# Universal Sports Commentator?



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Alright, who is this guy? Two days and I've had about all I can take. He seems clueless to the race situation.

Today in the finale he kept talking about Armstrong possibly taking the jersey? 

He just said it again, after the finish, knowing that Petacchi was first and Farrar was second. Is he clueless that those guys are in front of Armstrong in the GC?


----------



## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

I don't know and I don't care. We're incredibly fortunate to have FREE, HIGH-QUALITY, COMMERCIAL-FREE Giro coverage while we work. 

You're right that he gets things incredibly wrong, but screw it, Go Universal Sports!


----------



## Mosovich (Feb 3, 2004)

*I second that...*

this sheet is the BOMB.. We'll be spoiled forever!!! UNIVERSAL ROCKS!! Versus? Who are they?:thumbsup:


----------



## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Dwayne Barry said:


> Alright, who is this guy? Two days and I've had about all I can take. He seems clueless to the race situation.
> 
> Today in the finale he kept talking about Armstrong possibly taking the jersey?
> 
> He just said it again, after the finish, knowing that Petacchi was first and Farrar was second. Is he clueless that those guys are in front of Armstrong in the GC?


 Yeah, mute the sound or just 'tune the guy out, like we did with Phil and Paul and those other guys on VS. At least we aren't getting 58 minutes of commercials for every two minutes of race footage. Great camera work, too. Exciting stage today, very enjoyable to watch and an interesting finishing course..
D. Hanson


----------



## 3rensho (Aug 26, 2003)

I too am torn between ripping their coverage and being really, really glad that someone picked up the coverage of the Giro. I've noticed that the commentators seem to lack in some basics for covering a sport. Like mispronouncing the names of racers or not really 'getting it'. 
I'd say I'm really glad I get to see the coverage and I that I didn't realize how much I liked Phil and Paul. Who'd have guessed we'd miss Bob Roll? I really think I might miss Bob Roll.


----------



## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

He is the guy who normally does the condensed version of each stage that is sent out for syndication. 

Just launch the Eurosport English commentary in another browser. The video from Universal is only about 20-30 seconds difference.

Regardless this is way better then Versus.


----------



## kbiker3111 (Nov 7, 2006)

I agree, free Giro coverage both online and on the tube is amazing. I'm hooked.

But I can't decide who's worse, the online announcer who can't keep track of how the race is going or the TV announcer who has yet to prounce an Italian syllable correctly. It is refreshing to have a break from Phil and Paul, though.


----------



## cyclejim (Mar 31, 2004)

I'll take this over the Amgen web coverage that Frankie Andreu and that other guy did for TOC anyday.


----------



## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

I think he likely knows what's going on but is catering to the US audience - probably got a talking point telling him to mention US riders every other sentence. Cycling is pretty tough on a commentator - sketchy info, following along on the feed, and in his case doing it solo. Personally, I'm a bit relieved to have a break from the versus crew...


----------



## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

Very grateful for the free coverage and on the internet, so I can watch when away from home. The commentary is less than stellar but they more than make up for that by being commercial free. The Versus coverage is watchable, only if you have a Tivo or DVR.


----------



## Jesse D Smith (Jun 11, 2005)

Dwayne Barry said:


> Alright, who is this guy? Two days and I've had about all I can take. He seems clueless to the race situation.
> 
> Today in the finale he kept talking about Armstrong possibly taking the jersey?
> 
> He just said it again, after the finish, knowing that Petacchi was first and Farrar was second. Is he clueless that those guys are in front of Armstrong in the GC?


I shared the same frustration. All he can do is parrot race radio, offering no insight on tactics. That's not his fault, he wasn't hired for an encyclopedic knowledge of the sport. But even so, it took me all of ten seconds to look at yesterday's GC and figure out who was in pink, who was second, etc. I guess I'll have to take another's suggestion and mute that window's sound and get Eurosport's audio going in another window.


----------



## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

The two commentators I do miss that know pro cycling are Anthony Crossen and Brian Smith from cycling.tv. But I don't miss the trainwreck that is cycling.tv and I'm very glad I didn't renew my subscription to cycling.tv at the start of 2009. 

It is such a pleasure to watch Universal Sports, it loads up quickly, and the feed is clear and uninterrupted. No Saab commercials. No boring human interest stories on Lance, Big George, or Dave Z. I'm sure eventually they will sort out their announcer situation if their data shows that there were enough viewers on their web site to watch the Giro.

We are going to be spoiled after 3 weeks watching this coverage, and there will be some serious Giro withdrawal a couple of Mondays from today.


----------



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Jesse D Smith said:


> I shared the same frustration. All he can do is parrot race radio, offering no insight on tactics. That's not his fault, he wasn't hired for an encyclopedic knowledge of the sport. But even so, it took me all of ten seconds to look at yesterday's GC and figure out who was in pink, who was second, etc. I guess I'll have to take another's suggestion and mute that window's sound and get Eurosport's audio going in another window.


Somebody's paid for him to be there at the Giro, but it's almost like he doesn't really follow bike racing beyond knowing the names of the big riders. Yesterday in the closing kms Garmin went to the front and he went thru most of their roster referencing who might get a result, but never mentioned Farrar!

Today he kept talking about GC guys in the final kms, almost like he isn't aware there are sprinters.

And he never seemed to grasp the significance of the GC guys who had missed the split and were back with Cavendish.

I'll probably do Eurosport or RAI feed and mute him tomorrow.


----------



## JaeP (Mar 12, 2002)

I get Universal Sports OTA. The commentators aren't that bad (Steve Schlanger and Todd Gogulski) but I do admit that I miss Phil and Paul (gaffs and all).


----------



## FondriestFan (May 19, 2005)

People always find stuff to whine about.

Free Giro coverage? Whine about the commentator. 

Good lord.


----------



## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

FondriestFan said:


> People always find stuff to whine about.
> 
> Free Giro coverage? Whine about the commentator.
> 
> Good lord.


 
. . . . . +1


----------



## Chef Tony (Mar 2, 2004)

JaeP said:


> I get Universal Sports OTA. The commentators aren't that bad (Steve Schlanger and Todd Gogulski) but I do admit that I miss Phil and Paul (gaffs and all).


Same here- the OTA announcers are doing OK. They seem to know some race history and tactics, and they keep up with the action. Their knowledge isn't as encyclopedic as Phil & Paul, but overall its WAY better than Versus; I don't even mind the ShamWow commercials.
Send the network some positive feedback and maybe they will pick up some more cycling; can't hurt!


----------



## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

It appears that the live internet stream has a different commentator. There is some British guy, the afternoon TV feed has two commentators?

The same Gogulski that rode on Coors Light years ago?


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

fornaca68 said:


> The two commentators I do miss that know pro cycling are Anthony Crossen and Brian Smith from cycling.tv. But I don't miss the trainwreck that is cycling.tv and I'm very glad I didn't renew my subscription to cycling.tv at the start of 2009. It is such a pleasure to watch Universal Sports. We are going to be spoiled after 3 weeks watching this coverage, and there will be some serious Giro withdrawal a couple of Mondays from today.


I agree with all that. The Universal coverage and their on-screen viewer is just great after many many sessions of hair-pulling, yelling and screaming at Cycling.TV. And just think, I paid over $100 per year for the privilege. 

Thank you Universal. For anyone who has yet to tune in, here it is -

www.universalsports.com/


----------



## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

Um ya, just having live streaming with any commentary is great for me. I was watching the TTT post-race on Saturday night with no commentary and much prefer anyone sounding like an idiot to no coverage, or no commentary at all!

Viva le Universal Sports


----------



## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I like the Universal Sports commentator. He's definitely in the David Duffield 'more chatty than insightful' camp of commentators, but he's also the first commentator I've ever heard who knows how to pronounce the names. Ah-jhay-duz-ahrr (AG2R) indeed! Viva Universal Sports!


----------



## pianopiano (Jun 4, 2005)

*I'm lovin' it*

I am very thankful that Universal Sports is broadcasting the Giro. Thank you Universal Sports! :thumbsup:


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Mapei said:


> I like the Universal Sports commentator.


I wish he wouldn't end most of his words with and additional 'a'. Justa likea thisa. Buta I suppose he's native Italiano, with a slight Brit accenta.


----------



## moabbiker (Sep 11, 2002)

I like the announcer, very clear, dynamic, and not clueless. He called out Cav was going to get dropped on that mini climb when things heated up and that's exactly what happened.


----------



## NextTime (Oct 13, 2007)

*Don't look a gift horse in the mouth*

Any media outlet that provides free streaming of cycling should be thanked. Universal Sports, keep it coming, I'm watching.


----------



## gh1 (Jun 7, 2008)

He knows Italy quite well, mentions all the buildings and sights. As long as they are showing the race I can figure the race out for myself. I am enjoying the Italy commentary.


----------



## tschramm (May 13, 2007)

*Commentator/Coverage*

+1 for the free no commercials coverage. Thank you Universal! I don't mind the guy commentating. I love Paul and Phil, but this guy is good too. They all get stuff wrong no matter who they work for. Chill and enjoy. It is much better than a 2 hour recap each Sunday like some other networks have provided in the past.


----------



## Chef Tony (Mar 2, 2004)

*tape loop?*

strange OTA broadcast of stage 3- a couple parts of the race were repeated during the 2 hr broadcast. And the tape cut instantly from 3k to go, to the finish sprint. very strange/sloppy edit- anyone else see that?


----------



## tron (Jul 18, 2004)

I like the commentators, I think I am sick of the phil/paul monopoly. The one guy is almost like a more informed trautwig and the other guy like a smarter Bob roll.


----------



## cyclelogic72 (Dec 1, 2006)

I find David Harmon on Eurosport (with Sean Kelly) to be very good. Harmon has a wide range of information at the ready--from cycling specific facts to interesting tidbits about the BWM motos of the cameracrews (I believe he covers MotoGP for Eurosport, too). Plus, his comments are notably cliche-free in ways that the aging Paul Sherwin's are certainly not. I get a substantial amount of buffering on the Universal feed so I mute it and run Eurosport audio. I'm grateful for both.


----------



## 97G8tr (Jul 31, 2007)

waaaaah waaaaah waaaaahhhh....be thankful and not a whiner.


----------



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

cyclelogic72 said:


> I find David Harmon on Eurosport (with Sean Kelly) to be very good. Harmon has a wide range of information at the ready--from cycling specific facts to interesting tidbits about the BWM motos of the cameracrews (I believe he covers MotoGP for Eurosport, too). Plus, his comments are notably cliche-free in ways that the aging Paul Sherwin's are certainly not. I get a substantial amount of buffering on the Universal feed so I mute it and run Eurosport audio. I'm grateful for both.


If only they were in-sync. I listened to Eurosport until the final climb and then switched back to the Uni guy. He is kinda entertaining in a what stupid thing is he going to say next way.

It just boggles my mind that you would hire someone and pay for him to go to the Giro who is obviously only familiar with cycling in the most superficial way, if at all.

I think I'll stick with Harmon and Kelly tomorrow, even if their comments are 20 seconds after what I've seen, they'll get the rider's names right and be insightful.


----------



## Crisi di fame (Oct 14, 2005)

I find it disconcerting that only two people mentioned cycling.tv. They were a small start up company that was trying to bring high quality, commercial free live AND even higher quality on demand coverage to the masses. Across the globe mind you, at a nominal cost. $100/year for ALL the spring classics, semi-classics a huge chunk of the Pro Tour calendar and up until now the Giro and Vuelta. 

Sure, CTV has had there ups and downs with technology but I think they are doing the best they can and have always been very responsive when I've emailed them for help. Sometimes servers get saturated and will not allow more streams, that's just life. I'm not saying that it doesn't make me extremely angry when I have paid good money to watch something on demand and I can't get access to the data but 98% of the time I have no problem at all. It should be 99.9% but that's not always possible.

Another thing, each and every company that broadcasts cycling races takes their feed from the same source. US, VS, Eurosport and CTV all get their feed from RAI or the Belgian TV companies during the Classics or the French companies during le Tour. The Eurosport and Cycling TV guys are in London watching the same images as we are. The VS studio is in Connecticut I think. US is probably in LA or NY. So, it's not VS fault when the coverage of the race is bad, they are just relaying the images from the host country's production feed to your computer or television.

Just today I saw that Garmin/Slipstream have teamed up with Universal for a pay per view Giro package for $35 or $4 per stage. I have a feeling that we won't be watching the Giro for free online on Universal next year. 

Don't get me wrong, free OTA or as packaged Cable channel coverage and the free online coverage is AWESOME and I'm glad to have it. I just don't have access to the OTA or TV coverage in my area. 

Also as a small business owner in retail and IT I am saddened to see that the big deep pocketed US/NBC out bid CTV. That's the free market and I accept it but I miss Anthony and Brian and even more so Martin and Big Maggie Backstead. Magnus was the best commentator I've heard yet. I do like David and Sean Kelly from Eurosport but to have a currently racing (albeit on a very small Continental development squad) pro, like Magnus commentating was just fantastic. He knows a lot of the current Pro's personally gave great insight to current racing life. Priceless.

I also just found out from Garmin/Slipstream that the pay per view package they are offering is for an upgraded stream which is streamed at a higher bit rate then the downgraded US version. However, this is only for the live stream and does not include On Demand viewing.

We're living in interesting times and I hope our overall access continues to improve. I always find it laughable when I read about all the *****ing about VS. when they are the only game in town. What people have to remember is that they are a business and are only providing content which will increase their bottom line. The Tour de France brings in a ton of advertising revenue that's why there are some many commercials and that's how they pay for the rights to bring us the coverage. Be grateful that you can watch it. Plus in this age of Tivo/DVR why would anyone complain about a commercial when you can fast forward past it in about five seconds?

Sorry for the long post I just feel passionately about this subject.

Cheers,

Sean


----------



## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

The problem with CyclingTV is that they couldn't deliver. If their service hadn't have required you to pay up-front, it would have just been annoying. But because they demanded that folks put up $$$ beforehand, the annoyance rose to a whole 'nother level. 

I personally found CyclingTV to be spectacularly frustrating. It was impossible to be grateful for the product they delivered. While Universal Sports is far from perfect, they're paradise by comparison.


----------



## coreyb (Aug 4, 2003)

Crisi di fame said:


> Plus in this age of Tivo/DVR why would anyone complain about a commercial when you can fast forward past it in about five seconds?


Because I prefer to watch actual content? Even if I fast forward past commercials, that's still time not spent watching the race


----------



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Mapei said:


> The problem with CyclingTV is that they couldn't deliver. If their service hadn't have required you to pay up-front, it would have just been annoying. But because they demanded that folks put up $$$ beforehand, the annoyance rose to a whole 'nother level.
> 
> I personally found CyclingTV to be spectacularly frustrating. It was impossible to be grateful for the product they delivered. While Universal Sports is far from perfect, they're paradise by comparison.


I was with them from the very beginning until this spring and I finally gave up after experiencing more tech frustration early this year.

It's just not worth it, especially in light of the fact that you can reliably get live internet coverage of any race you want to see now.


----------



## giovanni sartori (Feb 5, 2004)

Dwayne Barry said:


> I was with them from the very beginning until this spring and I finally gave up after experiencing more tech frustration early this year.
> 
> It's just not worth it, especially in light of the fact that you can reliably get live internet coverage of any race you want to see now.


Cycling.tv is a spectacularly poorly run company with one of the worst technical offerings, scratch that, the worst technical offering I have ever experienced. They deserve no sympathy, empathy, or gratuity. Their incompetence will be talked about on many a cycling board for years to come. They failed in every aspect one can fail at, and to think they had such a captive audience. Their website is horrible, their stream choppy or likely non-existent, their customer care on a perpetual tea break, their auto-renewal policy bordering on fraud. I don't give them credit for trying, they're not 16 year olds at a track meet. They are a business that accepted money in return for live streaming of cycling races. They failed. They failed worse than bababooey throwing out the first pitch at a Mets game. They should hang their heads in shame and their failure should be discussed in Business schools for the next millenia. They had years to fix their issues. Years.


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

giovanni sartori said:


> Cycling.tv is a spectacularly poorly run company with one of the worst technical offerings, scratch that, the worst technical offering I have ever experienced. They deserve no sympathy, empathy, or gratuity. Their incompetence will be talked about on many a cycling board for years to come. They failed in every aspect one can fail at, and to think they had such a captive audience. Their website is horrible, their stream choppy or likely non-existent, their customer care on a perpetual tea break, their auto-renewal policy bordering on fraud. I don't give them credit for trying, they're not 16 year olds at a track meet. They are a business that accepted money in return for live streaming of cycling races. They failed. They failed worse than bababooey throwing out the first pitch at a Mets game. They should hang their heads in shame and their failure should be discussed in Business schools for the next millenia. They had years to fix their issues. Years.


They're worse than that. :blush2: 

Universal should poach all the commentary guys from CTV - McCrossans, Brian & Maggie. They're the *only* good thing about CTV.


----------



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Mike T. said:


> They're worse than that. :blush2:
> 
> Universal should poach all the commentary guys from CTV - McCrossans, Brian & Maggie. They're the *only* good thing about CTV.


Agree 100%, I feel sorry for those guys.


----------



## giovanni sartori (Feb 5, 2004)

Dwayne Barry said:


> Agree 100%, I feel sorry for those guys.


You know what? I can't comment on the above because I never received a quality stream where I could judge them as announcers.


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Dwayne Barry said:


> Agree 100%, I feel sorry for those guys.


If Universal don't know how to contact Martin McCrossan they can contact him  *HERE!*


----------



## doctor855 (Dec 27, 2008)

i have to remind the OP of the girl that did the interviews on Versus during the ToC.


----------



## identifiler (Dec 24, 2005)

''I like the announcer, very clear, dynamic, and not clueless.''

Ha ha, today, after the uphill sprint he was saying: -let's see, Armstrong could be in the maglia rosa. hahahaha ya right... after everyone had passed.

I mean he has good culture, he has great accent, his french is impecable, same for his Italian but he really lacks in race action and tactics. He also has little knowledge of the racers, must rely on racer numbers a lot. 
You can kind see Soler by a mile and it took him 15 seconds of paper scrambling to get the name... A real race commentator would just see Barlo, climb, long legged dark guy = Soler. That being said, a mix of McCrossan and the Universal guy would make great team during the race. This might be the main issue is that the guy is alone, single commentator is always a problem.

Now please, one thing that would have me drop the Giro in a second is to have Andreux and the other ToC buffon, now that was a joke, including the god awful camera work, amateurs !


----------



## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

*Wtf?*



Gnarly 928 said:


> Yeah, mute the sound or just 'tune out like we did with Phil and Paul .


I really hope that was a joke, Phil and Paul (more Phil) are LEGENDS of commentary of cycling over the last 15-20 years - you ignorant...(if it wasnt a joke that is!)


----------



## Wborgers (Oct 6, 2008)

Cycling TV was so lame I couldn't even get signed up- tried lke 4 times and finally thought- woah if they can't take $$$$ the feed probably doesn't work- sorry to hear I was right!


----------



## rensho (Aug 5, 2003)

Can you get this on DTV, or is it only OTA? Asking for a friend. I have OTA, and just found it today and am luvin it!


----------



## JaeP (Mar 12, 2002)

*Arrrrrgh!*

My Universal OTA signal was down all day! The analog signal is fine but the digital signal is nada. I hope they fix it soon.


----------



## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

these two guys make me feel like a racing tactician.

that being said, i wont look this gift horse in teh mouth anymore. they had some pretty good telephone interviews during the coverage today. that is a great way of getting through the longer portions of a race. they had vandvelde and hampsten. those are two pretty big scores.

i did miss the post race interviews today.


----------



## hawker12 (Oct 19, 2003)

First, I way impressed with the video quality on my computer that Universal is providing. I think I'll send them an e-mail thanking them. 

Second, where are Phil and Paul? Versus isn't covering the Giro so are they working somewhere else?


----------



## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Something about a road race without Phil feels odd. I dunno, not bad but not great. I really wish they were broadcasting in 16:9 high def, but I can live with it.


----------



## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

doctor855 said:


> i have to remind the OP of the girl that did the interviews on Versus during the ToC.


What? That espresso comment was pure, raw TALENT. 




Ehhhhh


----------



## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

I'm very glad to have any coverage at all (I didn't even know about US until right before my group ride lastnight) but the thing that really gets me is that all he did was talk a little bit about the race leaders and then go "And heres Lance Armstrong --- looks like he may be getting tired --- getting out of the saddle there. He may still get the Jersey today." I can get past that though. Just glad to be able to see it and not have to read about it.


----------



## TWD (Feb 9, 2004)

waldo425 said:


> I'm very glad to have any coverage at all (I didn't even know about US until right before my group ride lastnight) but the thing that really gets me is that all he did was talk a little bit about the race leaders and then go "And heres Lance Armstrong --- looks like he may be getting tired --- getting out of the saddle there. He may still get the Jersey today." I can get past that though. Just glad to be able to see it and not have to read about it.


I don't fault him for that. When an attack goes off the front of the lead group a couple K out on the finishing climb, and the video feed immediatelycuts away to zoom in on LA riding tempo 3 minutes OTB, what is he supposed to say? 

As a solo commentator, he's got a lot of air time to fill, and when the camera keeps repeatedly cutting back to LA and zooming in on him, he's got a choice of dead air time or having to banter on about LA.


----------



## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

TWD said:


> I don't fault him for that. When an attack goes off the front of the lead group a couple K out on the finishing climb, and the video feed immediatelycuts away to zoom in on LA riding tempo 3 minutes OTB, what is he supposed to say?
> 
> As a solo commentator, he's got a lot of air time to fill, and when the camera keeps repeatedly cutting back to LA and zooming in on him, he's got a choice of dead air time or having to banter on about LA.


Thats a valid point. I guess I was just getting used to Phil and Paul, who had a lot of things to say. In retrospect the US guy isn't too bad at all really.


----------



## ziggurat22 (Jul 13, 2005)

Other posters have already mentioned it, but please, if you like the coverage, definitely let them know with a nice email. IMO, they're doing a great job so far.


----------



## Landsharkian WTF (May 21, 2009)

*Fix It*

Ok... the actual footage of the Giro, I have to admit, is great... better than Versus. BUT... whoever this Craig/ Steve character is... are they idiot savants without the savant part? Why would you hire somebody who obviously doesn't know anything about bike racing, let alone the fact that he is pronouncing Italian words with a fake French accent? Also, why does he have to yell every time there is an accident, a sprint finish, an attack... is he just excited to be seeing these for the first time? At least Todd was a bike racer, knows what a bike is and has some grasp/ love of the sport. And lastly, the Versus crew (less Craig) should have been hired by these guys and they would have the best coverage ever. The editors from Versus suck, the commentator from US sucks, so if you take the sucky parts out and combine the good parts, then maybe it would be perfect!! WOW... I am a producer... isn't this what producers do?


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Landsharkian WTF said:


> Ok... the actual footage of the Giro, I have to admit, is great... better than Versus. BUT... whoever this Craig/ Steve character is...


He's much better than the guy that did the first week. But today he said that Lance "discarded some extra clothing" when we all saw Lance take a musette, empty it and throw it away. Where was the announcer looking?


----------



## hawker12 (Oct 19, 2003)

Mike T. said:


> He's much better than the guy that did the first week. But today he said that Lance "discarded some extra clothing" when we all saw Lance take a musette, empty it and throw it away. Where was the announcer looking?


Yep, I caught that too. Maybe he didn't see him pick up the bag and just saw the throw-away? 

How often do you see riders take food during a time trial....??


----------



## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

Dwayne Barry said:


> Alright, who is this guy? Two days and I've had about all I can take. He seems clueless to the race situation.
> 
> Today in the finale he kept talking about Armstrong possibly taking the jersey?
> 
> He just said it again, after the finish, knowing that Petacchi was first and Farrar was second. Is he clueless that those guys are in front of Armstrong in the GC?


Do yourself a BIG favor.

Turn the volume OFF on him , and go to steephill.tv , and turn on the Eurosport Audio feed.


----------



## Landsharkian WTF (May 21, 2009)

*Culo*

Up his ....? LOL !! Where's BOB?


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

hawker12 said:


> Yep, I caught that too. Maybe he didn't see him pick up the bag and just saw the throw-away?


Yebbut when do people discard clothes in a TT? Never?



> How often do you see riders take food during a time trial....??


Same as above - never. That was a first. I think it was mostly a bottle. Enough gels could be easily carried for 100 minutes of riding and handing up just a bottle on the fly is too risky.

But Paul & Phil make comments that make me wonder whether we're both watching the same vid feed sometimes.


----------



## Landsharkian WTF (May 21, 2009)

*So...*

If the guy made 1(one) mistake ok, but the guy has NO IDEA what he is saying 99.99999999999 of the time! LOL https://forums.roadbikereview.com/images/smilies/tongue.gifno way he should be commentating about bike racing, HE is ruing otherwise GREAT coverage, simple..


----------



## tron (Jul 18, 2004)

Landsharkian WTF said:


> Also, why does he have to yell every time there is an accident, a sprint finish, an attack... is he just excited to be seeing these for the first time?


I am not defending it but Phil does the same thing. He even starts yelling when people go off the back and he thinks they are going on a break and then gets confused.


----------



## millennium (Apr 3, 2002)

bas said:


> Turn the volume OFF on him , and go to steephill.tv , and turn on the Eurosport Audio feed.


Great idea! Thanks.


----------



## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

God, it's not that bad. For a while there I didn't think that I would even be able to watch the Giro this year. I've caught some of the same things, like the musette and calling other Astana riders Lance Armstrong, but it is not that bad. Cut the guy some slack.


----------



## Landsharkian WTF (May 21, 2009)

He thinks that LLAANNNCE is still gonna win!! He thinks(I honestly believe) that these races were invented for LLLAANNNCE. He knows NO history of the racers or the races. Again the actual footage is great, Steve/Craig( with VS) are really just extremely poor choices, made by the producers, why I can't figure. What if they were commentating the Tour... Oh my god!! That would be the worst.


----------



## moonmoth (Nov 8, 2008)

The Universal announcing team is not new to cycling. They've done past events, such as Georgia and Missouri
These cycling announcers (Phil and Paul, too) are at a disadvantage because they don't control the camera and have to watch it just like us, and announce at the same time. Mistakes are going to happen!
Other announcing teams make mistakes too. Yes, even those guys on cycling.tv
If you're going to micro-criticize announcers, cycling could be the wrong sport for you to follow. 
I'm stoked that I get to see the Giro at all, and even more so with English announcers. And I don't have to fumble with browsers, plugins, breakages, freezes, and choppiness associated with the usual online cycling-viewing experience. What a great race this has been.
Even if you prefer Phil and Paul (I do), what will you do when they are gone? Don't you want to see some other announcing talent develop? It's got to start somewhere.


----------



## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I enjoy the new Universal Sports commentator. He's more dry than the previous guy, and he commits the single mispronunciation I most hate -- it's bru-se-GEEN (with a hard g), not bru-SHAY-gen (what is he, a Russian?) -- but he's got a sly sense of humor and is quite articulate. Given my druthers, I'd rather have the other guy, but this guy's fine. 

And all the commentators make mistakes. Constantly. Especially Phil and Paul. It's just that Phil and Paul have a fabulous rhythm to their coverage. They bounce off each other (not c0de) superbly. And Phil is absolutely beyond compare when it comes to conveying the excitement of a final sprint or the cresting of a hill. Truly the gold standard.


----------



## Kenacycle (May 28, 2006)

Props to the commentator who is doing this solo and constantly trying to find something to say for 3 hours. I often fall asleep watching it, and wake up hearing he's still talking. That's a pretty amazing, I am sure he wants to shut up once in awhile or even fall asleep himself.

I do kinda get annoyed with the guy pronounce every single italian words perfectly; you sense he really enjoys saying those words. He says the city names and riders name with the perfect accent.
Oh and he loves to say "pelatun"


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

kdub said:


> Props to the commentator who is doing this solo and constantly trying to find something to say for 3 hours. I often fall asleep watching it, and wake up hearing he's still talking. That's a pretty amazing, I am sure he wants to shut up once in awhile or even fall asleep himself.
> 
> I do kinda get annoyed with the guy pronounce every single italian words perfectly; you sense he really enjoys saying those words. He says the city names and riders name with the perfect accent.
> Oh and he loves to say "pelatun"


Now we know how much we've taken Phil & Paul for granted all these years at the TdF - and Bob R for that matter. At least they have each other to fall back on when they just can't think of anything to say (which isn't often). And they don't try to adopt a fake Italiano accent for all the place names and riders. That's appreciated too.

But they KNOW racing strategy and we know they know it. We can tell a fake a mile off.

The Universal guy is doing an acceptable job though. It can't be easy doing it all by himself. I've been watching pro road racing for decades but I'd last two minutes trying to do his job. I'd walk out before I was thrown out.


----------



## pedalruns (Dec 18, 2002)

Some of you guys whine too much.... 

I like universal sports quite a bit.... Discovered it when I bought a digitial converter box months ago for my rabbit ears... loved the cross country ski coverage, downhill and other winter sports... and now cycling.. I hope they keep covering the cycling... The live stream is excellent as well... Thanks Universal sports!!! (all though I miss phil and paul, but the universal sports guys are fine with me)


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

pedalruns said:


> universal sports......I hope they keep covering the cycling...


They have a listing for cycling coverage for the rest of the year.


----------



## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Mike T. said:


> And they don't try to adopt a fake Italiano accent for all the place names and riders.


Wha? Ooo leeky eat jwen peeepleskul misPROnunch storff??? 

That new guy's accent is pretty spot on...except when it comes to CuNEIGHgo, BruSHAYgun, and a couple other words. It's a pleasure to hear...though the guy who did the first week was much better, accent-wise. I like the guy's regular British accent, too. Sort of like a cleaned up Mick Jagger.


----------



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Mike T. said:


> It can't be easy doing it all by himself.


It would help a lot if he could identify riders and understood tactics. He's not a bad commentator for filling air time, if they paired him with somebody who understood and followed bike racing closely it wouldn't be bad at all.


----------



## Beethoven (Jul 28, 2005)

I think he's getting better by the day. Until yesterday he couldn't pronounce Cervelo, today he could, so he obviously gets feedback and works on stuff. The last two days his commentary on tactics were spot on.
Watching the last hours of the race unfold--like today--is priceless. I just hope it stays that way.


----------



## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

There are no commercials on the internet feed. I don't know what the live tv is like, but if they stay with cycling I'm going to get an antenna. The guy can fart into his microphone for all I care if his production cost prevents BORN FROM JETS. 

Hell at the end of the day if they ask me to donate or something I'd easily kick them 20 bucks for the experience they've given so far. Easily.


----------



## The_Boy (Oct 25, 2005)

Irregular speaking pattern and enunciating the end of every abbreviated sentance = bleeding ears


----------



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

The_Boy said:


> Irregular speaking pattern and enunciating the end of every abbreviated sentance = bleeding ears


I see (hear!) the annoying guy is back again. What happened to the normal speaking guy we had for a few days?


----------



## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

At first I didn't really like the commentators but I must say that they have really grown on me.


----------



## awesometown (May 23, 2005)

Maybe I'm missing something here, but are there different commentators on the web feed and the Universal TV feed? They British guy that does the live commentary on the web feed every morning has been dry but good, able to spot people and be informative enough without droning on and on. 

I tried dvr-ing the Universal TV coverage but I stopped after the TT when the commentator said "some of the racers have decided to wear their aero hats today..." 

While I am 100% super overjoyed that there is a good American broadcast of the race, that doesn't mean that we should just take whatever they throw at us and say thank you. They are in the entertainment biz and should be working as hard as possible to make their broadcast fun to watch. Would they let someone call a basketball game if he couldn't tell a laker from a knick? No way.

Most people who will seek out giro coverage will go the extra step to get the eurosport broadcast online if they want to.


----------

