I've never felt she does anything other than a good job when
>>I've heard her, but as the only woman commentating at this level so far
>>she's destined to have a few daft reactions from some quarters.
>
>See, this is exactly what I don't like - the implication that if I
>don't like her commentary, it must be a "daft" or "sexist"
>reaction. It appears that in some quarters, men will just *have* to
>like her, because she's a woman commentator and therefore to not like
>her would be politically incorrect.
>
>For what it's worth, I rate her somewhere alongside Bob Willis. In
>fact, I think Boring Bob probably gives me more. I've said this on IRC
>before - months ago - and I was attacked by all and sundry for not
>liking Donna Simmons (sp?), but nobody batted an eyelid at my dislike
>of Bob Willis. Who are the ones with pre-conceived notions, I wonder ?
I think that's rather unfair on Ms S*****ns. I don't think she's
anywhere near as Boring as Bob. She's more on a par with Christopher
Boring-Jenkins, except that she's not so obviously stupid.
I guess that at the moment, she's only decently clued-up about WI
cricketers, which means she can't add very much other than a
recitation of the facts. (If that's not true, and she would claim to
know a lot about players from elsewhere, then she may be much worse
than I think, though.) Her nearest comparison is, I think, Simon Mann,
who's similarly new to it but seems all right so far.
Cheers,
Mike
--
At least the World Cup's over for another four years
Rohan Chandran
>
>I think that's rather unfair on Ms S*****ns. I don't think she's
>anywhere near as Boring as Bob. She's more on a par with Christopher
I do apologise. I didn't for a minute mean to suggest that she was as
Boring as Bob. Just that she ranks alongside him overall.
She's not new to commentary either, remember. She's been doing it for
several years. She's improved a little, but not so significantly as to
be significant (figure that one out).
Ashok
>Incidentally, my mum thinks Donna is pathetic too - does that make her
>sexist as well, I wonder ?
>
>Rohan.
No. Catty, perhaps.
Ashok
Harish Chandramouli
Mike Holmans <pos...@jackalope.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>I think that's rather unfair on Ms S*****ns. I don't think she's
>anywhere near as Boring as Bob. She's more on a par with Christopher
Well, she must have improved then, because god knows when I heard her
last (back in the season of 1992-93) she didn't have a flaming clue
about any of what was going on out there in the cricket field. Willis
is pretty damn boring I'll give you, but at least he seems to know a
thing or two about the game. And as someone who played it with quite
a bit of distinction, at least merits respect on that front.
When I see Donna in the box, all I can think of is Omar Henry and how
there seems to be a move in South African cricket to select players on
their skin colour, more than on merit ie *You* know they don't deserve
to be there, *they* know they don't deserve to be there: but thanks to
the screwed up planet and its well-known double standards, we have no
real alternative but to put with it.
And if she's the best of the lot as far as women commentators go, I
say the world is better off simply not having any.
(The above was the obligatory chauvinistic comment of the day, in
case you were wondering)
Cheers,
Harish (who would rather watch Phil bat than hear Donna speak)
--
List of chokers, in respective order: 1. India 2. England 3. South Africa
And INDIA, the vicarious World Cup Winners in 1999 (take a bow, Aussies!)
John Hall
Mike Holmans <pos...@jackalope.demon.co.uk> writes:
>I think that's rather unfair on Ms S*****ns. I don't think she's
>anywhere near as Boring as Bob. She's more on a par with Christopher
>Boring-Jenkins, except that she's not so obviously stupid.
>
>cricketers, which means she can't add very much other than a
>recitation of the facts. (If that's not true, and she would claim to
>know a lot about players from elsewhere, then she may be much worse
>than I think, though.)
She's pretty good considering that I understand her proper job is as a
lawyer and she only commentates in her "spare time". <non-PC> And her
voice is so gorgeous that I'd happily listen to her recite the telephone
directory. </non-PC>
> Her nearest comparison is, I think, Simon Mann,
>who's similarly new to it but seems all right so far.
I'm quite impressed by Mann. He's been doing reports on Radio 5 Live (a
BBC radio station in the UK) for several years, but he hasn't had much
chance before this to commentate for extended periods. With Agnew doing
a lot of TV and Blofield absent ill, the BBC have had to bring in some
unfamiliar names for the radio ball-by-ball. They've also used a lot of
overseas commentators, of course, amongst whom I rate Gerald de Kock
very highly.
--
John Hall
"I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly,
will hardly mind anything else."
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84)
Linda
Rohan Chandran wrote in message <7klmj2$p70$1...@nntp.Stanford.EDU>...
>"Linda" <linda....@lineone.net> said
>>
>>I got a bit cheesed off with comments on IRC yesterday that she was too
>>verbose - seems a fairly yawning-style comment awaiting a female
>>commentator. I've never felt she does anything other than a good job when
>>I've heard her, but as the only woman commentating at this level so far
>>she's destined to have a few daft reactions from some quarters.
>
>See, this is exactly what I don't like - the implication that if I
>don't like her commentary, it must be a "daft" or "sexist"
>reaction. It appears that in some quarters, men will just *have* to
>like her, because she's a woman commentator and therefore to not like
>her would be politically incorrect.
and I didn't mean to imply that there was. I was picking up specifically on
the 'yap, yap, rabbit, rabbit, blimey typical woman, goes on and on...' daft
comments that were flying about on IRC. Among those were probably a handful
of people who were thinking of her as a commentator, rather than a female
commentator, as you've made it clear you do. There's no reason on earth I'd
have a problem with that.
>For what it's worth, I rate her somewhere alongside Bob Willis. In
>fact, I think Boring Bob probably gives me more. I've said this on IRC
>before - months ago - and I was attacked by all and sundry for not
>liking Donna Simmons (sp?), but nobody batted an eyelid at my dislike
>of Bob Willis. Who are the ones with pre-conceived notions, I wonder ?
Well I can't answer for all and sundry who attacked you in IRC then - when I
protested (with pretty good humour I reckon) at the 'woman with wagging
tongue' cliches it met with a notable lack of interest, so I gave up. I can
accept your challenge, and I think you've made a very valid point. I didn't
mean to say, 'don't touch her, she's a woman!' I meant to say something
like, if some people think she's a crap commentator it'd be refreshing if
they'd put it in a way that didn't fall back on strings of old-hat funnies.
But that's life and I'm not losing any sleep over it. It's just a mild
observation.
>Incidentally, my mum thinks Donna is pathetic too - does that make her
>sexist as well, I wonder ?
I dunno. Does your mum suffix all her comments with 'typical bloody woman'?
Linda
Linda
Harish Chandramouli wrote in message
<7km3se$evi$1...@wensleydale.cs.utexas.edu>...
<snip>
>When I see Donna in the box, all I can think of is Omar Henry and how
>there seems to be a move in South African cricket to select players on
>their skin colour, more than on merit ie *You* know they don't deserve
>to be there, *they* know they don't deserve to be there: but thanks to
>the screwed up planet and its well-known double standards, we have no
>real alternative but to put with it.
with your interpretation of why she is.
>And if she's the best of the lot as far as women commentators go, I
>say the world is better off simply not having any.
'If Mike Wedderburn's the best of the lot as far as black male presenters
go, the world is better off simply not having any...' This just doesn't
follow. If you don't like her, fine, but put your brain back in.
>(The above was the obligatory chauvinistic comment of the day, in
>case you were wondering)
But it doesn't make it any less nonsensical, Harish.
Cheers,
Linda
Linda
John Hall wrote in message ...
<snip>
>
>She's pretty good considering that I understand her proper job is as a
>lawyer and she only commentates in her "spare time". <non-PC> And her
>voice is so gorgeous that I'd happily listen to her recite the telephone
>directory. </non-PC>
>
gorgeous ;-)
Linda
(Perhaps we could get Donna Symmonds to do the telephone directory and
Michael Holding to do the Yellow Pages on a double album)
Opti
listened to the TV commentators until she finished.
Sorry :-( I don't think it has anything to do with being female.... she was
just loud and after a while I just wished she would shut up a little more...
she kind of dominated the broadcast rather than enhancing it for me.
Opti
Linda <linda....@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:a%sb3.5248$yo6....@newreader.ukcore.bt.net...
>
> Sap Sucker wrote in message ...
> >I listened to ABC radio for the first time during the World Cup last
> >night and heard this fantastic new commentator. Knowledgable without
> >being uppity, passionate without being silly, wonderful, clear, lyrical
> >voice... Five minutes of listening to her call the first two wickets and
> >I was a fan. Too bad we won't get to hear her again until the West Indies
> >tour.
> I heard Donna for the first time on TMS during the Eng v Windies tour and
> agree that she is superb. She is clear, accurate and full in detail, which
> is just what radio needs.
>
> I got a bit cheesed off with comments on IRC yesterday that she was too
> verbose - seems a fairly yawning-style comment awaiting a female
> commentator. I've never felt she does anything other than a good job when
> I've heard her, but as the only woman commentating at this level so far
> she's destined to have a few daft reactions from some quarters.
>
>
>
> Linda
>
>
Eric DeBlackmere, S.O.C.
wrote:
>She's not new to commentary either, remember. She's been doing it for
>several years. She's improved a little, but not so significantly as to
>be significant (figure that one out).
The June issue of CRICKETER INTERNATIONAL has a nice little article on
her. Among the many things covered is the fact that she has been doing
commentary for Test competitions for 12 years now....
Eric
GAP
women are also perfectly capable of being sexist, and in fact often are.
>Incidentally, my mum thinks Donna is pathetic too - does that make her
>sexist as well, I wonder ?
>
John Tomlin
Harish Chandramouli <ch...@cs.utexas.edu> wrote:
[snip]
>Harish (who would rather watch Phil bat than hear Donna speak)
You really must be a masochist! Ms Simmons has a most beguiling voice
as far as I'm concerned, which makes up for a lot of other shortcomings
in a radio commentator. OK, she's not John Arlott or Alan MacGilvray,
but I'll listen to her over about a dozen other (male) commentators.
This isn't a PC preference <spit>. I just love the sound of a good voice.
(I'd listen to Michael Holding read from the 'phone book :).
************************************************************************
* John Tomlin (tom...@almaden.ibm.com) Speak for my Employer? Get real.*
* "Our organization stands for the better things in art - not *
* expecting either reward or enjoyment." ... Anna Russell *
* http://linus.socs.uts.edu.au/~tomlin *
************************************************************************
Simon Thompson
wrote:
> I got a bit cheesed off with comments on IRC yesterday that she was too
> verbose
I wouldn't say she was too verbose, basically I like her commentary,
but should could give the comments person more time to, well, to make
comments. Sometimnes there could be several balls before they got
enough time to say anything.
-----------------------------------------
Simon Thompson
Christchurch
New Zealand
Dean Bedford
anything that breaks up those public school voices is welcome.
But I didn't think Donna was especially good, her commentaries tended to be
rather dry in my experience and became rather dull. She seemed a little
humourless to me... similar to Christopher Martin-Jenkins who I also found
dull.
As long as we're talking commentators does anyone know why Trevor Bailey and
Fred Trueman weren't used by the BBC in the World cup? Trevor can be
patronising but he's always worth listening to and Fred could have broken up
the monotony of some of the commentaries.
Mike Holmans
<dbed...@ihug.co.nz> decided to opine:
No idea about the Boil, but basically Fred is being got rid of because
he's so bloody dull. He hasn't said anything in the last five years
other than that things were an awful lot better when he and Brian
Statham were bowling and he doesn't understand the modern game. At
least the BBC have woken up to the idea that commentators ought to be
in touch with the game as it is played today by the players which are
around today, and that Fred's fossilised antiquarianism should be
consigned to the history with which he is obviously so much happier.
Zildjian
Chandramouli) wrote:
>In article <376e6828...@news.axion.bt.co.uk>,
>Mike Holmans <pos...@jackalope.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>I think that's rather unfair on Ms S*****ns. I don't think she's
>>anywhere near as Boring as Bob. She's more on a par with Christopher
>>Boring-Jenkins, except that she's not so obviously stupid.
>
>Well, she must have improved then, because god knows when I heard her
>last (back in the season of 1992-93) she didn't have a flaming clue
>about any of what was going on out there in the cricket field. Willis
>is pretty damn boring I'll give you, but at least he seems to know a
>thing or two about the game. And as someone who played it with quite
>a bit of distinction, at least merits respect on that front.
If you say so. As far as I'm concerned, there is absolutely
no correlation between playing and commentating. In fact,
I'd go so far as to say that commentary standards
would rise immeasurably if ex-players were given the elbow
and the decision was made to employ commentators to
commentate.
An excellent example was Ian Healy during the final. I
mean he actually sat there and claimed that Gilchrist's
50 included great shots off both the front and back foot,
and that he's a strong player off both feet. What utter
nonsense! Gilchrist could have his right leg amputated
tomorrow and it wouldn't affect his batting one iota.
[snip]
-------------------------------
Greg Breen
Perth, Western Australia
Email: g...@opera.iinet.net.au
John Hall
Dean Bedford <dbed...@ihug.co.nz> writes:
>As long as we're talking commentators does anyone know why Trevor Bailey and
>Fred Trueman weren't used by the BBC in the World cup? Trevor can be
>patronising but he's always worth listening to and Fred could have broken up
>the monotony of some of the commentaries.
I rather suspect that Fred doesn't approve of one-day cricket. I don't
know why Bailey wasn't used.
--
John Hall
"The covers of this book are too far apart."
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
Mike Holmans
>In article <7knpc1$5vh$1...@newsource.ihug.co.nz>,
> Dean Bedford <dbed...@ihug.co.nz> writes:
>>As long as we're talking commentators does anyone know why Trevor Bailey and
>>Fred Trueman weren't used by the BBC in the World cup? Trevor can be
>>patronising but he's always worth listening to and Fred could have broken up
>>the monotony of some of the commentaries.
>
>I rather suspect that Fred doesn't approve of one-day cricket. I don't
>know why Bailey wasn't used.
That doesn't explain why Trueman has been quoted in several papers as
being very upset that the BBC did not see fit to ask him to be part of
the commentary team.
At least I won't have to write my annual letter to the BBC asking them
to take the boring old twit off the air.
Vernon Gonsalves
I'm from the West Indies (Trinidad) so it's not a bias. For my money, give
me Geoff Boycott, Michael Holding and Bill Lawry any day of the week.
V.
Sap Sucker <tipp...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.11d84364a...@news.bigpond.com...
GAP
not a bias." Come on: 'm from the West Indies too (Trinidad, too) and I know
all about inter-island rivalry. We are under no obligation to love our
regional brothers and sisters (or their accents and attitudes), and in fact
often don't. So don't come with that argument. And don't say just because
you like Mikey you're off the hook--he's from another island.
Vernon Gonsalves wrote in message <7kpt7n$mpq$1...@news.carib-link.net>...
Mic Cullen
to have written:
[snips]
>See, this is exactly what I don't like - the implication that if I
>don't like her commentary, it must be a "daft" or "sexist"
>reaction. It appears that in some quarters, men will just *have* to
>like her, because she's a woman commentator and therefore to not like
>her would be politically incorrect.
Agree with the above. FWIW, my wife switched to the TV commentary when she
was on - hardly a vote of confidence...
I thought she was quite poor - I don't remember having disliked a radio
commentator as much since Neville Oliver was polluting the airways with his
drivel.
Have a good one,
Mic. [Yes, address works]
Some common elements: hydrogen, oxygen, stupidity...
Mic Cullen
appears to have written:
[snips]
>No idea about the Boil, but basically Fred is being got rid of because
>he's so bloody dull. He hasn't said anything in the last five years
>other than that things were an awful lot better when he and Brian
>Statham were bowling and he doesn't understand the modern game.
Shame we haven't got those people picking the commos at Nine...
Have a good one,
Mic. [Yes, address works]
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Wayne Gretzky on hockey