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AIBU?

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Original poster

Clare Balding is irritating AIBU?

235 replies

Vera87 · 08/02/2026 21:01

Clare Balding can we have one sporting event without this woman. Wimbledon we ended up with her and now the bloody Winter Olympics have her. Next thing is she will be presenting Match of the Day. She pretends she knows literally everything annoyingly about tennis and now about skiing. Bore off. BBC can’t get anymore talent.
This woman came from horse racing commentating now she’s bloody everywhere not just sports. Highly irritating

OP posts:
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5
Bedheadbeachbum · 13/02/2026 21:39

Maybe she's always there because she's very good at her job.

I really like her.

Applecharlotte2 · 13/02/2026 21:42

No one else can get a look in and try the job!

TheRuffleandthePearl · 14/02/2026 00:32

Vera87 · 08/02/2026 21:29

@Applecharlotte2im a huge fan of tennis and love to go to Wimbledon. Annabel Croft is a supreme commentator and her skill of not only analysing a game but being able to convey it to viewers easily is excellent. She should have been the successor. And why the BBC insists on keeping Andrew Castle is beyond me he’s awful.

Now I will agree that Andrew Castle is beyond awful and needs to be —shot— sacked immediately.

I remember a thread once where posters were getting all muddled up between him and Andrew Cotter (dry Scotsman) and it descended into chaos.

TheRuffleandthePearl · 14/02/2026 00:37

Vera87 · 08/02/2026 21:32

@Applecharlotte2 I though Nick Kyrgios was a bloody excellent commentator surprisingly

Yes I liked him more than I thought I would!
Andre Agassi that one match he did was brilliant too.
And Martina is often right on the mark with what is going on in a match too like Annabel, spotting what players need to do. Martina should commentate on Mens as well as women’s.
Tim is dull as fuck though. I’d boot him too.

Daygloboo · 14/02/2026 00:41

Braindraining · 09/02/2026 14:13

If you want irritating, the two guys commentating on the snowboarding are beyond irritating. What exactly is goofy? Are we supposed to know?

Right foot lead foot

TheRuffleandthePearl · 14/02/2026 00:48

Words · 09/02/2026 06:21

Sport is so boring it's irredeemable. I listened to about 20 mins of some woman, not CB, boring'on and on about people sledging down a mountain or skiing down a slope and flinging themselves into the air.

How are these things invented? And don't get me started on that ice hockey game where they knock-a stone around and sort of scrub at the ice. At least that one is some sort of ancient sport.

You just sound ignorant. Maybe a thread about sport isn’t for you then?

TheRuffleandthePearl · 14/02/2026 00:56

OhDear111 · 09/02/2026 12:15

The other aspect to this is the big Air snowboard and skiing. The experts talk on and on like we all know what a goofy is! Or anything else they do. It’s difficult to work out what’s good because they think everything is great with loud whooping. The downhill skiing missed a lot of issues which caused slower times and Chemmy was not used enough! Lots of stats but poor commentary.

Clare anchors. She isn’t a commentator. Enthusiastic amateurs seem to be the commentators.

The men’s half pipe commentators this evening were terrible. Truly useless and yes lots of whooping but no substance. Listing off the tricks but never explaining anything to any viewers who don’t usually watch snowboarding and want to understand what’s going on.
I had to google to find out that “switch” basically means backward!

TheRuffleandthePearl · 14/02/2026 00:58

Dappy777 · 09/02/2026 13:30

I like her a lot. She comes across as intelligent, kind, and self-mocking. I also sense a lot of insecurity and low self-esteem that makes me really pity her.

Really? I sense some projecting by you here Confused

TheRuffleandthePearl · 14/02/2026 01:05

OhDear111 · 10/02/2026 07:54

@YellingAway The issue was it doesn’t get explained by the puppy like commentators. Clare actually asked them to explain the jargon yesterday - after the event had finished. It’s jargon that’s the biggest problem in a sport we rarely see. Most of us simply don’t get it without an explanation.

I find exactly the same with rugby union. There’s a new language that’s been invented around it and us occasional viewers really struggle with the rules and why play is stopped, yet again. There’s an over supply of whoaaaaa and cheering but actual commentary and explanation is in short supply. Clare B isn’t the problem. It’s men broadcasting to people like them and not the wider population.

Completely agree. Those snowboarding guys in the porta cabin need to improve massively.

Words · 14/02/2026 21:15

Whoever said I was ignorant is partially right. I know nothing about sport, nor do I wish to. . I am familiar with CB though from ramblings on R4. ( has Archie died? ). She seems a pretty good egg hence my interest in this thread. I also had a very weird dream about her as a result!

I am sure many would not share my favourite things either- radio 3 and 4 . Cooking. Watching total rubbish on YouTube. Chacun a son goût 😊

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