James Mullan

World Cup jammers reveal lack of imagination

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

The spat between Al Jazeera Sport and the Jordanian authorities regarding the interruption of World Cup coverage will, I’m sure, offer more entertainment than the pretty drab competition itself.

Standing in the midst of a group of embarrassed Dutch supporters enduring the Final I would have been glad of any interruption or diversion that could pass for entertainment. What about the sudden appearance on the screen of ‘The Joker’ from Batman, perhaps, cackling madly, then reaching for an oversized plug, pulling it from the wall and screaming: ‘I’m taking my ball home’ followed by static?

Whoever was responsible for the disruption they missed a wonderful opportunity for ‘creative engagement’ with a massive audience.  Any of the French games could have been interrupted by an Alain Delon type character hunched over an espresso who looks up and says: ‘You know ze least interesting theng about us French iz our football.   Croissant, Aix-en-Provence, movies with me in them.  You should try them’.

Long suffering England supporters would have been cheered by the appearance of a comedian whose joke was voted the funniest at the recent Edinburgh Festival: “Being an England supporter is like being the over-optimistic parents of the fat kid on sports day”. Well the people voting were Scottish.

Two weeks into the competition what relationship wouldn’t have benefitted from the appearance of a man in a florist shop who looks left and right then approaches the screen with a conspiratorial air and whispers: ‘A little piece of advice.  Your wife is now officially bored of pretending to be interested  in this football stuff. Why don’t you buy her a bunch of roses on the way home? Maybe skip the next game and take her out for a meal.  Just a thought.’

So my advice to anyone planning  the next bout of regional televisual vandalism – a bit more imagination please.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login