A letter from Smiley Moosa

pirates Wrote:

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after all these years
> surely time to bury the hatchet with smiley and
> move on..

Something that Smiley should consider as well...

tell me titch if young cohen is as good as you think he is why wasnt he given an oppurtunity in presenting commentating hosting shows etc in yr beloved gold circle country?

pirates Wrote:

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> tell me titch if young cohen is as good as you
> think he is why wasnt he given an oppurtunity in
> presenting commentating hosting shows etc in yr
> beloved gold circle country?

He was fully booked....

Titch Wrote:

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> We are fortunate to have always had commentator's
> out the top drawer in this country, from Ernie and
> Peter Duffield to the Denman brothers, Craig
> "Eagle Eye" Peters, Clyde Basel etc but be assured
> that in time to come the name Alistair Cohen will
> be spoken about in the same breath as all these
> greats,his ability belies his age and
> experience,(we tend to overlook how new he
> actually is to the industry), he is an absolute
> natural who has taken to race calling and TV
> presenting like a duck to water, the most
> promising prospect that I have seen/heard in my
> racing career ..an asset to the industry and a
> bright future awaits him...


i second Titch's sentiments . Cohen has been at it for a few months only . He will get gbetter and better and will be one of Sa's best !

I would like to echo the words of Titch, i have been in racing a very long time, and i do believe that Mr Cohen will be the best commentator this country has ever seen (no disprect to any of the others). if Mr Cohen keeps his feet grounded and be level headed he will reach great heights in his calling career. and by the way i dont know Mr Cohen personally !

Alistair is improving per race he is a humble guy willing to learn and a big asset for racing

If a man manufactures 200mm tins and another man doing the same job always has tins at 199mm then one can compare the 2 and sack/retrain the one that is incorrect.

With commentating its so personal, how can anyone be sacked....it can only be opinion.

easy Wrote:

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> If a man manufactures 200mm tins and another man
> doing the same job always has tins at 199mm then
> one can compare the 2 and sack/retrain the one
> that is incorrect.
>
> With commentating its so personal, how can anyone
> be sacked....it can only be opinion.

You answered your own question.............he wasn't fired over his ability to commentate...............there is more to being a worthwhile employee than the basic product. Read his 2 letters on this thread and ask yourself whether you would want to employ or manage that ego?

What disease did he suffer from?
Was it self inflicited ?

elmer Wrote:

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> What disease did he suffer from?
> Was it self inflicited ?


It was said he had issues , not sure what was meant by this ?

To be honest I hate posts like this as someone said earlier opinions are like $&@ holes everyone has them. Personally I don't miss smiley as when I have backed the second horse I don't need to hear the winner came home with the jockey smoking a cigar!!!!!!! I think there are two sides to every story as I am sure the operators would love to employ a guy or lady of color to call races so think the race card is not an option here, take a guy like Rivaun he is top class irrespective of color IMO. Also not sure what NHRA and RA have to do with this as they do not employ staff for the operators.

RobScott Wrote:

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> To be honest I hate posts like this as someone
> said earlier opinions are like $&@ holes everyone
> has them. Personally I don't miss smiley as when I
> have backed the second horse I don't need to hear
> the winner came home with the jockey smoking a
> cigar!!!!!!! I think there are two sides to every
> story as I am sure the operators would love to
> employ a guy or lady of color to call races so
> think the race card is not an option here, take a
> guy like Rivaun he is top class irrespective of
> color IMO. Also not sure what NHRA and RA have to
> do with this as they do not employ staff for the
> operators.

Gavin Venter's situation was officially determined by a breach of NHRA rule of "bringing racing into disrepute"..................I am lead to believe that Smiley's situation was similar.