Sunday, June 12, 2011

The king of callers

Sad news this week that the great Australian rugby league commentator, Ray Warren, is battling prostate cancer.

"Rabs", the voice of the greatest game of all, has just turned 68. He plans to carry on commentating as long as possible and, going by the quotes in this story, he's facing the big C head on.

The great man urges other blokes to be aware of the disease, which is still "one of the least talked about cancers".

Warren, along with running mates "Fatty" (Paul Vautin) and "Sterlo" (Peter Sterling), has been the voice of league for as long as most of us can remember.

And what a voice. The inflections, the phrases, the excitement - they're as familiar to us as Richie Benaud's cricket drawl, or the late Bill McLaren's silky rugby descriptions.




I'd put Ray Warren in the pantheon of great sports commentators, along with Benaud, McLaren, Martin Tyler (my favourite football commentator) and Al Michaels (American football).

On the home front, I've always rated Grant Fox's analysis of rugby, Grant Nisbett is a solid performer, Martin Crowe has his moments and Andrew Dewhurst does a good job with football.

On the flip side, of course, some people should not be let loose near a microphone. Yes, I'm talking about you, Willie Los'e and Ian Jones and Lieutenant Dan and Fred de Jong.

I was also never a massive fan of Formula 1 legend Murray Walker, though apparently others were a little more enamoured.

These lists from Yahoo Sports - the 50 best and worst sports commentators - are limited to American voices but make interesting reading.

Oh, and don't forget Andy Gray, the poster boy for disgraced sports commentators in recent years.

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