Eurosport commentary

[Cycle Chic]

Re: Re:

You,re a bit behind on that one - I already sent them the link and its strange the way Kirby hasnt been on any recent race....normally he would have hogged De Brabantse Pijl and GP De Denain but Harris-Bass has suddenly started commentating instead.

I reckon my persistence is paying off !!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

You,re a bit behind on that one - I already sent them the link and its strange the way Kirby hasnt been on any recent race....normally he would have hogged De Brabantse Pijl and GP De Denain but Harris-Bass has suddenly started commentating instead.

I reckon my persistence is paying off !!

Kirby's in western France for the 24hr du Mans motorcycle race. He'll be back for Tro Bro tomorrow.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re: Re:

You,re a bit behind on that one - I already sent them the link and its strange the way Kirby hasnt been on any recent race....normally he would have hogged De Brabantse Pijl and GP De Denain but Harris-Bass has suddenly started commentating instead.

I reckon my persistence is paying off !!

Kirby's in western France for the 24hr du Mans motorcycle race. He'll be back for Tro Bro tomorrow.

Que the bad jokes about the winner getting a piglet (or is it the highest placed Breton rider who gets one?)

On plus side, I think it is the first time the GCN presenters Matt Stephens and Dan Lloyd have been in the commentary box together. Lloyd is as usual really good at spotting the riders and explaining tactics and racing action very well.

 

[therealthing]

What a blessing to have Stephens and Lloyd commentating. Really shows how utterly awful Kirby is when he's not there. Haven't heard one bad joke or any obsession over random riders.

 

[argyllflyer]

I'd say any commentary with Lloyd or Millar as co-commentator is a level above the others in terms of race analysis.

 

[The Chicken]

MATT STEPHENS KEEPS GIVING SHOUT-OUTS TO THE GCN SPONSORS. HE SHOULD BE BANNED.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

MATT STEPHENS KEEPS GIVING SHOUT-OUTS TO THE GCN SPONSORS. HE SHOULD BE BANNED.

He didnt ever do that. Are you referring to him going through BMC saying it's an American team with BMC, Assos and TAG Heuer being Swiss? That is just making a point about an American registered team with Swiss sponsors.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

MATT STEPHENS KEEPS GIVING SHOUT-OUTS TO THE GCN SPONSORS. HE SHOULD BE BANNED.

Lol, he does love giving the sponsors some air time.

"Gilbert tightening his Fizik shoes there, as Valverde tries to close the gap on his fine looking Canyon Ultimate. Greg Van AVERmaet now comes to the front on his BMC - or to give them their full name the Bicycle Manufacturing Company, in association with Assos and Tag Heuer."

Not so much about Astana or Direct Energie though. Maybe he doesn't fancy a holiday to Kazakhstan or a new thermostat.

 

[London Hibs]

Re: Re:

MATT STEPHENS KEEPS GIVING SHOUT-OUTS TO THE GCN SPONSORS. HE SHOULD BE BANNED.

Lol, he does love giving the sponsors some air time.

"Gilbert tightening his Fizik shoes there, as Valverde tries to close the gap on his fine looking Canyon Ultimate. Greg Van AVERmaet now comes to the front on his BMC - or to give them their full name the Bicycle Manufacturing Company, in association with Assos and Tag Heuer."

Not so much about Astana or Direct Energie though. Maybe he doesn't fancy a holiday to Kazakhstan or a new thermostat.

10/10 - that reply did make me chuckle.

 

[The Chicken]

Re: Re:

MATT STEPHENS KEEPS GIVING SHOUT-OUTS TO THE GCN SPONSORS. HE SHOULD BE BANNED.

He didnt ever do that. Are you referring to him going through BMC saying it's an American team with BMC, Assos and TAG Heuer being Swiss? That is just making a point about an American registered team with Swiss sponsors.

With respect, you are either naive or inattentive, or both.

DFA123 knows what's up.

 

[argyllflyer]

duplicate

 

[LaFlorecita]

Kirby, today:
- Calls Nizzolo as the winner while it was very clearly Modolo, Nizzolo was quite a way back.
- Asks Brian Smith during the stage, "do you think Kiel Reijnen could sprint for Trek if Nizzolo isn't feeling well?" Smith replies "Possibly, he's quite fast, but they'll be going for Nizzolo surely" Few seconds later as camera shows the Trek sprint train from the heli "As you can see here, the protected man at the moment, at least judging from his position, is Kiel Reijnen" while Nizzolo was the last man in the train
- A Bardiani rider attacks, "Here we have I believe Rota, working for their man Ciccone" yeah he's working for Ciccone (who was nowhere to be seen) by attacking off the front
- As we see multiple attacks and a small group forming "We see some teams trying to get pawns up the road now, to provide some respite for their fast men along the way"

 

[wansteadimp]

Re:

Kirby, today:
- Calls Nizzolo as the winner while it was very clearly Modolo, Nizzolo was quite a way back.
- Asks Brian Smith during the stage, "do you think Kiel Reijnen could sprint for Trek if Nizzolo isn't feeling well?" Smith replies "Possibly, he's quite fast, but they'll be going for Nizzolo surely" Few seconds later as camera shows the Trek sprint train from the heli "As you can see here, the protected man at the moment, at least judging from his position, is Kiel Reijnen" while Nizzolo was the last man in the train
- A Bardiani rider attacks, "Here we have I believe Rota, working for their man Ciccone" yeah he's working for Ciccone (who was nowhere to be seen) by attacking off the front
- As we see multiple attacks and a small group forming "We see some teams trying to get pawns up the road now, to provide some respite for their fast men along the way"

Not to mention as usual obsessing over the ticker being wrong rather than actually commentating on the action. His whole technique relies on shouting out the info on the screen and hoping the key players from the big teams are actually in the final.

 

[therealthing]

Nizzolo was in the Italian champs jersey so there is no excuse for not recognising him- Kirby is losing the plot fast.

 

[Cycle Chic]

Eurosport have replied:-

"I write to you following your feedback given to the commentators on our channels and thank you for your time given to us.

I would like to let you know that this feedback will also be shared with the team of commentators.

I remain at your disposal for any further information."

Heres the link to the feedback page on Eurosport - be helpful if people filled it in

http://www.eurosport.com/contactus.shtml

 

[mariposa]

Thought that Declan Quigley did well at Flèche yesterday and Maggie B was so much better when not having to commentate alongside CK and respond to his inane comments.

 

[Akuryo]

Re:

Thought that Declan Quigley did well at Flèche yesterday and Maggie B was so much better when not having to commentate alongside CK and respond to his inane comments.

I did not watch the entire broadcast yesterday but I had quite the laugh when they said that Jungels is more for the flats when he was 6th in the Giro last year. Yes, he is also a good time trialist but come on, you don't get into the top 10 of a GT without some climbing skills

 

[mariposa]

Re: Re:

Thought that Declan Quigley did well at Flèche yesterday and Maggie B was so much better when not having to commentate alongside CK and respond to his inane comments.

I did not watch the entire broadcast yesterday but I had quite the laugh when they said that Jungels is more for the flats when he was 6th in the Giro last year. Yes, he is also a good time trialist but come on, you don't get into the top 10 of a GT without some climbing skills

I didn't hear that but then I didn't watch the whole of it either as my recording failed and I had to watch highlights. I generally don't worry about the odd comment but I can't stand it when that becomes the norm. For me it was overall a much more pleasant experience to listen to Quigley than Kirby and Backstedt, who I normally find irritating, didn't seem half as bad as usual.

 

[Lequack]

I don't wish to live in this world where Kirby is not commentating on cycling and everyone is serious and correct and there is no puns and humor anymore.

Part of cycling is also the scenery, the atmosphere, the fans along the road, it's not just about the racing. And Kirby will often comment on the interesting things he notices along the road, a quaint town they go through, interesting fans, some history, or just the occasional jab at whoever he is commentating with.

But maybe I am the one who is weird.

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re:

I don't wish to live in this world where Kirby is not commentating on cycling and everyone is serious and correct and there is no puns and humor anymore.

Part of cycling is also the scenery, the atmosphere, the fans along the road, it's not just about the racing. And Kirby will often comment on the interesting things he notices along the road, a quaint town they go through, interesting fans, some history, or just the occasional jab at whoever he is commentating with.

But maybe I am the one who is weird.

Exactly, I'm as big a fan of cycling as anyone else here and of course I find Kirby quite often frustrating due to his lack of knowledge of the sport, his favoring riders... However he makes up for this by his wit and his humour he always finds a way to keep people interested even in the most boring stages of the most boring races. This cannot be understated. People moan about him being biased but to be honest compared to commentators from other countries for example the French ones, he is actually good at staying unbiased. I guess it will be a case of people only realising once he's gone how good he is which is a shame.

 

[RedheadDane]

The way I understand it, from reading around here, is that while other commentators might be biased towards riders from their own countries' - and Heaven knows the Danish guys are pretty bad at that - Kirby is biased towards completely randomly selected riders: Reichenbach, S. Clarke, Uran. Not to say that one is worse/better than the other; both are a case of being biased.

 

[kenk09]

Re:

I don't wish to live in this world where Kirby is not commentating on cycling and everyone is serious and correct and there is no puns and humor anymore.

Part of cycling is also the scenery, the atmosphere, the fans along the road, it's not just about the racing. And Kirby will often comment on the interesting things he notices along the road, a quaint town they go through, interesting fans, some history, or just the occasional jab at whoever he is commentating with.

But maybe I am the one who is weird.

But it often is about the racing, which Kirby still gets almost entirely wrong, and has shown no interest in fixing. I'm not okay with new fans being taught complete nonsense just so he can lazily pun 500 times a race.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re: Re:

Thought that Declan Quigley did well at Flèche yesterday and Maggie B was so much better when not having to commentate alongside CK and respond to his inane comments.

I did not watch the entire broadcast yesterday but I had quite the laugh when they said that Jungels is more for the flats when he was 6th in the Giro last year. Yes, he is also a good time trialist but come on, you don't get into the top 10 of a GT without some climbing skills

I didn't here that either, but Jungels did start out as a classics rider and won the U23 Paris Roubaix. To quote from the Quickstep website:

The best Luxembourg rider of his generation, Bob is a pro since 2013, and even though many were predicting him a future on the cobbles a couple of years ago, he took a different road and decided to pursue a future in stage races.

But I did notice they acknowledged his high placings in the Criterium International when he rode for Trek and it's other incarnations.



Yesterday I only got round to watching the first stage of the 3 days of De Panne. It was quite easy to hear the pain in Magnus' voice when he answered Carlton's questions. One example went along the lines of:
Carlton: Kittel can get over some small hills. Do you think he could win today?
Magnus: Erm.... (intake of breath) erm... he could possibly be in with a chance.
Basically that intake of breath was probably the point at which it went through his head, what is he talking about. This was when they were heading towards the Tenbosse and Tim Declerq was sitting on the front. Kittel could easily be seen a couple of times a few positions further back. (Kittel went on to finish 40th, nearly 8 minutes behind the winner)

 

[HelloDolly]

Kirby is not funny or engaging

There are many commentator who are ...and were on ES but he is not

And none of his good points make up for the rubbish he talks about cycling

 

[Lequack]

Re:

Kirby is not funny or engaging

There are many commentator who are ...and were on ES but he is not

And none of his good points make up for the rubbish he talks about cycling