Liggettisms TDF 2011

[Swabian Lass]

"First coloured rider to ride the Tour"

To be fair I suspect that he's of the generation in the UK who grew up with "coloured" as the polite form of address, whereas "black" was considered verging on rude.

Times have changed, but he's not the only person I know who has difficulty changing that.

 

[nowhereman]

Kept going on about how Phil Gilbert was going for yellow yesterday.


Hugh

And Sherwen predicted David Millar!! were they stoned?

 

[nowhereman]

Post photo-finish, Phil states...
" Yes Cadel Evans has won it, and that is officially his first win.
He's won a time trial when Vinokourov was disqualified late in the year for allegedly taking drugs. But that's the first stage win officially on the line for Cadel Evans. "

And he felt it necessary to repeat it. Was he trying to prove that he can remember some things from the past?

 

[nowhereman]

Ahh and only a few days into le tour.

Yes, and the reason for all of this criticism is because after all these years, those two trot out the same old overly verbose, repetitive, and overly pompous descriptions that they can recall, for the Grand Boucle. And frankly, the large majority of us are tired of hearing the same old nonsense. That some of us find it funny, or almost cute is incredible. These men are being handsomely compensated to talk their nonsense to a worldwide audience. So I find it irksome that their dated style and inability to accurately keep up with the action, and their biases, are also on display for all to see, and hear, for hours on end, for three weeks. I am very happy that Versus lost their attraction some time ago, to the other Tours that were Lance-less. And that Universal has the rights to the Giro and the Vuelta. We now get some fresh commentators talking over the air for those two, three week Tours. Thank goodness. And I'm glad that Todd Gogulski is getting air time on the Versus set opposite Bob "the Troll" Roll. The Tour is not a comedy show, and if it were, Roll wouldn't help it avoid cancellation.
I'll be tuning in to Eurosport shortly, so I can more peacefully enjoy watching the Tour, the rest of the way.

 

[Tom T.]

Paul already had a good one this morning. In describing the very slightly uphill finish today, he said "The finish kicks up at a very slight 20% grade".

 

[Jamsque]

Phil just described the Liquigas jerseys as 'lilac'.

 

[pmtg99]

I know this is Paul Sherwen, but he's learning a few little tricks

"Mark Cavendish did it all in the last 50 minutes... 50 seconds... 50 metres...."

 

[nowhereman]

Viewed on a replay, after I'd gone out for a short ride, just after the stage start.
As Tom Boonen sat on the ground after his crash, and had already been identified by the dynamic duo. Once he had his helmet removed, he became unrecognizable to the duo. And Sherwen started repeating that if it were Boonen that we were looking at, he should be recognizable by the world champion stripes on his sleeves. Meanwhile, it was plain to see the world champion strip that was on his sleeves. After a little back and forth betwwen our intrepid commentators... Finally, Phil announced that it was, in deed, Tomke. Thank goodness they figured that one out!!!
Meanwhile, over on Eurosport, they had started their broadcast day before the peloton was given the start flag, while the blokes over on the other station were busy doling out their inane predictions. Long live Eurosport!

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

I've been doing my best to ignore them, but Vino alledgedly taking drugs comment was odd.

As for his ability to call sprints, welll... the run-in for one of the sprints at the ToC, he referred to Team SpiderTech as UnitedHealthCare, and then as Team NetApp.... and when he finally got it right he made as if Spidertech had just taken control of the front from UnitedHealthCare or NetApp or however he thought it was.

 

[No_Balls]

Viewed on a replay, after I'd gone out for a short ride, just after the stage start.
As Tom Boonen sat on the ground after his crash, and had already been identified by the dynamic duo. Once he had his helmet removed, he became unrecognizable to the duo. And Sherwen started repeating that if it were Boonen that we were looking at, he should be recognizable by the world champion stripes on his sleeves. Meanwhile, it was plain to see the world champion strip that was on his sleeves. After a little back and forth betwwen our intrepid commentators... Finally, Phil announced that it was, in deed, Tomke. Thank goodness they figured that one out!!!
Meanwhile, over on Eurosport, they had started their broadcast day before the peloton was given the start flag, while the blokes over on the other station were busy doling out their inane predictions. Long live Eurosport!

Well at least they have no problem identify Alberto.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Viewed on a replay, after I'd gone out for a short ride, just after the stage start.
As Tom Boonen sat on the ground after his crash, and had already been identified by the dynamic duo. Once he had his helmet removed, he became unrecognizable to the duo. And Sherwen started repeating that if it were Boonen that we were looking at, he should be recognizable by the world champion stripes on his sleeves. Meanwhile, it was plain to see the world champion strip that was on his sleeves. After a little back and forth betwwen our intrepid commentators... Finally, Phil announced that it was, in deed, Tomke. Thank goodness they figured that one out!!!
Meanwhile, over on Eurosport, they had started their broadcast day before the peloton was given the start flag, while the blokes over on the other station were busy doling out their inane predictions. Long live Eurosport!

LOL!!!
I have been enjoying my early morning broadcast on Eurosport...then toward the last 20k or so I go up to my local coffee pub and watch the finale on the BIG screen on VS/NBC...just enough Phil & Paul to give me some eye-rolling but not too much.

 

[Dedelou]

Well at least they have no problem identify Alberto.

But the motorcyclist who clipped Sorensen , however , did.

 

[No_Balls]

But the motorcyclist who clipped Sorensen , however , did.

Well, he had no good day in the office had he? Getting some pics against the rules and then throwed Sorensen in the ditch almost clipped a family in the process.

 

[Altitude]

Paul today: "When the weather is nice, the riders will push their tire pressure up to a 110 psi, which is extremely high. When the weather is bad, they will drop the pressure to 70 psi, which is still pretty high"

What?! Is he just randomly making up numbers now?

I was wondering about that one as well.

Anyhow you could come up with a thread like this for every commentator in the history of the sport. P&P aren't that bad. The Universal Sports guys are horrific.

 

[datalore]

I was wondering about that one as well.

Anyhow you could come up with a thread like this for every commentator in the history of the sport. P&P aren't that bad. The Universal Sports guys are horrific.

+1. Phil and Paul aren't the greatest, but I'm not aware of many English-speaking commentators doing a better job at this point. That said, I really don't need to hear anything else about the launching of the Manx missile.

 

[Sidbike]

I picked that up too, then I wondered if he said black. Poor choice anyway, but no offense intended.

I was a bit surprised to hear "colored" in the morning but it was gone from the rebroadcasts. I specifcally looked for it later in the day to confirm what I thought I heard...even asked my brother to listen with me. They must have edited it out.

 

[phanatic]

"Last coloured rider to ride the Tour"

I'm glad to hear they fixed it. No harm in being polite.

 

[danjo007]

both P&P stating several times it wasnt boonen on the ground (cause they couldnt see his bands) - but you could clearly see it was him... you cant mistake those ears!

 

[Richeypen]

That said, I really don't need to hear anything else about the launching of the Manx missile.

At least thats only once a stage. They talk about Hincapie about once a minute

 

[fourmi]

Spartacus and the God of Thunder?

 

[fourmi]

And there was a classic oxymoronic Sherwenism on stage 3. On the Pont de Saint-Nazaire, he said (the gist was) "if you don't think that a category 4 climb is anything much, look at how stretched out the peleton is now. That's more down to the crosswind than the climb itself".

 

[AussieGoddess]

I was mid-drink yesterday when they came out with a classic about the wonderful intelligent technique and great bike handling skill always displayed by Leopard Trek ....

needless to say I had to change clothes due to a major coffee-spray incident

 

[Rouetheday]

Phil and Paul actually had me laughing with them instead of at them on yesterday's stage. Paul remarked on a chateau along the route and its connection to the Knights Templar. He asked Phil if he'd read up on the Knights and poor Phil had obviously been caught out, but he managed to save face by replying, "I used to watch 'The Saint' on television"!

 

[rickshaw]

This quote from Paul yesterday

"He's got a heart of gold, and a courage of steel!"

Of course there is a long tradition of this sort of stupidity in English literature, e.g. Mrs Malaprop.... and I am unanimous in this.

 

[Apollonius]

"One mistake by one man and they'll all go sliding a hundred metres down the road"

A whole hundred metres??