Croft has to go
Discussion
paulguitar said:
Murray did make some quite amazing cock-ups!
Granted, and made fun of himself afterwards. He also frequently paused to recap with his gentle voice box inserted.Croft just blathers on about whatever enters his vacuous head, regardless of what is actually happening on the screen that most regular viewers have already clocked. Sometimes he just needs to pause to gather his thoughts. It’s not as though F1 is a sport that changes second by second.
Another thumbs up here for Karun, he always engages brain before he opens his mouth, and his vocal pitch is not as whining as Brundle’s.
ChocolateFrog said:
Murray did get a lot of criticism at the time, particularly in the last couple of years.
In fact if my memory serves he was effectively hounded out by volume of the criticism.
I know they recruited Hunt and then Brundle to give him a hand. I don’t recall him being given the boot though.In fact if my memory serves he was effectively hounded out by volume of the criticism.
ChocolateFrog said:
Murray did get a lot of criticism at the time, particularly in the last couple of years.
In fact if my memory serves he was effectively hounded out by volume of the criticism.
I recalled slightly differently, so refreshed my memory: he swapped Schumacher & Barrichello after the latter crashed, & got some aggro from the Daily Mail; after that he opted to talk to the TV execs about retirement. I guess you could interpret that as hounded, but sounds, to me, more like it was already in his mind. He'd wound down a lot of his other commitments anyway, as he wanted to reduce his commute & time away from home.In fact if my memory serves he was effectively hounded out by volume of the criticism.
I admit I found him very irritating at times, but his partnership with James Hunt & then Martin Brundle compensated. I think it was when he accidentally poked Nigel Mansell in the eye I realised he was actually very well liked by the F1 community - I suspect Mansell would have decked anyone else for that
Hungrymc said:
He’s tipped me over the edge this weekend. Had to turn the sound off.
He is an idiot gets things completely wrong, disregards information from people that have actually driven f1 cars, shouts for absolutely no reason and comes up with stupid ideas and then bleats on about them for the whole session.At least with Murray he was likeable Croft is just terrible
Adrian W said:
Wasn’t it Walker who said “the car is winning, except for the car in front” or something like that
Here you are, some of Murray's best:"There's nothing wrong with the car except it's on fire"
"With half the race gone there is half the race to go"
"I imagine the conditions in those cars are totally unimaginable"
"Either that car is stationary or it's on the move"
"Do my eyes deceive me or is Senna's car sounding a bit rough?"
"And the first five places are filled with five different cars"
"And this is the third-placed car about to lap the second-placed car"
"The battle is well and truly on if it wasn't on before, and it certainly was"
"Two laps to go, then the action will begin. Unless this is the action, which it is"
"I'm going for first" (Explaining away a British Touring car driver putting up his middle finger)
Murray: "There's a firey glow coming from the back of the Ferrari!" - James Hunt: "No Murray, that's his rear safety light"
"Let's watch this typical Formula Ford start!" (instead they promptly all ran into each other)
"It's a sad ending, albeit a happy one, here at Montreal for today's Grand Prix"
"Andrea de Cesaris, the man who has won more grand prix than anyone else without actually winning one"
"Unless I'm very much mistaken... I am very much mistaken!"
"And now excuse me while I interrupt myself!"
"The young Ralf Schumacher has been upstaged by teenager Jenson Button, who is 20"
"It would have been Senna's third win in a row if he'd won the two before"
"I'm ready to stop my start watch"
MarkwG said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Murray did get a lot of criticism at the time, particularly in the last couple of years.
In fact if my memory serves he was effectively hounded out by volume of the criticism.
I recalled slightly differently, so refreshed my memory: he swapped Schumacher & Barrichello after the latter crashed, & got some aggro from the Daily Mail; after that he opted to talk to the TV execs about retirement. I guess you could interpret that as hounded, but sounds, to me, more like it was already in his mind. He'd wound down a lot of his other commitments anyway, as he wanted to reduce his commute & time away from home.In fact if my memory serves he was effectively hounded out by volume of the criticism.
I admit I found him very irritating at times, but his partnership with James Hunt & then Martin Brundle compensated. I think it was when he accidentally poked Nigel Mansell in the eye I realised he was actually very well liked by the F1 community - I suspect Mansell would have decked anyone else for that
Murray, and speaking as one of the voices calling that his replacement was due, was charming, passionate, intelligent and knowledgeable, just gaff prone that got a bit annoying at the end. Crofty was welcomed for being not as bad as the walking catastrophy that was humphries and has degenerated from that low mark.
Teddy Lop said:
MarkwG said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Murray did get a lot of criticism at the time, particularly in the last couple of years.
In fact if my memory serves he was effectively hounded out by volume of the criticism.
I recalled slightly differently, so refreshed my memory: he swapped Schumacher & Barrichello after the latter crashed, & got some aggro from the Daily Mail; after that he opted to talk to the TV execs about retirement. I guess you could interpret that as hounded, but sounds, to me, more like it was already in his mind. He'd wound down a lot of his other commitments anyway, as he wanted to reduce his commute & time away from home.In fact if my memory serves he was effectively hounded out by volume of the criticism.
I admit I found him very irritating at times, but his partnership with James Hunt & then Martin Brundle compensated. I think it was when he accidentally poked Nigel Mansell in the eye I realised he was actually very well liked by the F1 community - I suspect Mansell would have decked anyone else for that
Murray, and speaking as one of the voices calling that his replacement was due, was charming, passionate, intelligent and knowledgeable, just gaff prone that got a bit annoying at the end. Crofty was welcomed for being not as bad as the walking catastrophy that was humphries and has degenerated from that low mark.
A lot of Murray quotes are amusing or interesting because he is correcting (therefore contradicting) himself as he goes along - which at least shows he’s listening to what he was saying.
In contrast it seems like Croft does not so often do this. E.g. yesterday “I think the Mercedes engine can’t run in ‘Stand-by mode to avoid overheating, which is why they’re not waiting at the end of the pi lane.” (Co-commentator)“Yes but the racing point is and that has a Mercedes” Croft doubles down: “yeah but it’s last year’s car!!!!!”
In contrast it seems like Croft does not so often do this. E.g. yesterday “I think the Mercedes engine can’t run in ‘Stand-by mode to avoid overheating, which is why they’re not waiting at the end of the pi lane.” (Co-commentator)“Yes but the racing point is and that has a Mercedes” Croft doubles down: “yeah but it’s last year’s car!!!!!”
Polite M135 driver said:
A lot of Murray quotes are amusing or interesting because he is correcting (therefore contradicting) himself as he goes along - which at least shows he’s listening to what he was saying.
In contrast it seems like Croft does not so often do this. E.g. yesterday “I think the Mercedes engine can’t run in ‘Stand-by mode to avoid overheating, which is why they’re not waiting at the end of the pi lane.” (Co-commentator)“Yes but the racing point is and that has a Mercedes” Croft doubles down: “yeah but it’s last year’s car!!!!!”
Again, not always. But I won't labour it. I just think it's a tricky job and anybody who has to talk (or shout) for a couple of hours live is likely to make the odd hoohah.In contrast it seems like Croft does not so often do this. E.g. yesterday “I think the Mercedes engine can’t run in ‘Stand-by mode to avoid overheating, which is why they’re not waiting at the end of the pi lane.” (Co-commentator)“Yes but the racing point is and that has a Mercedes” Croft doubles down: “yeah but it’s last year’s car!!!!!”
ChocolateFrog said:
When Hamilton was setting his lap in Q2 he wouldn't shut up about how much trouble Hamilton was in despite him only being a couple of 10ths down.
Its idiotic, he commentates a parallel reality where an overtakes is a possibility to get excited about when the car behind is admittedly closing but obviously too far back to pass. This was the same but in qualifying, he was commentating a reality (hamilton fails to get a time quick enough for the top 10) whilst we had evidence as we went through Hamilton’s lap that we was perfectly on the pace. Culminating with “it’s right on the edge for Hamilton” as he crosses the line with 4th quickest time. I think the reason fans put up with Murray was his genuine enthusiasm, he was genuinely boiling over, and that came out in his head.
He was perfectly balanced out by James, Palmer sounded like what he is, the condescending know it all, and Brundle was just like a nurse looking after the old boy he loved.
Croft simply thinks he has to talk ALL THE TIME, the very opposite of what a good commentator would do, Murray used to reset all the time, feed back the basics, he did not throw endless useless facts at you like Croft does all the time Who gives a damn about pointless, gap fill facts. They offer nothing and he will often barge Martin out the way to utter this tripe.
He is the worst sports commentator I have heard with the exception of Carlton Kirby who manages to ruin anything he touches yet is somehow still in a job. Like Croft I feel both must have a hold on their employer as I see no reason for either to be allowed to talk about the sports I love as they totally ruin both.
I could do a better job, as could many on here with a bit of media training.
He was perfectly balanced out by James, Palmer sounded like what he is, the condescending know it all, and Brundle was just like a nurse looking after the old boy he loved.
Croft simply thinks he has to talk ALL THE TIME, the very opposite of what a good commentator would do, Murray used to reset all the time, feed back the basics, he did not throw endless useless facts at you like Croft does all the time Who gives a damn about pointless, gap fill facts. They offer nothing and he will often barge Martin out the way to utter this tripe.
He is the worst sports commentator I have heard with the exception of Carlton Kirby who manages to ruin anything he touches yet is somehow still in a job. Like Croft I feel both must have a hold on their employer as I see no reason for either to be allowed to talk about the sports I love as they totally ruin both.
I could do a better job, as could many on here with a bit of media training.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Again, not always. But I won't labour it. I just think it's a tricky job and anybody who has to talk (or shout) for a couple of hours live is likely to make the odd hoohah.
I quite agree with this, but with Murray it felt to me like the mistakes were understandable - someone who has good knowledge of the sport but has lapsed and confused names, or misidentified drivers from a tricky tv angle etc. With Croft a lot of the mistakes are of a different character that I think betray a lack of understanding of motor racing or F1 - e.g. hyping up the possibility of a pass attempt when the car behind is 0.8 second back...
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
But, my point was, at the time everybody called him a numpty & wanted him gone. It's only with hindsight that we've come to love him.
speak for yourself, he was always adored and respected in spite of his flaws, but his flaws did become too frequent and detract too much at the end.Crofty never really started with any charm or knowledge
Commentary needs to change, we don't need the race describing to us the same way as when we had 19" tellys and about 6 cameras at a race.
The difference is Walker lived, breathed, dreamt slept racing , either cars or bikes, Croft didn’t https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Croft_(broad...
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
But, my point was, at the time everybody called him a numpty & wanted him gone. It's only with hindsight that we've come to love him.
No I always liked him and remember being at Brands in 1986 with Mansell racing and Murray getting shall we say a touch over excited. It was great. To me Murray made mistakes because he was so involved in the race and loved it with every fibre of his being, and there is nothing wrong with that...
Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff