Source: Daily_Mail
Edge of the Box: Football's back... and Friday night with Ian Holloway was a belter
Well, what better way to start a brand new column dedicated to the subtle art of watching sport on the telly than with the opening show of a brand new Football League season - never knowingly under-exciting since 1888.[LNB]And seeing as we are an island race, what better two teams to kick it off on a Friday evening than a pair of seasiders - Blackpool and their hosts Hull City. [LNB] Take a bow: Ian Holloway was in cracking form on TV[LNB]Edge of the Box on Twitter I'll also be tweeting every day @edge_of_the_box, so if you have any thoughts on what I'm saying that you'd care to share in 140 characters, drop me a line and we'lluse the best ones.[LNB]The npower Football League Live show (Sky Sports) opened with an impressive montage of every league team shirt, over which a brand new host for football on Sky - Simon Thomas - explained that 'all 72 clubs and fans welcome back the Football League this weekend'. [LNB]OK, so there are more than 72 fans that watch the Football League, and Simon knows it, but I for one am happy to give the fella a break on that little verbal faux pas (been there, done it plenty!) because I think we're looking at a fresh face of the future for the channel, here. [LNB]Simon served his TV apprenticeship in the boon docks of Blue Peter and CBBC - even surviving a live broadcast with co-hosts Matt and Faye out of Steps, no less - before moving to Sky Sports News, and then donning his tightest t-shirts for a stint on Cricket AM. [LNB]He's proved himself a smart anchor and although he can be a little po-faced (probably quite a tough thing to do, what with that blonde hair/blue eyes thing he's got going on) should serve live football well across the season. [LNB]His old pros for this programme were Peter Beagrie alongside him, and Don Goodman up in the commentary box - two men who understand football at this level intimately. [LNB]Thankfully, we were subjected only briefly to the sight of Don's precariously perched pencil moustache just before the game, and then we were off for another rollercoaster ride of a season. I did say Blackpool were playing, didn't I?[LNB]And it was a more than decent game to get us going, capped off by Gary Taylor-Fletcher's succulent late winner; framed perfectly in dramatic slow motion by the camera behind the goal. [LNB] However, if we thought all the best non-football fun was had at half-time when Dean Windass went on a mazy run in his best suit before slotting a penalty past the Hull mascot in shoes Beagrie described as 'a pair of skis', we were sorely mistaken. [LNB]Or, in other words, I haven't mentioned Ian Holloway yet.[LNB]In spite of a great win against a good team, the face that stared blankly back down the lens for his post-match interview, was not that of a happy bunny (more rabbit in headlights, in fact). [LNB]And it turned out, for good reason. Or, at least, I think it was because we were then off to Planet Holloway and a stream of consciousness about, among other things, relegation, expectation, great owners, no money, five subs ('why can't we have seven like the big boys?'), 70-man squads, players who go and players who stay, of whom 'we see bundles and bundles of it lying around and they'll get a piece of it'. [LNB]Phew! I think Simon and Peter got a question in each, but it hardly mattered as one of sport on telly's great assets found his broadcasting feet again. [LNB]All in all, it was an evening of sporting entertainment that I reckon bodes well for the league in what Holloway described, using the full thrust of his completely rounded West Country twang, as 'a hurly-burly season'.[LNB]I expect to see the Hurly-Burly as a brand new ride at the Pleasure Beach forthwith. [LNB] Each week in Edge Of the Box I'll also be bringing you some snapshots of what has been happening in the week of sport on telly. Or as we like to call them... wedgies![LNB]Last Sunday, Bradley Walsh's West Ham mug was on a hat-trick of appearances in an episode of Law & Order:UK, only to have glory snatched away by the new lawyer saying to Bradley's 'Ron', 'Hammers supporter? Unlucky'. Ouch!...[LNB]Wednesday afternoon on Sky Sports News and Georgie Thompson lets out a long groan - sadly, because she was watching a female fan inhaling Mario Balotelli's discarded training top...[LNB]Still ridiculously fit-looking ex-Swimmer Mark Foster on Daily Cooks Challenge on ITV3 explaining how he separates his proteins from his carbs when he eats. So, THAT'S where I'm going wrong![LNB] Hull 0 Blackpool 1: Taylor-made touch of class seals points for SeasidersDes Kelly: Tweet nothings that reveal all about Barton [LNB]
