Hello! What is your first memory of the show?<\/p>\n
HG: We were becalmed at the ABC. We\u2019d run 130-plus shows of a scandalous, late-night variety show called Club Buggery, and the ABC, in its wisdom, wondered whether they wanted more of that, so we didn\u2019t know what to do. Out of the blue, the head of Olympic coverage at Seven, Andy Kay, rang up and asked would we make a show. And I just looked at the phone, and I thought, \u201cThis person\u2019s got to be joking.\u201d And I said, \u201cYou know what you\u2019re going to get?\u201d And before I hung up, I said, \u201cIf you still want it in three weeks time, give us a ring.\u201d And three weeks went by, and he did.<\/p>\n
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Roy and HG Nelson aka comedians John Doyle and Greig PickhaverCredit: James Brickwood<\/p>\n
Roy: Well, my memory is [a manager at Seven called] Harold, who was a New Zealander with a very British view of sportscasting. And there were certain rules that he was very keen to hammer. And we went to a couple of meetings about do\u2019s and don\u2019ts, and the more we listened to the do\u2019s and don\u2019ts, the more we realised we were doing all the don\u2019ts.<\/p>\n
HG: And we still are!<\/p>\n
Roy: So we nodded and took notes. And when we did our first couple of experiments as to what we\u2019re going to do \u2013 I think in one of the calls, I\u2019d called something a \u201cDutch wink\u201d \u2013 and Harold looked at us and said, \u201cWell, you\u2019re not actually going to say that, are you?\u201d and I said, \u201cWell, it depends on the mood, on the time, on the day.\u201d And he said,\u201cOK. And you\u2019re going to call various sports?\u201d And we said, \u201cWell, this is the intention. If we can get someone to cut it together, we will certainly call it.\u201d And we left it at that.<\/p>\n
That commentary of the men\u2019s gymnastics went viral very early on \u2013 the Dutch wink, the crazy date, the flat bag \u2013 was that scripted or spontaneous?<\/p>\n
Roy: It was all spontaneous.<\/p>\n
HG: We invented the language by going for a cup of coffee in the IBC, the International Broadcast Centre, and trying to work out exactly how we\u2019re going to do this in two hours\u2019 time. The language of gymnastics largely follows the people who brought these spectacular moments to the event.<\/p>\n
Roy: The Yurchenko [a series of vaults named after Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko], for example.<\/p>\n
HG: So we realised, well, if that\u2019s the case, why don\u2019t we make up all the terms? Because we had no idea what they were. And so, as we read along [to the footage], these things suggested themselves to us.<\/p>\n
Roy: I remember it being a little bit unsure, we were a bit toe-in-the-water with the first couple of gymnastics calls, but by the end, we were really good at it and we knew what we were calling.<\/p>\n
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HG: [Laughing] Exactly, we could see it coming.<\/p>\n
There was a great running gag throughout, where you had Australian Olympic great Herb Elliott pretending he was trapped in the Olympic Village, Big Brother-style. Dawn Fraser appeared, so did Nadia Com\u0103neci. Was it difficult talking all these big names into coming on?<\/p>\n
Roy: Herb was very happy to do that for us. A memory of Herb was him driving us around in his Mercedes, which he was a little bit embarrassed about, and I was critical of the size of his glove box \u2026<\/p>\n
HG: Remember, of course, their world is something that you and I can\u2019t imagine. So it\u2019s a world that requires some leavening with humour. And they all get it, but I\u2019ve got to be honest, the Billie Jean King story is the best bit of this, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
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Fatso the unofficial mascot of the Sydney Olympics<\/p>\n
Roy: She was wonderful. We bumped into her in the IBC and we got to chatting, and she realised we had had a genuine enjoyment of tennis, so she was more than happy to come on the show. Entered into the spirit. She understood what we were doing. She got it completely.<\/p>\n
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HG: She had this great comment, though. She said, \u201cThe Sydney Olympics are great. It\u2019s going really well. We\u2019re pleased with the conditions, the village and all that sort of stuff and the track. The only thing wrong with it is you.\u201d And I looked at her and thought, \u201cHang on you, do you mean me or him?\u201d And she said, \u201cNo, you, because all the athletes are rushing home. They won\u2019t go to bed. They want to stay up and watch you guys before they go to bed.\u201d We finished about 1am, which completely buggered up their training schedule. We were very taken by that.<\/p>\n
Speaking of tennis, did you ever get Australian tennis stars Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis to smoke the peace pipe?<\/p>\n
Roy: Well, no. Pat refused. I think the Poo was keen, but Pat wouldn\u2019t smoke the peace pipe. I don\u2019t know why, and I don\u2019t know if that feud has ever been resolved.<\/p>\n
HG: There\u2019s still time!<\/p>\n
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William Kirby, Todd Pearson, Michael Klim (holding Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat) and Ian Thorpe celebrate their gold medal in the Men\u2019s 4x200m relay.Credit: Allsport UK\/ALLSPORT <\/p>\n
Australian swimmer Michael Klim famously took your alternative Olympic mascot, Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, with him onto the podium for the medal ceremony for the men\u2019s 4×200-metre relay…<\/p>\n
Roy: We had a producer, Edwina Throsby, who took it upon herself to try and inveigle Fatso into events. So she quietly asked Michael Klim if he\u2019d mind holding Fatso, and he was more than happy to do so. That made Fatso real. And then others were very keen to get on the bandwagon to be seen with him. He ended up dancing on the dance floor with Thorpey<\/a>.<\/p>\n At that point did you think, \u201cWhat have we created with this show?\u201d<\/p>\n Roy: Not really, because you didn\u2019t have time to think about that. We\u2019re just moving on to the next thing.<\/p>\n HG: Fatso was a handicap to us. He became bigger than us. He had a life long after the Olympics. They put him on a plinth [at Homebush], and he kept on being stolen, and eventually, he was stolen for the final time and turned up in the front yard of Matty Johns\u2019 place. Hard to imagine, but true story. [Readers, as far as I can work out, this is not true. The original Fatso has yet to be located.]<\/p>\n The official Sydney 2000 mascots Olly, Syd and Millie, who Roy and HG renamed \u201cDickhead\u201d. <\/p>\n And did the organisers ever say anything to you about renaming one of the Olympic mascots \u201cDickhead\u201d?<\/p>\n Roy: We had no communication at all. There was just that very odd press conference that Liz Smylie gave where she said, \u201cWe had no issues with Fatso\u201d, which was completely untrue. They were tearing their hair out and worried because they paid so many millions for the Boxing Kangaroo to Alan Bond, so Fatso became a real bloody pain in the ass.<\/p>\n HG: We do historically have a great dislike of Olympic mascots. My best bit is that Geraldine Brooks<\/a>, a very famous writer, said she achieved a lifetime dream of getting the word \u201carse\u201d on the front page of The New York Times when she wrote an item about the Sydney Olympics and said the best mascot is Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat.<\/p>\n You said you were too busy putting the show together to realise how popular it was, but there must have been a point when you realised it had become a phenomenon.<\/p>\n Roy: I was pretty much in a bubble for that period. We finished at 1am, got to bed about 3am and then back, starting to talk to each other about what\u2019s in the show, at 9am. There was no time to\u2026<\/p>\n HG: \u2026 Savour it. There were odd things. I remember Johnny Farnham turning up on the final night to sing Go You Good Thing<\/a>, and that\u2019s when I thought, this has reached an audience beyond what we can see here.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n Is Sydney still the greatest Games ever?<\/p>\n Roy: Oh yeah. Without doubt.<\/p>\n HG: His excellency, Juan Antonio Samaranch\u2026<\/p>\n Roy: Who knows Games \u2026<\/p>\n HG: He said it was, and I would never argue with him.<\/p>\n Will you be back for the Brisbane Games in 2032<\/a>?<\/p>\n Roy: It would be nice to imagine that there\u2019ll be something to call in Brisbane. I mean, nothing\u2019s been built yet<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n HG: What we\u2019re interested in, is the rowing in Cairns or Townsville<\/a>, if that goes ahead. We\u2019ll certainly be covering the crocs.<\/p>\n Bludging on the Blindside with Rampaging Roy Slaven and HG Nelson airs on Saturdays at 10am on ABC Sport. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/8ee8eeeaa05b4dd793de22b4d6408a371e5d9dd1.jpeg\")
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