Unofficial I hate Versus thread

[BroDeal]

You know we need one.

Looking at the schedule for Universal Sports makes me long for OLN before it began to turn into a crappy clone of Spike TV.

BTW, coverage of the Tour of the Basque Country is on Universal tomorrow.

 

[mickkk]

I dunno who Versus is riding for, but I take your word for it, I hate the bastar d already!

 

[BroDeal]

I dunno who Versus is riding for, but I take your word for it, I hate the bastar d already!

That's nothin'. You should see his mom.

 

[Delicato]

BTW, coverage of the Tour of the Basque Country is on Universal tomorrow.

You mean the one which is in April?

 

[BroDeal]

You mean the one which is in April?

Yup. I have not watched US much but they rerun all sorts of stuff. In fact I just noticed that they have events from the Beijing Olympics on. They must be hurting for content, so maybe they are not as good as OLN used to be.

I did not see any of the Basque country tour, so I might have to watch. It will be like cycling coverage overload.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Sigh. Some people can't seem to get through a day without hating someone or something, and feeling compelled to share that hatred with the world.

There is an alternative!

It's called getting a life.

 

[BroDeal]

Sigh. Some people can't seem to get through a day without hating someone or something, and feeling compelled to share that hatred with the world.

There is an alternative!

It's called getting a life.

And people who complain about other people complaining should get two lives.

If you had to put up with Versus then you would be hatin' it too. It represents everything that has gone wrong with television in the U.S. It caters to the lowest common denominator. They have reduced the actual content down to the barest minimum that people will put up with; and every year as people get desensitized to how bad it is, they make it a little worse. It is flash over substance.

The channel also represents the homogenization of all television. Channels that used to cater to a small niche have expanded their offerings until there is little difference between what used to be unique channels. Thus the Arts and Entertainment channel now features reality shows like Dog the Bounty Hunter and some garbage about Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. They used to show Masterpiece theater-type content. The Sci Fi channel shows professional wrestling. The Biography channel runs movies like Rocky. OLN shows Jean Claude Van Damme movies. And MTV stopped playing music.

U.S. Olympic coverage is traditionally bad, but it is the work of Martin Scorcese compared to Michael Bay when judged against sports coverage on Versus.

And that is what grinds my gears. I should have put this in the "general" forum.

 

[craig1985]

Did they do coverage of the Dauphine? I ask because last weekend on SBS they had an hour long highlights program of the Dauphine, and they had some American commentator (I missed the start), and on day when a break went (Niki Terpstra won the stage), he had to read out every team name in full (instead of saying "Cofidis", he had to say "Cofidis Le Crédit en Ligne", or "BBox Bouygues Telecom" over and over, which became annoying) and every Spanish rider he had to address them by their full name (like "Alejandro Valverde Belmonte" for example, instead of "Alejandro Valverde"). Felt like punching him TBH.

 

[Steel4Ever]

And the other awesome thing about VS. -- it's AAAAAAALLLL about lance!

Have you seen their ad?!? "Tour de Lance 2009 -- the Return of Lance! Can anything stop HIM?!?"

Ha! Uh yeah, I would say there's about 197 other riders out to stop him. That, plus he can't dope like he used to in the good ol' days.

But...gotta give 'Mericans what they know and understand.

 

[Publicus]

I hate them because they have a little Astana jersey icon listed along with the yellow, green, polka dot and white jerseys. Which means when Lance gets dropped we'll have a nifty little icon (along with at least one dedicated camera) tracking his progress (or lack thereof). Yay us!

 

[jaylew]

Have to agree that their coverage has gotten worse over the years. The one nice thing is they rerun the stages all day long so you can watch pretty much whenever you want.

 

[Boleyn]

I hate them because they have a little Astana jersey icon listed along with the yellow, green, polka dot and white jerseys.

That is just pathetic. As are the constant interviews/articles on Armstrong.

 

[Cobblestones]

I hate them because they have a little Astana jersey icon listed along with the yellow, green, polka dot and white jerseys. Which means when Lance gets dropped we'll have a nifty little icon (along with at least one dedicated camera) tracking his progress (or lack thereof). Yay us!

The Astana kit logo must surely indicate the leader of the Astana squad. You know, the guy most likely to win this thing. AC

Don't tell me I'm wrong.

 

[biker77]

Come on people. Cycling is on Vs almost continuosly throughout the tour de france. How can you complain about that?

I am not interested in peoples opinion of the commentary team. They are are all ex-bike riders who know what they are talking about with the exception of Craig Lewis- who does a good job of showing respect and remaining humble.

Give Vs a break and be grateful they are showing the tour. The coverage is like the old CN website. Something you come to rely on and would miss once it is gone.

 

[titan_90]

Come on people. Cycling is on Vs almost continuosly throughout the tour de france. How can you complain about that?

I am not interested in peoples opinion of the commentary team. They are are all ex-bike riders who know what they are talking about with the exception of Craig Lewis- who does a good job of showing respect and remaining humble.

Give Vs a break and be grateful they are showing the tour. The coverage is like the old CN website. Something you come to rely on and would miss once it is gone.

Thankfully there is a thing called the Internet and I can find better coverage then Versus Tour de Lance BS.

 

[Epicycle]

Thankfully there is a thing called the Internet and I can find better coverage then Versus Tour de Lance BS.

I know. Versus is impossible to watch with the constant interruptions. Eurosport actually shows the race with limited breaks. I just have Versus on the TV so I can get fleeting glimpses of better quality pictures.

 

[Anonymous]

I hate them because they have a little Astana jersey icon listed along with the yellow, green, polka dot and white jerseys. Which means when Lance gets dropped we'll have a nifty little icon (along with at least one dedicated camera) tracking his progress (or lack thereof). Yay us!

Yea, that is just plain a$$ sniffingly stupid.

 

[boalio]

I hate them because they have a little Astana jersey icon listed along with the yellow, green, polka dot and white jerseys.

I just noticed that! I almost got sick in my mouth. Seriously they are making a mockery of the sport. How about showing the general US public that cycling is an amazing sport full of many many talented athletes. It's not all about Lance.

By fixating on Lance, Versus are cutting their own throats, because when Lance doesn't race next year, their viewing numbers will plummet.

It's not as if Levi 'the donkey' Leipheimer is gonna be in with a chance next year!

 

[Anonymous]

I just noticed that! I almost got sick in my mouth. Seriously they are making a mockery of the sport. How about showing the general US public that cycling is an amazing sport full of many many talented athletes. It's not all about Lance.

By fixating on Lance, Versus are cutting their own throats, because when Lance doesn't race next year, their viewing numbers will plummet.

And the moronic hoards of fanboy nation will be absent from the forums.....I think it is a good thing because the interwebs has live feeds.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, they just made the obligatory "doping is only done by a few bad apples" comment. They really are incredibly stupid. Stunningly actually.

 

[grimpeur]

Come on people. Cycling is on Vs almost continuosly throughout the tour de france. How can you complain about that?

Actually it's not. You get 25 min of tires on the road racing for every hour of "coverage." Where Versus is f***ing up is that anyone without a Tivo will never buy any of the crap they are assaulting our brains with and anyone with a Tivo never sees the freaking ads.

Uh, read BroDeal's comments (#8) on these type of cable TV channels. Here's an example of Versus' gall. Last part of the TT, top 5 riders on course, they PULL AWAY FOR A FREAKING AD!!!. I'm sorry to say this, but with a handle like "biker77," it pretty much explains why you like Versus.

I actually think Phil and Paul could be better, if they took quaaludes.

 

[Kim Graham]

Tour de France for Dummies (aka Americans)

Maybe we should invent a drinking game whereby the participants have to chug a beer every time VS says "Lance Armstrong". Now, I respect the man and what he has accomplished over the years, but seriously....enough is enough!

Those of us who have watched the classics and other grand tours, during Lance's absence have been treated to some great action. Who doesn't jump off the couch and start cheering when Jens Voigt takes a long pull at the front on a mountain stage to crack the field? Watching the Schlek brothers play cat and mouse and confuse everybody...that's good stuff.

Oops, hang on, I have to chug another beer.

 

[boalio]

I've about had it with this rubbish

And there is a crash at the back of the pack, but no information about that, because we are too busy with a stupid interview of Lance. Don't want to interrupt the Lance love-in with any racing! grrrrrrrr.

 

[Clemson Cycling]

If it weren't for Versus we would all be at out computers with the wonderful world of streaming.

 

[Anonymous]

If it weren't for Versus we would all be at out computers with the wonderful world of streaming.

Yea, and what a better world it would be. I guess they must have threatened legal action and forced the streams to exclude the US? I understand from a commercial standpoint why, but it forces us to watch the most moronic TdF coverage anywhere in the world.