Shiplake College was delighted to welcome sports commentator, Andrew Cotter for an evening of conversation with Headmaster, Mr Tyrone Howe.
Andrew Cotter is one of the most recognisable voices in sports broadcasting. He is a regular commentator on the BBC's golf, rugby, tennis and athletics coverage. He has also covered The Olympic Games, Wimbledon, The Masters, Open and Ryder Cup, The 6 Nations, Rugby World Cup, World Athletics Championships and The Boat Race.
More recently, Andrew has been in the limelight for another reason - his dogs - Labradors Olive and Mabel. During lockdown with no sports commentary work to do, Andrew decided to commentate on the antics of his dogs. He took some videos, uploaded them to social media, and they become a global sensation!
Since then he has launched a book - Olive, Mabel and Me - about life and adventures with his two dogs.
Mr Howe started the conversation with Andrew with a chat about the book which he had just finished reading himself. He then went on to talk about Andrew's commentating career to date.
He said: "When you are just a voice on TV, you can hide. It has a very different feel to presenting which can be pretty stressful. I am glad to remain anonymous, and that is the same with the Olive and Mabel videos, which is what made me think of doing them in the first place."
"I had no work, all the big events went. From March until the end of 2020, I only had around 10-12 days of sports commentating. Suddenly I was looking at doing nothing, so started commentating on my dogs. A publisher then spotted the videos and asked me to write a book. I felt it was important that I didn't just cash in from the videos, and that it was a book that people could enjoy whether they had seen the videos or not."
The 'Game of Bones' video has had 20million views alone on Twitter, with big accounts retweeting, including Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds which contributed to it going viral in the US. Andrew has been overwhelmed by the lovely feedback and messages from people.
He said: "It's nice to see that people around the world are nice and love dogs."
When asked whether he will be producing any more videos, he said he has had pressure to produce more, but he knows it is good to go out on a high having produced good stuff. Perhaps at the end of this lockdown will be the time for Olive and Mabel to exit the stage.
Mr Howe then asked Andrew questions from viewers:
Did you know what you wanted to do for work when you were growing up?
There is no need to panic if you don't have a strong idea of what you want to do. I did a French and Philosophy degree and worked as a waiter in Glasgow for a year. I fell into a media job because of my love of language. Being a commentator is not something I wanted to do from a young age. You can fall into something and find out you love it.
How has the COVID pandemic affected your commentating?
It has been really difficult and not as enjoyable to commentate on a sporting event without a crowd, but I am grateful that we found a way for sport to continue. You feed off the crowd as a commentator and I think you lose 10% when the crowd is not there.
If there was one sport you'd be a professional at, what would it be?
Golf, as you are out in the fresh air and there is a lot of money in golf. It is the sport of big business. In rugby you are putting your bodies on the line. It is a beautiful but brutal sport. Your career is short. A good salary in rugby still means you have to work again after a 5-10 year career. However, when you are in your 20s you don't think beyond what you are doing now, but there is still a lot of living to do post sport.
What have been the highlights of your career?
The Olympic Opening Ceremony in Rio, The Masters, the final at Wimbledon. I have to pinch myself. I am incredibly fortunate to be doing this.
Most embarrassing moment?
Italy v Wales in 2013. I got Norovirus and I had to put my mic down and leave live on air to be sick, leaving Johnathon Davies and Shane Williams to continue without me.
Thank you Andrew for sharing your evening with us and keeping us entertained with your wit and passion for what you do.
Feedback for An Evening With Andrew Cotter:
That was wonderful... an hour of delight away from the crazy world.
I would just like to say what a fantastic evening we had listening to Andrew Cotter. Thank you so much for organising. Much appreciated.
I must say that the “Evenings with…” go from strength to strength! Last night’s with Andrew Cotter was both entertaining and informative; as it progressed I thought it was moving wonderfully close to a Shiplake version of Staged with the Head and Andrew replacing Michael Sheen & David Tennent!
We all thought it was brilliant! Certainly brightened up a dull Monday. Olive and Mabel are very popular in our household. Great rapport between Mr Howe and Mr Cotter, too, although it made us pine for live sport - it can't come back soon enough!
Thank you for organising and conducting the interview with Andrew Cotter. Like thousands of others, we came across his Olive & Mable videos last year and it was so interesting to hear how it began as a time-filler and grew into something of an international phenomenon. Just as fascinating was his take on the commentator's role in today's era of selfies, celebrity and self-aggrandisement. When gently persuaded, however, he did pay passing tribute to the talents of Seve Ballesteros and Tom Watson. What can I say? Sporting giants and gentlemen, both.
"An Evening with Andrew Cotter" was just superb this evening. Please pass on our thanks to him and Mr Howe, as well as to you all at Shiplake for organising it. Just brilliant. The therapy we all needed on a cold and dark winter's evening. We really appreciate being included in these events ahead of XX joining the school in September. Thank you.
We wanted to say how much we enjoyed this week's interview with Andrew Cotter, who we all admire. Thank you so much for organising these evenings. We also enjoyed ‘meeting’ James Timpson. You are going to extraordinary lengths, to keep us all inspired, and engaged throughout these challenging times.
And, Olive and Mabel have their own fans too - here is the Houghton's family dog, Bailey watching along with his humans for a glimpse of the canine stars!
