There is something masochistic about the media's facility to blow a giant raspberry at fate, secure in the knowledge that a very public humiliation lurks around the corner. Masters of the sweeping statement or cast iron certainty, the fallout can be devastating but mostly just cringe inducing.
The print media offer everlasting and tangible proof of their shortcomings on microfilm, embarrassment in perpetuity. The fourth estate's distaff side, the broadcasters, invariably end up on series like Auntie's Bloomers or It'll be Alright on the night XVII: acutely embarrassing at the time but the public forget about it until it is dredged up to fill a hole in the schedules.
While BBC and ITV have demonstrated the art of laughing at themselves, RTE shows no such bent which is probably just as well for Ger Canning and George Hamilton following Saturday's banquet of live sporting transmission. First up to the crease was the Armagh-Kerry All-Ireland Football semi-final at Croke Park.
The quality of the analysts Colm O'Rourke and Pat Spillane is beyond reproach, their knowledgeable discourse informative and sharp but what makes it all the more watchable is the absence of the cosy bonhomie, that dogs BBC's Match of the Day and Terry Venables in studio with any other pundit. There appears an edge to the O'Rourke-Spillane relationship and that adds to the programme.
O'Rourke's measured delivery contrasts sharply with the more animated Spillane, the latter noted for his sweeping statements and penchant for bluntness. On Saturday, especially during the interval analysis he did not disappoint slating the Kerry half forward line: when the former Kerry star gets someone in the cross-hairs they receive both barrels.
Those who live by the quip, occasionally die squirming on live television as Spillane will attest. Then there is of course sod's law and Ger Canning fell victim on Saturday. He bestowed upon Kerry full back Seamus Moynihan the gamut of superlatives from A to B, describing him as "magnificent", "wonderful" and making several references to his outstanding performance in the first half.
Moynihan did indeed excel during that period but one couldn't help feeling that Canning was tempting fate. Suddenly the Kerryman found himself marking Oisin McConville and within six minutes the Armagh man had notched 1-3, running his new marker ragged. Canning made no reference to the switch and it was only by virtue of television replays that Moynihan's decline in fortune became apparent.
The Kerryman will probably hope that come the All-Ireland Final against Galway, Canning will content himself with words like tidy, effective and inconspicuous. While RTE's venerable gaelic games commentator might have cocked a snoot at fate, he remains in the ha'penny place in comparison with colleague George Hamilton.
The national broadcaster's top soccer commentator enjoys the facility to make people shout in indignation at a television set by being accurate and honest. In presiding over the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifying game against the Netherlands in tandem with Jim Beglin, Hamilton made several early references to how badly the Dutch were playing, how Robbie Keane was making a monkey out of Frank de Boer and how Ireland were dominating the game.
Ireland is a nation of pessimists in a sporting context. Content to doff the cap to our betters, the poor insignificant, "can't believe we are here playing a great team like yourselves" attitude translates across the sports when Ireland venture into the international arena. It is also reflected in the supporters' psyche. Ireland are going to lose up until the point they actually win the match.
To be told otherwise rarely sits well and the last thing a bar full of people want to hear is how crap the Dutch are, even if this is true. In mitigation Hamilton was merely pointing out the obvious but once he courted the "on the threshold of a great victory", hands went over ears and people starting singing to themselves in the hope that such heresy would not be repeated.
When the Dutch scored the first goal, one noticed the shift in the tone of Hamilton and Beglin's analysis and when they equalised Beglin was moved to remark that "it would be so disappointing if Ireland were not to get anything from this match". As a statement of the obvious it is peerless but one could understand the sentiment.
For the studio panel of Eamon Dunphy, John Giles and Liam Brady it was a case of what might have, should have, could have been and the lingering satisfaction that Ireland had managed to return home with a point.
Meanwhile, England's cricketing renaissance continued during the week as they pushed themselves on the cusp of obliterating a 31-year-old hoodoo against the West Indies. The visitors first innings wickets fell like 10 pins at the Oval yet despite England's strong position Channel 4's commentary team is to be complimented for refraining from the usual, bright new dawn for English cricket syndrome.
Their coverage, helped considerable by the presence of Richie Benaud, has been superb both from a technical and commentating standpoint. Those who feared the passing of the cricket baton from BBC to Channel 4 will have been pleasantly surprised. The only drawback occurs with the advent of rain.
A limited library of footage meant that viewers were treated to the dynamics of a squeegee machine and an elongated advert for Slazenger when rain interrupted play on Friday. Neither designed to keep the viewer's hand away from the remote control.
