Many are bored out of their minds due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Some more than others, as the internet was graced with gems like bizarre costumes for dog walks and collecting pond water and letting it thrive.
Regardless of activity, everyone is trying to kill time during the lockdown in any way they can, and sports commentators are no exception. After all, if all sporting events are canceled, what do you do then?
Improvise! Well, have fun along the way too.
Sports commentator Andrew Cotter made a video of him commenting on his dogs competing for a chew bone
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
BBC Sport commentator Andrew Cotter recently posted a video of his two adorable Labradors Olive and Mabel calmly competing over a bone-shaped chew toy, which quickly turns from just adorable to both adorable and hilarious as Cotter starts filling in the silence with sports lingo and commentary.
The video starts off with a canine stare-off, followed by Cotter announcing that it’s the final minute of the match. Mabel, the yellow lab, goes for a patient passive attack, creating tension between her and Olive, the black lab, who is now in possession of the orange chew toy.
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
Olive (left) is seen chewing the orange bone that Mabel (right) is obviously craving with her focused stare
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
The dynamic of the video shifts as Olive displays “overconfidence” and Cotter’s golf-like commentary goes up in tone. Olive repositions the toy “on the outside,” followed by a switch in her grasp.
With only 20 seconds left, the suspense is killing the audience and Mabel’s stare is so focused that you’d half expect lasers from those eyes at this point.
“20 seconds to go now,” comments Cotter. “Olive closing in on victory and that coveted prize of being told she’s a very good dog. And a switch!”
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
The video features all of the sports lingo and mannerisms that you would expect from actual sports commentary
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
The atmosphere is so captivating that, at a certain point, people forget that they are watching two cute Labradors and a chew toy and not a sporting event. Though nobody can blame you for being taken in by the tension that Cotter builds up with his superb commentary.
With only seconds left to victory, the game takes an unexpected turn with Olive shifting the toy and losing her grasp on it, at which point Mabel swoops in for the kill and snatches the toy, winning the trophy.
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
What starts off as golf commenting soon becomes an exciting event detailing the calmly intense battle
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
The video went viral immediately, garnering 7 million views and over 300,000 likes on Twitter in just a day. As of this article, the video has reached 17.5 million views, over 640,000 likes, and nearly 180,000 retweets.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Cotter explained that this just goes to show how much people are missing sports and “normal life.” The lockdown has made everyone rethink just how much people took it all for granted and when sports return, he believes there will be a big outpouring and people won’t take it as cynically as before.
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
Olive's "overconfidence" has cost her the victory as Mabel eventually saw a chance and snagged the bone
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
Believe it or not, there is another video of the two lovely labs partaking in a different sport: chowing down on some kibble! Again, Cotter fills in the shoes of the broadcaster, commentating on every aspect of the competition between Olive and Mabel.
“You can see the contrast in styles: Mabel—heavy tail use, happy to be alive, everything’s amazing. Olive—more steady, wasting little energy, very much of the old Labrador school,” commented Cotter.
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
The video concludes with a truly sad frown by Olive as Mabel celebrates victory in the background
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
The video also features commentary gems such as “Focused, relentless, tasting absolutely nothing” and the “Get on with it” coming from the background, urging Cotter to stop overhyping the competition and just let the dogs enjoy their well-deserved chow.
This video also drew a crowd with nearly 10 million views, 339,000 likes and 90,000 retweets. The video was so big that Ryan Reynolds himself even tweeted “Tasting absolutely nothing” with crying out laughing emojis.
Watch the minute-long video in its full commentary glory by Andrew Cotter
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
Andrew also made another video with the two dogs competing for the title of fastest eater
Image credits: Andrew Cotter
So, what are your thoughts on this? Do you have pets whose “sporting” activities you’d comment on? If so, how? Let us know in the comment section below!
Here's how people reacted to the intense pet sports commentary video
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