PRIME'S motorsport boys were going on full thrust last week with a double bill of the Monaco Formula One GP and then the Indianapolis 500. It was a long night for Jonathan Green and Matthew Marsh, but the two petrol heads were in their element.
Green has a natural air of genuine enthusiasm whatever he's covering and sometimes - on basketball especially - he seems to have the mouth running without the brain in gear. But he really seems to know his stuff when he's covering motorsport and the way his voice hits the high decibels seems appropriate for the pit lanes.
Marsh has taken up the role of catalyst/provocateur. Last week he said: 'Jean Alesi is the most overrated driver in F1.' No punches pulled there. The show now features some of the best music clips on TV, using the likes of Buffalo Tom, The Cranberries, Leonard Cohen, Primal Scream and U2 to fill in montage or graphic sequences. Makes a change from Fleetwood Mac. STRANGE to see cricket on ESPN. You tend to think of the crack of leather on willow as being exclusively Prime's domain. But last week ESPN carried highlights of the third one-dayer between England and West Indies at Lord's.
Starting with that familiar calypso percussion beat the BBC World production was presented by Richie Benaud especially for ESPN and included comment by Geoff Boycott and David Gower. The latter was engaged in a nice exchange of banter with a West Indian summariser. Mike Atherton had played a forward defensive stroke straight back at Curtly Ambrose who then flicked it up on his left foot and juggled the ball twice on his right. 'Perhaps he's trying to qualify to play for Manchester United.' To which David Gower replied: 'No, you need your feet a bit higher for that.' Ooh, ahh, David. PEARL channel's The Contenders (Friday) has a novel concept - to focus on the methods top sportsmen use to get in shape.
Last week's episode concentrated on diet and featured top British runners, sprinter Linford Christie and hurdler Colin Jackson giving recipes and telling food-related stories.
This section was filmed in a kitchen and created the impression that either Christie and Jackson enjoyed cosy domestic arrangements or, like the Gold Blend coffee commercial couple, were prone to pop round and borrow each other's lentils and broccoli. Then an American distance runner expounded a more user-friendly alternative training philosophy by saying that a cup of coffee one hour before running helped accelerate the eating up of fatty acids. THE NBA conference finals continued on ESPN. And they continued to provide drama. After Houston's Game One win over San Antonio, Orlando's Game One win over Chicago, Indiana's Game One in New York I thought I'd seen it all.
But it seems basketball's capacity for last-minute drama is inexhaustible - as anyone who saw Indiana's Game Four win over Orlando will testify. Four lead changes in the last 15 seconds of playing time.