James Allen though was THE man when it came to pit lane reporters though. Seems a long time ago. The professionalism almost formal atmosphere of ITV F1 under Jim Rosenthal's reign, with Mark Blundell and Tony Jardine perched up in a studio somewhere round the back of the paddock. And then heading to Martin and Murray in the commentary box with insight from James Allen and Louise Goodman in the pits but not before this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgDE2BbOtNI Ahh the good ol' days!
I disliked Gary Anderson at first, but he has won me over. I know look forward to his comments and I find that he adds something to my viewing. Like another poster said, he will always comment on something, right or wrong, rather than give a nothing answer like some other experts. I watched Sky for the first time at the weekend (being a free pass), and I thought it was OK. I miss Martins grid walks from BBC, but that's about it. If there was a choice of BBC or SKy, I'd watch BBC every time.
Sometimes, he just comes over as a little boring, like some old guy props up the bar at the local, who everyone knows to just nod to and never make eye contact with else he'll just start talking to you about anything and everything. I just read his blog on the German GP too, and it seems that he is like everyone, and can sometimes miss the obvious. Whilst making the point that the Ferrari looked after its tyres better than the McLaren, he failed to point out that the Ferrari was rarely in the dirty air of another car that he was racing with, whilst Button (and Vettel for that matter) were, and they spent more time having to be aggressive than Fernando (apart from a minor concessions that Button had to catch him), so he had the luxury of being able to dictate the pace, which is a major boon this season. I'm not saying that he's wrong in the larger, season wide picture. Nor and I disagreeing with him entirely, it just seems odd that he didn't mention these things when they are obvious factors that contribute towards explaining the difference in the 2 cars performance in Germany. Maybe it was in the first draft, but got cut later on to make the word limit?
This is always the problem with being reported upon, isn't it? I do not know what was said or whether it was edited but it is rare for one's comments to be quoted in their entirety, to give complete context.* For further thought: When given a brief opportunity to make a statement, one's interviewer often interrupts before a comprehensive answer is completely out of one's mouth. This can even happen in ordinary conversation or commentary, (especially with an alien like Legard), where one may or may not be given proper opportunity to be fully understood. The press is not a literal mirror(sic) of fact. It cannot be, even if its membership were to try; and even Murdoch can be excused in this sense! They are limited in what can be said by practical constraints, as well as their own motivation to get attention and to support their own belief(s). *Look at what I've done here. Everything in the quote box above is something you said but not everything you said is in it! I can only hope that my editing has not been unfair; but since I wanted to make a pertinent point, I selected only part of what you said.
