Derek Thompson

[Posts: 265Joined: 19 Nov 2006, 13:55Location: Selby]

Have you ever seen an image so surreal, so unusually disturbing that it haunts you; that it follows you everywhere you go? A vision of Hell which you see formed in clouds; painted on the undersides of your eyelids; and reflected in your morning cup of coffee? like its trying to push you into madness?

The above named clip (on yesterday's Channel 4 coverage) has made me feel mentally ill.<br>

[Posts: 4154Joined: 20 Jan 2006, 11:28Location: The Ainsty of York]

Fortunately £15pm now ensures life is (virtually) Thommo free so I was spared the spectacle. It could be argued that this vision of Hell was rendered less Hadean by the presence of said carousel and timid child to divert the eyes from the grinning goon.

A dead-heat for first place between the mute button and the wheel in the list of mankind's great leaps forward

[Posts: 839Joined: 27 May 2001, 20:04]

I hear a rumour that Paul Nicholls, writing in this Saturday's Racing Post column, will suggest said child tells Thommo to f*ck off - as the parent, who paid for the ride after all, has the right to hear his comments first.  :biggrin:

[Posts: 6065Joined: 28 Sep 2003, 14:54Location: Twickenham]

[quote]Riding A Carousel, While Interviewing A Timid Child[/quote]

Well at least he wasnt interviewing a Carousel and .....

<br>:o

[Posts: 519Joined: 06 Apr 2006, 10:35Location: West Midlands, England]

If there is extra terrestrial life out there - PLEASE ABDUCT THOMMO and don't bring him back.

[Posts: 3751Joined: 15 Feb 2001, 20:58Location: UK]

I have to admit to staring, slack jawed at the TV at this one, before descending into hysterics.

As for trying to wrap up the segment by frequently professing to being about to throw up, I'm surprised the kids hadn't started scaling the walls to get away from him. Poor things.

[Posts: 119Joined: 20 Feb 2006, 12:12Location: Wirral]

I think you should all get over both Thommo and Rishi. They do a good job of entertaining casual viewers, the type of people that BBC and C4 are rightly targeting with their coverage.

The type of people who post on this forum do so because they want to delve deeper into the sport and if terrestial tv were directed at us it would marginalise the sport.

I paid no interest at all to racing for the first 18 years of my life and if it wasn't for the Beeb/C4 coverage I would never have got into it.

[Posts: 1050Joined: 05 Sep 2006, 15:47Location: South Devon]

I can put up with Rishi as I think he's just bad at his job but not an unlikeable person.<br>Thommo though is bad at his job and also insincere, ungenuine, unlikeable and I cringe at some of his 'interviews'. The americans would love him so I wish he'd go and live in their country.

[Posts: 2552Joined: 05 Mar 2004, 21:20Location: Leicester]

Completely agree with Swallow. The guy's just cringeworthy. There's ways of attracting 'ordinary folk' to racing but he isn't one of them! Rishi is at least easy on the ear and the eye and so is far more suited to the 'attraction' task IMHO.

[Posts: 813Joined: 14 Mar 2006, 11:32]

Absolute class, Mounty!!! :biggrin:

I was another who stared in disbelief before slating Thommo as a prick (I believe that was the phrase!) to the boys in the office.  The man simply beggars belief - every time you think he can't out-Thommo himself yet he always manages to pull another rabbit from the hat....

Why do so many think that racing has be reduced to the pantomime mentality to be seen as attractive?<br> Most of the appeal to the newcomer is surely in making money by using one's wits, so why the current vogue for dumbing down the sport to the level of a kindergarten? <br>This approach has proved so successful for CH4 that we are now in a position where we have to pay them to present it, ffs.<br>Maybe I'm showing my age, but I can recall when such as Peter O'Sullevan and Julian Wilson treated the sport with proper respect, and 'knew their onions' far better than the Thommo's and Persad's are even capable of.<br> Even the lightweight and lamentable John Rickman was better than this shower, and it's long odds-on that the above attracted far more people into racing than the current crop of clowns and guessers ever will.:(

[Posts: 446Joined: 21 Jul 2005, 10:38]

Horse racing's appeal is surely not just for making money by using one's wit.<br>It should be considered a sport worth watching for its colour, vibrance, and magnificence of horse and jockey.<br>Gambling is an added spice to the mixture and too much of it leads to the ruination of the dish and its spectator.

[Posts: 6247Joined: 06 Mar 2003, 16:25]

Rishi isn't bad at his job, he just has poor racing knowledge. Same goes for Zoe Bird, but their ability as broadcasters shouldn't really be brought into question. There are few people in the industry that are naturally comfortable in front of a camera and have good racing knowledge and aren't nervous enough to allow it to come across. Out of the regulars that appear, I can only think of Neesom, the shoe, Mellish, Luck and Hislop that come across that way.