Commentary on TNT and other WB brands

[BigMac]

I agree with that. Tinkoff Saxo official tweet was on topic and comprehensible, not Oleg's rant. That was obvious sensationalism.

 

[Escarabajo]

Did anybody see Atapuma arrive at the finish line?

 

[snccdcno]

Re:

Did anybody see Atapuma arrive at the finish line?

More worried about after the race and whether he'll be able to escape from Carlton's basement

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

I hope BMC have payed Kirby good money to keep mentioning Atapuma and subjecting us to this craziness.

Carlton hearts betting and placed something on Atapuma on long odds. Similar reason to how he relentlessly shouted out for Arredondo in País Vasco, and complained about how disappointing he'd been when he didn't show. And also super-hyped Tosh van der Sande in the sprint of a stage where poor Tosh had crashed, gone off the back and abandoned about 60km earlier.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

I hope BMC have payed Kirby good money to keep mentioning Atapuma and subjecting us to this craziness.

Carlton hearts betting and placed something on Atapuma on long odds. Similar reason to how he relentlessly shouted out for Arredondo in País Vasco, and complained about how disappointing he'd been when he didn't show. And also super-hyped Tosh van der Sande in the sprint of a stage where poor Tosh had crashed, gone off the back and abandoned about 60km earlier.

The guy is a total joke and his bets show, at best, mindless optimism.

 

[BigMac]

Speaking of bets, Portuguese Eurosport do live bets for all stages for a game they created. They spend half of the coverage talking about it. Can't help but cringe at the thing. Another thing they'd do best would be to stop answering stupid facebook and twitter questions, while ignoring the many times they're called on their bs.

 

[Puckfiend]

Being in the U.S., I of course watched the American feed with Steve Schlanger and Todd Gogulski.

I did wonder though as I watched Froome fade into the sunset if Kirby literally was sobbing on Eurosport TV. I wonder if poor old Carlton will have to be placed on suicide watch?

 

[TMP402]

Being in the U.S., I of course watched the American feed with Steve Schlanger and Todd Gogulski.

After Kirby starts his idiot antics, I go to them as well. I felt they did a good job of stage 11, fairly minimal national bias towards Boswell despite how well he was doing. When GoGo makes a bet/prediction it's usually handled well and with good humour, rather than the seedy gambling Kirby does, those few seconds of action making him feel alive again for a glorious, brief moment, before the lights go out and he comes back down to miserable earth, contemplating the journey home from the cold and lonely Eurosport offices.

 

[TommyGun]

So the French TV stream broke down today and I had to watch a good part of the stage on British Eurosport... Wtf does "kidology" stand for exactly?
Kirby's cheesy puns were really embarassing, it was even painful to listen to at times... Making fun of names like Reinosa or Madrazo is not a sign of intelligence or culture. It was like listening to an 8-year old.

 

[BigMac]

Lol, I know that feel. He did the same on the stage Oliveira won, I forgot though for it was too bad, and am too lazy to go look for it.

 

[bikinggirl]

Kirby always laugh of his own stupid comments, it its so annoying , sick and tired of that character!

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Kirby always laugh of his own stupid comments, it its so annoying , sick and tired of that character!

That would seem like it's an entirely human thing to do.

Do you keep a straight face every time you say something that you think is funny? I think not.

I like Carlton Kirby because I'm stuck with idiot US talking heads most of the time.

CK sounds like an angel compared to them.

I go out of my way to find ES coverage just so I don't have to listen to them.

MSNBC sports hired Jens Voight, need I say more?

 

[coinneach]

I've tried to cut Kirby some slack in the past as what he lacks in knowledge, he can sometime make up for with enthusiasm.
But this Vuelta has been a tour too far for him:
He gets stuck on his favourites and can only blabber about the action in relation to them.
Today (for him) was all about Dumolin, so Rodrigez's possible race winning move was reduced to a boring attempt to get insurance for second place.
Has he completely forgotten this years tour of the Basque Country?
Kelly needs to up his game too, rather than blindly following the guff Kirby comes out with.

 

[luckyboy]

Who's commentating the Tour of Britain? Stephens?

Stuck with Hugh Porter all day at the race, it's awful.

 

[snccdcno]

Yeah, Rob Hatch and Matt Stephens.

 

[Billie]

what's up with Blow Kadri?

 

[luckyboy]

I just realised that Rob Hatch's commentary voice is a lot different to his real one. I heard him on some podcast (?) or something the other day and he just had a regular Lancashire accent but on Eurosport he sounds more like the Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse Smashey and Nicey radio DJ parody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaQCr4PIsHE

 

[Choppy Warburton]

When he occasionally filled in for Harmon he was alright, not great... I think I've heard 'that Dauphine' story about being attacked whilst skinny dipping under moonlight by a farmers dog who thought he was a seal or a bloody sea lion far too many times to believe it.

The three weeks though has really been too much these past few years, towards the end of a Tour he sounds more exhausted than the riders and I think it's too much for him also.

His translations come across as guesswork half the time but I actually quite enjoy that bit, he's a damn ridiculous character and I wouldn't be surprised if ten years down the line I'll be somewhat nostalgic for him despite his lack of cycling know how. In the UK at least you'd only ever find someone so outspoken and crude like him on ES however his casual 80's style xenophobia on a French run Station serving the Continent for decades is something quite bizarre.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Kirby always laugh of his own stupid comments, it its so annoying , sick and tired of that character!

To be fair some of Kirbys little comments are quite funny and get a laugh from me, ita just a shame that Harmon was never re-hired. I liked him as the lead commentator and made a good partnership with Kelly.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

His translations come across as guesswork half the time but I actually quite enjoy that bit, he's a damn ridiculous character and I wouldn't be surprised if ten years down the line I'll be somewhat nostalgic for him despite his lack of cycling know how. In the UK at least you'd only ever find someone so outspoken and crude like him on ES however his casual 80's style xenophobia on a French run Station serving the Continent for decades is something quite bizarre.

I'm not arguing, just interested: do you have any examples?

 

[Choppy Warburton]

Re: Re:

His translations come across as guesswork half the time but I actually quite enjoy that bit, he's a damn ridiculous character and I wouldn't be surprised if ten years down the line I'll be somewhat nostalgic for him despite his lack of cycling know how. In the UK at least you'd only ever find someone so outspoken and crude like him on ES however his casual 80's style xenophobia on a French run Station serving the Continent for decades is something quite bizarre.

I'm not arguing, just interested: do you have any examples?

Casual xenophobia may be pushing it a little, I'm not suggesting he has done anything to lose his job or anything like this but finding fun in foreign riders names as he has this very week, twisting them to some similar though unrelated sounding English meaning is frankly ridiculous for a man of his position.

For me it seems he cannot mention some guys, I'll say Contador in particular, without relating to past misdemeanors while others like perhaps Hesjedal are only spoken of in glowing, almost saintly terms, he has his favourites and while I do admit he has some Latin riders he loves I am not convinced the balance is there when discussing those who have transgressed,

 

[argyllflyer]

I just realised that Rob Hatch's commentary voice is a lot different to his real one. I heard him on some podcast (?) or something the other day and he just had a regular Lancashire accent but on Eurosport he sounds more like the Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse Smashey and Nicey radio DJ parody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaQCr4PIsHE

Not sure "eh by gum, an attack from Contuhdorrrrr!" would translate well across the English-speaking world where his commentary can end up, I suppose it's the equivalent of a phone voice!

 

[argyllflyer]

Re: Re:

Kirby always laugh of his own stupid comments, it its so annoying , sick and tired of that character!

To be fair some of Kirbys little comments are quite funny and get a laugh from me, ita just a shame that Harmon was never re-hired. I liked him as the lead commentator and made a good partnership with Kelly.

Never re-hired for a reason.

 

[gunara]

Re: Re:

Casual xenophobia may be pushing it a little, I'm not suggesting he has done anything to lose his job or anything like this but finding fun in foreign riders names as he has this very week, twisting them to some similar though unrelated sounding English meaning is frankly ridiculous for a man of his position.

For me it seems he cannot mention some guys, I'll say Contador in particular, without relating to past misdemeanors while others like perhaps Hesjedal are only spoken of in glowing, almost saintly terms, he has his favourites and while I do admit he has some Latin riders he loves I am not convinced the balance is there when discussing those who have transgressed,

For me everything else about him is bearable, no matter how annoying sometimes, I admit he can be funny. But it's his bias that always make me push the mute button. I know hiding it may be hard for someone new in commentating, but not for someone who has bored so many people like him.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

Kirby always laugh of his own stupid comments, it its so annoying , sick and tired of that character!

To be fair some of Kirbys little comments are quite funny and get a laugh from me, ita just a shame that Harmon was never re-hired. I liked him as the lead commentator and made a good partnership with Kelly.

Never re-hired for a reason.

The reason being?