So what’s happening from 6.00pm on BcFMs Midweek Sports Bar tonight (that’s Bristol Community radio in case you were wondering)?
Already in a few short weeks, I have found myself in the habit of tuning into this eclectic mash-up of a sports show, which moves effortlessly from ‘serious’ subjects to ‘irreverence’, often within the same sentence.
It is good to have a sports show that is a bit different from the mainstream. Yes, the two presenters Neil Maggs (known as Maggsy to all and sundry) and your friend and his, Nick Day, do report on what’s happened in the last few days, both nationally and locally but there is time for what we Bristolians refer to as a bit of a laugh (that’s pronounced ‘laff’, by the way).
For as long as I can remember, the voice of sport in Bristol has been my old mate Geoff Twentyman and long may it remain that way. Radio Bristol’s ‘Saturday Sport’ is, in my opinion, quite comfortably, by light years, the best show on the station. Twentyman knows his stuff, knows his football (and other sports) inside out and has consistently produced a show that can be compared favourably to BBC Radio Five Live’s output. If you are interested in Bristol sport, Geoff Twentyman is essential to your radio life.
Maggsy and Nick’s show is a very different beast. For one thing, it is still evolving; we are listening to something that is taking shape before our ears. It is a work in progress and that’s a good thing.
I remember when Sky Sports’ Soccer AM started and no one quite knew what it would become but eventually it captured the pre matchday market for younger supporters. For a time, under the stewardship of Tim Lovejoy, I thought it was one of the best shows on TV full stop. It was a football version of TISWAS.
New shows, like new radio stations, develop and grow naturally. It doesn’t just happen, it takes a lot of hard work and I knew, for a fact, that the two presenters are working their, er, private parts off to make this exciting new project to be something unmissable. To me, it already is!
In fact, I have been surprised by friends of mine speaking of the Midweek Sports bar, asking if I had heard that bit about Nick Day exercising in the studio, in a state of mild disbelief and barely stifled laughter. I can only apologise to Nick who, it must be said, is on a diet (no, not of pasties!) and can be seen most days jogging round Wiltshire in fetching lycra. Not everything in this paragraph is entirely accurate.
I would urge you all to listen because, I suspect, this show will evolve to such an extent that it will be picked up by local radio to attract ‘Da Yoof’ listeners. You will then be able to tell your grandchildren that you were there when Maggsy and Nick were rank amateurs. You can insert your own joke, there.
Oh, and the music is great too. I doubt very much whether that was chosen by Nick who I imagine would probably be more of a Coldplay, Genesis type man.
My request for tonight is ‘Wake Up Everybody by John Legend and the Roots ft the sensationally wonderful and dare I saw beautiful Melanie Fiona.
You know it makes sense.
