Amy
16-01-2005, 08:19 AM
DESPITE everything that Big Brother and the housemates have done to him, Big John McCririck is still an asset to the sport of racing. It’s just that he’s also a bit of an ass.
Personally, I think reality TV has had its day, especially shows as tacky, brainless and downright irritating as Celebrity Big Brother (CBB). So why was it compulsive viewing last week? Answer - Big Mac, because the rest of the housemates really were D-list celebrities with E-level personalities.
Most folk who’ve spoken to me about CBB have asked "What on earth could McCririck have been thinking of to expose himself to such humiliation?"
Good question. It might have been the chance to spend some time with the beautiful model Caprice which attracted John, but the real reason was "the readies" as he happily admitted. Mind you, he did seem happy to chat up a famous film star’s ex-wife, Brigitte Nielsen, and was the first to stand up on her behalf against her obnoxious former mother-in-law Jackie Stallone. Big Mac and Brigitte to get the £50k for the first CBB sex? Nah, she wouldn’t be that lucky.
Normally I don’t give a second glance to CBB but the past week’s antics in the house have revolved around McCririck and consequently he’s been even more outrageous than normal - give a clown a stage, and all that.
His sexist, politically incorrect comments were designed to get him noticed from the start and did so. His silent strop over his Diet Coke was a master stroke - the advertising campaign that Coca-Cola must now surely start will earn him megabucks.
His revelation that he often flew club class while his wife, the sainted Booby, was stuck back in ‘cattle truck’ was deliberately aimed at winding up Caprice. The fact that his claim was true only added to the fun.
You couldn’t fail to laugh when Big John completed his task of searching through a pile of ordure to secure ping-pong balls that allowed the housemates to get a drink. Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush immediately quipped: "As bookmakers, we want to keep him in the house for as long as possible because all he’s ever done is throw mud at us for decades."
And of course, towards the middle of the week, Big John’s rebellion against Big Brother had made him the hero of the house while both the departed Germaine Greer and Lisa Anson clearly warmed to the overgrown big brat. Obviously his upbringing at Harrow, where he earned regular thrashings by prefects, has made him a sort of permanent rebellious adolescent, and some people like that sort of character.
A few pundits - only a few - think Big Mac has done racing a disservice with his comments and antics, but they just don’t get the joke. Which is what CBB is - an extended exercise in taking the mickey out of pompous asses who happen to be minor celebrities such as, ahem, that John McCririck fellow. Big Mac gets the joke and that’s why he has been able to join in and be such a hit.
Most people in racing, indeed, have welcomed the exposure Big Mac has given the sport. Catterick racecourse even re-named one of its races last Wednesday to make it the ‘Vote To Keep Big Mac In’ handicap chase. Many thousands of people, especially the younger generation who seem addicted to CBB, and who have never thought about racing, will now do so as a result of McCririck’s capers.
But I can hardly wait to see what John Francome, Jim McGrath and the rest of the Channel 4 crew are going to do to him when he rejoins them on the Morning Line. He will be the butt of their jokes for ages - and deservedly so.
I don’t want to spoil his carefully cultured image of buffoonery, but I have to let you into a wee secret about McCririck. He is actually very good at his form of broadcasting and journalism, and is very conscientious about his role in monitoring the changing odds before races. In the press rooms of various racecourses, I have seen him sit quietly for hours on end, just getting on with his job of being the eyes and ears of Britain’s punters.
He then goes out to face the cameras and makes it all look very off-the-cuff.
You can only do that if you are a professional who has done the preparatory work. Indeed, judging by his clever antics, I have a sneaking suspicion that Big Mac may well have done his homework before CBB ...
And as long as he continues his relentless pleading on behalf of the really important people in racing, namely the public, he will remain a vital presence on our screens and in our newspapers.
But take a wee piece of advice from an admirer, John. If they ask you to go into that blasted outback for I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here don’t even think about it, not for all the Diet Coke in Australia.
Article Scotland On Sunday (http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=55752005)
Personally, I think reality TV has had its day, especially shows as tacky, brainless and downright irritating as Celebrity Big Brother (CBB). So why was it compulsive viewing last week? Answer - Big Mac, because the rest of the housemates really were D-list celebrities with E-level personalities.
Most folk who’ve spoken to me about CBB have asked "What on earth could McCririck have been thinking of to expose himself to such humiliation?"
Good question. It might have been the chance to spend some time with the beautiful model Caprice which attracted John, but the real reason was "the readies" as he happily admitted. Mind you, he did seem happy to chat up a famous film star’s ex-wife, Brigitte Nielsen, and was the first to stand up on her behalf against her obnoxious former mother-in-law Jackie Stallone. Big Mac and Brigitte to get the £50k for the first CBB sex? Nah, she wouldn’t be that lucky.
Normally I don’t give a second glance to CBB but the past week’s antics in the house have revolved around McCririck and consequently he’s been even more outrageous than normal - give a clown a stage, and all that.
His sexist, politically incorrect comments were designed to get him noticed from the start and did so. His silent strop over his Diet Coke was a master stroke - the advertising campaign that Coca-Cola must now surely start will earn him megabucks.
His revelation that he often flew club class while his wife, the sainted Booby, was stuck back in ‘cattle truck’ was deliberately aimed at winding up Caprice. The fact that his claim was true only added to the fun.
You couldn’t fail to laugh when Big John completed his task of searching through a pile of ordure to secure ping-pong balls that allowed the housemates to get a drink. Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush immediately quipped: "As bookmakers, we want to keep him in the house for as long as possible because all he’s ever done is throw mud at us for decades."
And of course, towards the middle of the week, Big John’s rebellion against Big Brother had made him the hero of the house while both the departed Germaine Greer and Lisa Anson clearly warmed to the overgrown big brat. Obviously his upbringing at Harrow, where he earned regular thrashings by prefects, has made him a sort of permanent rebellious adolescent, and some people like that sort of character.
A few pundits - only a few - think Big Mac has done racing a disservice with his comments and antics, but they just don’t get the joke. Which is what CBB is - an extended exercise in taking the mickey out of pompous asses who happen to be minor celebrities such as, ahem, that John McCririck fellow. Big Mac gets the joke and that’s why he has been able to join in and be such a hit.
Most people in racing, indeed, have welcomed the exposure Big Mac has given the sport. Catterick racecourse even re-named one of its races last Wednesday to make it the ‘Vote To Keep Big Mac In’ handicap chase. Many thousands of people, especially the younger generation who seem addicted to CBB, and who have never thought about racing, will now do so as a result of McCririck’s capers.
But I can hardly wait to see what John Francome, Jim McGrath and the rest of the Channel 4 crew are going to do to him when he rejoins them on the Morning Line. He will be the butt of their jokes for ages - and deservedly so.
I don’t want to spoil his carefully cultured image of buffoonery, but I have to let you into a wee secret about McCririck. He is actually very good at his form of broadcasting and journalism, and is very conscientious about his role in monitoring the changing odds before races. In the press rooms of various racecourses, I have seen him sit quietly for hours on end, just getting on with his job of being the eyes and ears of Britain’s punters.
He then goes out to face the cameras and makes it all look very off-the-cuff.
You can only do that if you are a professional who has done the preparatory work. Indeed, judging by his clever antics, I have a sneaking suspicion that Big Mac may well have done his homework before CBB ...
And as long as he continues his relentless pleading on behalf of the really important people in racing, namely the public, he will remain a vital presence on our screens and in our newspapers.
But take a wee piece of advice from an admirer, John. If they ask you to go into that blasted outback for I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here don’t even think about it, not for all the Diet Coke in Australia.
Article Scotland On Sunday (http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=55752005)