sorry, I was being facetious. I've managed to cause disagreement and/or confusion a few times with that in the last couple of days, I'll have to work on making it more obvious.
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perico said:I kind of get tired of the Liggett bashing myself. I guess it's because I've been listening to him for almost 30 years and it's kind of like listening to Harry Caray with the Cubs back in the day. You know he ain't as sharp as he was in his day, but I just enjoy listening to him.
For all the biyatching, just be thankful the days of John Tesh and Eric Heiden for CBS are long over.
Libertine Seguros said:I think that Phil-bashing is something of a badge of honour for 'hardcore' cycling fans because he treats every single race like the viewer has never seen a cycling race before. I've seen lots and lots of cycle races, so I don't need to be told the basics every single day.
Libertine Seguros said:I think that Phil-bashing is something of a badge of honour for 'hardcore' cycling fans because he treats every single race like the viewer has never seen a cycling race before. I've seen lots and lots of cycle races, so I don't need to be told the basics every single day.
Ashtabula said:That may be true, I'll listen for that next time. I know I'm like a broken record on this but the Universal Sports coverage has been a revelation. There's a lot of explanation of things I don't need explained there, too, but the presumption seems to be if you've found the coverage you're probably interested.
The account of what happened OLN --> Vs. seems plausible enough. The Tours from seven, eight years ago didn't seem to be at all so slanted, or maybe I just didn't notice. I do know that whenever I watched them with someone else the other people were pretty confused about what was going on, and were astounded I could take in who was in a chase group at a glance, etc. I think the dedicated fan's learning curve can be pretty steep, and compared to many people on these forums I don't seem that knowledgeable, but to everyone else I know irl, I live in a different universe.
Knowledgeable cycling fans are still very rare, at least in the US, and the coverage on both channels seems to reflect that.
craig1985 said:Who was the Dutch commentator who shouted: "Foto finish! Foto finish!" repeatedly when Cav caught Haussler on the line last year at Milan San Remo? It still cracks me up whenever I see it.
Archibald said:I'm with this.
Love listening to it in Italian - they're like cartoon characters...
blblblblblblbl Cuddle Avins blblblblblb Nibble-lee blblblblb BASSOOO!!! blblblblblblbblblblblblb Saastree blblblblb Scar-pony blblblblblbl... Ah Richee Portay..blblblblbl Cuddle Avins blblbl Basso blblb Avins blblblblb Basso... Bassooo... BASSOOO!!!
the telecast shows the times and gaps and I'm still getting the info I need.
sure beats the complete twaddle of liggett n sherwin anyday
perico said:yes. The absolute best coverage that OLN had was actually the GTs they did before they got the rights to the tour, when they only broadcast the Giro and the Vuelta- which were their main attractions on the channel- while the tour was relegated to one hour nightly recaps on ESPN2 and an hour on the weekends on ABC.
Ashtabula said:Must have been glory days for the early adopters. It seems to me Universal has recreated that early, undiscovered period to some extent anyway, at least compared with the commercial barrage on Vs. now. "Road ID" and "L_nce powers the mobil universe" are the only cycling-related ads for the moment outside the broadcast itself.
With Comcast's purchase of NBC, hence Universal, bringing both channels under one ownership, things may be consolidated, to the detriment of both quality and quantity. And U's coverage is bound to evolve anyway, as it reinforces such success as it has and tries to build viewership.
I'm appreciating every minute it lasts.
BroDeal said:Yesterday when Evans crested a climb and pulled a piece of plastic from his jersey pocket and spread it across his chest for the descent, the announcer concluded that he was putting food under his jersey to make it more accessible.
laura.weislo said:Last year I really enjoyed watching (I think it was the Tour de France?) on Universal's live stream. I believe the commentator was Marty MacDonald - but I was really impressed with his accurate identification of riders and knowledge of tactics. He also had a nice delivery.
(edit - reading through this thread more closely it was probably Matt Keenan who they used)
Of course my absolute all-time fav is Michel Wuyts just for the sound of his voice.
perico said:Which is why the hardcore fans won't ever be fully accepting of the casual fans. I'm as hardcore as anyone, but at the same time, I realise that cycling is a very, very minor sport in the States, so to attract new viewers, they do have to dumb it down a bit.