NBC Cycling Coverage Must Change!

[MaxVO2]

Boycott NBCSports cycling coverage until they get new commentators:
1. Phil, Paul, Bob: Tex flunky sychophants that offer no useful, relevant, accurate cycling commentary. Too closely associated with him to be credible or trustworthy anymore.
2. CVdV: cheater that is preventing someone more worthy even after his failed career. Why are we rewarding this cheat another career in the same sport that he cheated in the past?

In conclusion, these men have no credibility and cannot be trusted.

 

[I Love To Dope]

No thank you.

 

[RiccoDinko]

yeah, let me boycott the world's greatest race because of the commentary.. NOT.

 

[Escarabajo]

Boycott NBCSports cycling coverage until they get new commentators:
1. Phil, Paul, Bob: Tex flunky sychophants that offer no useful, relevant, accurate cycling commentary. Too closely associated with him to be credible or trustworthy anymore.
2. CVdV: cheater that is preventing someone more worthy even after his failed career. Why are we rewarding this cheat another career in the same sport that he cheated in the past?

In conclusion, these men have no credibility and cannot be trusted.

Which other cyclist that is not a cheater do you suggest?

 

[djpbaltimore]

Which other cyclist that is not a cheater do you suggest?

Sadly, not many Americans to choose from in that regard. Maybe they could use the older cyclist they had on last year (Scott something?). I recall he had a few interesting insights. Andreu (a minor cheater) is pretty good when he is on as an analyst. His poor interviewing skills were cringeworthy at times though. I prefer Van De Velde. He is great at providing insights into crashing out of GTs, so he is invaluable this year.

Phil and Paul have about as much job security as supreme court justices, so good luck getting rid of them anytime soon.

EDIT: Scott Moninger. But it looks like he also has a questionable past.

 

[Linkinito]

Please change NBC to France Télévisions and you'll have the same situation in France with irrelevant commentaries and facts from the main commentator, an interviewer who is unpleasant and always wants to have the word from the riders immediately after they finished the stage, and some 60-year old guy who can't pronounce correctly half of the riders' names.

 

[RedheadDane]

One thing that bugs me about NBC - which I'm not even watching - is the fact that apparently they were told to not mention 'The War', while going past one WW1 monument after the other because the riders were following the front lines.
Would've liked to see how that commentary went:

"And... here's a monument, which we can't tell you anything about... Here's another..."

I know that they're supposed to commentate the cycling, but let's be honest; there are times when not much is happening in the race and you can't just ignore history.

 

[Futuroscope]

One thing that bugs me about NBC - which I'm not even watching - is the fact that apparently they were told to not mention 'The War', while going past one WW1 monument after the other because the riders were following the front lines.
Would've liked to see how that commentary went:

"And... here's a monument, which we can't tell you anything about... Here's another..."

I know that they're supposed to commentate the cycling, but let's be honest; there are times when not much is happening in the race and you can't just ignore history.

In my opinion that kind of stuff is a big part of cycling. But I'm not suprised that NBC doesn't understand that.

 

[Beech Mtn]

One thing that bugs me about NBC - which I'm not even watching - is the fact that apparently they were told to not mention 'The War', while going past one WW1 monument after the other because the riders were following the front lines.
Would've liked to see how that commentary went:

"And... here's a monument, which we can't tell you anything about... Here's another..."

I know that they're supposed to commentate the cycling, but let's be honest; there are times when not much is happening in the race and you can't just ignore history.

I have been watching NBC, and they have pointed out some monuments and talked about the war. Not sure where this false rumor came from.

 

[Warhawk]

I have been watching NBC, and they have pointed out some monuments and talked about the war. Not sure where this false rumor came from.

Same here.

And I have some complaints, but I'm not boycotting the TdF.

 

[orangerider]

Not sure where any of this is coming from - the NBC tour tracker is really good and I only hear Phil and Paul with no commercials.

 

[eleven]

Just what we need - All twelve people watching the Tour on NBC advocating a boycott. I don't love the coverage but it's...coverage. We could go back to 30 minutes every Sunday instead.

Diehard cycling fans are never going to like US coverage because it's aiming for a less cycling-educated base whose primary interest will be US riders. Waxing poetic about Coppi's great ride or Hinault's brilliant attack in <insert year here> will never fly on US broadcasts. Sadly, if it happened before 1999 and it wasn't done by Greg Lemond no one knows, and even fewer care.

 

[Sciocco]

Just what we need - All twelve people watching the Tour on NBC advocating a boycott. I don't love the coverage but it's...coverage. We could go back to 30 minutes every Sunday instead.

Diehard cycling fans are never going to like US coverage because it's aiming for a less cycling-educated base whose primary interest will be US riders. Waxing poetic about Coppi's great ride or Hinault's brilliant attack in <insert year here> will never fly on US broadcasts. Sadly, if it happened before 1999 and it wasn't done by Greg Lemond no one knows, and even fewer care.

Yea, I'm in the States and I have a 50 or 42 (I don't even know) inch TV in another room, but I watch streams on computer for better coverage. Doesn't matter much though, commentators are useless if you pay attention to the race.

 

[Potomac]

One thing that bugs me about NBC - which I'm not even watching - is the fact that apparently they were told to not mention 'The War', while going past one WW1 monument after the other because the riders were following the front lines.
Would've liked to see how that commentary went:

"And... here's a monument, which we can't tell you anything about... Here's another..."

I know that they're supposed to commentate the cycling, but let's be honest; there are times when not much is happening in the race and you can't just ignore history.

The above post is moronic. We've seen and heard WWI history over and over again on NBC's tour coverage.

 

[argyllflyer]

I don't know who signs their paycheck but Phil and Paul also do the commentary for the most mainstream of UK channels that shows the race (ITV/ITV4). Their commentary is broadcast globally.

 

[Escarabajo]

Just what we need - All twelve people watching the Tour on NBC advocating a boycott. I don't love the coverage but it's...coverage. We could go back to 30 minutes every Sunday instead.

Diehard cycling fans are never going to like US coverage because it's aiming for a less cycling-educated base whose primary interest will be US riders. Waxing poetic about Coppi's great ride or Hinault's brilliant attack in <insert year here> will never fly on US broadcasts. Sadly, if it happened before 1999 and it wasn't done by Greg Lemond no one knows, and even fewer care.

+1.

Agreed.

 

[djpbaltimore]

Just what we need - All twelve people watching the Tour on NBC advocating a boycott. I don't love the coverage but it's...coverage. We could go back to 30 minutes every Sunday instead.

I fear that is the direction that televised cycling is heading in this country. I loved when all three grand tours were televised, but every year the numbers of races seems to shrink. I mentioned this in another thread, but I haven't even heard a mention of the TDF on ESPN or seen results on their bottom line scroll. And that is despite the fact that an American is at least in contention for the podium. Fortunately there is a mushroom of sports networks demanding programming in the TIVO era, so hopefully cycling won't languish in obscurity like it once did.

 

[zlev11]

but I haven't even heard a mention of the TDF on ESPN or seen results on their bottom line scroll.

this is both a good thing and not indicative of anything. ESPN is a worthless channel anyway, but if it isn't related to Lebron or the NFL, they don't give a crap.

 

[masking_agent]

Boycott NBCSports cycling coverage until they get new commentators:
1. Phil, Paul, Bob: Tex flunky sychophants that offer no useful, relevant, accurate cycling commentary. Too closely associated with him to be credible or trustworthy anymore.
2. CVdV: cheater that is preventing someone more worthy even after his failed career. Why are we rewarding this cheat another career in the same sport that he cheated in the past?

In conclusion, these men have no credibility and cannot be trusted.

i think they are better than the boring Eurosport commentary.. Calton kirby (or whomever the english is ) has been missing some commentary during crucial moves, and Sean Kelly just puts me to sleep.

 

[ggusta]

It's always gonna sukk. I've resigned myself to it. Just enjoy what you can and laugh about their sad little attempt at coverage. It is maddening at times certainly. But I am not about to stream it on a monitor when I can watch it on a 60" plasma.

They should run hard liquor ads and a store locator for your nearest "package store" whenever Sherwen or tRoll are babbling.

 

[ggusta]

i think they are better than the boring Eurosport commentary.. Calton kirby (or whomever the english is ) has been missing some commentary during crucial moves, and Sean Kelly just puts me to sleep.

Sean Kelly is as bad as the American broadcast in my opinion. He sounds much better at first, but over time, I sometimes feel the same level of disgust listening to him. His biases can be a bit obvious!

 

[djpbaltimore]

this is both a good thing and not indicative of anything. ESPN is a worthless channel anyway, but if it isn't related to Lebron or the NFL, they don't give a crap.

In many respects I agree with your opinion. They would rather show SEC media day or 4 sportswriters yelling at each other than cycling. But, it is still the undisputed king of sports TV in the USA and I find it telling that they spend more time on the LPGA or Arena football than the tentpole of cycling.

 

[86TDFWinner]

Which other cyclist that is not a cheater do you suggest?

Hmm, How about: Phinney/Hampsten/Bauer/Steida/LeMond

 

[BigC24]

It's not that bad. They have a good understanding of the history cycling and the land which they are riding through. I do not get all of the hate that people put on them.

And the NBC tour tracker is awesome. For someone without cable/satellite that cannot watch the races as they are being run, I can stream the entire replay when I get home from work in the afternoons. Very convenient and priced reasonably.

 

[Tonton]

Hmm, How about: Phinney/Hampsten/Bauer/Steida/LeMond

It would have been fun to hear Bauer's reactions about the Cav/Guerrans/Talansky crashes maybe with Criquielion in the both next door .

On a more serious note, the Phil/Paul/Bob crew made such fools of themselves defending LA or Landis that clean former riders don't respect them or want to associate with them. So they got CVDV. Maybe "Big George" didn't want the gig.