Bob Roll says "Astana came with a stacked team"

[McClimber]

Bob Roll commented during today's prime time coverage. About 44 minutes into the coverage BR and CH were talking about strong teams and Bob comes out with how strong Astana's climbers are and Vino is awesome.

Bob comes clean with Astana has a great team.

 

[BroDeal]

They did come with a stacked team. It looks like the left something behind.

 

[McClimber]

After all the smack talk about Radio Shack come to crush all the teams and that Astana was not strong to support AC, the Tour turned 180.

True that RS has the lead in the Team Comp but Astana will have wins and plenty of top 5s.

 

[Oldman]

That's an easy and irrelevant observation after Stage 17. He did/should have known that beforehand. Now they have to back slowly out of the crack they've had their nose in (surprised he could get his beak in there with Phil and Paul's entire head shoved up someone's a*s) and hope they can continue as broadcast commentators next year. Even if Vs retains coverage rights I think they'd have to find a new team, one that's less fervent in fandom and jingoistic in US focus. The fans that watch in the US aren't that stupid and know GT racing is a rich, international affair.

 

[LaBici]

That's an easy and irrelevant observation after Stage 17. He did/should have known that beforehand. Now they have to back slowly out of the crack they've had their nose in (surprised he could get his beak in there with Phil and Paul's entire head shoved up someone's a*s) and hope they can continue as broadcast commentators next year. Even if Vs retains coverage rights I think they'd have to find a new team, one that's less fervent in fandom and jingoistic in US focus. The fans that watch in the US aren't that stupid and know GT racing is a rich, international affair.

Hear hear Well said. I have been screaming at the VS guys for over 5 years now! Full of BS they are. And last year they were utter as$&)les.

Too much LA and little respect to AC who was the leader of Astana.

 

[flicker]

Hear hear Well said. I have been screaming at the VS guys for over 5 years now! Full of BS they are. And last year they were utter as$&)les.

Too much LA and little respect to AC who was the leader of Astana.

You can cheer AC I say ACk what a jerk, my opinion only. Andy has shown more charm and mettle in this tour. I do not like the booing but ack deserved it.

 

[markrosen]

Why did you have to ruin my morning on what Bob "Tour day France" Roll said on TV? Almost everything out his mouth is worthless chatter....

 

[CatsNK]

Surprising. Even the Eurosport guys were blathering on during the first week of the race about how "weak" the Astana team is. Especially funny that the Vs folks have to recant a bit.

I'm surprised they weren't implying that Vino is doping again or something. That could be the only explanation from their viewpoint, probably.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

That's an easy and irrelevant observation after Stage 17. He did/should have known that beforehand. Now they have to back slowly out of the crack they've had their nose in (surprised he could get his beak in there with Phil and Paul's entire head shoved up someone's a*s) and hope they can continue as broadcast commentators next year. Even if Vs retains coverage rights I think they'd have to find a new team, one that's less fervent in fandom and jingoistic in US focus. The fans that watch in the US aren't that stupid and know GT racing is a rich, international affair.

+1. Roll is a Troll and a pathetic chamois sniffer with a total lack of self respect. They can keep Phil, afai care, he can get plenty of stuff backwards, but when there is actual racing going on (rarely) he is keen to observe subtleties. Once Lance moves on (to a federal Pen. I hope) maybe we can get a better crew. Paul and Bob are just horrendous.

But the thing is, we need to see more of the race. I know they gotta make $ and this seems like their money maker. But you can't show 10-15 seconds of race and keep cutting away. It is getting a lot worse (at least that's how I perrceived last night).

And the lack of attention given to any rider who is not a native english speaker or a top gc guy does a disservice to fans and the sport. To the casual viewer, 95% of the peloton are just generic faceless foreigners. It's a shame for those of us who are genuinely interested in the sport beyond the tdf. If I can't get used to dealing with streaming, I don't know how long I will stick with it. (But that's my problem).

 

[Señor_Contador]

All these Versus people, Paul, Phil, Bob et al must be aware that people have noticed their change in opinion...

There's no way you can repeat slogans (you may not even believe yourself) for 2½ weeks and then suddenly change your game. I, for one, would feel like crap.

Funny how this TdF went with Versus: First week was all about Lance. All the while demonizing AC enough for people to get the (subliminal) message but not to make it seem like they're not "neutral".

Once it became apparent Lance would not be winning the TdF they then became AS' sort of "fans", talking about how he was going to drop AC in the mountains, gain a minute and a half on the Spaniard and then let the Maillot Jaune "magic" bridge the obvious ITT gap.

Yesterday was the realisation that all they had been saying all along was dead WROOOOOOOONG. And they know it too. If I were a "cycling expert" I would feel like crap.

These people need to go.