Eurosport commentary

[Rob5091]

Although if no terrestrial broadcasters bid for it, there's not much ASO can do. I think it was Dan Lloyd that I read on twitter saying that retaining free-to-air broadcasters is something that ASO try to prioritise. It might actually be ITV's fault.

There is a law in France that the Tour must be broadcast free,

 

[Wyndbrook]

There is a law in France that the Tour must be broadcast free,

Similar law exists in the UK and covers FA cup final, Wimbledon tennis, Grand national, Fifa world cup final, Scottish cup final, Eufa cup final. Also Olympics, although Warner are doing their best to nibble away at that.
No Tour de France though.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Similar law exists in the UK and covers FA cup final, Wimbledon tennis, Grand national, Fifa world cup final, Scottish cup final, Eufa cup final. Also Olympics, although Warner are doing their best to nibble away at that.
No Tour de France though.

I'm sure summer Test cricket was on that list once - and look what happened......

 

[Wyndbrook]

I'm sure summer Test cricket was on that list once - and look what happened......

It was.

 

[Pogacsa]

The nightmare for those of us in the UK is that we have to watch the Tour accompanied by the Alan Partridge of cycling commentators, Carlton Kirby. The Boulting/Miller pairing (plus the witty Imlach intros) are vastly superior, understand bike tactics and are good at identifying riders. A crying shame to be losing them, particularly if the alternative is Sean Kelly and Kirby. Still, we should still have 2025 to enjoy them.

 

[awavey]

I can cope with Kirby in small doses, and he's best at enlivening boring stages, but when it goes into that pun competition style with McEwen, it's unlistenable to.

But I can mute them, what I can't do is force Orla & gang to stop their mindless bantering and get them to switch the actual live pictures of the race on.

There was a classic example this year, first stage, le grande depart, surely of all stage starts this is the rollout you show in pictures. Nope Orla was too busy chatting away ignoring the start, whilst claiming we'd actually see it (we didn't and she meant the end of the neutral zone anyway and they still cut in after it actually happened).

So I swapped to ITV who were showing it in full as you'd expect. That's what we lose.

 

[ashhutch1997]

I can cope with Kirby in small doses, and he's best at enlivening boring stages, but when it goes into that pun competition style with McEwen, it's unlistenable to.

But I can mute them, what I can't do is force Orla & gang to stop their mindless bantering and get them to switch the actual live pictures of the race on.

There was a classic example this year, first stage, le grande depart, surely of all stage starts this is the rollout you show in pictures. Nope Orla was too busy chatting away ignoring the start, whilst claiming we'd actually see it (we didn't and she meant the end of the neutral zone anyway and they still cut in after it actually happened).

So I swapped to ITV who were showing it in full as you'd expect. That's what we lose.

You don't have to watch Orla and the hosts forced banter, on Discovery plus they have 'multi audio' option, which goes straight to the racing and no studio. I used to enjoy the pre race show when they started with Orla but gave up on it last year as I couldn't take the OTT banter.

 

[awavey]

You don't have to watch Orla and the hosts forced banter, on Discovery plus they have 'multi audio' option, which goes straight to the racing and no studio. I used to enjoy the pre race show when they started with Orla but gave up on it last year as I couldn't take the OTT banter.

via the app, which means Id have to cast it back to my tele to watch it properly, or I could just change the channel on the tv to ITV.

 

[awavey]

The Hatch apparently has won sports commentator of the year

https://twitter.com/x/status/1857373142307471855

View: https://x.com/eurosport/status/1857373142307471855

 

[the delgados]

The nightmare for those of us in the UK is that we have to watch the Tour accompanied by the Alan Partridge of cycling commentators, Carlton Kirby. The Boulting/Miller pairing (plus the witty Imlach intros) are vastly superior, understand bike tactics and are good at identifying riders. A crying shame to be losing them, particularly if the alternative is Sean Kelly and Kirby. Still, we should still have 2025 to enjoy them.

The Carlton Kirby conversation never gets old.
I had to look up the name Alan Partridge and learned that he portrays a "tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity." As a guy from the other side of the pond (North America) I never got the sense he was tactless and inept, and the notion he has an inflated sense of celebrity seems absurd to me.
Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe people who watch all kinds of sports are just sick of hearing the sound of his voice. After all, my understanding is he covers a ton of stuff. That alone is admirable, but whatevs.
And what do you mean by "tactless?" the guy calls it has he sees it, and apparently a lot of people enjoy it, otherwise he wouldn't be there. Maybe that's something you need to take up with your therapist. (I'm kidding!)
Inept? Are you kidding me? He can fly from Madrid after calling a bullfight and land in France the next day to call a race with flair. Please provide the audience with examples of his ineptitude. Mistaking a rider's name and predicting a winner doesn't count! These are my rules!
I don't know what's holding you back, but please close your eyes one day and listen to the lovely cadence of my man CK's voice. Listen to his references to literature, local wine regions, and historical events. I think you could learn something from my man CK, and I'm not kidding about that.
Tally ho!

 

[Rob5091]

Sorry, but the mute button still wins over CK in my opinion.

 

[awavey]

The Carlton Kirby conversation never gets old.
I had to look up the name Alan Partridge and learned that he portrays a "tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity." As a guy from the other side of the pond (North America) I never got the sense he was tactless and inept, and the notion he has an inflated sense of celebrity seems absurd to me.
Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe people who watch all kinds of sports are just sick of hearing the sound of his voice. After all, my understanding is he covers a ton of stuff. That alone is admirable, but whatevs.
And what do you mean by "tactless?" the guy calls it has he sees it, and apparently a lot of people enjoy it, otherwise he wouldn't be there. Maybe that's something you need to take up with your therapist. (I'm kidding!)
Inept? Are you kidding me? He can fly from Madrid after calling a bullfight and land in France the next day to call a race with flair. Please provide the audience with examples of his ineptitude. Mistaking a rider's name and predicting a winner doesn't count! These are my rules!
I don't know what's holding you back, but please close your eyes one day and listen to the lovely cadence of my man CK's voice. Listen to his references to literature, local wine regions, and historical events. I think you could learn something from my man CK, and I'm not kidding about that.
Tally ho!

Coogans Partridge character is difficult to summarise succintly as each time he brings out a new show or sketch about him theres another layer been added, and he's been doing it for 30 years so theres alot to unpick from it, Jeremy Clarkson is often accused of being like Partridge (mainly because theres a bunch of the character based on him so art imitating life) because he comes across sometimes as pompous or arrogant.

Which Carlton isnt at all, he's a lovely guy.

But where the "Partridgeness", and lots of commentators in the UK get accused of this, comes in though is the commentary when it becomes over excitable and a mixed up word salad of half dad jokes and nonsense when he loses his train of thought starts digging a hole and struggles to get out of it and you get something like this...

View: https://youtu.be/Xhlx43rTs2Q

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Alan Partridge is an annoying character portrayed by a great comedic actor.
CK is a below mediocre commentator.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

How many years will I have to listen to cyclocross commentary before I hear a race in which "hole shot" is not used by commentators at the first corner?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I would suggest that commentators avoid use of the term 'motorboating' in the context of women's racing.

 

[ManicJack]

How many years will I have to listen to cyclocross commentary before I hear a race in which "hole shot" is not used by commentators at the first corner?

Have you ever raced cyclocross? It happens to be a pretty important moment of the race.

 

[Potomac]

Alan Partridge is an annoying character portrayed by a great comedic actor.
CK is a below mediocre commentator.

I am laughing at myself.

I lived in England for a time, and while there I never saw Alan Partidge on television. I heard or read many references about him,.

Until this moment, I had always thought he was real person.

Now I must give some things a re-think. Is Gary Lineker a real person?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Have you ever raced cyclocross? It happens to be a pretty important moment of the race.

No I haven't: I didn't realise that it was a necessary requirement for mentioning the over-reliance on cliché of the commentators.

 

[ManicJack]

No I haven't: I didn't realise that it was a necessary requirement for mentioning the over-reliance on cliché of the commentators.

Cliche? What would you call it then?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Cliche? What would you call it then?

There are innumerable ways of stating that someone goes through the first corner in the lead: "goes through the first corner in the lead" for example. Using the same phrasing every time is pretty much the definition of a cliché. One would like to hope that some flair in verbal expression was expected of someone who talks for a living.

What would you call using the same term for an action all the time, rather than drawing on the breadth of the language if not a cliché? Would you have preferred it if I had called it 'tired vocabulary', 'unimaginative repetition', 'rehashed phrasing'?

Nothing wrong with the term, but the utter predictability of it is wearisome.



And you haven't explained what my lack of cyclocross racing experience has to do with my response to the commentary.

 

[ManicJack]

Nothing wrong with the term, but the utter predictability of it is wearisome.

I guess if using a term as defined in a dictionary, in the same manner that 100% of the racers on the start line would use it, is wearisome to you, I don't know what to say.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I guess if using a term as defined in a dictionary, in the same manner that 100% of the racers on the start line would use it, is wearisome to you, I don't know what to say.

No: predictability is wearisome. I didn't say that it is wrong: I said exactly the opposite.

If it doesn't bother you, that's fine, but I found that once I had noticed it, it rankles.


And you still haven't explained what my lack of cyclocross racing experience has to do with my response to the commentary.

 

[ManicJack]

And you still haven't explained what my lack of cyclocross racing experience has to do with my response to the commentary.

My question about having raced is based on the fact that it is common terminology for anyone who has toed the line in a cross race. Go try and argue with someone else.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

My question about having raced is based on the fact that it is common terminology for anyone who has toed the line in a cross race. Go try and argue with someone else.

And therefore is entirely irrelevant, because my comment was about overuse of a phrase (we are in the commentary thread), not whether or not it is a valid one.

Please do not try to belittle the contribution of people here who do not have the same history in the sport as you have: if your experience gives you an insight that you can share, that's great, but I vehemently dislike the attitude of "If you didn't race at at least xxx level, you cannot pass comment at all" that some contributors here sometimes adopt.

 

[ManicJack]

And therefore is entirely irrelevant, because my comment was about overuse of a phrase (we are in the commentary thread), not whether or not it is a valid one.

Please do not try to belittle the contribution of people here who do not have the same history in the sport as you have: if your experience gives you an insight that you can share, that's great, but I vehemently dislike the attitude of "If you didn't race at at least xxx level, you cannot pass comment at all" that some contributors here sometimes adopt.

"Belittle"? 😆 Please show me where I belittled anyone. Like I said, go argue with someone else.