So my first post is a little random. The World Athletics Championships have been taking place in Daegu, South Korea for the last week, and for the first time in a long time they have not been shown on the BBC, but on Channel 4. This has meant that while some of the usual punditry suspects have moved over such as Michael Johnson, we have been given some new presenters. The anchor role was awarded to Ortis Deley, who has previously worked on children's programmes for the BBC, and more recently on Channel 5's The Gadget Show. To say that his foray into live sports presenting has been unsuccessful would be a major understatement. He has been shit. His performance has been loaded with mispronunciations, awkward silences, umming and arring, all topped off with this shocking presenter simply getting things wrong. The looks which Michael Johnson has been giving him have been priceless, and you can just tell he's thinking "How the hell was this guy hired?". I'm with Michael on that one. Why Channel 4 would give such a crucial rule to someone who firstly doesn't have the live television experience to handle the pressure, and secondly has clearly never watched athletics in his life is beyond me.
Channel 4 clearly realised their folly, firing Deley after less than a week in the role. The replacement we were given was Rick Edwards, famed for his role with T4 over the past few years. I will firstly say that it is a huge step up from Deley. Edwards clearly knows how to handle live TV, meaning that I find myself cringing far less when I watch him. I will also say that I like Rick Edwards. I think he's a great presenter for T4. He fits into their style of quirky, awkward, sarcastic presenting extremely well. That's exactly why he doesn't fit so well into the role he has in Daegu. When you consider that pretty much everything he's ever said on T4 has been sarcastic, and see him dressed like a Topman model, it's hard to avoid the suspicion that he's constantly taking the piss. Every time he comments on how great the day's action has been, you can only imagine him thinking "Yeh, but it's only athletics...".
So whilst I'm pleased that I'll never watch Ortis Deley again, and I like Rick Edwards, all I can think when I watch is "God I miss Hazel Irvine". You know how you don't appreciate things until they're gone, well that's how I feel about athletics on the BBC. Channel 4 has been awarded the rights to the Paralympic Games in 2012, so thank God I don't give a fuck about that. I'll just have to get through the rest of these world Championships, and (wet) dream about Sue Barker's radiant visage returning next Summer.ps Here's a collection of Ortis Deley's blunders. It really does make for awkward viewing...