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sir_quirky_k (

sir_quirky_k) wrote,
@ 2007-08-03 23:21:00

Current mood:	intensely excited and happy
Current music:	The Holloways - Generator
Entry tags:	EUC, independence

Without question, this week has changed my life
I have truly burst out of my shell this week, and today has finished the job; live commentary has finally worked. Check the Surge webstream tomorrow, it will almost certainly be working; there will be three games (of uncertain duration, but anything outside the range of 100 +/- 20 would be highly surprising) during the day, and I will be one of the commentators on each. (Two pairs of commentators will be present, covering one half of each match, and I will be in one of those pairs. Each will be of the standard commentator-analyst form; I will be the former, the latter is likely to be someone called Simon who has helped with organisation having had his playing career curtailed by injury.)

The start times: 1000 (Junior Open, for which read male U21), GBR - GER; 1230 (women) FIN - GBR; 1500 (open, for which read male), SWE - GBR. The last of these has potential to be a genuine classic, though I'm not sure how much of this will translate to radio; Sweden have Sebastian Sporrong, possibly the best player outside North America, while the British team have enormous strength in depth (and with nine games to play in one week, each well over an hour in duration, this is extremely valuable). I'd be extremely hesitant to predict a winner, but would be very surprised if it were not close; if it is indeed one-sided, it will be down to Sporrong being either unstoppable or well off-form, such is his influence for Sweden. The hosts start as favourites in the Junior Open, while the womens' final is also hard to call.

But enough of that. This has been an unbelievable week. A sport I knew almost nothing about six days ago has become a substantial part of my life. I've been living and breathing it, following the action as much as I feel able to (and possibly beyond; I've been forced to take a nap mid-afternoon on more than one occasion this week), and ended up producing the lead article here on behalf of organisers who have been unable to watch as much of the action as me (yes). (And watching the end of the DEN - IRE match bought memories that will stay with me for years, and they won't be the only ones of this week.) Covering something I enjoy has sent me bursting out of my shell, and it seems as though nothing can send me down right now.

If I can cling to this feeling...

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	And, of course... daweaver 2007-08-04 03:39 pm UTC (link)
	...the day of the big commentary is the day I'm out and about. My loss; live Frisbee-throwing would have been entertaining. Never mind, I'm really glad to hear that you have had a Life Changing Experience, and I look forward to hearing more along these lines in the future. (Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: And, of course...

sir_quirky_k
2007-08-04 07:45 pm UTC (link)

There's a non-trivial chance that recordings will be made available, if not on the EUC website, then to me - and in the latter case I will make a representative sample available.

There may well be more very much along these lines in the future - Surge are in early talks with Southampton Football Club regarding the prospect of providing live coverage of home fixtures, possibly in conjunction with the station run by Solent ~~Business and Pseudoacademic Centre~~University, and if this were to come to something I would be an obvious choice for commentary duties.

(One obvious problem, though; EUC never had more than about 1500 supporters. Two stands along the sidelines each seating just under 750 people were mostly full for the big SWE-GBR game, with maybe 100 more at either end of the field - mostly behind one end with a marquee and Old Comfy Chairs, and it was atop a camera tower at this end that I commentated. St Mary's seats 30,000, and while it scarcely ever sells out for Division II games, we're still talking an order of magnitude up from the EUC, with associated sensory-overload potential. We'd almost certainly be covering the game from a press box, though - that'd probably nullify enough of the noise...

...and apparently it's not a terribly noisy/atmospheric [delete as appropriate] ground anyway, being one of the Generic Red Bowls of the turn-of-the-millennium period. Then again, this is what I've been told by a Portsmouth fan, who happens to be my cousin...)

Incidentally, I tried to phone you earlier, using my old Handy, but you were clearly busy, and that is absolutely fine. I then phoned Gemma, and went on to thank her for her contribution to my increased confidence. The remit for her replacement may have greatly changed...

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Re: And, of course...

daweaver
2007-08-05 12:47 pm UTC (link)

In the latter case I will make a representative sample available.

If it happens, I shall look forward to it.

Surge are in early talks with Southampton Football Club regarding the prospect of providing live coverage of home fixtures

Again, a good call, and broken legs (or whatever it is you commentators say.)

the station run by Solent ~~Business and Pseudoacademic Centre~~ University

Do you mean Southampton Poly? (;

Part of your acclimatisation process for the larger stadium could well be to attend a game and then file a pithy post-match report. A bit like the ones on Sports Report, describing the game in one minute or so.

Incidentally, I tried to phone you earlier, using my old Handy, but you were clearly busy, and that is absolutely fine.

Yes; I was out for just about all of Saturday (and earlier Sunday), and when I don't absolutely need to take mein Handy, it stays here, switched off. Your better bet is to call my landline, which begins 0121 45, and I'll post the last five digits in my next substantive post. Behind a chums-lock.

The remit for her replacement may have greatly changed...

You know what you're looking for. This is a good start.

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Re: And, of course...

sir_quirky_k
2007-08-05 02:56 pm UTC (link)

Do you mean Southampton Poly? (;

Yes, or more accurately Southampton Institute. Rebranded as Solent University in 2006, still widely mocked. A tiebreaker in the SU pub quiz one week asked for the league table gap between Southampton's two institutions; ludicrously, this was done in Play Your Cards Right fashion, with one team giving a number and the other asked to go higher or lower. The advantage given to the latter team is obvious, and sure enough they won. (And I'm not just complaining because my team - which didn't include me that day, but did include fellow teetotaller Demelza - who already has a game show appearance from the short-lived kids' version of Fifteen-to-One - were on the losing side. I'm complaining because I know that changing to a simple 'teams independently make a guess, closest wins' format would be trivially simple and easily beat this sorry excuse for a tiebreaker - as format errors go, it's up with the Keynotes scoring system.)

Part of your acclimatisation process for the larger stadium could well be to attend a game and then file a pithy post-match report. A bit like the ones on Sports Report, describing the game in one minute or so.

That might be useful; I'm just about walking distance from St Mary's Generic Red Bowl, which helps. If I'd been in Southampton last month, attending a friendly game might have been good, as it would have allowed me to become used to the stadium with a crowd larger than any I'd been in before but smaller than those in Division II games; if Southampton make the second round of the Carling Cup, that may also be an option. At least I know what to expect inside; it'll be somewhat similar to Hampden Park, but sans second tier on the main stand, and somewhat smaller generally. Furthermore, the seats will be closer to the pitch compared to Hampden, which still has something approaching an athletics track around it (a proper one will be built ifwhen Glasgow are awarded the 2014 Commonwealth Games; from what I can tell having been there, this will involve removing the front few rows from behind the goals).

You know what you're looking for (re: new voice teacher).

Actually on some level I now don't. Do I now look for someone in the mould of Gemma, focusing primarily on diction? Or do I look for someone who'll build upon the foundations she helped build and extend my voice in a direction she was never going to lead me? The two aren't quite mutually exclusive, of course, and a valid option could be finding other opportunities to work on speaking and diction (read: joining Theatre Group, becoming more active in Debating Society again) while using the lessons primarily for the purpose of filling in that gap in the line-graph that I showed you in Birmingham.

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Hatfield

daweaver
2007-08-06 06:10 pm UTC (link)

Rebranded as Solent University in 2006, still widely mocked.

Southampton Poly, then.

A tiebreaker in the SU pub quiz one week asked for the league table gap between Southampton's two institutions; ludicrously, this was done in Play Your Cards Right fashion, with one team giving a number and the other asked to go higher or lower.

As opposed to team A giving a number N, followed by team B guessing N+1 or N-1? The fairest method is to write down answers, closer wins; where the prize is secondary to the entertainment, Brucieing it up has attractions. Nnnnn, good game, good game.

if Southampton make the second round of the Carling Cup, that may also be an option.

Always assuming they remain seeded... (checks table) Yep, 26th overall, 18th highest competitors, certain to keep them seeded in the round of 48. Could get The Crystal Palace, or any side beneath, but SOT won't be up against PLY. Not in this round.

Hampden still has something approaching an athletics track around it (a proper one will be built if when Glasgow are awarded the 2014 Commonwealth Games.)

Glasgow should get it, but one day the CGs will head to Africa. Probably not Abudja '14, though, and it will be the turn of the Old Commonwealth. Though not Halifax, which is a bit of a shame.

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	Great predictions of our time daweaver 2007-08-14 03:42 pm UTC (link)
	`if Southampton make the second round of the Carling Cup` SOT won't be up against PLY. Not in this round. Or, indeed, in any round this year. Mystic Mug is laughing through the handle. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Great predictions of our time

sir_quirky_k
2007-08-15 11:14 am UTC (link)

Yes, that was rather amusing in retrospect, especially upon hearing the score from someone watching the Murdoch Sports coverage.

Still, on the broader perspective of sensory overload in sports stadia (he says, as Numb plays...); how normal is it for stadia to have separate press boxes, which presumably commentators would be in, and to what extent would this serve as sound insulation? (I know that St Mary's Generic Red Bowl, at least, does have press boxes.)

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Re: Great predictions of our time

daweaver
2007-08-15 05:33 pm UTC (link)

How normal is it for stadia to have separate press boxes, which presumably commentators would be in, and to what extent would this serve as sound insulation? (I know that St Mary's Generic Red Bowl, at least, does have press boxes.)

On the former question, relatively normal, at least on stadia built during the last twenty years or so. On the latter, it depends; I strongly suspect that they do a better job of insulating the commentator from the action than the likes of Alan Green might like, and the effects microphone has to be turned up quite loud. Whether that would suffice to remove difficulties for yourself may be something you'd have to experience.

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jiggery_pokery
2007-08-04 11:52 pm UTC (link)

That's extremely cool and I'm glad that you've found something that thrills you so much. If this had been a few years ago then I would have invited you to the Mind Sports Olympiad in a couple of weeks' time to do similar-but-more-writing-and-less-talking things about mind sports rather than about Ultimate in the press office, but this year there will be no press office producing daily bulletins and updating web sites, there will be no press and there will bloody well be a struggle to be pretty much anything. All the same, I'm glad that you've found something that looks like it could be a way ahead. I do like your lead article, too. Like Iain, I'll not be able to tune in live, but wouldn't mind listening to a recording at some point.

Generator is a damn fine tune, as well.

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sir_quirky_k
2007-08-05 09:42 am UTC (link)

Generator is now my anthem of the moment. If you'd told me a year ago that something so ridiculously happy would gain such a status I'd have laughed at you.

(Closest I've got before was First Day Of My Life, which gained clear Personal Anthem Status on October 1 2006 and I guess is fitting here too; independence anthems (Way Away through early 2006, Breakaway in the summer, and post-October the more euphoric Breaking Free dominated 2006; separately, the rather more depressing Numb has been a Song To Cling To for the worst of the last year, but I've made reference to why before.)

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And because I got carried away...

sir_quirky_k
2007-08-05 10:03 am UTC (link)

...firstly, I'm startled by that, and secondly it's a real shame that the press coverage really is going to slip to zero for that very worthy event. (Though I suspect I'd be confused for a participant... look at my name again. Golf commentary would probably be out for the same reason...)

Some of the article was edited. At least one of those edits is grammatically incorrect. ;) I did enjoy writing it.

I'm hoping this does prove to be a way ahead, not that I really expect it to; I may reach a point where inability to handle large crowds and associated noise will be a factor, but I'm not entirely sure it will be an issue if attending as a media representative rather than a fan; if the Southampton FC link comes to anything, that will be the moment where I find out whether noise is a factor, for a sell-out game there will be an order-of-magnitude leap in crowd numbers from the biggest sporting crowd I've ever been in, which is 2,877.

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