The Unexpected Challenge: When Commentators Lose Their Prepared Notes

Commentators invest considerable time in preparing for each match they cover, meticulously compiling extensive notes to ensure optimal readiness. However, a common concern arises: what happens if these crucial notes suddenly disappear? Alistair Bruce-Ball of BBC Radio 5 Live discussed this scenario on the latest episode of The Commentators’ View podcast. He remarked, “It’s never a good idea to go into a commentary under-prepped, but it can be dropped on you.” Bruce-Ball recounted an incident from “a few seasons ago at West Brom for the opening game of the season.” On “a lovely sunny day,” while positioned for commentary with his notes, “a gust of wind took the notes off the gantry, down into the fans below, and all the notes I’d done all week for the game had completely gone. I was just doing the commentary without any notes at all! Actually, it sharpens you up in a way, and you’ve really got to switch on – you’ve not got that crutch to lean on.” Fellow commentator Conor McNamara shared a similar recent experience involving John Acres. McNamara stated, “That happened to John Acres last week.” He was present at the “Manchester United-Nottingham Forest game,” which Acres was covering for 5 Live, noting the “very stormy” weather. McNamara elaborated, “So when he got out of the car in the car park, apparently his notes fell from his hand, and in that classic if you’ve got buttered toast it’s always the buttered side that lands down way… So whatever way he’d been doing his notes in the car, when he got out of the car, the wind blew, it turned onto the inked side and landed face down. It totally smudged. He showed it to me – totally indecipherable!” As the two reflected on their shared predicaments, Bruce-Ball suddenly corrected his earlier recollection of the West Brom incident. He revealed, “t wasn’t a gust of wind, it was a wasp that flew into my mouth while I was talking, and I panicked and swished my hand at the notes. So, I actually flipped my notes, and honestly just watching them fly in the air and just disappear. I can’t remember who the summariser was sitting alongside me, and we both just looked at each other like… eek!”