BT should’ve been one of the better Open Mike episodes, but Sheahan’s patented interviewing weaknesses made it less interesting than it should’ve been.
Why on earth take 2-3 minutes debating how BT says Orazio Fantasia, or get BT to watch a lengthy montage of his own commentary? Just wasted time.
Also thought Mike was pretty soft on BT’s p***ter Harry Taylor comment, letting him fall back on the old ‘political correctness gone mad’ mantra. I don’t think that derogatory term has suddenly become unacceptable in the last couple of years, it’s been unacceptable for several decades which is why it was such a shock when BT said it.
When they finally got to BT’s playing career there were some interesting segments like the messy saga surrounding missing the 1982 Grand Final (would’ve liked to have heard what BT thought of Francis Bourke as a coach in that saga) and Collingwood originally only planning to play him in MCG finals in 1990 than reversing their decision, but a lot of interesting topics were missed.
When BT talked about how Alan Bond’s son tried to entice him back to Richmond with a blank cheque, had to laugh when they cut back to Mike and it looked as if his tongue was about to hit the floor.
Agree 100%
Should have begun with his playing career and then focused on his transition to the media. How did it happen?
What was it like crossing sides and now having the media as colleagues?
What does he think of the media's role in the game vis a vis the players and fans?
What about media cliques? How is TV different to radio?
What are his thoughts on how the media operate in 2017 vs how it was when he was a player?
How does he think he would fared as a player in the modern game being a professional player?
Would he have preferred to stay in WA and play for Dockers/Eagles?
A person such as BT can provide real insights but gets bogged down as Mike wants to focus on the simplistic tabloid stuff.
Going into such minutiae about not playing in Grand Finals and flogging that dead horse is just a waste.