[TV orNotTV] Nick Faldo

[PGage]

When Faldo first started doing golf play by play I found him refreshing and interesting - maybe to a large degree because it turned out his personality was so different from what many of us who only watched him during his playing career would have guessed. I never much liked Paul Azinger, but he worked well with Faldo at ABC. Since Faldo has been at CBS and Golf Channel though he has become increasingly obnoxious and hard to take.

Like many Americans I still can not accurately place and catalog various British accents, so I am not sure of Faldo's original background and social class. I know he now is very wealthy and politically conservative. What I am wondering is the context in which to place his on-air personality. He seems almost unable to listen to what the people around him are saying and even briefly inhibit what he wants to say. He talks over other commentators, and consistently refuses to take or follow informal cues and leads about the direction the other guy wants to take things in. I have never taken an improv class, but he seems like one of the worst possible kinds of improv partners. So, my question is, is this a function of some British upper class cultural pattern, some kind of upper class eccentricity and fuzziness,  or is he just an asshole? He has some characteristics in common with that old cliche of the British Imperial class - kind of like the Commander McBragg character in those shorts during Underdog cartoons. But then it seems sometimes like his accent is more lower class.

[Bob in Jersey]

He was knighted in the late 1990s, but grew up in a middle-class family, from what I've seen.

-- B.

[Brad Beam]

From: tvor...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tvor...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob in Jersey

>He was knighted in the late 1990s, but grew up in a middle-class family, from what I've seen.

Per Wiki:

Faldo grew up in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire – one of the Home Counties, where hurricanes hardly happen – but went to U.Houston for a year before turning pro.

 

WGC is also the home to Ron Weasley. Hertfordshire is also native to Spices Ginger and Posh, Simon LeBon, and Guy Ritchie.

 

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[Adam Bowie]

I think it's less to do with Faldo's class, and more to do with his character. As has been mentioned, he was brought up in the southeast of England not very far away from me in fact. However Wikipedia says he worked as a carpet fitter when he was very young, which is a pretty working class job. While I don't know his exact circumstances, I would suspect that he was not "upper class". That said - and this was until relatively recently still the case - people who played golf were certainly less likely to be working class. There are and were exceptions in places like Scotland and Northern Ireland where it can be seen as more of a general pursuit. But if you wanted to play golf in the home counties, you were looking at an expensive sport with high fees etc.

Given that Faldo had very quick success, for most of his life he's been rich and money can do things to you!

In summary, I think his nature is less his upbringing and more his character traits - or flaws - shining through. Whether he thinks he's "playing a character" I don't know. What I can say is that his accent is quite nasal, and is a cross between an "estuary English" accent (quite working class, and not upper class) with a now transatlantic twang given the amount of time he's spent in the US. He's more "yeah" than "yes" which is a good clue when you're listening to him. 

Incidentally, the new Simon Pegg film which I think has just opened in the US, End of the World, is partly shot in Welwyn Garden City, and the imaginary town it represents would probably be recognisable to Faldo. The film is OKish. Not the best, and not the worst comedy. 

Adam (Sorry - top posting, because that's the way Google makes me)

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