Professor Mwizenge Tembo |
As
an example of a ‘live’ radio soccer commentary, wind back the hands of time and
picture yourself at Dag Hammerskjoeld stadium when
Zambia played Uganda in a regional qualifying match in the 70s. Below is an actual
part of the ‘live’ commentary by Dennis Liwewe. Thanks to Professor Mwizenge
Tembo of Bridgewater College in Virginia for posting it on You Tube.
“Here
comes Mwape (Kenny). Mwape again to his captain Musenge Ackim) Musenga back
again to Mwape. Mwape picks up the ball again and he takes a long, long shot
past the center circle position in a 1-0 situation and then intercepted far
away from here…..again it was a foul to Zambia. Ten meters inside, taken very
quickly to Jani Simulambo…..a long, long beautiful shot over to Bernard Chanda.
Chanda you have got the the ball, shoot! You are missing it again……I never
believe! 1-0 Uganda in the lead. Mwape has the ball. He takes a long, long shot
past the center circle. He is looking for Mugala (Burton) Mugala has got the
ball….all the way to Chola (Alex)…….it’s a Goal!.. ……. 1-1 to Chola. Chola
makes it 1-1 in 27 minutes.” At full
time, Zambia had beaten Uganda by 4-2.
Dennis Liwewe, was a personality who moved
Zambia and its neighbouring countries, Africa and the world at large with his lively commentaries
and critique. His respected voice during ‘live’ soccer commentaries. He was the
voice of Zambia’s football that earned him an award of Distinguished Service by
First Republican President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda in 1977. Without doubt, Dennis
had a way of keeping a soccer match ‘live and alive’ on radio. Determination,
self-discipline, constant practice and the eagerness to want to do a good job
was the only way of getting best results in any soccer match. Appearing on the
British Broadcasting Corporation”s Fast Track programme presented by Farayi
Mungazi, Dennis put across his thoughts on what makes a good, exciting ‘live’
soccer commentary. Below are some excerpts I picked from the full interview
Farayi Mungazi :Why is football such a great game to you?
Farayi Mungazi :Why is football such a great game to you?
Liwewe: Football is a great game to me
personally because I showed the world that I never played the game in my life,
I never knew the game at school because I wanted to get Grade A in English
Language so while my colleagues were on the pitch playing I was reading. I was
very brilliant - I can assure you. But I decided to take on a new challenge in
broadcasting and that was it. I used to record football commentaries from the
BBC and then go to the bush to study it and took my own style of broadcasting -
the African style of excitement particularly on the radio. I did try television
commentary but people said it was a disaster. That is not my style. Mine was
radio commentary. The problem I had was that most of the people including the
then president of Zambia, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, when they were going to matches at
the stadium carried their radio sets to watch matches when I was doing
commentary. So one was I aware that all these people were listening and
watching at the same time so one couldn't afford to do mistakes. So
preparations had to be very very thorough. So it made me do the job perfectly
well.
David
Owen : What preparation did you go through before games. What tricks did you
have for remembering player names and positions?
Liwewe: Those
days it was difficult because the opposing teams were only seen on match days
and you had the team sheets one hour before the game. There were no names at
the back of the jerseys too so it was tough. But with determination,
self-discipline and the eagerness to want to do a good job helped me. I
practiced in the shower early in the morning. The constant practice on
imaginary matches helped a lot.
Liwewe’s
son Ponga, also a well known sports commentator on Supersport says much as
radio commentaries are different compared to those carried out on television,
preparations are almost the same except on radio “you have to be more
imaginative” in order for the listener to appreciate what you are talking
about.
On a quick ten minutes telephone conversation
with him from South Africa last week, Ponga said, “I have worked in commentary
on both radio and television and the two styles are totally different. On radio
you have to be much more descriptive as you have to create a picture in the
mind of the listener since they are not able to see the pictures. You have to
inform them where on the pitch the ball is, give them an indication where the
receiving player is and the movement of other players. When the ball is crossed
into the box, listeners need to know from where it is coming from, whether it
is near the by-line or further down field, which means the quality and
significance of the cross differs. It’s not enough to just say the ball is
being played into the box.”
He
added that for television commentary, everyone sees what is happening and the
role of a commentator is more to be more analytical, and hence the creation of
the role of a co-commentator who talks tactics, potential scenarios and gives a
more in-depth perspective. Ponga said on TV the commentator does not need to
mention each and every player who is on the ball, and at times even a pause
helps as the viewers can see what is happening.
Concluded
Ponga, “The key to success in both radio and television commentary is
preparation. You have slit seconds to give details and little time to refer to
notes so you have to know your subject. You also have to know the players, not
only by name but by the way they run, walk, their physical profiles so that
even when you can’t see clearly, you can tell who it is.
I
once emceed an event which was the Africa Cup of Nations trophy tour in South
Africa and was able to recite the history of the tournament from 1959 to 2010,
looking at the key moments of each of the 26 tournament’s that had taken place
up to that point in time. It would not have been possible to store this
information in a short period of time, but because I had constantly read and
been to many tournaments it was not too difficult to refresh my memory and to
read where I was lacking in information.”
With
the given explanations above, it is clear that becoming a professional “live”
soccer commentator requires a lot of work and a lot of practice if one has to
be noticed. My advice is “be yourself and develop a different style from all
other commentators. Always remember that there can only be one Dennis Liwewe!
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Ben
Kangwa is a broadcast journalist and media consultant based in Lusaka.
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