Friday, November 05, 2010

Breeders Cup Humor: Pitfalls of Interviewing Irish Jockeys in the Winners Circle


If you're ever been to the races in Britain or Ireland, especially National Hunt races, you know that the interview with the winning jockey can be a bit mysterious. Whether the jockey is Irish or Scottish or Welsh or from Yorkshire, they always seem to have deep accents of one sort or another, and the reporters never have any idea what the fellow said. This can be a problem when it's a big stakes race.

The Irish do speak English and they understand each other. But if you're not tuned into the accent, you might not have any idea what an Irishman is saying because he'll say it at about triple speed. I tried watching the news once in an Irish pub in the West Country and finally asked the landlord if he'd mind switching to a channel that gave the news in English. I was convinced the announcers must be speaking Gaelic. They weren't. It was English. I couldn't recognize my own native language.

So, I hope you enjoy this little skit, from Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show, a brilliant but short-lived American television show; this is a re-do of a skit from the original British tv show The Sketch Show; both are equally funny. The American version stars Lee Mack as the jockey, interviewed by sit-com actress Kaitlin Olson.

This could easily happen to reporter Jeannine Edwards later today or on Saturday on ESPN! (And you have to admit, the set designers found a clever way to make a big fellow into a tiny jockey!)

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