Commentary on TNT and other WB brands

[JRanton]

It's crazy really. From Hugh Porter, to Phil and Paul, to Quigley, to Kirby and to Harmon. Just awful. What have we all done in a previous life to deserve this?

 

[Pulpstar]

It's Sean that's losing it now, in response to a question regarding the GC, he made a reply along the lines of it being "early days, and there's many days of racing still to come".

I don't see a 300 km, 8 Class 1 monster stage coming up though !?

 

[Ryongsyong]

Maybe the monitors are big in Paris, but British Eurosport and my country Denmark don't have commentators in Paris. They are in their homecontries.

The British Eurosport commentators talk from studios in Paris. After all, it's only a few hours away from London by Eurostar. That's partly why David Harmon wanted to stop for a bit I think; it's a pretty horrible commute to work.

On the other hand, lots of time to learn how to tell cyclists apart . Maybe that's his secret!

 

[OnTheDrops]

The British Eurosport commentators talk from studios in Paris. After all, it's only a few hours away from London by Eurostar. That's partly why David Harmon wanted to stop for a bit I think; it's a pretty horrible commute to work.

On the other hand, lots of time to learn how to tell cyclists apart . Maybe that's his secret!

If they have live coverage then they are always commentating from the media area at the finish of the stage/race.

During the Tour de France they also have a guy helping with stats from Paris studios, normally Carlton Kirby.

 

[argyllflyer]

If they have live coverage then they are always commentating from the media area at the finish of the stage/race.

During the Tour de France they also have a guy helping with stats from Paris studios, normally Carlton Kirby.

They are not always at the race. Declan and Sean definitely are not. Rob Hatch and Brian Smith were not in California last week either.

 

[Morbius]

They were in Italy during the early stages, or at least they claimed to be. I remember discussion aobut the towns on the Southern coast (the heel bit)

 

[mariposa]

They were in Italy during the early stages, or at least they claimed to be. I remember discussion aobut the towns on the Southern coast (the heel bit)

They are very good at giving the impression of being somewhere they are not. With the exception of the Tour de France the commentators are rarely anywhere other than Paris. I expect the budget is much too small to enable them to support a team to travel all over the world.

I know SKy TV gets a lot of critism but at least they have the money to put commentators on site even if one of them is Carlton Kirby!

 

[Morbius]

They are very good at giving the impression of being somewhere they are not.

Actually, thinking back, it was the BBC radio commentary team who were discussing sight-seeing around the towns. The BBC have two people at the end of each stage (Brotherton and Hayles).

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

You might be misreading the situation here. This was a perfect example of how he engages Kelly. He phrases things in such a way that Kelly is forced to explain the differences between the two.

Note: Not defending his constant mistaking riders, just like the way he deals with Kelly.

he said chalapud was way out of his element yesterdya in a MOUNTAIN itt, which he doesn't even seem to understand. I stopped listening right there

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

It's Sean that's losing it now, in response to a question regarding the GC, he made a reply along the lines of it being "early days, and there's many days of racing still to come".

kelly's voice alone should have him banned for life. but the stuff that comes out of his mouth is even worse. this guy has alzheimer or something? how could eh have ever won any race with that idiotic mind. only ducrot on dutch tv is worse in understanding cycling. but he never won anything except ttt's

 

[argyllflyer]

They were in Italy during the early stages, or at least they claimed to be. I remember discussion aobut the towns on the Southern coast (the heel bit)

I don't recall that to be honest. The clues to them not being there include:

1. having made no use of the extra feeds that Carlton Kirby and Dan Lloyd have (and they actually are on site) - the guys in the silver boxes have more than just what is broadcast, which is all Sean and Declan are seeing.

2. There has not been a single tweet from Declan to talk about life on the road in Italy, not one. Compare @DQSport to @daniellloyd1

3. The day the commentary boxes nearly washed away early on with torrential rain, it might have been worth a mention that there was serious danger of them being washed away. Not one. Not even a mention of sticking their heads out the door during a break.

4. Not one mention of what the weather is like looking out the window at the finish, which, considering there are hours to fill, would be something to do!

5. He has not made any reference on air to being in Italy, that I've heard anyway. No banter about who drove up to the finish etc, which you get between David Harmon and Sean on the road.

The commentary I feel lacks atmosphere because they are 'off tube'.

 

[Telmisartan new]

Was strange not to see the national flag bands on his sleeves though, you'd think he'd be proud of having won it three times. However it wasn't home soil as the win was in France, and I'd have thought that winning the UCI Europe Tour is pretty notable.

You are correct LS.It wasn't technically home soil,but still a victory in your home GT i suppose.Not sure why Visconti doesn't have Italian tricolour on his sleeves,strange one,Gaspa has them on his Astana kit but Pozzato didnt on Vini/Lampre,anyone know why some guys don't have them?

 

[argyllflyer]

They are very good at giving the impression of being somewhere they are not. With the exception of the Tour de France the commentators are rarely anywhere other than Paris. I expect the budget is much too small to enable them to support a team to travel all over the world.

I know SKy TV gets a lot of critism but at least they have the money to put commentators on site even if one of them is Carlton Kirby!

Sky have only bought an international English-speaking broadcast. However, the guys providing this tend to be on site. Rob Hatch does a lot of work directly for the Belgian classics and goes over, even for relatively minor races. He also did the international broadcast for Romandie and was on site.

This year Eurosport have definitely been on site at:

Paris-Roubaix
Tour of Turkey

They've been 'off tube' for the Giro, Norway and California.

I'm not sure or can't remember about others.

 

[Ryongsyong]

This year Eurosport have definitely been on site at:

Paris-Roubaix
Tour of Turkey

They've been 'off tube' for the Giro, Norway and California.

Yup, for Paris-Roubaix they sit in the velodrome and David Harmon usually commentates when the juniors come in even though it's not being shown on TV. They always travel around with Le Tour as well (after all, the channel may be called 'Euro'sport, but they're 80% owned by Télévision Française 1), and they're on site in Turkey purely because as far as I'm aware it's paid for by the organisers as a sort of PR drive for the country, so it doesn't cost Eurosport anything.

As mentioned above, Sky's commentary is the international commentary that RCS provide to anyone that has the rights but can't find their own commentators. Therefore, as they're employed directly by the company that runs the Giro, they work on site.

 

[mariposa]

Yup, for Paris-Roubaix they sit in the velodrome and David Harmon usually commentates when the juniors come in even though it's not being shown on TV. They always travel around with Le Tour as well (after all, the channel may be called 'Euro'sport, but they're 80% owned by Télévision Française 1), and they're on site in Turkey purely because as far as I'm aware it's paid for by the organisers as a sort of PR drive for the country, so it doesn't cost Eurosport anything.

As mentioned above, Sky's commentary is the international commentary that RCS provide to anyone that has the rights but can't find their own commentators. Therefore, as they're employed directly by the company that runs the Giro, they work on site.

Thanks for the info. The commentary always seems better when they are on site particularly if at least one of them has ridden the course first.

 

[Cycle Chic]

Cartoon Kirby

Sky Sports with Carlton Kirby...

'Cavendish has a wing man in the dark cape'

Yep he can deffo identify the riders better than Quigley at least Quigley can name a rider from the peloton....Kirby cant even have a guess.

 

[argyllflyer]

Sky Sports with Carlton Kirby...

'Cavendish has a wing man in the dark cape'

Yep he can deffo identify the riders better than Quigley at least Quigley can name a rider from the peloton....Kirby cant even have a guess.

Yes, DQ would be guessing, and guessing is not the game. Even with a visible number, he'd be guessing. Play the ball, not the man. If you don't know, don't speculate.

Tomorrow is a great day: it will see the end of the worst commentary I have heard on a grand tour.

Just on why DQ has missed the mark so much, forgetting his absolute lack of European cycling knowledge, boosted artificially by the web... we had an avalanche on screen at one time during today's race - an AVALANCHE! Nothing especially was happening on screen, but it happened at just the time SK went on a rambling monologue. He rambled through it, and as the snow settled, DQ stepped in, but only to comment on SK's ramble. For a blind person tuning in, the avalanche didn't happen.

There's as much atmosphere on Halley's Comet as there is in this pair's commentary.

 

[Cycle Chic]

Yes, DQ would be guessing, and guessing is not the game. Even with a visible number, he'd be guessing. Play the ball, not the man. If you don't know, don't speculate.

Tomorrow is a great day: it will see the end of the worst commentary I have heard on a grand tour.

You must be David Harmons / Carlton Kirbys / number one fan are you !!

Or maybe you,re Harmon himself - only explanation

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

According to Quigley they had to rise 600m in the last 1.5km today. No wonder they were going so slowly.

 

[argyllflyer]

According to Quigley they had to rise 600m in the last 1.5km today. No wonder they were going so slowly.

Jeezo, 40% gradient - no wonder DdL was on the juice 4 weeks earlier!

 

[The Hitch]

Did anyone see kirby acting as some sort of authority on cycling yesterday, telling the viewers what type of rider Tony Martin is, what his chances are for the Tour and that he will win the time trial in this race etc.

Couldn't believe my ears. What a joke.

 

[Cycle Chic]

Did anyone see kirby acting as some sort of authority on cycling yesterday, telling the viewers what type of rider Tony Martin is, what his chances are for the Tour and that he will win the time trial in this race etc.

Couldn't believe my ears. What a joke.

Yes unfortunately Kirby is doing the Criterium....heard his waffle about Tony Martin....Brian Smith is doing well at ignoring him.

 

[Avoriaz]

Did anyone see kirby acting as some sort of authority on cycling yesterday, telling the viewers what type of rider Tony Martin is, what his chances are for the Tour and that he will win the time trial in this race etc.

Couldn't believe my ears. What a joke.

Not totally wrong

 

[Ryongsyong]

Did anyone see kirby acting as some sort of authority on cycling yesterday, telling the viewers what type of rider Tony Martin is, what his chances are for the Tour and that he will win the time trial in this race etc.

Couldn't believe my ears. What a joke.

How embarrassing ... for you.

In future leave the commentating to the professionals!

 

[Pricey_sky]

Did anyone see kirby acting as some sort of authority on cycling yesterday, telling the viewers what type of rider Tony Martin is, what his chances are for the Tour and that he will win the time trial in this race etc.

Couldn't believe my ears. What a joke.

Unfortunately you have now been made to look like a joke, Glad to see Kirby does offer a little something now and again.