Saturday, August 8, 2009

Want to enjoy Kenyan Sports... Press the mute button!!

Kenya is a football loving country and we go nuts whenever one of our teams is playing be it locally or abroad.
As I watch the ongoing match between Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards where the latter is currently leading, I have come to one conclusion, we may have fans, but we don't have football analysts or commentors.
Listening to the commentators, I have heard stuff like, "If Gor wants to win this match, then they will have to score more goals than AFC who are leading at the moment!" Shocking am telling you!
I have heard more fun nursing an injury than listening to the local so called "football experts".
Whenever I watch sports channels like ESPN's Sports Center and Soccernet Press Pass, I always marvel at how they use sports icons like Magic Johnson and other much qualified people in their network for things like analysis and even interviews.
This, I have come to realise tends to make the stories deeper, more relevant and believable since they usually have inside details or more knowledge on whatever sport they are involved in. This is because if its analysing, say, the NBA Finals, someone like Magic has been there and knows the kind of mental state the players are in.
In Kenya, all our sports icons are never called to help add a new perspective to the stories being carried. That job is left to some wannabes who think they know it all.
I always see people who have never even touched a ball commenting on things like football and that is why I believe we have the worst sports analysts.
The analysts always try and offer some perspective on the sports and they always end up giving us analysis that make you want to sit on a pin.
"If I were Alex Ferguson, I would not have put Van Der Sar as the keeper, I think he would have been brilliant as a midfielder." Those are some of the things you might hear if you listen carefully.
Plus analysis should be on the formation, ball movement and the likes. But when you listen to or homegrown talent you will hear of stuff like, "I think Barcelona are leading because they have scored one goal and Man United haven't. I think that for United to win, they will need two goals..."
Shouldn't that be a crime? Come on tell me something new even if it will be wrong for heaven's sakes!
Analysts do more than just tell us what we know, they go a step further but not on the wrong direction like our people.
If its athletics, get Paul Tergat, Ndereba, Mwafrika and others to help you out, not to listen to analysis like "If Ndereba wants to win, she should be the first at the finishing line." Try and tell me how the body starts to feel after ten kilometers and the likes.
If they would do that, then we can start tuning to the local programs to listen to their ideas rather than rushing to the loo.

1 comment:

  1. nice post hehe. btw is there a blog on kenyan bball yet.

    ReplyDelete

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