h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of the odder things that happens around here from time to time. My gaffer just brought round a tall, personable bloke with a big hooter and introduced him with the line "This is Matthew, he's going to be doing a bit of work for us next year..."

Nice!

Very

I thought he was going onto News24 ?

Isn't he the fat one

McKay - we *are* News 24! Although bits of what we do (depending on who you're talking to) also end up on BBC Online, Interactive, Breakfast, the One/Six/Ten O'Clock News, the local news wherever you live... and most weeks Football Focus come down and nick some of the pictures I've got in from the regions during the week, usually for their '7 days' feature.

I've applied to go and work for Radio WM in Birmingham for a month, by the way. Not sure if I'll find out before or after Christmas though.

Oh, of course apart from some Saturdays when I'm BBC London, of course...

Sorry 6 - for some reason I thought you worked for 5Live.

Incidently I was looking at greensonscreen or something similar - a Plymouth website after we played you, and the bloke on the radio commentary (there were clips on the site) sounded uncannily like you. I assume it wasn't as it was Radio Plymouth.

Ah well... you can be forgiven for thinking that - before I switched to my current job which is office hours, I was on shift work at News 24 Sport and used to do the occasional bit of moonlighting for Five Live Breakfast on my days off. All this putting myself about will one day lead to some sort of promotion, I hope!

The bloke on Radio Devon is likely to be the legendary Sir Gordon Sparks, who I reckon is one of the best local radio commentators in the country - he's a good commentator but also a massive Argyle fan, and really gives it some when we're playing well. What he says is that he's partisan but not biased, he reports the game from an Argyle point of view and if we're playing crap he'll say so, but what really comes through is the passion and fire that all fans feel which is how I reckon local radio ought to be.

If I can be half as good as him, I'll be happy The post-match interviews on www.greensonscreen.co.uk from the QPR and Luton away games actually *are* me, by the way. If I've not got a game for Radio London and Argyle are playing near me, I tend to blag myself a seat in the press box and help Sir Gordon out by doing the post-match interview.

He's definately better than our local commentator - Clive Eakin - an ex-referee. His summariser is a sky-blue bloke called Jeff Foster, who won the local radio award - mainly on the back of his piece about leaving Highfield Road.

Though we all have a great Laugh when Clive goes to commentate on the ice hockey, because he obviously hasn't got a clue what's going on, and last year Coventry Blaze did the Treble, League, Cup and Play-offs.

Sparksie is a fecking legend!

I got my month in Birmingham, by the way Will probably do it from mid-February to mid-March.

Well if you're working with Rob Guerney - he a Cov fan who used to do the commentating on the City matches - top man.

I'll keep an eye out for him - although since CWR was created and hived off from WM, I don't know which bit he'll be working for.

Rob stayed with WM - though he turns up and does a Cov game occaisionally.

Franksie is the main man on WM, but of course there's so many teams in the area you tend to get a different bloke according to which game is going out live.

One bloke who IS a local legend there is Butler, Tony Butler - goes back to the first days of BRMB, a real character.

Ah - I remember reading about him in an old Jasper Carrott book I had when I was a teenager. "Tone, he's buggered off!" Is he still there???

The very man - and a great story - the three Tones, Butler, his sidekick - whose name was Tony something, and The Albion keeper Tony Godden.

Absolutely hysterical, for those of us who heard it, and the way Carrot tells the story its even funnier.

I think the reporter was called Harry Trifiley...

Although if it was, he keeps himself to himself a lot:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=gm&ei=Oo4kSvH4HqaUjAfHru3hBw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=harry+trifiley&spell=1