Eurosport commentary

[TourOfTexas]

Rider ID was a lot better today.

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

Quigley will be a good commentator if he can work on his knowledge, it's up to him if he wants to put the work in and make a success of it long term.

 

[argyllflyer]

Rider ID was a lot better today.

I noticed that too and actually wondered if he'd got some form of off screen replay at Eurosport Towers installed, as there was a moment when Sean and him disgreed over a rider ID (Gatto / Santambrogio), and Sean, without seeing anything further we saw, changed his mind after a pause to agree with DQ. Even a Sky+ box would make his job easier, as he could pause it!

 

[Parrot23]

Harmon nor Kirby knows what a rear derailleur is.

That's nothing.

I was talking to an old guy yesterday with a very high end bike, Dura Ace, etc.

I said his shifters/mech. was top of the line, because he didn't quite seem to know.

He responded, "No, it's not that great. I'm having derriere problems."

 

[TourOfTexas]

That's hilarious. But probably true.

 

[BroDeal]

That's nothing.

I was talking to an old guy yesterday with a very high end bike, Dura Ace, etc.

I said his shifters/mech. was top of the line, because he didn't quite seem to know.

He responded, "No, it's not that great. I'm having derriere problems."

He should call Lance Armstrong.

 

[mewmewmew13]

he should call lance armstrong.

.......

 

[Cycle Chic]

Kelly Talking

I think we all agree that Sean Kelly is the best we have knowledge wise - and Quigley has got him talking !! and thats because Kelly can actually have a conversation with Quigley. With Harmon his observations are muted coz Harmon doesnt have the knowledge to converse.

How nice is it to hear 2 commentators having a discussion about the race and the riders ! Quigley comments on what may happen and then asks Kelly his opinion.

And a few of you here make me laugh - keep stating that Quigley needs to learn rider id. and will be better with some more experience. HELLO ! how long has Kirby and harmon been commentating on cycling ? they know nothing apart from what comes through on the broadcaster feeds.

 

[barmaher]

I am caught in two minds here. DQ is easier to listen to, and gets Kelly talking, which is good.

But I watch maybe an hour of cycling a week most of the year, with maybe 5 hours at GT time, and I have better rider ID than Quigley.

It is pretty irritating how he calls Niemic repeatedly as Scarponi. And a few others. Although I watched Sky Sports last night to watch the highlights and Kirby was guilty of the Scarponi-Niemic error, too.

 

[Coolair2970]

I am caught in two minds here. DQ is easier to listen to, and gets Kelly talking, which is good.

But I watch maybe an hour of cycling a week most of the year, with maybe 5 hours at GT time, and I have better rider ID than Quigley.

It is pretty irritating how he calls Niemic repeatedly as Scarponi. And a few others. Although I watched Sky Sports last night to watch the highlights and Kirby was guilty of the Scarponi-Niemic error, too.

I'm also sure that you got better equipment to look at. We all sit at watch our 46" HD screens and shake our head of the commentators rider ID.

But they don't have 46" HD screen to look at. They have smaller monitors because the screen have to fit the booth they sit in. Other times I think they don't look at the screen all the time. They do the commentary and when it becomes a conversation they do as most people. They look at each other.

Many times I have seen an attack in the corner of the picture, and the commentators don't realize it until later.

 

[deValtos]

I'm also sure that you got better equipment to look at. We all sit at watch our 46" HD screens and shake our head of the commentators rider ID.

But they don't have 46" HD screen to look at. They have smaller monitors because the screen have to fit the booth they sit in. Other times I think they don't look at the screen all the time. They do the commentary and when it becomes a conversation they do as most people. They look at each other.

Many times I have seen an attack in the corner of the picture, and the commentators don't realize it until later.

While it's true the commentators don't have giant screens they're not exactly small either though, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSHAU27uIcA

It's a lot better than a 200pixel internet stream a lot of people on here make do with. I have not seen a race in normal definition let alone HD in many years

 

[Ryongsyong]

Eurosport don't commentate on site for the Giro and their monitors in Paris are bigger than that. Actually, not sure why we call them monitors. They're just TVs. Yes, they're smaller than the ones we might have at home, but then they don't sit 3 metres away from them on a sofa either, so relatively speaking it all evens out and isn't an excuse.

I watch the Giro live on Japanese TV and they're better at IDing riders than the British Europort people, which I simply don't understand considering it's a country with no cycling heritage at all and they're just sitting in a room in Tokyo at midnight. It shouldn't be that way. David Harmon is very good at it; the others less so, which a shame as it's the only thing that's absolutely vital for a commentator. If you can't say what's happening then it's not commentary.

 

[argyllflyer]

I'm also sure that you got better equipment to look at. We all sit at watch our 46" HD screens and shake our head of the commentators rider ID.

But they don't have 46" HD screen to look at. They have smaller monitors because the screen have to fit the booth they sit in. Other times I think they don't look at the screen all the time. They do the commentary and when it becomes a conversation they do as most people. They look at each other.

Many times I have seen an attack in the corner of the picture, and the commentators don't realize it until later.

As noted above, they're not in Italy at the race (where the equipment provided is more than adequate anyway), they're in a TV suite somewhere with no doubt a cracking set-up, and not everyone at home has a 46" inch TV either! Mine is 32"!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I am caught in two minds here. DQ is easier to listen to, and gets Kelly talking, which is good.

But I watch maybe an hour of cycling a week most of the year, with maybe 5 hours at GT time, and I have better rider ID than Quigley.

It is pretty irritating how he calls Niemic repeatedly as Scarponi. And a few others. Although I watched Sky Sports last night to watch the highlights and Kirby was guilty of the Scarponi-Niemic error, too.

To be fair, he knows Scarponi is one of the main guys up there, and if he's identified Scarponi as being Visconti and sees another guy in pink he can't identify, Scarponi is a free name to associate.

 

[winkybiker]

I think we all agree that Sean Kelly is the best we have knowledge wise - and Quigley has got him talking !!

I'd agree. And Kelley has become a lot easier to listen to over the past 6 or 8 years. I did catch an old-school kelly-style run-on sentence the other day, though. But it only went for 3 minutes or so. I swear he could speak for 15 minutes without a breath, a change in tempo, a change in pitch or hint of punctuation back in the good old days!

But he does know what he is talking about.

 

[happytramp]

It's probably fair to say that there's been a marked improvement in Quigley's commentary in the last week. I've noticed myself shouting at the screen less anyway, so that's probably a good sign. He'll probably be grand if he sticks with it. Also agree on the Kelly thing, he asks Kelly proper questions and get decent replies from him which is something Harmon never really managed.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

if you mean the current announcer then no. he's attrocious beyond anything. he doesn't even know difference between a flat itt and a mountain itt

 

[thehog]

It's probably fair to say that there's been a marked improvement in Quigley's commentary in the last week. I've noticed myself shouting at the screen less anyway, so that's probably a good sign. He'll probably be grand if he sticks with it. Also agree on the Kelly thing, he asks Kelly proper questions and get decent replies from him which is something Harmon never really managed.

Now that his hard on for Wiggins has subsidised he can probably commentate sans distraction.

 

[happytramp]

if you mean the current announcer then no. he's attrocious beyond anything. he doesn't even know difference between a flat itt and a mountain itt

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.

 

[Tinman]

All standard road bikes now. Some not even with aero extensions. So much for the pathetic diatribe re time trial frames.

 

[Coolair2970]

Eurosport don't commentate on site for the Giro and their monitors in Paris are bigger than that. Actually, not sure why we call them monitors. They're just TVs. Yes, they're smaller than the ones we might have at home, but then they don't sit 3 metres away from them on a sofa either, so relatively speaking it all evens out and isn't an excuse.

I watch the Giro live on Japanese TV and they're better at IDing riders than the British Europort people, which I simply don't understand considering it's a country with no cycling heritage at all and they're just sitting in a room in Tokyo at midnight. It shouldn't be that way. David Harmon is very good at it; the others less so, which a shame as it's the only thing that's absolutely vital for a commentator. If you can't say what's happening then it's not commentary.

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.

 

[argyllflyer]

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.

Maybe the monitors are big in London?

 

[argyllflyer]

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".

 

[Descender]

I'd rather hear two hours of farts than that Quigley guy. The man is the definition of incompetence.

 

[JRanton]

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 has been absolutely terrible for ages. He only gets away with it because he's a legend of the sport.