Dick Durham's blog
Web log entry dated 19 August 2008
Tea, toast and Beijing
Waiting for the Marmite to warm up on my toast, this morning, I switched on the TV to watch Paul Goodison win a gold medal on his Laser in Qingdao. Good luck to him and very well done. But more interesting was the damn fool TV reporter desperate to be first to get a 'It was great winning a gold' quote.
This clot was sitting on the side of a RIB trying to keep me watching his show instead of switching off to eat my toast. The tactic he used was to shout repeatedly that it was 'fantastic' as he tried to manouvre closer to Goodison to get him to say it was 'fantastic' instead.
He yanked at Goodison's mainsheet, pulling in his sail and making the dinghy speed away instead of slow down and come alongside. He then gave chase again, ignoring Goodison's own instructions to try and grab a bowline, and continued yelling into his mike that it was 'fantastic'.
Eventually he managed to get alongside and with one hand gripping Goodison's lifejacket as though he was a copper feeling somebody's collar and another ramming the mike in the poor sailor's face he landed the 'fantastic' interview at last.
Recounting all this at my work station this morning I discovered that YM's Geoff Pack scholar, Ben Meakins, actually beat Goodison in a Laser race in the Solent some years ago.
Now that did make me drop my toast.
Dick Durham
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