IMS_Blog

The BBC offer a “live text commentary” for each football game. This is minute by minute coverage with such delights as Corner right sided for Team. Taken left footed by Player, in swinging. Header (6 yards) by Player saved by Keeper. Or something like that anyway. It’s not the most exciting or well written thing in the world but it is useful for getting a feel of the general flow of the game. if a goal is scored the text commentary gets all excited and has a banner pointing it out
(these commentaries don’t have anything like a permalink as best I can tell so I’m using screen captures here to illustrate—these are from the Blackburn versus Tottenham game which just finished).

As well as noting each goal in such an obvious manner the text commentary also notes bookings . Given the special banners for goals and yellow cards it might be reasonable to expect that red cards would get the same treatment. Except they don’t. Sendings off have no special attention drawn to them:

Why do red cards get treated like any other event, such as a goal kick or throw in, when bookings have attention drawn to them? It makes no sense. It’s not a one off but consistently happens like this and has done for as long as these text commentaries have been going. Come on BBC, be sensible and note red cards like yellows! Oh, and a line saying the half time/full time whistle has blown wouldn’t go amiss either.