He said it as he saw it & he did'nt mind upsetting the boxing establishment while he was at it. His gift/skill was in the fact he was a radio trained commentator whose job was to convey you to ringside & a 100% job he made of it. A little bit biased on occasion which he never hid or apologised for "just expressing my honest opinion" he would say & honest he was even if yer never agreed with him & that was why he was so respected along with his brilliance at factual observation & when on TV he just said what needed to be said unlike todays drama duo's who really don't come within a mile of perfecting Harry's smooth style of observation analysis. There would be no room for harry in today's media world as he would'nt put up with any bull**** or be dictated too by todays media PC manderins. When i was a kid & allowed to stay up late listining to fights on the radio with my old man he really made you feel you were right in there blow 4 blow, so to sum Harry up in one word, BRILLIANT:deal
I suspect many who post on here are too young to remember Harry Carpenter, so let's not fall into the trap of thinking that everything he did was brilliant because, like all commentators, at times he was prone to gaffs and misreading what was taking place in front of him. He had a great voice, and a wonderfully measured style of delivery, but it didn't always work. I see some speak about the wonderful Ali-Foreman commentary. Actually, that was far from being one of his best. The great commentary lines on the ko: "Oh my God, he's champion again at 32" etc, come after rounds when Harry failed to see that Foreman was wasting energy and was punching himself out. The warning signs were there for Foreman from the fifth, when Ali came off the ropes to tag him with some stunning combinations, but Harry did not really pick it up. Bob Sheridan, commentating for world feed audiences, was more on the money, even if he wasn't as easy on the ear. Similarly, the Bruno business of "Know what I mean" was often cringeingly incestuous. The "get in there Frank" line was simply unprofessional, and Harry would often gloss over the fairly shameful mismatches served Bruno on his rise through the ranks, possibly at risk of upsetting mssrs Astaire, Lawless and Duff. There were others fights, for example Cooper-Bruno and Wharton-Fidel Castro-Smith, where outpourings of vitriol from the boxing public on the accuracy of points decisions were largely as a result of Harry's observations. He thought Cooper had been wronged, and said so in no uncertain terms. Likewise he thought Wharton lucky to get the verdict. But these were not clear cut miscarriages of justice and, in Cooper's case, Harry may have been guilty of sentimental bias just as he was with bruno the better part of two decades later. So yes, RIP Harry Carpenter, but let's not paint him as some legend of broadcasting perfection, because he had good days and bad days like all of us.
:-( Untimely and uncalled for post. You've come accross as a right twat there to be honest. Very disrespectful to his family, friends and colleagues The voice of Harry Carpenter holds many great memories for people. Plus Wharton-Smith was a **** of a decision.
Read Colin Hart today. Harry himself thought Get in there frank was unprofessional. I'm sorry you feel that it is disrecpectful, because that is not how it was intended. It was merely something saying sometimes he got it right, and sometimes he got it wrong. As Reg Gutteridge did, and those who do the job now. He was a fine commentator, but not without blemish.
I don't think anyone was suggesting that Harry was the perfect commentator,only that he was much admired.Ali was my favourite fighter but i know he wasn't perfect.I agree on the Cooper v Bugner commentary he thought Henry was robbed, personally i didn't but i don't think that detracts from the man. As for him not picking up on Ali's rope a dope tactics against Foreman,listen to the screaming voice of Angelo Dundee the first 4 or 5 rounds yelling for Ali to get off the ropes,if Dundee didn't know i think we can excuse Harry!
Any chance somebody could provide a YouTube link of the "Get in there Frank!" moment? Found loads of different versions of the fight but not one with Harry Carpenter commentating.
Somewhere in this clip mate (it's worth watching all of it though :good): [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phfw2B08F7c[/ame]
That is very true. But what is also true (see Frank Keating's Guardian obit today) is that immediately before the ko Harry had just been saying Ali is very tired and that he can't take much more of this. That was edited out of BBC clip saved for posterity ... Harry did seem a lovely guy. His voice will forever conjour up memories of the great days..... And his anchoring of golf and wimbledon was as good as anybody's. Des Lynam said on radio "he was a hard act to follow." Class