Jim Maxwell

The ABC has been doing a story on Jim Maxwell as he has been given a Life Time Achievement award.  As one wag commented on a show (about someone else who got a Life Time Achievement award), “he obviously didn’t get the hint” as he is still going.
Jim Maxwell is still going but not broadcasting any more.  He got sick while covering the Rio games.  He has had a stroke and says his voice is ok, but the movement in his right hand is a problem. He was most famous for covering the cricket but covered other sports as well.  In what was obviously the pinnacle of his career he covered table tennis.
Apart from what he said that prompted this article I like that he had to work for where he got.  He was knocked back a couple of times before being accepted at the ABC.  Some people it seems have loads of talent and the road to the top seems like a perfectly natural progression.  Others need to work to get where they want to go.  He was one of them.
In a tribute the ABC was doing about him they included a segment where he was asked what he attributed his broadcasting success to.  He mentioned three things that all arose from him putting himself in the shoes of the listener.
The first was people who were perhaps listening in their car on their lunch break wanted the score.  I know I am like that.  Often, I do not watch the game, but I tune in for the score.  If my team is doing well, I can relax.  It doing badly may not be what I want to hear, but it is what I want to hear.
The second thing he mentioned is that people want to hear a story.  They basically would like to be transported from their world and become absorbed in another.  I’ve got to admit I did like that.  Hearing about stories relevant to the people playing or statistics from a bygone era transported me for a short while to another time and place.
The third thing he mentioned was a bit of humour here and there did not go astray.  I do like that.  While it is not all memorable, some stays with me for a lifetime.
No matter what I am doing I like to know the score.  Where I stand.  Am I doing well or do I need to do better?  If I am playing table tennis it is obvious, I need to do better.  I reckon my life is a story.  It is the one time I am a leading character.  I want to know what happens to me.  I get absorbed in the plot.  And I need a bit of humour now and then.  There is no doubt life is serious, but that does not mean I need to be serious all the time.  Just as well really as that does not come naturally to me.
Jim Maxwell may have been a voice in the background of my life, but I enjoyed it and his outlook has things I am happy to use.