# OLN Predictions



## Utah CragHopper (May 9, 2003)

We need predictions on just how bad OLN's primetime hoopla is going to be. 

Judging by the last Road to the Tour show, my prediction is that it will make American Olympic coverage look good by comparison. Is that even possible?

Suck scale:
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
1----2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9---10
|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|

My prediction: At least a 9.5.


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## Old_school_nik (May 21, 2002)

*If they would just velcro bobke's hands to the desk that would be a start*

then, put the spandex tank top back on Kirsten Gum - and limit the number of stupid metaphors that Al Trautwig is allowed to use to 2 per broadcast...

But at least they will be featuring lotsof coverage, as I have said many time son these boards - it beats the 1980's tour coverage which consisted of the New York Times 1 inch table of top ten stage and GC from 2 DAYS ago!

So I guess I not complaining, even though I am complaining 

-Niko

PS my scale rating on the suck scale is a solid 9 if OLN doesn' inclorporate my suggestions above


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## bill105 (Mar 19, 2003)

ingrates. turn the volume down and suck it up. oln increases their total cycling coverage every year and people still complain. how about 24/7 bull rasslin? that make you happy?
i'm with you on the spandex but wouldnt a cotton t shirt and water hose be better?


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

If their prime time coverage sucks but no one watches it, does it still suck? I only plan on watching THE RACE, live in the morning. Whatever else they want to do is just trees falling in the forest that don't make a sound.


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## cbass (Nov 14, 2001)

*whaaaaaah!*

whine, *****, moan, complain

What (specifically) do you think is going to be so bad about OLN's Tour coverage?

What (specifically) would you do to improve TV coverage of the Tour de France?


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## Bocephus Jones (Feb 3, 2004)

mohair_chair said:


> If their prime time coverage sucks but no one watches it, does it still suck? I only plan on watching THE RACE, live in the morning. Whatever else they want to do is just trees falling in the forest that don't make a sound.


Since I have a job and no Tivo I plan on watching the prime time coverage. In fact I almost prefer it. They edit out the boring stuff and focus on the highlights and then provide wrapup afterwards with previews of the next stage. I think they do a great job, but am a bit sick of the lack of commercial variety and the Lance worship. I heard they are having a hard time getting their commercial slots filled. You'd think people like Shimano, Giant and the like would be beating down their doors to get spots, but evident;y the big S says it's too expensive and Giant is pissed that Trek is shown too often on OLN.


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## mmoose (Apr 2, 2004)

*Oln*

What a great time we are in...we could be getting ESPN's 5 minute coverage spread out to fill a half hour slot. 

As long as they don't have the Duffer, I will watch. Phil and Paul are OK...Phil may miss something occasionally (mis ID a rider or call Lemond's 90 final TT the "ride of his life" to bring back Chiapucci...after his 8 second miracle over Fignon ?!?!? sorry can't forgive that...) But, they speak to the average person and average rider well. The wife can follow them. We who ride and race and follow racing and daily read cyclingnews and 5 other online new sites and have the subscriptions to Cycle Sport and print out the rider list at start time so we can identify riders faster than Phil...well, we can be content knowing better. 

As for live vs. recorded...it depends on who you are. I can't help but follow the stage live on the web. Also some stages lose too much on the nightly edited version for me...the 2001 l'Alpe stage over (with 'the look') is an example that lost too much between the live and edited version.

But, if anyone has a major problem, go to the OLN forums and spout there...there will be more of a chance of improvement then...


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## izibo (Jul 2, 2004)

I agree completely... I hate Al and while Bob Roll has his moments, he irks me just the same...

But hell, I think the morning coverage with Phil and Paul is the best out there.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*just shows ya*

whose cup is half empty and whose is half full. Let's see
OLN's Lancecentric Tour coverage with Phil, Paul, Bobke and MS Gum
live in the A.M., replayed 2-3x a day in various forms

or


abc/espn Lancecentric 20 minute weekend update where they fill most of the 20 minutes with human interest.


or

most importantly,' living in a Van Down by the River!', or a cardboard box searching trashcans for food
or sub-saharan Africa where you are so hungry and tired you can't brush the fly off your eyeball.

some people just are never satisfied. It's not too late to buy a satellite dish so you can get Eurosport's coverage maybe then you can find solace

in other words
"Lighten up Francis", your bike collections are worth more than 70% of the worlds yearly salary for a family of 6.


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## pitt83 (Apr 1, 2003)

*Word!*

in other words
"Lighten up Francis", your bike collections are worth more than 70% of the worlds yearly salary for a family of 6.[/QUOTE]

Right on! I mean, think about your station in life. I once read an interestinmg book , "The real cost". Enlightening. An American house cat has a better standard of living that the average citizen of 8 nations world wide.

Keep it real and step back sometimes for a wider view. OLN's coverage doesn't make or break anything significant.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*cast 3 votes for sanity*

and American Housecats in some 3rd world households would be fat enough to eat.

just remember your worst day is better than 90% of the worlds best

just happy to be alive, healthy and able to ride.

oh yeah and for all of this

(especially the 2024 U23 womens Nat'l cx champ pictured in the foreground)


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I enjoy the heck out of OLN's coverage, warts, b.s. and all. My only genuine beef is with the quality of the video feed. With any luck the vid quality will be better this year, but in years past it's looked as if it was bounced off Mars on the way to my satellite dish. Faded. Blurry. Snowy. What's worse, you only had to watch a fragment of CBS's weekend wrap-ups to realize how good the feed coming out of France really was.


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## wongsifu_mk (Mar 5, 2002)

*Bobke's hands have a mind of their own.*

Man, I thought I was the only one annoyed with those unrelated (mouth says "five", but hand puts up TWO fingers, then hands move to praying position) hand gestures. Have you noticed Kirsten slowly mimicking that stuff? 

Seriously, though, I'm glad to get anything, bad or good, cycling related on air. Yeah, complaints about "Tooor Day France" and Lance-waxing are "usually" founded, but in the end, I'd rather have that than nothing at all, or worse, the CBS coverage. 

After all, OLN/Tour is half the reason I got satellite service.


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## reklar (Mar 15, 2003)

*please no more trautwig*

Coverage will be quite slanted in favor of LA. Even Bobke is wearing a yellow bracelet these days. That's sort of to be expected, as their audience is primarily US, etc., etc. But please, get rid of Al Trautwig. This guy is horrible. Put him on figure skating or something.


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## Utah CragHopper (May 9, 2003)

reklar said:


> But please, get rid of Al Trautwig.


Things could be worse. Does the name Sam Posey ring a bell?


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## Utah CragHopper (May 9, 2003)

mmoose said:


> Phil and Paul are OK...Phil may miss something occasionally (mis ID a rider or call Lemond's 90 final TT the "ride of his life" to bring back Chiapucci...after his 8 second miracle over Fignon ?!?!? sorry can't forgive that...) But, they speak to the average person and average rider well. The wife can follow them. We who ride and race and follow racing and daily read cyclingnews and 5 other online new sites and have the subscriptions to Cycle Sport and print out the rider list at start time so we can identify riders faster than Phil...well, we can be content knowing better.


Phil and Paul are great. Anyone who thinks they can do better should turn the sound off and attempt to do a running commentary. 

The live show is the only one to watch or record.

Bob Roll's (off) color commentary is good for the Giro but during the Tour he has his nose so far up LA's backside it's worthless. He would make one hell of a rapper; he's got the hand gestures down already.

Making a whole show where the Gummer follows a handful of fans who either have severe cases of ADD or are hopped up on Red Bull? Yeah, that's going to be a winner.


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## rollinrob (Dec 8, 2002)

reklar said:


> Coverage will be quite slanted in favor of LA. Even Bobke is wearing a yellow bracelet these days. That's sort of to be expected, as their audience is primarily US, etc., etc. But please, get rid of Al Trautwig. This guy is horrible. Put him on figure skating or something.


 Yeah, lets not forget who was hosting last year, Kirsten Gum.. We could have her back this year. Would you like that better....


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## AcesFull (Jun 10, 2003)

*Maybe*

Did you watch the TdF preview last night? If not, don't worry, it'll come on 20 more times.

Anywho, she looked hammered whilst interviewing some American group of fans. It was perfect for her...




rollinrob said:


> Yeah, lets not forget who was hosting last year, Kirsten Gum.. We could have her back this year. Would you like that better....


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## crankee (Aug 2, 2003)

*A vote for Al*



reklar said:


> Coverage will be quite slanted in favor of LA. Even Bobke is wearing a yellow bracelet these days. That's sort of to be expected, as their audience is primarily US, etc., etc. But please, get rid of Al Trautwig. This guy is horrible. Put him on figure skating or something.


What exactly is wrong with Al Trautwig???

If OLN's mgmt sez there has to be a 'host', Big Al is fine in my book. He's a seasoned pro - he's done this kind of stuff for years. Geez - just look back at a sample of OLN's host choices from years past - Bob (WTF??) Varsha, Bill (talking head) Patrick and Kirsten (Duhhh) Gum. You'd rather have any of these 'blasts from the past' as host? Not me. Give Al a chance - he's good at this. 

As far as OLN's cycling coverage being Lance-centric, whaddya expect? He's making cycling history. 

GO LANCE!


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## Nat (Feb 22, 2004)

AcesFull said:


> Did you watch the TdF preview last night? If not, don't worry, it'll come on 20 more times.
> 
> Anywho, she looked hammered whilst interviewing some American group of fans. It was perfect for her...


Hammered enough to actually ask a stunned Hans Rey, "So if I were to lie back across this chair, could you jump me right now?"


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## xcmntgeek (Aug 24, 2002)

bill105 said:


> i'm with you on the spandex but wouldnt a cotton t shirt and water hose be better?


Nah, just topless. And mute. How many beers did she have during that Hans Ray interview? Doesn't she already have a DWI on record?


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## reklar (Mar 15, 2003)

rollinrob said:


> Yeah, lets not forget who was hosting last year, Kirsten Gum.. We could have her back this year. Would you like that better....


Yup, anything is better than Trautwig. And Kirsten has improved.


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## reklar (Mar 15, 2003)

crankee said:


> What exactly is wrong with Al Trautwig???
> 
> If OLN's mgmt sez there has to be a 'host', Big Al is fine in my book. He's a seasoned pro - he's done this kind of stuff for years. Geez - just look back at a sample of OLN's host choices from years past - Bob (WTF??) Varsha, Bill (talking head) Patrick and Kirsten (Duhhh) Gum. You'd rather have any of these 'blasts from the past' as host? Not me. Give Al a chance - he's good at this.
> 
> ...


Did you see any of the Armstrong's Five or whatever it was called? Horrible, horrible, horrible. I'd rather have Kirsten put that together.


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## JBF (Feb 6, 2002)

*Stop *****ing - At least you can get OLN !!*

I live in the largest media market in America and subscribe to the local cable monopoly, Cablevision. NO OLN at any price!! I called to ask last month and got an arrogant jerk saying someday they may start carrying OLN on their top-tier, high definition programing - read $100/mo.

F them. I find your compaints about OLN coverage overblown given there are a large number of us with no viable option to watch the tour at all. I've been searching my 100+ stations tonight (care of Cablevision) and found more rediculous sports being covered than I can mention (is poker a sport?), but no Tour coverage. The closest I found was a Cheryl Crow concert on PBS.

Be glad you get it...


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## reklar (Mar 15, 2003)

JBF said:


> I live in the largest media market in America and subscribe to the local cable monopoly, Cablevision. NO OLN at any price!! I called to ask last month and got an arrogant jerk saying someday they may start carrying OLN on their top-tier, high definition programing - read $100/mo.
> 
> F them. I find your compaints about OLN coverage overblown given there are a large number of us with no viable option to watch the tour at all. I've been searching my 100+ stations tonight (care of Cablevision) and found more rediculous sports being covered than I can mention (is poker a sport?), but no Tour coverage. The closest I found was a Cheryl Crow concert on PBS.
> 
> Be glad you get it...


Chill. I am glad I get it. Sucks for you that you don't. It could be better though. Seems like you should be able to get it through direct tv.


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## mmoose (Apr 2, 2004)

*retreaction...*

Prolog, Phil and Paul mentioning last minute substitution...Paul recall's Bob Roll's crash in the preface nicely...but then Phil rewords it just a second later...ok, I'm just being picky....

But then completely blowing it on the Rogers crash...I've not seen too many crashes but it was obvious to me that he pedal'ed out on the corner...even when the French feed circled the pedal, they could not see it. D'oh!

Ok, they are busy, trying to listen to the race feed in thier ear pieces, co-ordinating bathroom breaks between them or such....tough job to do...I'd miss British accents anyway...Stage 1 was much better...ok, calm now, thanks...


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## Nat (Feb 22, 2004)

mmoose said:


> it was obvious to me that he pedal'ed out on the corner...even when the French feed circled the pedal, they could not see it. D'oh!


I saw that too. It was pretty obvious on my 32" flat screen but maybe those guys only have a small monitor to look at.


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## BergMann (Mar 14, 2004)

*Hate to break it to you...*

but Phil & Paul on OLN are the best thing going in English language cycling commentary.
They blow doors on the jokers (Duffield & co.) that Eurosport pays to blather on about French cheese during key moments of the race. 

For that matter, OLN's coverage is heads and shoulders above Eurosport's German and French commentary as well. No better soporific!

I really honestly can't believe that people are complaining that they occasionally mis-identify a rider. There are 188 guys in this race, and with helmets, they all look even _more_ alike.
Be honest now: do you really think that without OLN's coverage, you'd even know what half the peloton looks like?
What is more, OLN's commentators have _no_ influence over the images they are getting from the French. This isn't the NFL where you can get an alternate camera angle or cue the producer for a zoom. Phil & Paul are constantly having to guess at what their French producers are throwing at them.

As for OLN's mixed bag of supplementary programming:
Let's face it, Trautwig's sonorous voice & Gum's vapid, beaming face are the price we pay for being a part of an American media demographic.
There is no such thing as a major sporting spectacle without a healthy dose of hoopla.
And yes, Trautwig is a _big_ step up from the cleueless cheesehead with the hair helmet they had last year.

I agree that there's always room for improvement, but I'm curious -- for those dissatisfied with Paul & Phil, what sportcasting standards are you holding them up against? Charles Barkley's eloquent basketball exposition?


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## reklar (Mar 15, 2003)

BergMann said:


> And yes, Trautwig is a _big_ step up from the cleueless cheesehead with the hair helmet they had last year.
> 
> I agree that there's always room for improvement, but I'm curious -- for those dissatisfied with Paul & Phil, what sportcasting standards are you holding them up against? Charles Barkley's eloquent basketball exposition?


Agreeing with much of your post, but these last two bits bothered me...who is the cheesehead? Roll? Gum? 

Barkley is actually a great color guy. Pretty much the best. Very entertaining...not always the most insightful, but honest and funny as hell. The team with Ernie, Kenny and Charles is top notch. Ernie plays the straight man, Kenny the analyst with flair and Charles the comedian. Perfect. Now that I think about it cycling has (had) a very similar setup wiith Liggett, Sherwen and Roll.


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## crankee (Aug 2, 2003)

*Glad that Gummy has been reassigned*



reklar said:


> Did you see any of the Armstrong's Five or whatever it was called? Horrible, horrible, horrible. I'd rather have Kirsten put that together.


Yeah, I saw some of the Lance Five whatever show and it's not good IMO. It was apparently thrown together and isn't worthy to record for posterity. With that said, I doubt very seriously that the host has much, if any, say into the content of these types of shows. 

Listen, Gummy is eye candy at best. From what I've seen of her during the TdF '04 she's best suited for the sideshow crap. Actually she's not bad at the travelogue stuff - maybe she ought to jump ship to the Travel Channel.


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## BergMann (Mar 14, 2004)

*thoroughly repressed*



reklar said:


> Agreeing with much of your post, but these last two bits bothered me...who is the cheesehead? Roll? Gum?


I strained a couple brain cells for a second to see if I could remember the name of that incredibly bad OLN tour commentator -- no dice, I've repressed it completely (ignorance is bliss!).
It could have been the 2002 tour, now that I think of it, but the guy I'm talking about was youngish (<40) had a big vitalis hair helmet, and not the faintest clue about cycling whatsoever. He wasn't calling the race or anchoring from a desk, but would do these godawful intros and stage wrap ups from the field -- overstating and re-stating the obvious with a horrid s***-eating grin. I remember from a past discussion on the old forum that someone mentioned that he had a sportscasting background, but no cycling experience.

OLN did the right thing and canned the guy after the race.

As for Bobke -- a cheesehead? Hell no! Bobke represents the wierd and wonderful madness that is cycling to a T. Bobke's wildest gesticulations and bombastically pyrotechnic metaphors are a pale echo of the shrill insanity that possesses men to go ride a bike for half their waking hours on a given day.

Bobke's nuts like the rest of us. That's why we love him!


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## reklar (Mar 15, 2003)

BergMann said:


> As for Bobke -- a cheesehead?


Yeah, I can see someone calling bobke a cheesehead...I like him, but not everyone does.


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

*cheesehead = Adrian Karsten*



BergMann said:


> It could have been the 2002 tour, now that I think of it, but the guy I'm talking about was youngish (<40) had a big vitalis hair helmet, and not the faintest clue about cycling whatsoever. He wasn't calling the race or anchoring from a desk, but would do these godawful intros and stage wrap ups from the field -- overstating and re-stating the obvious with a horrid s***-eating grin. {/QUOTE]
> 
> That name conjures up the worst memories of past TDF broadcasts. The John Tesh wannabe was so bad he almost made me give up watching the TDF altogether. He was the absolute worst. He's been reassigned to women's gymnastics or figure skating or some other house-frau dominated demographic.


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## Bocephus Jones (Feb 3, 2004)

Utah CragHopper said:


> Making a whole show where the Gummer follows a handful of fans who either have severe cases of ADD or are hopped up on Red Bull? Yeah, that's going to be a winner.


LOL! The Gummer. Now that's a good nickname. Think of the double entendres.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*wasn't it the*

OLN owner? anyhow, glad to have daily coverage at all. just thankful I CAN RIDE.


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## lanterne rouge (Jun 27, 2002)

*I think..........*



reklar said:


> Agreeing with much of your post, but these last two bits bothered me...who is the cheesehead? Roll? Gum? QUOTE]
> 
> it was Bill Patrick, not Adrian Karsten. It has been a few years since he did the Tour coverage.


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## hawker12 (Oct 19, 2003)

JBF said:


> I live in the largest media market in America and subscribe to the local cable monopoly, Cablevision. NO OLN at any price!! I called to ask last month and got an arrogant jerk saying someday they may start carrying OLN on their top-tier, high definition programing - read $100/mo.
> 
> F them. I find your compaints about OLN coverage overblown given there are a large number of us with no viable option to watch the tour at all. I've been searching my 100+ stations tonight (care of Cablevision) and found more rediculous sports being covered than I can mention (is poker a sport?), but no Tour coverage. The closest I found was a Cheryl Crow concert on PBS.
> 
> Be glad you get it...


Huh? That would be NYC metro I believe and no OLN? There is still plenty of TDF left for you to get satallite, give it a thought.


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