A Tribute to Peter Landy   

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 Peter Landy - one of Seven's classiest and most professional commentators ever

My Tribute to Peter Landy

"Hello again from down under!  I'm Peter Landy and, from the Seven Network, welcome to our exclusive presentation of Australian Rules Football from the VFL!"  

Back in the early to mid 1980s, Americans, such as myself, were treated to this friendly greeting when tuning to the ESPN Network for the hour and a half program "Australian Rules Football."  This time period marked the beginning of the "Aussie" trend in the USA - everything Australian was popular.  Having already been introduced to "Sydney" the koala bear with his QANTAS Airlines commercials, Paul Hogan "slipping an extra shrimp on the barbie" for us, not to mention Olivia Newton John's talents with "Grease," "Xanadu" and "Let's Get Physical," it was only fitting that America be introduced to Australia's number one sport in footy.  I personally felt Peter Landy did an outstanding job as liaison of "Aussie Rules" for Americans watching on ESPN.

 

Peter Landy - Commentator and Instructor

Peter Landy educating ESPN viewers in season 1985
Peter Landy in 1985 teaching the ESPN audience the act of marking the ball.

Serving as footy liaison for Americans in the early 1980s, Peter Landy provided candid and helpful description of the basics of the game to help us understand it past the chaotic madness on the pitch.  In the commentary box with Lou Richards and Bob Skilton, or in front of the camera at various points in the telecast, Peter was not just an announcer, he was part of the entire Australian Football package for Americans.  To give you an idea of the effect he had on one such American (myself), I became so enthused over Australian Rules Football that I used to grab my tape recorder, set up my own "commentary box," and recruited my friend Rob Raymond to play Lou Richards while I filled Peter's role as we recorded our "Australian Rules Football Comment" tapes with our fake Australian accents!  Rob and I created a number of tapes and we really enjoyed making them.  When my friends got ear of these tapes, they then started watching Australian Football on ESPN and begged me to have them do a cameo appearance on my tapes!  So, you see, all of that is behind why I wanted to do this page.  Peter not only inspired me to try my own "off the wall" attempts at broadcasting, his example helped pave the way towards my success in a serious and more significant environment when I presented my formal speeches in English classes for grades in high school and college (I always received an "A" whenever I did the Australian Rules Football speech!).  I was saddened when Peter stopped hosting the program on ESPN midway through the 1985 season when Sandy Roberts picked up the hosting duties (and he did a fine job at that).  Since then, Peter worked one more season with Lou Richards before the Seven Network lost television coverage of the VFL in 1987.  When Seven Sports regained VFL coverage in 1988, Peter assumed a smaller commentator role at Seven.  Despite this, his earlier years and efforts in the infancy of the sport here in the USA will never be forgotten and is still appreciated to this day.

 

Peter Landy - SoundBits!

Here are two audio clips of Peter from an ESPN Australian Rules Football show back in 1985.  Briefly, they are:

Clip #1: Peter welcoming us into the new football season.

Clip #2: My favorite Peter Landy saying ... "Have a great week in sport, bye for now."

If you are using Internet Explorer to view this website and have Windows Media Player installed, you should see the embedded Media Player below with a dropdown menu underneath it.  Select a clip from the dropdown menu below and click the PLAY button (>) button in the media player to hear it.  

 



If you are using Netscape to view this site, click on one of the speakers below to listen to the corresponding .wav file

- Play Clip #1
- Play Clip #2

 

Peter Landy - Background

Peter Landy in the 1970s

A youthful portrait of Peter Landy from the 1970s.

It should be no surprise that Peter enjoys participating in sports as much as providing commentary on them.  Among his favorite activities include distance running (a favorite of mine as well) and rowing (a passion he has taken full advantage of since his retirement from commentary).

Peter recently concluded a long and illustrious career in media.  He was put on the right track early on with training and guidance from top broadcasting trainer Lee Murray.

His early assignments included Radio 3UL in Warragul, Radio 3UZ and 3AK in Melbourne as well as Channel Nine.

It was in 1971 when he began his long relationship with the Seven Network where he produced, hosted and reported sport.  Among his achievements at Seven include:

  • Seven's Summer of Tennis

  • Teamed with Lou Richards as one of footy's greatest commentary teams (equaled only by Pat Summerall and John Madden covering the NFL in the USA)

  • Boxing program TV Ringside with legendary Ron Casey

  • Commentary at many of the Olympic Games where he gained international notice and received praise for his exemplary coverage of rowing

  • From 1977 to 2001, called 1176 footy matches

Peter's recognition for his work includes two Penguin commendations, two AFL media awards and a Victorian Cricket Association media award.  In 1999, he was inducted into the Melbourne Cricket Ground Media Hall of Fame

Peter also enjoys playing jazz on his clarinet and saxophone as well as restoring old automobiles for extracurriculars - a well rounded individual he is!  In case you didn't know, his favorite footy club is the Hawthorn Hawks.

 

Peter Landy - Retired and Rowing!

Peter Landy before his retirement from the Seven Network

A more recent portrait of Peter Landy before his retirement from the commentary boxes of the AFL.

When Seven Sports said goodbye to AFL coverage at the completion of the 2001 season, it marked the end of Peter's long run of football commentary.  Spanning one thousand, one hundred seventy six games over twenty five years, one of the great voices of the VFL/AFL may very well have been heard for the last time.  To his credit, Peter welcomed the beginning of his retirement by turning to the hobbies he loves - antique auto restoration and rowing.  Among his accomplishments include the restoration of his 1965 series Fleetwood 75 Limousine which can be viewed in the Links section above.  In addition, Peter has assumed a role in the Hawthorn Rowing Club as a Vice President, coach and competitor.  For now, it would appear that Peter is set to enjoy a long and well-deserved retirement.  Congratulations, Peter and enjoy it to the fullest!

 

Final Thoughts

A man as distinguished as Peter Landy deserves a fair tribute - I only hope this web page serves justice towards that end.  It would be my sincere privilege to, one day, get the opportunity to meet him.  Should such a wish ever come to fruition, I would anticipate engaging in long conversations with him about footy - perhaps while running a few miles together on the track.  I would thank him for inspiring me to become a footy fan as well as being an excellent resource on proper speaking technique in the public domain which aided me immeasurably during my educational years.  I salute Peter Landy on all his accomplishments and have thoroughly enjoyed his commentary whenever I was fortunate enough to listen to him.  I sincerely wish him well on all his future endeavors and hope he would contact me for a get-together should any of his future travel plans include a visit to the southeastern United States.


"I've got plenty of admiration for Pete ... a pleasure to work with"
Dennis Cometti, another fine footy commentator, from his book Back to the Place

 

Feedback from Fans Like You!

In the thousands of replies I received from Australians and even Americans when I first released this website in 1999, I received a number of kudos for creating this Tribute to Peter Landy web page.  In fact, this page received a review from the Collingwood Magpies' fan site From the Outer when they wrote back in January 2001:

A Peter Landy website?

I wish this was someone's idea of a cruel joke, but alas, it isn't! Proof positive that all Americans are insane.

Click here to visit the Peter Landy website.

All I can say fellows is thanks for the advertisement and I look forward to your thoughts on this updated version of my Tribute to Peter Landy website - ENJOY!

 

Peter Landy with Lou Richards and Bob Skilton in the commentary box



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