VERSUS seriously sucks!!!

[cawright1375]

The American Sports Media industry is starting to take notice, albeit because of Lance and his tweet, but still good to see its making some waves.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...ersus.tour.of.california/index.html?eref=sihp

And it poses a very good question, would Versus have cut away had that been Lance rather than Levi?

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I'm glad it didn't go unnoticed. I've never seen the ending of a sporting event get cut off if it overlaps the beginning of another, especially the pre-game!

 

[Oldman]

I can't believe people still watch Versus. Seriously.

I pretend it's a Monty Python version of an actual broadcast. So when Phil says: "Fabian Cancellera got a bike change at the Tour of Flanders in 8.5 seconds. Lance's took 43...he'll have some serious chasing to do" I can pretend they're actually serious. They aren't being serious, are they?

 

[shawnrohrbach]

It's been said before, Bob, Phil and Paul have seen their careers go from relative obscurity in media to a serious bump in fame and fortune. All 'cuz of one man. I despise their coverage and commentary, but I understand what drives it.

You win the bobble head for this extremely astute observation. The Versus coverage has sucked for many years now because they thought they would always be the only game in town (with cycling coverage) and it didn't matter what they put up on the screen. The commentators have always thought American fans are cycling newbies and know nothing and care about nothing but LA. When Universal came in with their sports producers (forget the commentators, they are fine) they approached cycling like they have professional ski racing, swimming, track and field, triathlons, etc etc etc; like it is a sport that has sophisticated followers who can be a fan of different professional racers and want to see them race and hear them talk, unlike the overly focused coverage on LA we have always gotten from Versus. What you are seeing on Versus is sports producers who let goofy personalities (commentators) drive the coverage because the TDF has been a cash hog for them regardless of what the commentators do. They think this formula is working on the ATOC and I will bet a dinner (you have to get here to cash in on it) we will discover the ratings for the Giro this year far exceed the ratings for the ATOC.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

I'm glad it didn't go unnoticed. I've never seen the ending of a sporting event get cut off if it overlaps the beginning of another, especially the pre-game!

The Versus coverage has been fantastic, thrilling and clever American television - I really liked that they had 'The Sopranos' type ending of St3 where they are coming to the finish and then just

 

[hector5950]

I'm glad it didn't go unnoticed. I've never seen the ending of a sporting event get cut off if it overlaps the beginning of another, especially the pre-game!

Never watched IndyCar on ABC, did you?

 

[issoisso]

Never watched IndyCar on ABC, did you?

Why would anyone watch motorsports on anything but Speed, when available?

 

[Anonymous]

Why would anyone watch motorsports on anything but Speed, when available?

I never watched motorsports on speed, but I did watch it once on acid. Does that count?

 

[Oldman]

I never watched motorsports on speed, but I did watch it once on acid. Does that count?

Just as fast but lacks the high-def color. Justsfas bula THE COLORS.

 

[cycledp]

I taped the race because I was out riding. Came home, made some dinner, and started the coverage. Got all the way to the end and found out that my taping of the stage was basically useless because I wasn't going to get to see the end because they had to do the hockey pre-game. Fcuk Versus. They don't even have the final meters on video yet on their site, so I had to settle for reading the stage coverage here. What a complete clusterfcuk.

I did the same for stage 4 today and the final 3k was cut off. Did they at least continue to show the race until the end today? If not, give me a break! Might as well just hand over all cycling coverage to Universal Sports.

 

[Anonymous]

Just as fast but lacks the high-def color. Justsfas bula THE COLORS.

Freaking HILARIOUS. I also noticed that every time Nigel Mansell would go by, I would taste orange gumdrops and hear tiny bells???!!! 1988 was a crazy year...

 

[Beech Mtn]

Watching Dauphine recap on Versus right now. Some highlights so far:

Phil has twice referred to "David" Navarro winning a stage.

They showed Jani and Alberto chatting and laughing prior to climbing Alpe d'Huez. About 5 seconds later, Phil referred to the "bad blood" between AC and JB.

When AC won Alpe d'Huez, but didnt drop Jani, Phil stated that it was a sign that Alberto was "not a man for the Tour." (I think he meant that AC was not in Tour form, but that is not what he said.)

 

[thehog]

Watching Dauphine recap on Versus right now. Some highlights so far:

Phil has twice referred to "David" Navarro winning a stage.

They showed Jani and Alberto chatting and laughing prior to climbing Alpe d'Huez. About 5 seconds later, Phil referred to the "bad blood" between AC and JB.

When AC won Alpe d'Huez, but didnt drop Jani, Phil stated that it was a sign that Alberto was "not a man for the Tour." (I think he meant that AC was not in Tour form, but that is not what he said.)

Phil just said Contador looks rusty and has no support. Paul had to jump in and say Astana is better than we all thought.

 

[red_flanders]

Phil just said Contador looks rusty and has no support. Paul had to jump in and say Astana is better than we all thought.

Hmm. Paul's been off-script a couple of times this week. Perhaps he's seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and is rejoining the reality brigade. Or to put it another way, figured out he's been backing a losing horse.

 

[Marva32]

I was watching the Tour de'Swiss coverage today, and I lost track of how many times Sherwin mentioned that Cavendish was going to try to keep with the front of the group and get a stage win "in revenge" for the incident yesterday?? WTF?? Was Cavendish a victim?

 

[bobs nob]

Hmm. Paul's been off-script a couple of times this week. Perhaps he's seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and is rejoining the reality brigade. Or to put it another way, figured out he's been backing a losing horse.

Maybe Lance didn't return his calls the morning after 1 too many times.

 

[Lances_Closet]

Lance vs Contador the Epic feud now on Versus.

They are re-writing history.

 

[Mainerider]

Are there any other viewing options in the US market? Pay per view or internet ? Versus sucks but I've always been under the impression that they're all we've got.

 

[amp300]

Are there any other viewing options in the US market? Pay per view or internet ? Versus sucks but I've always been under the impression that they're all we've got.

cyclingfans.com or steephill.tv are your best bets. They provide a bunch of links to live coverage from different countries. I recommend picking a japanese feed if one comes up.

 

[this_is_edie]

Lance vs Contador the Epic feud now on Versus.

They are re-writing history.

and soon, these 'new facts' will be repeated and posted here as truth. sigh.

 

[Publicus]

"Armstrong stayed back to protect Contador from an attack by Wiggans." (paraphrase)

 

[doublestandard]

Are there any other viewing options in the US market? Pay per view or internet ? Versus sucks but I've always been under the impression that they're all we've got.

If you're lucky and have TV5MONDE, they showed the TDF last year in the afternoon. It was obviously not live and maybe only 2 hours but it was the only way I could watch last year with the sound on.

I just checked and they will be showing it every afternoon this year, too.

http://www.tv5.org/locaux/usa/programmation.php?dateClick=03&date_jour=2010-07-03&genre=0

http://www.tv5.org/locaux/usa/pop_programme.php?id=275053