Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Watching the NRL Grand Final between the Cowboys and the Broncos on Sunday night got me thinking about commentators of sport over the years.

Up until the early 1970s, we would rise during the middle of the night to gather around the radio for a scratchy commentary of the All Blacks in Great Britain or South Africa, or listen to our Kiwi athletes winning gold at the Olympic Games.

Sideline Sid can remember listening to Peter Snell and Murray Halberg winning gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics and four years later Peter Snell winning the elusive 800/1500 metre double in Tokyo.

The Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in the summer of 1974 was the catalyst for live televised sport in New Zealand.

The Games were the first major event to be televised live, after the introduction of colour television to the country, in November 1973.

However, because colour television was brand new to the country and there was limited equipment available to transmit in colour, only athletics, swimming and boxing were broadcast in the format.

The role of the television sports commentator is decidedly different from radio commentary. Rugby radio commentators such as the legendary Winston McCarthy could make you feel like you were on the edge of the sporting arena.

The best TV commentators observe and analyze to enhance what the viewer can see on the box.

The very best in international rugby league is Ray 'Rabbits” Warren, who called the Cowboys' thrilling win over the Broncos on Sunday night.

Where 'Rabbits” stands apart from the others is that he carries the change in momentum in a match with a sudden rise of his call, in a entirely distinctive voice that only belongs to Ray Warren.

As an avid sports nut, Sideline Sid has read countless sports books over the decades, but near top of his list of favourites is The Voice, which is simply stated as the life and times of Ray Warren.

Warren comes over as a warts-and-all, knockabout Australian bloke as he talks about the highs and lows of a broadcasting career that has spanned nearly five decades. To me, a quality sporting read has to be more than exploits on the field or bagging people.

When you put a sports book down for the last time you need to feel that you've learnt plenty of untold tales about the subject. The Voice certainly meets that criteria.

Two Kiwi sporting books near the top of Sideline Sid's list of all-time favourites are Tears in the Wind – The Lance O'Sullivan story, and Indian Summers, which chronicles former Black Caps' coach John Wright's time in charge of the Indian National Cricket side.

Tears in the Wind is the story of champion Kiwi jockey Lance O'Sullivan's rise to become one of the best jockeys in the world. It tells of conquering the Aussies in their own back yard alongside riding Horlicks to victory in the Japan Cup and Lance's time riding in the hot-bed of racing in Honk Kong.

John Wright's insight into his appointment and subsequent times as coach of India in world cricket is another absorbing read and should be on the must-read list of any sports nut.