Unofficial I hate Versus thread

[Bala Verde]

Remember a few years ago when Sherwin would base his picks on careful consideration of how certain riders would have the greatest chance of winning on that day's course. Trautwig would always pick Boonen or one of the few other cyclists he knew by name. Trautwig was kicking everyone else's behind. I thought it was funny how he lorded his lead in the competition over the rest of them.

Ligget had 0 points. But hey, if you are seemingly capable of mistaking Jens Voigt for Igor Anton, all goes...

 

[md2020]

And I still can't forgive my ex-wife for taping over the first 2 weeks of the 1986 TdF with Andrew and Fergie's wedding.

Check out:

http://www.atomicmall.com/seller.php?id=13250&stc=Q3ljbGluZw==&vu=sc#cat

This guy is selling DVDs of the old TV coverage. I recently got the 86 and 89 Tours from him and it's not bad. Granted, it's from VHS recordings of the old network telecasts but still enjoyable.

As for the current Versus coverage, I'm not a fan of the commentary but considering what's been available in the past, I'll take it. Especially this year with the HD race video... it's beautiful (with the sound down low).

The rider interviews are especially funny, with Robbie Ventura mispronouncing the riders' names to their faces and asking incomprehensible questions. I also love how they always make sure that it's Frankie Andreau who is interviewing Lance. The way they both overcompensate for their past "issues" with each other by laughing it up is pretty entertaining.

 

[Cobber]

I wish we could get a Eurosport channel over here in the US. There would definitely be enough interest... not just for cycling but also soccer etc. It's good to see live coverage of races earlier in the season, not just the 3-week Lance Armstrong "drool-fest" that Versus coverage of the TdF has become.

 

[Anonymous]

This may be the only thing you have ever written that I agree with. I would like to see the guys who do NASCAR set up the coverage for the TdF. I thought some of the online GPS stuff for the Tour of California was pretty good, although it wasn't always consistent.

Note that my post was dripping with sarcasm......

 

[BikeCentric]

Okay so I'm one of those people that refuses to get cable television because I think it's terrible and I don't watch any television besides news and sports anyway. I have Netflix for movies.

So I've watched cycling streaming over the net for the past 5 years or so, had a subscription to cycling.tv for 3 years but they've gotten worse so I cancelled that and go with what I can find through steephill.tv and cyclingfans.com now. I think that the net streaming coverage is getting really good and has eclipsed cable now in terms of coverage quality (certainly not picture quality even with a high speed connection though).

Anyway, back to the topic - I watched the Aussie SBS feed from the ITT on the first day and that was GREAT. The past 2 stages I've had to watch Versus because it looks like all the foreign feeds except Versus have been blocked in the US. The main problem here is that the Versus coverage we have this year is far worse than the OLN coverage we had from 2000-2005. They actually talk about Lance MORE now than they did in his heydey which is kind of weird. But the bigger issue is the number of commercial breaks - way too many and at inopportune times.

Regarding Ligget / Sherwin - Paul is still a pretty decent announcer but Phil is senile and needs to retire. Interesting that back in the day Phil was the play-by-play guy and Paul did analysis/color but Paul has now taken over as play-by-play due to Phil's inability to put coherent sentences together.

 

[BikeCentric]

Oh and one other thing regarding Versus - they did actually do a pretty darn good job with the NHL playoffs especially as an infant network so I don't mean to completely bag them as a station. But they've got a lot to learn about cycling.

 

[Parrot23]

I see Versus has a giant Cadillac logo on their podium. Cadillac?! The antithesis of cycling?

Why not "Hummer brought to you by Hummer"? (Or, say, Exxon as sponsor of Nature Channel).

 

[Bala Verde]

The daily pre show routine... lovely

 

[**Uru**]

On Sunday's stage, I timed the actual racing content. VS was averaging 10 min of racing content per hour. The rest of the time focused on countless Enzyte and Snuggie commercials and getting to know you segments. Dispite what people say, it is not all about Lance. They will also waste hours of our time telling us about Garmin's useless and futile tactics, and gush over how good a rider Cavendish is. The only way to watch is to DVR it and fast forward over all the crap. Yesterday they spent the whole race talking about the bulls running around in the fields.

 

[Bala Verde]

On Sunday's stage, I timed the actual racing content. VS was averaging 10 min of racing content per hour. The rest of the time focused on countless Enzyte and Snuggie commercials and getting to know you segments. Dispite what people say, it is not all about Lance. They will also waste hours of our time telling us about Garmin's useless and futile tactics, and gush over how good a rider Cavendish is. The only way to watch is to DVR it and fast forward over all the crap. Yesterday they spent the whole race talking about the bulls running around in the fields.

I think now, in one hour, including the pre show, they have had over 8 intermissions of 2-3m. That's 24m of commercials and 20-25m of pre show. That leaves me with, and I am being genrous, 11-12m of cycling. Most of it teams rolling down the startline...

 

[grimpeur]

I think now, in one hour, including the pre show, they have had over 8 intermissions of 2-3m. That's 24m of commercials and 20-25m of pre show. That leaves me with, and I am being genrous, 11-12m of cycling. Most of it teams rolling down the startline...

Plus tons of station ID-TDF promos. I don't think you need to tell fans when the freaking show is on. Something has to give, can't we start a letter writing campaign to ASO to allow an option to watch some feeds from Europe? How about a website that allows people to sign a petition against these greedy fckrs.

 

[**Uru**]

I think they are less greedy than flat out stupid. There is no other big sporting event where the broadcaster pays money for the rights to broadcast, and then doesn't. Could you imagine FOX playing a getting to know you segment while the super bowl is actually being played? The only place I have seen this kind of pathetic coverage is during the Olympics. Perhaps that is it. VS wants to lower themselves to the lowest of standards that NBC displays every 2 years for the Olympics by not actually showing any events at all. Unless you like figure skating and gymnastics, then you get more coverage than you could possibly absorb.

 

[grimpeur]

I think they are less greedy than flat out stupid. There is no other big sporting event where the broadcaster pays money for the rights to broadcast, and then doesn't. Could you imagine FOX playing a getting to know you segment while the super bowl is actually being played? The only place I have seen this kind of pathetic coverage is during the Olympics. Perhaps that is it. VS wants to lower themselves to the lowest of standards that NBC displays every 2 years for the Olympics by not actually showing any events at all. Unless you like figure skating and gymnastics, then you get more coverage than you could possibly absorb.

Believe me, I've complained about the stupidity already.

 

[Bala Verde]

http://www.myp2p.eu/competition.php?competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=cycling

I used the Russian Sopcast Eurosport, with UK eurosport sound... Rather grainy picture than outright stupidity. I actually got to see all the panels with the intermediate times, and the clock running at the finish ("made possible by TdF").

 

[Bala Verde]

Interesting. Versus has a forum as well

http://ww3.versus.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=1

perhaps they'll give some feedback on the fact that they can't even display intermediate times in a tt(t)

 

[klimber]

I just wish that Versus or Universal TV had decent free online coverage. But yeah the Versus "Lance Tracker shirt" is cheesy. Can't they wait until he is wearing the Yellow jersey, then its easy.

 

[grimpeur]

New definition of "fluffer." What Phil and Paul—(actually it's the whole Versus crew) do by mentioning LA in every sentence emanating from their pie-holes. The interesting thing is that LA is actually downplaying the drama these clowns are producing.

 

[Parrot23]

The interesting thing is that LA is actually downplaying the drama these clowns are producing.

Yes, that's what I thought yesterday.

Everyone now (on the forums esp.) too is trying to say Alberto didn't celebrate with Lance today (even CN has a quip about that). Not true: saw Alberto walk up and high five, hug etc.

Melodrama. Well, with all that hyped over-the-top music introducing the Tour on Versus, guess it's to be expected.

 

[Anonymous]

I saw the interview with JB this morning and it sounds like they are putting fuel on the fire in some ways. Cryptic twitters, etc, etc, etc. I think they, as well as anyone who has watched cycling this year can see that Contador is clearly the strongest rider in the race. He is younger and he has won a GT or two before himself. I suspect even Lance knows that he will have to bow out once the real mountains come. I hope he will do so gracefully, and actually expect that he will taking into account some of the things he has said.

 

[quadsRme]

http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/#live

does this not do it for you BroDeal?

 

[Parrot23]

Deleted post: off topic. Apologies!

On topic: Cadillac as the Versus sponsor. Weird! Shows how fake and contrived the whole broadcast thing is. What the hell does Cadillac and luxury driving have to do with cycling and human powered competition in the extreme? "Slight" contradiction there, LOL.

What if Contador arrived at the startline each day in a plush Cadillac, with deep plush seats, powered chair etc. I mean, really and truly!

 

[Bala Verde]

I saw the interview with JB this morning and it sounds like they are putting fuel on the fire in some ways. Cryptic twitters, etc, etc, etc. I think they, as well as anyone who has watched cycling this year can see that Contador is clearly the strongest rider in the race. He is younger and he has won a GT or two before himself. I suspect even Lance knows that he will have to bow out once the real mountains come. I hope he will do so gracefully, and actually expect that he will taking into account some of the things he has said.

TEXT DELETED

People, people, let's not stray off topic. We want to keep this LA free. This thread is meant to lambast Versus' petty coverage...

 

[frizzlefry]

I saw the interview with JB this morning and it sounds like they are putting fuel on the fire in some ways. Cryptic twitters, etc, etc, etc. I think they, as well as anyone who has watched cycling this year can see that Contador is clearly the strongest rider in the race. He is younger and he has won a GT or two before himself. I suspect even Lance knows that he will have to bow out once the real mountains come. I hope he will do so gracefully, and actually expect that he will taking into account some of the things he has said.

LOL, An AC FANBOY in the making. Classic.

 

[Anonymous]

LOL, An AC FANBOY in the making. Classic.

Not at all, I root against people and AC just happens to be the best bet I have that the Uniballer won't win.

 

[Parrot23]

Oops, you're entirely right, Bala. Sorry.

This stuff is addictive/compulsively interesting etc.

nb: have deleted my text