Did BBC's Peter Alliss make a triple bogey on Sunday?
OK, I've already included Peter Alliss as one of the reasons why I love the British Open (see here). Within the span of three minutes, however, Alliss appeared to make three big gaffes on Sunday. I don't have exact quotes, but here they are, as best I can recollect:
1. Alliss suggested that Tiger's calmness on the course might be attributable to some "Oriental" influence from his mother (Kutilda is from Thailand). At least in the U.S., "Oriental" is not the correct term to refer to Asians. I'd gather it's no longer correct in the UK, either.
2. When questioned if Tiger was the best he'd seen at the British, Alliss acknowledged Tiger's greatness, but then noted others he had seen in his many years of broadcasting. "First, there was Arnold Palmer. Then there was Seve. Then there was Jack Nicklaus."
3. Soon thereafter, Alliss tried to correct the television scoreboard, insisting that Ernie Els was one stroke better--even though he had just bogeyed. Mike Tirico quietly corrected him.
I don't want to blow any of these out of proportion, but the fact they occurred in rapid succession seemed to confirm that Alliss, who is 75 years old, was off of his game.
13 Comments:
I think it's probably attributable to the fact that he spent the entire day shuffling duties between the BBC and ABC. Therefore, I think we can overlook his "gaffes."
I've frequently heard British people refer to Asians as "Orientals," particularly older British people. So I don't think Peter Alliss was trying to be politically incorrect, and we probably shouldn't impose American values on him.
The Seve/Jack and Ernie Els mistakes were probably just due to confusion more than anything else. Trying to narrate a broadcast has to be incredibly complicated and confusing, especially with all the different angles that need to be covered. I think the mistakes were due to Peter Alliss shuffling back and forth between the BBC and ABC more than anything else. Peter Alliss is usually a very good announcer, regardless of his age.
This isn't as serious as the Ben Wright comments of several years ago. I still regret that Ben Wright is no longer at CBS because I loved his banter with Gary McCord. Those two were perfect together.
Yeah I mean, it's forgivable -- but let's be clear. It's not so much calling Tiger "Oriental" that's bad... yes, it's probably not the right term, but whatever.
What's bad is the suggestion that his "Oriental" background somehow has something to do with his ability to concentrate or focus or be so good. Remember Jimmy the Greek?
Using the term "Orientals" to describe people from all countries in Asia is both ignorant and laughable. It's not a matter of "imposing American values", my politically correct friend. Would it be kosher to refer to all caucasian Americans, Canadians, Europeans, etc. as being "Honkies"?
As an Asian American, I did note the Aliss comment, but I also understand that in the UK, Oriental is not as offensive as it would be here.
It raised an eyebrow, but I would find it offensive if Tirico said it. Also, Aliss mentioned that Tiger's "calm" may be due to Kultida's asian influence OR a school teacher in his upbringing.
The whole model minority / positive attribute of 'dem asians is a bit much, but he tempered it with the school teacher thing.
I don't get your comment with regards to Palmer, Seve and Nicklaus - he just got them in the wrong order, big whoop.
And Aliss was right regarding Els. Els had yet to make his bogey putt (or worse), but Tirico and the gang was giving him a bogey already. The scoreboard and Aliss was right.. for the next 15 seconds.
It's not unlike how we use the term "spaz" with abandon here in the states, but in the UK its offensive. I think we all recall a comment made buy a certain afican-asian-american made just after the Masters...
All the other comments were fairly petty in my opinion.
So give Peter Aliss a break...he basically broadcasts 8-10 hours a day for 4 days straight.
All three things are nit-picking for cripes sakes!
I would say though that puting Seve and Arnold in the same class as Tiger and Jack is a huge stretch! Arnold won 7 and Seve won only 5! If that's the requirement than what about Tom Watson (8), Gary Player (9), Nick Faldo (6) and Peter Thompson who won FIVE British Open's without winning another major title.
Obviously, it was just an off-the-cuff answer with no time to really thing it over.....that's gonna happen when you sit and talk for 8 hours straight!
how about his dimarco comment on the bbc?
he said something after he missed a shot, could have been a putt about how his recently dead mum had been looking out for him and she must have been taking a break, the olde duffer needs to hang up his mike...
If the original comment was right in saying that Alliss was asked about the best he'd seen at the British Open, then it seems entirely reasonable to put Palmer and Ballesteros in the same class as Woods and Niclkaus.
Palmer is said to have breathed life into the British Open when he finished runner-up on his first trip in 1960. At the time, few Americans trekked over the Atlantic to pay in the British Open. Also Palmer won back-to-back titles: something Jack never did.
Seve won as many British Open titles as Nicklaus (and as many as Tiger so far...) - and with his "car park champion" tag Seve brought a certain daring to the championship.
So, seems to me that Alliss was spot-on.
So, it seems to
time the reactionary old fart was put out to pasture.
in fact, all the bbc announcers play up to the stereotype of white, anglo-saxon, conservatives and could give a hoot if they're accused of racist remarks. thank god alex hay is dead or retired or fired.
Get a life!!
His job is to commentate and that is what he was doing, if you listened to the Di Marco comment live it was completely in context.
If Chris Di Marco finds it offensive then I`ll respect his opinion, but stop all of this judgement.
Re ''Orientals''
After referring to a certain group of ''orientals'' as Japs I was taken to task and asked why do you ''Brits'' have to call us Japs!! I took no offense! And this was from Japanese American
Fuck the Japs....we used the nuke to teach the slant eyed mother fuckers a lesten....
What's obvious from these posts is that you just don't get Peter Alliss. There's a tradition of eccentric British sports commentators (Brian Johnston on cricket, Murray Walker on Motor Racing). These guys are adored because they say the wrong things, they're having a good time and it comes across.
I cannot believe that nothing has been said about Peter Alliss' comment during the Walker cup coverage when the camera showed a young boy lying next on the grass and Alliss told the viewers that he needed to have a visit from Jamie Oliver!!! The man is unreal, anything racial etc and he would be off air and rightly so but is it ok for him to get away with it because someone is overweight?
He should be ashamed of himself but probably does not even realise what he said, although i guess his co commentator did, judging by the silence!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home