HALF-TIME at Adelaide v Collingwood, and undeterred by the blazing commentary team ties, which seemed to have come straight from the Bozo the Clown Yacht Club Collection, Ten's Luke Darcy and Malcolm Blight got to grips with a couple of incidents from the second quarter. One involved Collingwood's John McCarthy ingesting a faceful of Ben Rutten's arm during a tackling attempt, and the other was an apparent goal from Paul Medhurst that the goal umpire rather intriguingly ruled a behind.

Both events seemed worthy of further analysis, particularly because they had received none at, or immediately subsequent to, the time of occurrence, despite footage that suggested they merited such consideration. In particular, Medhurst provided no real challenge for experienced lip-readers with his use of the three-word idiomatic expression commencing "What the …" in reaction to the goal umpire's decision. Out of two match callers, two special comments men and two boundary reporters seemingly no one saw anything fit to report in either instance. Not for the first time, it became apparent that, whatever ratings say about who is watching Ten's football telecasts, those figures don't necessarily include the commentators.

In fact, they went in for yet another dip on the Medhurst non-goal after the match was over. Apparently it was the football equivalent of the showbiz phenomenon of "sleeper" movies. Does nothing much on first release, but becomes a major cult hit over time.

Elsewhere, Malcolm made a rare return from the Blight Dimension to provide reminders of why people value his opinions on football so highly. When others smelt the game blowing away in an Adelaide direction, it was Blight, even before half-time, who cautioned that the game had a long way to go, and that there might be more to unfold than people were thinking.

Of course, the Blight show would not be complete without the occasional return to Planet Mal, a place of rarefied thought indeed. Early in the third quarter Blight noted that the sides were "Starting to reserve rolls". This suggested a certain degree of concern about the adequacy of the after-match catering arrangements, although it's possible that he meant "reverse roles". Few people can pull off a typographical error in routine conversation.

Perhaps the most unforgettable moment of Ten's telecast occurred after the game's conclusion. It's not often you hear a boundary reporter congratulate Mick Malthouse on a good win and see him respond, with a broad grin: "Thank you, darling."

Mind you, this only qualifies as a warm moment on Ten's coverage, where the reporter is Mick's plucky daughter, Christi. If he said the same thing to Seven's Ricky Olarenshaw, that would be downright disturbing.