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29 March 2024

Crazy World: BBC sorry for 'over talking'

The BBC Television Centre in London. (GETTY IMAGES)

Published
By Staff and Agencies

BBC apologises for 'over talking'

BRITAIN: More than 100 objections were received during the two-week competition, with viewers annoyed at the excessive chatter, forcing the BBC to apologise to its viewers.

The corporation admitted some viewers were unhappy but said its commentators, who included former players Tim Henman, John McEnroe, Pat Cash and Greg Rusedski, ‘added balance and insight where necessary’, reported Daily Mail.
 
In a statement on its complaints website, the BBC said: ‘Views on our commentary are of course subjective and we do appreciate that over-talking can irritate our audience.
 
We hope that across our coverage we have achieved the right balance and have accurately reflected the event, but we are of course sorry if on occasion you have not been satisfied.’
 
Last year the BBC was accused of ruining the genteel atmosphere of the competition by using ‘voyeuristic’ shots of the crowd, said the daily.
 
Viewers objected, said the daily, to the close-ups of canoodling couples which included shots of ear-nibbling spectators, kissing and people indulging in romantic horseplay.
 
This year, a viewer said the former tennis professional turned the tournament into a ‘light entertainment show’ with constant references to celebrities in the crowd. 
 
Biker dies on ride protesting helmet law
 
Onondaga: Police say a motorcyclist participating in a protest ride against helmet laws in upstate New York died after he flipped over the bike's handlebars and hit his head on the pavement.
 
The accident happened Saturday afternoon in the town of Onondaga, in central New York near Syracuse.
 
State troopers tell The Post-Standard of Syracuse that 55-year-old Philip A. Contos of Parish, New York, was driving a 1983 Harley Davidson with a group of bikers who were protesting helmet laws by not wearing helmets.
 
Troopers say Contos hit his brakes and the motorcycle fishtailed. The bike spun out of control, and Contos toppled over the handlebars. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
 
Troopers say Contos would have likely survived if he had been wearing a helmet.
 
Only in America: Champ devours 62 hot dogs

NEW YORK: Joey "Jaws" Chestnut put away 62 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes on Monday to win a US gorging contest worthy of ancient Rome, earning the coveted mustard-yellow belt for the fifth consecutive time.

A fabled stop on the world's puzzlingly fascinating competitive eating tour, "Nathan's Famous" hot dog parlor in New York's suitably cheesy Coney Island hosts the exercise in sheer gluttony each Independence Day holiday.

Chestnut, a California native who at six-foot (183 centimeters) tall and 218 pounds (99 kilograms) is far from the obese American one might assume, prepares seriously for each event and regards himself as a trained athlete.

"I came out here to win. I did what I had to do. I feel great," the 27-year-old said after chugging a bottle of indigestion medicine.
Chestnut, seven wieners short of the record 69 he scarfed at Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2009, admitted he had some trouble getting enough water down in the blistering hot conditions.

Fearsome Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas - a skinny Korean-born American so-called because she outeats men four or five times her size - downed a jaw-dropping 40 hot dogs in the same timeframe to take the female title.

Chestnut, who won ê10,000 for his troubles, would be the undisputed king of hot dog eating if it wasn't for Japan's Takeru Kobayashi, who is involved in a contractual dispute with event sponsors Major League Eating.

Kobayashi, a former world record holder who won the event six times in a row from 2001 to 2006, staged an unofficial contest in New York timed to coincide with the event and claimed a new world record of 69 downed dogs.